Toyota, Respect for People (or "Humanity") and Lean

From 2013 -- http://www.leanblog.org/audio277

A principle that has been often discussed (and hopefully practiced) in the Lean community over the past few years is usually described as “respect for people.”

A certain British rabble rouser recently said the following at a Lean conference: “All this respect for people stuff is horse sh*t,” and it is a “conventional Western management interpretation.” He mocked the idea of “respect for people programs,” although I'm not sure where such a standalone program has ever been attempted. That sounds like a strawman, the idea that a company would have a “respect for people” program.

Let me explain why he's wrong — “respect for people” is not horse sh*t” — and we can explore some great links on “respect for people” in this post.