1. 5 Keys To Lean
Around 80% of Lean Programmes will fail to deliver the expected results and some will make
things significantly worse. When things go well Lean can help organisations to substantially
improve operational performance and even improve morale. The issues that affect the
success of Lean are not related to the 'tools', instead it depends on things that people tend to
forget and in this short article we list the five keys to Lean success;
Key 1 - Be clear about the compelling need
We cannot stress the importance of being clear about the problems you are trying to address
in specific terms. Far too many people initiate a programme of Lean without being clear about
the measures of success, the real compelling need to do it and the 'fixed points' (or things that
cannot be changed).
Key 2 - Ensure you have effective sponsors
Having effective senior sponsors with the courage to see things through even when things get
tough, as well as being capable of dealing with the various problems that arise - from politics
to outright resistance - is a differentiator between a programme getting off the ground or not.
Key 3 - Focusing on activity rather than reporting and analysis
It seems to be that the more organisations involved in a project, the more analysis that is
generated. Endless analysis and reporting provides the 'feel' of progress without actually
delivering any. The art of Lean is to get an effective balance between the need to gather facts
and data and the need to implement changes through such things as Rapid Improvement
Events.
Key 4 - Following up consistently
Implementing improvements is one thing but even more important is the need to actually turn
changes in the process into behaviour changes and system changes. This requires you to
follow up on every improvement until it moves from being something 'new' to the 'way we do
things'.
Key 5 - Continuous practice
Like any activity that you want to do well in, from mastering tennis through to mastering
surgical techniques requires practice, so why do people believe that you can read a book,
attend a conference, attend a single event and then assume your organisation is a 'Lean
Expert'? Success in Lean is only achieved after you have practiced extensively, dealt with the
issues that arise and got the scars. The issue is whether you have the tenacity to take the
rough with the smooth and to 'celebrate every success but accept the occasional failure'.