2. • The
Toyota
ProducBon
System
is
arguably
the
most
important
invenBon
in
operaBons
since
Henry
Ford’s
Model
T
began
rolling
off
the
producBon
line.
It
has
spawned
numerous
approaches
to
improving
operaBons,
all
based
on
the
same
principles:
– relentless
aKenBon
to
detail,
– commitment
to
data-‐driven
experimentaBon,
– charging
workers
with
the
ongoing
task
of
increasing
efficiency
and
– eliminaBng
waste
in
their
jobs
• This
collecBon
of
ideas
is
oQen
termed
“lean
3. • But
aKempts
to
apply
lean
approaches
to
knowledge
work
have
proved
frustraBngly
difficult.
Most
in
the
business
world
believe
that
knowledge
work
does
not
lend
itself
to
lean
principles,
because,
unlike
car
assembly,
it
is
not
repeBBve
and
can’t
be
unambiguously
defined.
• we’ve
found
that
lean
principles
can
be
applied
in
some
form
to
almost
all
kinds
of
knowledge
work
and
can
generate
significant
benefits:
faster
response
Bme,
higher
quality
and
creaBvity,
lower
costs,
reduced
drudgery
and
frustraBon,
and
greater
job
saBsfacBon.
4. Wipro’s
Lean
Journey
• Wipro
is
one
of
the
largest
IT
services
and
product
engineering
companies
in
the
world.
It
has
more
than
100,000
employees
and
72
delivery
centers
in
55
countries.
• Wipro’s
leaders
decided
to
build
a
lean
system.
Although
they
recognized
that
this
approach
was
unproven
in
knowledge
work
and
would
require
a
profound
transformaBon
of
the
company,
they
believed
that
the
potenBal
payoff—the
ability
to
improve
faster
than
their
compeBtors—was
worth
the
risk
5. Wipro’s
Lean
Journey
• The
managers
began
studying
how
the
lean
approach
had
been
applied
in
manufacturing.
They
pored
over
all
the
wriKen
material
they
could
find,
toured
lean
factories,
and
conferred
with
a
former
Toyota
guru.
Then
they
brainstormed
about
how
to
use
what
they
had
learned;
each
picked
an
exisBng
project
to
test
their
ideas
on.
Gradually
they
idenBfied
pracBces
that
worked.
• We
discovered
that
the
lean
approach
is
already
having
a
significant
impact.
The
lean
projects
we
studied
performed
no
beKer
than
others
on
measures
of
quality
(defects
and
mistakes),
perhaps
because
standards
were
already
high.
But
they
produced
superior
results
in
terms
of
Bme
and
cost
6. Some
principles
for
making
knowledge
operaBons
lean
• Eliminate
Waste
– Taiichi
Ohno,
the
principal
architect
of
the
Toyota
system,
said
there
were
“seven
wastes”
that
everyone
in
a
manufacturing
operaBon
should
strive
to
eliminate:
overproducBon;
unnecessary
transportaBon,
inventory,
and
worker
moBon;
defects;
overprocessing;
and
waiBng.
– knowledge
work
includes
many
rouBne
acBviBes
that
don’t
involve
judgment
or
experBse
and
can
eat
up
huge
amounts
of
Bme:
prinBng
documents,
requesBng
informaBon
needed
to
make
a
decision,
and
seeng
up
meeBngs,
to
name
just
a
few.
7. Some
principles
for
making
knowledge
operaBons
lean
• The
key
is
to
get
everyone
in
the
organizaBon
to
systemaBcally
make
waste
visible
and
do
something
about
it.
Here’s
how
to
enlist
people
in
the
cause:
– Teach
everyone
to
ask
“the
five
whys
• Why
am
I
aKending
this
meeBng?
Why
am
I
filling
out
this
report?
Why
am
I
standing
at
the
printer?
– Encourage
everyone
to
look
for
small
forms
of
waste,
not
just
big
ones
• How
many
e‑mails
cluKer
your
in-‐box
because
someone
cc’d
you
unnecessarily?
How
long
did
you
have
to
wait
to
start
a
regularly
scheduled
meeBng
because
aKendees
slowly
trickled
in?
How
many
reports
are
created
that
nobody
reads?
– Periodically
review
the
structure
and
content
of
every
job
• Managers
should
regularly
assess
their
employees’
tasks,
including
how
much
Bme
is
spent
on
each.
8. Specify
the
Work
Specifying
knowledge
work
involves
four
steps:
1. Look
for
repeatable
parts
of
the
process
and
codify
them
2. Don’t
try
to
specify
everything
iniBally,
if
ever.
3. Use
data
to
get
buy-‐in
4. Keep
studying
the
work
that
has
been
designated
as
tacit.
9. Structure
CommunicaBons
A
lean
system
can
promote
good
communicaBon
by
arBculaBng
the
ways
in
which
it
should
be
carried
out.
Here’s
how:
1. Define
who
should
be
communicaBng,
how
oQen,
and
what?
2. Create
a
shared
understanding
3. Resolve
disagreements
with
facts,
not
opinions
10. Address
Problems
Quickly
and
Directly
Here’s
how
to
adapt
the
scienBfic
method
in
a
knowledge
seeng:
1. If
a
problem
arises,
ideally
the
person
who
created
it
should
fix
it
2. Problems
should
be
solved
where
they
occur
3. Solve
problems
as
soon
as
possible
aQer
they
emerge.
11. Plan
for
an
Incremental
Journey
•
•
•
•
Start
small
Codify
the
lessons
learned.
Keep
looking
for
new
ways
to
work
Remember
that
the
lean
approach
is
not
useful
everywhere
12. Engage
Your
Managers
• Project
managers
and
other
midlevel
leaders
must
train
and
moBvate
their
teams
• Senior
leaders
must
be
long-‐term
champions.
