“Widespread value creation in an enterprise will not take place if every person in the company doesn’t feel responsible to act to solve a problem that needs to be corrected or an opportunity that needs to be pursued.” Charles Koch

Koch is a very successful businessman. He’s written a book on how to run a business.

Enterprises that succeed create value. In “lean manufacturing”, we learn that customers only want to pay for things they need. They don’t want to pay for waste. Our job as a “lean” company is to eliminate as much wasted time, material and motion as we can.

Eliminate waste is lean and it means our product is chock full of value.

So, Koch’s idea that for us to create value repeatedly, everyone has to be on board when it comes to problems. We each have to be committed to calling things out when we regard them to be wasteful.

Not every company is successful with this. I’m sure we aren’t all the time. But, our goal is to do so.

So, the big question is whether you feel “empowered” to call out problems when you see them?

Do you see us wasting resources?

Do you see risky situations which need to be fixed before someone is hurt?

Do we deploy resources in the best way possible?

My experience is that you are the greatest expert at what you do. You know what could make it better. You know what you need. We need you commitment to speak up.

While eliminating waste adds value, pursuing opportunity also creates value. Finding ways to do things better and faster adds value. To improve our products contributes value . If you see things that can make our customer’s experience better, we need you to speak up.

The best ideas don’t always come from the office. We do best when everyone feels empowered to address problems and opportunity.