Fed Up With Lean!

For every ten genuine Lean Experts, there are 100 people who claim to be experts but are not. The biggest mistakes made by these others is to apply tools blindly without considering the people, who ram-raid organisations creating very short term results but leave nothing sustainable, fail to transfer knowledge to the teams involved and do not engage the leadership in the change process.

I have headed this blog 'Fed Up With Lean' on the basis that there are so many people claiming to be experts who are not that it has started to devalue something, which if applied correctly, is highly valuable. Because some people feel that by having read a book they are somehow been transformed into a Lean expert who can revoluntionise entire enterprises, the feeling among many others is that Lean 'must be easy' without having seen it done properly by professionals.

Lean is not a 'quick fix', although it can generate quick returns, it is not something that can be imposed, it is not something that is purely tactical, it is not something which can be undertaken half-heartedly, it is not something that can ignore organisational culture and it definately is not the answer to all problems by itself.

Lean is a key tool in the business armoury which if applied correctly and professionally will transform an organisation's performance and when coupled with effective leadership development and an aligned organisational culture will lead to strategic change at the highest level.

It is not something to be dabbled in by half trained facilitators at a tactical level - although I am sure they will continue to have short term, unsustainable, success whilst continuing to damage the general view of true and strategic Lean.