The document outlines the findings of research on lean leadership conducted by the Lean Global Network and the Lean Enterprise Academy, emphasizing the importance of leadership in implementing lean principles. It highlights the need for leaders to engage their teams in problem-solving while aligning their roles with organizational goals. Key concepts include continuous improvement, effective management practices, and the influence of renowned management thinkers.

1. www.leanuk.org
Lean leadership for executives:
Initial findings from LGN research
UK Lean Summit:
Learning – Educating – Sharing
1
David Brunt
28th November 2012

2. www.leanuk.org
Lean Global Network (LGN)
 The Lean Enterprise Academy is the UK affiliate of the Lean
Global Network, a non-profit corporation (headquarters in
Boston, Cambridge, USA.)
 2010 – started this research in the area of lean leadership
 Articulate and engage leaders in understanding the fundamentals of lean
thinking and lean transformation process, and their role in taking an
organisation to the next level
 Engage leaders in thinking about their business problem situation and
their role in addressing it
2

3. www.leanuk.org
Lean Research?
Academic Research
 Theory Driven
 Simplify Reality and Measure
Causality
 Researcher is Independent of
the Actions
 Research by Data Analysis
and Interviewing
 To Discover and Prove Laws
that Apply Everywhere
 Publish in Academic Journals
for Peer Review
Lean Action Research
 Practice Driven
 Address underlying Business
Problems in their Context
 Researcher is both the Mentor
and Reflector
 Research by iterative Problem
Solving using PDCA
 Developing stronger
Hypotheses for future Actions
 Mentored Reflections shared
with Communities of Practice
3
Building a body of evidence Building a body of experience

4. www.leanuk.org
Leadership?
4
or
 We assume we know what we
should do
 We assume we know what
leaders should do
 We assume we know what we
as leaders should do

5. www.leanuk.org
Lean Leadership Landscape
5
Lean
Leadership
5 Principles
Align people &
process to purpose
Purpose
People Process
PDCA
A3
Thinking

6. www.leanuk.org6
Purpose
People Process
• Horizontal flow of value at
the pull of the customer
• Workplace Management
through standardization &
Visualization
• Relentless elimination of
waste, overburden and
unevenness
• Lean Tools applied as
appropriate
Employees:
• Engaged and involved
in CI
• Continuously solve
problems
• Teamwork
Managers:
• System thinkers
• Problem solvers
• Learners
• Teachers/Coaches
Vision/Values
True North
Line of Sight
Strategy Formulation and
Deployment
Lean Management
System
PDCA
® Copyright 2009 Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

7. www.leanuk.org
Lean Leadership Landscape
7
Lean
Leadership
5 Principles
Align people &
process to purpose
Purpose
People Process
PDCA
A3
Thinking

8. www.leanuk.org
Shook on Leadership
Lean Leaders do Two Things
 Get each person to
take initiative to solve
problems and improve
his or her job
 Ensure that each
persons’ job is aligned
to provide value for
the customer and
prosperity for the
company
Get the work done and Develop Your People
- at the SAME TIME!
8

9. www.leanuk.org
Lean Leadership Landscape
9
Lean
Leadership
5 Principles
Align people &
process to purpose
Purpose
People Process
PDCA
A3
Thinking
Weber
Drucker
Burns
Senge
Peters
Covey
Collins
Schein
Etc.
Influence of
other
management
thinkers

10. www.leanuk.org
Edgar Schein
10
Culture
Values/
Attitudes
What
we do
Basic Assumptions
Values/
Attitudes
Artifacts
“Easier to act yourself into a new way of
thinking than to think yourself into a new way
of acting”

11. www.leanuk.org
Lean Leadership Landscape
11
Lean
Leadership
5 Principles
Align people &
process to purpose
Purpose
People Process
PDCA
A3
Thinking
Ohno:
Waste (O/P)
Flow & Pull
Genchi Genbutsu
Data/Facts
Minoura:
“T”PS =
“Thinking”
Production
System
Cho:
Go see
Ask why?
Show respect
Uchikawa: No
problem is problem
Weber
Drucker
Burns
Senge
Peters
Covey
Collins
Schein
etc.
Influence of
other
management
thinkers
Eiji: It is
muda to
wave your flag
and have no one
follow.

12. www.leanuk.org
Lean Leadership Landscape
12
Lean
Leadership
5 Principles
Align people &
process to purpose
Purpose
People Process
PDCA
A3
Thinking
Ohno:
Waste (O/P)
Flow & Pull
Genchi Genbutsu
Data/Facts
Minoura:
“T”PS =
“Thinking”
Production
System
Cho:
Go see
Ask why?
Show respect
Uchikawa: No
problem is problem
Weber
Drucker
Burns
Senge
Peters
Covey
Collins
Schein
etc.
Influence of
other
management
thinkers
9. Grow leaders
10. Develop people
12. Go & see
13. Decisions slowly
14. Learning org.
etc.
Eiji: It is
muda to
wave your flag
and have no one
follow.

13. www.leanuk.org13
Purpose
People
Develop yourself & your people
to take personal responsibility
for solving problems
Process
• Design & support processes that
provide value to customers –
value streams
Set alignment around the vision
The Role of Leadership in
Implementing Lean
PDCA
® Copyright 2009 Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

14. www.leanuk.org
Three Keys to Lean Leadership
Ask “Why?”
Use the technique daily
Show Respect
Respect your people
“Go See”
Management must spend time
on the front lines
14

15. www.leanuk.org15

16. www.leanuk.org
Something to think about?
 Assess the gaps between where things are now and where
they should be for the following:
 Customer purpose - What do your customers want that you are not
currently able to supply?
 Organisational purpose – What does your organisation need to survive
and even to prosper?
 Your major customer delivery stream
 Your organization’s approach to problem solving
 Your approach to developing/supporting problem solving capability
16
Ideal
Situation
Current
Situation
Gap =
Problem

17. www.leanuk.org
Lean leadership for executives:
Initial findings from LGN research
UK Lean Summit:
Learning – Educating – Sharing
17
David Brunt
28th November 2012