Cultural Enablers: Respect Every Individual and Lead With Humility

When done well, implementing the principles found in the Cultural Enablers dimension of the Shingo Model leads to an organizational culture that assures a safe environment, places a special emphasis on the development of its people, and engages and empowers everyone in the pursuit of continuous improvement.

This fifth book of the Shingo Model series is laid out in a format similar to a Shingo workshop. You’ll find chapters devoted to both of the principles, examples from organizations from around the world, an overview of key systems and ideal behaviors, and a few expanded case studies to aid your learning.

Cultural Enablers is designed to help all organizations on their journey towardexcellence. You will better understand the concepts of respect and humility, and how these two principles can be brought to life through the creation of your own ideal behaviors. Although the systems listed here are not exhaustive, you’ll discover an overview of a few systems that are critical to developing a world-class culture of continuous improvement that is characterized by high levels of engagement and daily problem solving.

Michael Martyn is the Founder and President of SISU Consulting Group, an international consultancy that has supported more than 500 organizations in 22 countries. SISU Consulting Group is a Licensed Affiliate for the Shingo Institute and is responsible for training and developing certified Shingo trainers and examiners. Michael is based in Portland, Oregon, but travels extensively to support clients across the globe, including Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Over the past 20 years, Michael has also contributed to the development of the Shingo Model and the assessment framework, has received the Shingo Publication Award three times, and is a lifetime member of the Shingo Academy.

One of Michael’s primary roles with SISU is the development of leaders at each level of the organization. In this role, Michael has trained and personally coached thousands of leaders through his live workshops, online development courses, executive coaching, and Coaching Camps. Michael has personally coached more than 200 organizations in implementing the principles of organizational excellence, including Baxter Healthcare, Boeing, Raytheon, Intermountain Healthcare, La-Z-Boy, OC Tanner, Daimler, University of Washington, Aera Energy, Boston Scientific, Christie Clinic, and Abbott.

His book Own the Gap, which received the Shingo Publication Award in 2013, sets out a clear and successful methodology for helping organizations translate the theory of the Shingo Model into reality and, by focusing on the four key systems, achieve world-class business results. The book has been used by thousands of leaders to understand how to design and implement a principle-based daily management system. In his most recent book, Management for Omotenashi: Learning to Lead for Purpose, Passion, and Performance (2022), Michael delivers a proven model for engaging people and delivering business results.

Prior to founding SISU, Michael worked in the private equity arena, successfully turning around companies in both manufacturing and service industries. It was during this time as a turnaround specialist that Michael was personally mentored in the principles of the Toyota Production System and refined his approach to driving business results by designing a management system that engages each member of the organization in team-based problem-solving toward customer-centric goals.

Eilish Henry is the Director for Europe of SISU Consulting Group. She is experienced in business delivery, organizational change in particular cultural change, including both design and implementation. Her focus is on ensuring the sustainability of improvements by securing real “buy-in” and ownership at all levels of the client business. She is a Shingo examiner and is highly experienced in assessing organizations against the enterprise excellence frameworks. She has worked closely with a number of client organizations to support them in developing their own assessment frameworks and to develop their teams of internal assessors. Eilish has completed more than 150 formal Shingo assessments and is a lifetime member of the Shingo Academy.

She was the first Shingo global coach (which has since been discontinued) and certified facilitator in Europe, and over the past 13 years she has taught more than 100 Shingo workshops and has supported 48 organizations to achieve all levels of Shingo recognition. This includes all but one of Ireland’s Shingo Award recipients. In particular, she has supported 12 out of the 20 most recent Shingo Prize recipients.

She has worked with a huge range of organizations across the globe and in multiple sectors to help them build their cultures of excellence. In 2004, she was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her work in leading large cultural change programs in the UK public sector.