More about the High Performance Management

Key principles and practices of the high performance management flow from extensive practical work

  • Toyota Production System (TPS)
  • lean manufacturing, lean enterprise (all of this flowing from Toyota’s fifty years of innovation)[[1]],
  • the US-based Baldrige National Quality Program “Criteria for Performance Excellence”,
  • the European EFQM,
  • the latest ISO-9000 standards

    • “You have to walk the talk.”

    A central truth is that managers must model high performance principles and practices in order for the organization to adopt them. This is the old saw, “You have to walk the talk.” However, it is not necessary to perform everything perfectly right from the start. High performance management is a learn-by-doing process.

    The great news is that once you begin to learn and apply high performance practices, people in your organization will notice and they will begin to adopt them too.

    What are some of the key principles and practices?

  • High-performance organizations have an intense focus on customers and delivering value to customers, value as defined by customers. This is frequently described as meeting or exceeding customer expectations.
  • High-performance organizations deliver superior quality at low costs because they focus processes and systems (flow) in their business and drive out waste. This results in higher speed, better flexibility and responsiveness, and higher productivity.
  • High-performance organizations engage the energies and intelligence of every member of the organization from top to bottom and throughout their supply chain to meet customer requirements. Transparency, accountability, and results focus are obvious from senior managers to frontline personnel.
  • High-performance organizations consistently strive to look outwards into the world around them to understand trends in customers, markets, technology, and the socio-political. They apply this knowledge to the future direction of the company.
  • High-performance organizations set goals, communicate these throughout the organization, and drive to achieve results. This includes a tenacious focus on continuously improving all aspects of the organization.

    • Personal practices that drive manager performance

  • Focus on results
  • Fact-based thinking and problem solving
  • Building on the strengths of people and the organization
  • Effective time management to build discretionary blocks of time available to build the future not day-to-day activities
  • Build responsibility and accountability for self and the organization
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    1. There really is no independent organization that represents “lean”. Nevertheless, the Lean Institute is a great resource with lots of  information and educational activities. [↩]
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