Lean doesn't work! (And what to do about it)

Hello Philip, I very much liked your article, thank you. On the second why? In my modest opinion, the cause of that lies in the training of lean coaches/experts. There should be some (or more) time devoted to people skills. I think in that field they are poorly trained/prepared. The lean coaches know why they want to teach and coach Lean, not in the least because it's their job. But to all others, the people that need to implement and execute, it's a tool to cut jobs & make people work harder. But even before they can reach that blissful state, they have to do this "Lean thing" first. Which means: another addition to their already very long list of urgent tasks. Why wouldn't people be enthusiastic? How could this fail? This skeptical reaction is not always justified, but perfectly predictable, so you can prepare (train) coaches for coping with it. I think people can be motivated to embrace Lean, if you start with the “why?” for them. For many people (if not most) work is a daily struggle, confusing, difficult, endless paperwork, and a lot of wasted time; looking for stuff, waiting for approvals, correcting mistakes (of others), lots of checks etc. Add to that a management’s KPI-fetish (e.g. tracking the benefits of Lean?) that generates many happy hours preparing reports that have to show a positive trend. I believe people “sense” on an instinctive level the difference between meaningful work and time-wasting. If only we could get rid of all that. But how? Maybe Lean? Lean is focused on eliminating waste and increase the amount of value adding work. So Lean is the tool par excellence to eliminate all the things people hate about work. Therefore Lean is a tool to improve job satisfaction. I am convinced people could be motivated to work on that. But in my experience the “why of lean” is rarely a topic in lean trainings. It’s skipped over to have more time to explain the techniques to the unmotivated. And if the “why” is mentioned, then usually from the company's point of view; higher efficiency. Another example of people (presenters) not considering their audience, when they really should. Since they are looking for buy-in and their own future success depends on it. If Lean considers missed opportunity as a waste, then neglecting to motivate people should also be considered a waste. So by the principle of Lean, Lean coaches should be trained in people skills to motivate people to want to actively participate.

I'd say most of Lean projects fail because of the age old mantra that still works: Good landing, wrong airport. A lot of times you are trying to solve something that can be solved with lean. But actually is not the problem. The same goes on for almost any buzz. Over and over again. Gamification, customer experience, strategy, motivation, stress management, etc. Remember: Good landing, wrong airport.

Lean Thinking and Behavior being the problem is like saying the car caused the crash not the driver. The main issue with the reason so many Lean endeavors fail is really two fold; 1) Lack of upper management support. If the organization does not have upper management support it will not matter how much you know or how passionate you are, eventually Lean will become a distraction to them. 2) Most people that join organizations want to make a splash. Consequently they dive into a process and implement all the Lean Six Sigma tools they have in their arsenal and "fix" a process. Then they walk away looking for their next place to make an impact. The problem is they have not spent an adequate amount of time coaching, training and developing the personnel to take over the process. Without this education and development every implementation is destined to fail. You need to spend at least 40-50% of your time training and developing the people to become truly successful and make this scalable.

Hi Philip, I concur with much of what you're attempting to convey about the challenging nature of developing and sustaining true lean competencies and capabilities (ala the TPS/Toyota Way). There's nothing easy about it; not unlike health living, it takes a total commitment and a higher order of intellect to be go at it. And given all the "distractions/temptations" that appeal primarily to the "primitive child" nature of the human persona, for any human being living in the 21st century, living a healthy lifestyle is more the exception than the rule... in spite of all the good resources that are readily available. Ergo, based on that metaphor, I have to disagree with you that TRUE LEAN THINKING AND BEHAVING is the problem. That's simply NOT THE CASE, unless you're inclined to believe/think that a driving a Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP is a problem because you did not put fuel in the fuel tank or you're attempting to drive it off-road. NO, NO, NO!!! TRUE LEAN THINKING AND BEHAVING IS NOT A PROBLEM. NEITHER IS IT THE SOURCE OF FAILED TRANSFORMATION ENDEAVORS! And the notion of TRADITIONAL LEADERSHIP (ala the outdated LEADER-FOLLOWER modus operandi) is only part of the problem. Holistically speaking... yes, the development of TRUE LEAN THINKING AND BEHAVING COMPETENCIES AND CAPABILITIES does require a HIGHER-ORDER of LEADERSHIP in the form of a new and more apropos modus operandi referred to as the LEADER-LEADER model; where leadership ability is manifest at all levels within an organization - regardless of title/rank/position - and is based on a combination of ever-evolving/emerging competencies and capabilities along with a clear and compelling and continually-reinforced mission/purpose, vision, and objectives. In addition, all of the latter environmental conditions (as part of the overall/total SYSTEM) need to exist under the banner of a TRUE NORTH orientation. That said, you might reply/respond by stating that what I've just described is a key/essential part of what traditional leaders - operating under a traditional leader-follower modus operandi - are typically lacking from an understanding and commitment perspective. And my response would still be... NO, NO, NO! That's not enough. Going back to the Porsche 919 LMP metaphor, one may now have fuel in the tank, but one is still attempting to drive off-road. What does that mean, you might ask? Well, as long as [publicly traded] companies consider their primary purpose/mission to be to pay the highest returns possible to shareholders in the near-term (i.e., on a quarterly basis) those most responsible for creating an environment which most apropos for the development and sustained evolution of TRUE LEAN THINKING AND BEHAVING COMPETENCIES AND CAPABILITIES will be distracted by the short-termism that continues to pervade much of the Western business mentality.

Lean is little more than a branded package, with many arguing about what is and is not in that package. Attempts to implement lean, is basically solutioneering, the attempt fails because not tackling the real problem, but implementing an out off the box solution.