What Does "Lean" Mean to You? [Guest Post]
Guest Post: Keith Poirier has over 17 years industry experience with a focus on lean/business process improvement. He currently manages an EHS Team for a global design and manufacturing company, and also instructs an Operations Management MBA course.
What is lean? What does it mean to you? Does it mean the same thing to everyone?
I’ve been at it for a while (over 17 years to be exact), practicing lean across many companies in many different industries. I’ve seen 5S in one place and SCANDO in another. I’ve seen 1-day, 3-day, 5-day Kaizen Events. I’ve taught the concepts of kanban, takt time, process mapping, waste elimination to hundreds (if not thousands). If you ask a dozen different people what does ‘Lean’ mean to you, you’ll get a dozen different answers. However, in my experience, I do see ONE COMMON DENOMINATOR:
Lean is nothing more than the re-introduction of ‘common sense’ into our daily work lives.
Yes, you can really sum it up in one statement! Now, there are many different tools and approaches, and sometimes you’re tailoring a fix to a specific problem, but all of our lean efforts aim at instilling common sense back into our processes. Let’s be honest here, we’ve spent a lot of time making our processes more complex by adding layers upon layers of extra work, while all-along we were thinking we were making our processes more efficient. We have fallen victim to adding unnecessary complexity and by default we have been making our jobs harder!
Not to worry, there’s an easy fix. Focus on the simple, small & rapid improvements! By observing work, and training our eyes to see those problems we would ignore in the past, we can make a difference. So go watch work happen, where it happens, and eliminate that extra step, additional check, and unnecessary report.
This recommendation: “Focus on the simple, small & rapid improvements” reminded me of this quote I saw recently:
There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all. -Peter Drucker, management consultant, professor, and writer (1909-2005)
I definitely see what you’re saying in this article, but sometimes dramatic changes really may be necessary. Of course simple & small changes may be safest to try, easiest for everyone to accept, and work best if one’s process is already considered valid.
This recommendation: “Focus on the simple, small & rapid improvements” reminded me of this quote I saw recently:
There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all. -Peter Drucker, management consultant, professor, and writer (1909-2005)
I definitely see what you’re saying in this article, but sometimes dramatic changes really may be necessary. Of course simple & small changes may be safest to try, easiest for everyone to accept, and work best if one’s process is already considered valid.
This recommendation: “Focus on the simple, small & rapid improvements” reminded me of this quote I saw recently:
There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all. -Peter Drucker, management consultant, professor, and writer (1909-2005)
I definitely see what you’re saying in this article, but sometimes dramatic changes really may be necessary. Of course simple & small changes may be safest to try, easiest for everyone to accept, and work best if one’s process is already considered valid.
Keith,
Well said!
I often tell folks the same thing. The biggest thing that they can bring is their common sense. The systems and tools, or at least their names, can be intimidating. Common sense trumps all, and when combined with lean principles (humility, respect, flow, etc.) and some basic skills in direct observation and standardization, it’s really powerful stuff.
Keith,
Well said!
I often tell folks the same thing. The biggest thing that they can bring is their common sense. The systems and tools, or at least their names, can be intimidating. Common sense trumps all, and when combined with lean principles (humility, respect, flow, etc.) and some basic skills in direct observation and standardization, it’s really powerful stuff.
Keith,
Well said!
I often tell folks the same thing. The biggest thing that they can bring is their common sense. The systems and tools, or at least their names, can be intimidating. Common sense trumps all, and when combined with lean principles (humility, respect, flow, etc.) and some basic skills in direct observation and standardization, it’s really powerful stuff.
Bravo! Lean is not difficult! Counter-intuitive sometimes, and can be time consuming, confronting, uncomfortable and vague.
“Focus on the simple, small & rapid improvements†is one powerful part of the pie chart that represents the components of a continuous improvement organization. One way to accomplish this pie slice is a well designed, well implemented idea system that allows all employees to contribute their improvement ideas.
Bravo! Lean is not difficult! Counter-intuitive sometimes, and can be time consuming, confronting, uncomfortable and vague.
“Focus on the simple, small & rapid improvements†is one powerful part of the pie chart that represents the components of a continuous improvement organization. One way to accomplish this pie slice is a well designed, well implemented idea system that allows all employees to contribute their improvement ideas.
Bravo! Lean is not difficult! Counter-intuitive sometimes, and can be time consuming, confronting, uncomfortable and vague.
“Focus on the simple, small & rapid improvements†is one powerful part of the pie chart that represents the components of a continuous improvement organization. One way to accomplish this pie slice is a well designed, well implemented idea system that allows all employees to contribute their improvement ideas.