Getting the Right Things Done

Most organizations make many improvements but achieve little. Not because the improvements are bad, but because they are fragmented. Each team tackles its own pain points, every initiative receives commitment, and at the end of the year, no one asks aloud why the strategic goals weren’t met after all.

It’s not a lack of effort. It’s a lack of focus, alignment, and the ability to make timely adjustments. *Getting the Right Things Done* shows how Strategy Deployment provides exactly that.

What will you learn in *Getting the Right Things Done*?

In this book, Pascal Dennis shifts the focus from Lean as a process improvement tool to Lean as a management system. This is because, in practice, simply improving processes has proven to be insufficient. Organizations that truly want to excel need three things that most have only partially mastered.

The first is focus: knowing exactly what you need to achieve—and, by extension, knowing what you’re consciously choosing not to spend time on. Most organizations are familiar with this problem: nearly all projects and initiatives get the green light, which means nothing really gets the attention it deserves.

The second is alignment: making the right knowledge and insights accessible throughout the organization, prioritizing the overall result over departmental interests, and translating strategic goals into concrete actions on the ground. Strategy should not be an abstract concept confined to the executive level; it must be something that everyone involved can relate to.

The third is quick response: identifying problems and opportunities while there is still time to act, rather than explaining after the fact why things didn't work out.

Dennis provides a step-by-step explanation of what Strategy Deployment entails, how to implement it, the underlying mental models, and the key ways in which it fundamentally differs from traditional management thinking. The book is illustrated with real-world examples and explores the kind of leadership required to ensure that Strategy Deployment is truly embedded at all levels of the organization.

Why should I read *Getting the Right Things Done*?

Strategy Deployment, also known as Hoshin Kanri, isone of the most powerful yet least understood components of Lean management. It is the method Toyota has been using for more than twenty-five years to align people at all levels of the organization with the same priorities, and it explains why Toyota excels not only in processes but also in consistently achieving its strategic goals.

Dennis wrote this book based on his own experience as a former Toyota manager. This makes it not just a theoretical framework, but a practical and honest guide that shows what it really takes—including the pitfalls most organizations encounter. For anyone who takes Lean seriously and wants to move beyond improving individual processes to driving performance across the entire organization, this book is indispensable.

Who is *Getting the Right Things Done* written for?

• Executives and senior managers responsible for formulating and implementing strategy
• Lean practitioners and coaches who want to understand and apply Strategy Deployment
• Managers at all levels who find that their improvement initiatives are not contributing sufficiently to the broader organizational goals
• Anyone who wants to learn more about hoshin kanri and how it works in practice

What do fellow writers think of this book?

"Pascal Dennis has written the definitive work on Strategy Deployment. Clear, practical, and based on real-world experience at Toyota—this is the book I always recommend when people want to know how to actually implement strategy." — Jim Womack, founder of the Lean Enterprise Institute

"Getting the Right Things Done shows what goes wrong when Lean is applied solely on the shop floor without a strategic compass. Dennis bridges those two worlds in a way that is rare in Lean literature." — John Shook, former CEO of the Lean Enterprise Institute

Additional Information

About the author

Pascal Dennis is a former Toyota manager, Lean consultant, and author with extensive experience in guiding organizations through strategic transformations. He worked in the automotive industry and later as an independent consultant across a variety of sectors, including manufacturing, healthcare, and services. In addition to *Getting the Right Things Done*, he also wrote *Lean Production Simplified* and *Andy & Me* —a management novel in the tradition of the Ballé novels. Dennis is known for his ability to make complex Lean and management concepts accessible and immediately applicable for leaders at all levels of an organization.