Recently I was talking with a manager at a job-shop manufacturer who said about his company, “We do Lean.” I inquired about his experience, asking how the company trained employees. “Oh,” he replied. “We don’t want our people to think.”
That gave me such a terrible headache that, in a desperate bid for relief, I made a donation to the United Negro College Fund. A mind, after all, is a terrible thing to waste. That donation brought some relief.
Still, I was at first surprised that anybody would believe such a thing — that a business and its customers would be better served when most employees don’t use their minds. Upon reflection, however, I was surprised only that he admitted it so plainly.