LEAN Mistakes: Hard Lessons Almost Learned from a Survivor

Non-value added Lean exists everywhere with many futile attempts by fickle organizations around the Globe.?

By Keith Johnson

Why Does Lean Fade Away in many companies?

Many articles have been written on why lean fails.??Needless to say, I have seen a lot and experienced my share of failures and disappointments as well as a few successes.?So why does Lean fade away in many companies? Why is Continuous Improvement not so Continuous when it comes to the drudgery of Sustainment and what Deming called the "Constancy of Purpose'? Why are the gains realized only short term from short term Kaizen Blitzs by Kaizen Cowboys that slowly fade after a year or two? Why are the successes soon forgotten and we fall into the trap of complacency?

Yes, I have been very successful with some clients giving them the?same advice and services I have given the unsuccessful clients.??I want to give you honest feedback and my honest, but often flawed perspective on both sides of lean transformation. I have certainly made my share of mistakes with many clients failing to understand their specific needs and customizing a plan for long term success.?So here are a few of my observations over the years with many groups of humans around this planet when change is needed and they have heard that Lean will fix all their problems.??People are different.?Cultures are different.?Companies are different.??But there are many recurring themes.

You Can't Just Read Lean, You've Got to Do Lean!

For the last 27 years, I have worked with over 65 companies in one form or another, either a couple of days or a couple of years and all in between.??My clients have included Fortune 500’s, Fortune 50s, small sole proprietorships with a half million in sales and non-profits from Seattle to New York City to Brussels to Lagos to Shanghai to Bangkok to Monterrey to Toronto and at least 100 other locations.??

This is what I have experienced through active facilitation, leadership and participation in lean transformation and continuous improvement projects for over 30 years at many levels. Over the years and just recently, I am asked for favorite tools out of my lean tool bag.??People who just read lean will say, "Keith, I have never seen that tool used that way, would you please send it to me?" The answer is always "No" but most of the time I just don't respond. They are looking for another part of the recipe for "instant results" so they can sell lean as a magical list of recipes and tools to be successful and eliminate waste instantly. Many have never done lean. They read a lot and they sound great in presentations at Lean conferences with jokes and stories.?But most have never tried to implement Lean Transformation for a number of reasons I care not to cover in this paper. They are not "Doers", they are "Talkers". Lean is not political correctness. It’s hard work and discipline and character and respect for people that is not always agreeable and upbeat and positive about bad, broken processes. It requires real, deep rooted change, not superficial, shallow adjustments.

You Don't Understand……………..We are Different!

I wish I had a dollar for every time I have heard that excuse. "Our company operates differently because our customers are different and their requirements are different and our industry is different and our people are different and our products are different and our processes are different and our management is different.?So because we are so different, your methods and strategy probably will not work here.”??Sure, cultures are different, but for the most part people are the same.

And of course this “difference” explanation is simply an excuse not to change.?Human psychology is quite predictable over the long run.?People hate change and using the "different process" excuse does not justify the fear. Processes have internal and external suppliers and internal and external customers and all the value added and non-value added steps in between. I don't care if you are soldering a printed circuit board between your legs with a mirror in a Chinese “Sweat Shop” or firing on a target 500 yards away on your belly on a hot July day at Parris Island with a Drill Instructor breathing down your neck.??And I have worked on projects regarding both. "We are different" is a sorry excuse and not to be accepted for practicing and sustaining lean transformation.??It’s all a group of processes that make up a system.

When Continuous Ain't so Continuous

I have had people ask me over the years, “Why can't lean be more fun, more exhilarating, more exciting?"?Why is lean day to day drudgery, boring, methodical, rules driven, constant, never ending and depends on standard consistent tasks every day? Short answer: Variation is the enemy and lean kills it. Would you prefer variation in the landing gear of your plane, or possibly with a Marine's markmanship in Afghanistan, or the salad dressing you use on your favorite salad or the rubber seal around your car window and trunk, or the blood report you just received from your Doctor or your latest phone bill or your car alternator or engine or tires or transmission or air bag? You get the point. Killing variation through lean transformation ain't sexy. Its hard, methodical work. But as consumers, we all benefit from it and insist on it. We continue to purchase consistent, boring products and services that are predictable from lean companies that deliver on time, every time.??I love boring airline pilots and great surgeons with horrible bedside manners. They do damn good, methodical work because they are meticulous nerds that don't make mistakes with minimal variation, especially with my life. But they ain't sexy and I say, "Who cares?"

Leadership and Respect for Humans

A Bad process will beat great intentions every time. But great Leadership realizes that an optimized system depends on optimized processes with minimal waste. And great Leaders work on optimizing processes and finding root causes and implementing permanent corrective actions with real sustainability.??Great Leaders also know how to practice PDCA.??They plan well and have a strategy for implementation.??And after they have developed and communicated their plan, they execute effectively and efficiently with follow up and sustainment.?Great Leaders hold their people accountable to Lean business processes and variation reduction every day!??Not just on Tuesdays.??Great Leaders lead, every day, and they do by respecting and honoring their people!

The Human Resource is the most critical element in any Lean Transformation and every leader at every level must first understand this. The best implementation of lean tools and strategy will mean absolutely nothing without care and understanding of the human resource. I am always asked, "how do you get people engaged and involved in a lean transformation?" The answer is simple ....... Shut your mouth and Listen, Listen, Listen! And then try some of the people's suggestions giving them full credit. People support what they create including line improvements, training and redesign. If you want sustainability for the next 20 years, then respect your people's opinions and ideas through implementation giving them credit along the way.

“Kaizen Cowboys” are Everywhere!

If one Kaizen Event is good, then 10 must be great and if 10 are great, 50 must be fantastic!??I have seen this concept lived out in many of the 500 companies I have visited or worked with over the last 35 years.??We need quick gains, they say, so we must implement more Kaizen Events.??It’s the wrong idea of going a mile wide and an inch deep.??More is better because the goal is quantity over quality.??This never works in the long run because it results in optimizing non bottlenecks at the expense of the system bottleneck.??

The Love of Money is the Root of All................

It never ceases to amaze me how Executive Leadership will forfeit the long term sustainment of the company for their greed and immediate gain. Comes right back to people doing what they get rewarded to do..........not what is right, but what their Boss's Boss rewards. If its Growth, then they buy "junk" companies to show growth. If its profit, then they cut heads and reduce travel expenses and increase prices with vulnerable and ignorant customers. It’s?always?about the money and you only have to follow the money to find the motivation. It is a hypocritical journey full of people doing what they get rewarded to do!??And of course, one of the main root causes of why Lean fails in most companies. I hear it often, " Can we turn this plant around in a month or two? I know we can do it with the great team we have at XYZ company!" I always say to myself, "It took you 20 years to screw it up, allow variation at every step in the process, skip root cause problem solving and rely on quick, shallow fixes of symptoms, and you want to turn it all around in 60 days. Who are you kidding?"??I don’t do magic tricks.??Hire a magician!

The Culture Pit

You might call the above issues simply pitfalls or roadblocks to real lean transformation.??But all of these issues are really learned behaviors based on culture.??And culture runs deep in most organizations.?Changing it takes a major commitment that is not for the feeble and weak minded.??Engaging all levels of the organization to achieve understanding is no small job.??The “flavor of the month” approach will not work in this type of transformation.?Toyota has been wildly successful because of Deming’s first point in his 14 points which is “Constancy of Purpose”.??But constancy of purpose ain’t sexy.??It’s downright boring when you try to launch it mainly because it’s all about repeating the same message and standardizing everything you do.??Driving capability and stability into a process comes from meticulous attention to detail and data.??I don’t know about you but that doesn’t get me too excited.??This is time consuming drudgery that requires intense focus on finding the root cause, determining the system bottleneck and driving sustainment and control on the shop floor.??

The culture pit is deep.??It is rooted in many incorrect and wasteful behaviors that have accumulated through poor leadership, lack of strategic long term thinking, quick fixes and lack of root cause problem solving.??Many of the companies I have worked with over the years are still making money despite living in the deep pit of waste.??Why change now???It has worked for over 30 years in our business.??But past results is not a promise of future results especially in this highly competitive Global economy.??

And I can promise you that if you don’t pursue “profound knowledge”, it will not pursue you.??It will not just fall in your lap.??You must seek it and value it.??As Deming always said, “There is no substitute for knowledge.

About Keith Johnson…………..

?????????Keith has over 35 years experience in Lean Transformation using the Toyota Production System, driving value creation for both employers and clients throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. He holds degrees from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Clemson University.??His clients include Thailand Auto Alliance, Owens Corning, Ryobi Motor Products, Chevron, Geon Performance Solutions, Hexpol Compounding, Parker Hannifan, Emerson Electric, Schwann Foods, Kroger, A & E Autoelectric, Georgia Pacific, Verizon, USAF, USMC, Nike, Imperial Group and Dean Foods.