Adam, thanks for sharing this. I’ll be in Atlanta as well and am looking forward to seeing everyone. I’m also doing a workshop on Tuesday, October 13th called Respect for People: Operationalizing Lean’s Relational Engine. I’d love to have as many of the Old Dawgs there as possible. For anyone who wants a preview, I’ve already posted the workshop resources here: https://www.respectforpeopleroadmap.com/20261013lci I’m sharing the post-workshop resources early because there’s quite a bit there that you can use even if you can’t make the workshop. We’ve uploaded the participant guidebook, which has a ton of practical resources, as well as a free Friction Assessment. One of the ideas we’ll explore is pretty simple: if Continuous Improvement helps us see the waste in our processes, Respect for People can help us see the friction in our workplace that gets in the way of people doing their best work and improving it. I’ll be around all week and would also love to set aside 15–20 minutes with anyone who wants to talk about how to operationalize Respect for People with their teams. Just reach out and we’ll find some time. Looking forward to seeing everyone in Atlanta. Scott

Thanks Heather. I’m looking forward to presenting at the LCI Congress on a topic I believe deserves much more attention in Lean: Respect for People: Operationalizing Lean’s Relational Engine We talk a lot about the Continuous Improvement side of Lean. But the Toyota Way was built on two pillars: Continuous Improvement and Respect for People. What does it actually look like to operationalize that second pillar rather than simply agree that it’s important? That’s what we’ll explore. If you’re attending LCI Congress, I’d love to have you join me for the conversation.

Nick, a couple thoughts, especially if the audience is brand new to Lean. I might start with a simple definition of Lean before introducing the Toyota Production System. The deck moves pretty quickly into the TPS house, which can be a lot for someone who doesn’t have any Lean background. Something simple like: Lean is a way of thinking about how we create more value with less waste, while continually improving the work and developing the people doing it. One thing I often see is people jump right into TPS to explain Lean. I think it might help to introduce the Toyota Way first. Toyota describes it as having two pillars: Continuous Improvement and Respect for People. TPS is the production system that sits within that broader philosophy. Right now, it looks like Respect for People has been tucked into the TPS house. I’d consider flipping that around. Start with the Toyota Way and its two pillars, then introduce TPS as one expression of that way of thinking. This is a good Toyota source: https://global.toyota/pages/global_toyota/sustainability/report/sdb/sdb18_005-011_en.pdf Page 6 gives a pretty simple picture of the overarching philosophy. For a Lean 101 audience, that may be easier to understand than starting with all the technical elements of TPS. At this stage, getting people aligned around how Lean asks us to think and behave may be more valuable than teaching all the TPS elements right away.

On Respect for People, I like the practical examples you give around jobsite conditions, safety, relationships, communication, and trust. I might broaden this a little, though. In the Toyota Way, Respect for People is more than taking care of people or providing a good work environment. It is also about valuing the knowledge and capability of the people doing the work, involving them in solving problems, developing them, listening to their ideas, and creating an environment where they can surface problems without fear or blame. and that's not just a leader responsibility, but an everyone responsibility. That actually connects really well with some of the things you already have later in the presentation, like interacting with field crews, getting feedback through the Jobsite Pulse, building people first, and blaming systems rather than people. I might pull some of those ideas into the Respect for People section so people understand RFP as a way of working with people, not just how we treat them. Respect for People isn't only about how we treat people. It's also about how we engage, develop, listen to, and partner with people to improve the work.