Continuous Flow in Lean Consulting, Part 1
In a lean organization, people at all levels of the organization continually engage in systematic problem-solving so that the company and its people eliminate waste and deliver more value ever day.
This is the Holy Grail of lean thinking - the true source of differentiation between the companies that get great results with lean and the ones that get good results initially but find that they can't sustain their gains. It is a universal and continuous flow of innovation that tackles problems from massive to tiny in a spiral of exponentially increasing value creation.
As lean consultants, our job is to support organizations as they develop this internal capacity. I'm beginning to wonder whether or not the way that we tend to do this is as effective as it could be.
Kaizens, mapping sessions, trainings, etc. are all events. As such, they are discontinuous, limited in the number of people engaged, and conducted mainly on the mid-sized problems that lend themselves to this format. Often, they focus on implementing best practices from other lean companies like 5S, kanbans or set-based concurrent engineering, rather than allowing the workers (machinists, engineers, doctors, executives) solve their problems using their own ingenuity.
We don't want to reinvent solutions, and the tools of lean have a demonstrated track record of delivering performance improvements, but the companies who just implement the tools without instilling systematic problem-solving leave so much value on the table. Yet as consultants, we model exactly the kinds of behavior that lead to unsustainable or shallow tool-driven lean programs that generate only limited value.
Our clients need to develop sustainable, continuous flows of systematic problem-solving to maximize their potential. Yet without living with a client for some time, we need to support them.
There must be a better way. In Part 2 of this post, I'll explore some ways to get more continuous flow into our lean consulting work.
In the meantime, I encourage you to check out my two new web class offerings, Lean Product Development Basics and Lean Thinking for the Front End of Product Development.
This is the Holy Grail of lean thinking - the true source of differentiation between the companies that get great results with lean and the ones that get good results initially but find that they can't sustain their gains. It is a universal and continuous flow of innovation that tackles problems from massive to tiny in a spiral of exponentially increasing value creation.
As lean consultants, our job is to support organizations as they develop this internal capacity. I'm beginning to wonder whether or not the way that we tend to do this is as effective as it could be.
Kaizens, mapping sessions, trainings, etc. are all events. As such, they are discontinuous, limited in the number of people engaged, and conducted mainly on the mid-sized problems that lend themselves to this format. Often, they focus on implementing best practices from other lean companies like 5S, kanbans or set-based concurrent engineering, rather than allowing the workers (machinists, engineers, doctors, executives) solve their problems using their own ingenuity.
We don't want to reinvent solutions, and the tools of lean have a demonstrated track record of delivering performance improvements, but the companies who just implement the tools without instilling systematic problem-solving leave so much value on the table. Yet as consultants, we model exactly the kinds of behavior that lead to unsustainable or shallow tool-driven lean programs that generate only limited value.
Our clients need to develop sustainable, continuous flows of systematic problem-solving to maximize their potential. Yet without living with a client for some time, we need to support them.
There must be a better way. In Part 2 of this post, I'll explore some ways to get more continuous flow into our lean consulting work.
In the meantime, I encourage you to check out my two new web class offerings, Lean Product Development Basics and Lean Thinking for the Front End of Product Development.
Labels: culture, lean consulting, lean thinking
posted by Katherine Radeka
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7:52 AM
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