Encouraging the team to problem solve on the ground allows for a better understanding of achievable goals, which can inspire breakthroughs in value. Being closely involved with the team and interacting with customers helps in identifying opportunities for improvement. Lomas is cited as an example of challenging engineering limits and achieving breakthroughs. It's noted that customers often express solutions rather than their actual needs, making it challenging to discern their true requirements.
“Lean is not about how we organize work, but how we think about it. It’s not a production system; it’s an education system."
Catherine Chabiron is a Lean expert and the co-author of “Learning to Scale at Theodo Group”. In this episode, Catherine and Fabrice–the co-founder and CTO of Theodo–shared their lessons learned from implementing Lean at a fast-growing scale-up company. Catherine and Fabrice first started by sharing the “big company disease” challenge and how Theodo started its Lean journey. We then discussed Lean essentials that include some of its principles, such as an obsession with customer value and lead time. We also talked about Lean practices adopted from the Toyota Production System, that include Gemba, Jidoka, Andon, and Kaizen. Along the way, Catherine and Fabrice also emphasized the importance of always building quality right the first time.
Listen out for:
- Career Journey - [00:03:41]
- Big Company Disease - [00:07:26]
- Theodo’s Lean Journey - [00:10:19]
- Implementing Agile at Scale - [00:14:35]
- The Essence of Lean - [00:18:41]
- Gemba - [00:23:16]
- Normal vs Not Normal - [00:26:26]
- Doing More Gemba Walks - [00:29:40]
- Obsession With Customer Value - [00:32:59]
- Obsession With Lead Time - [00:37:07]
- Jidoka & Andon - [00:40:25]
- Built-in Quality Right First Time - [00:44:16]
- Kaizen - [00:46:39]
- 3 Tech Lead Wisdom - [00:52:19]
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Catherine Chabiron’s Bio
Catherine Chabiron is an established expert in Lean management with a professional journey spanning over 40 years. Catherine is not only a Lean executive coach but also a renowned author. Her notable contribution, “Learning to Scale at Theodo Group: Growing a Fast and Resilient Company,” exemplifies her unique know-how and offers practical advice to leaders seeking growth without compromising on core values and employee engagement.
Fabrice Bernhard’s Bio
Fabrice co-founded Theodo in Paris in 2009, which has grown on average 50% a year for the last 8 years and generated 90M€ turnover in 2022. He is now based in London to help on the international expansion of Theodo.
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Show notes & transcript: techleadjournal.dev/episodes/154
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