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.