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KNOWLEDGE BULLETIN 004

Want Lean to Fail? Focus on

Waste!
By Gregg Stocker

Although one of the most significant benefits of lean is the reduction of

waste, it is not enough to say that lean is about reducing waste. This may
sound confusing, but those organizations that focus too heavily on waste as
they go into lean tend to be the ones that become disappointed with the
effort and end up dropping it altogether.
Avoiding Tool Infatuation
Thinking that lean is all about reducing waste often leads to an infatuation
with the tools and completely misses the idea that, without transformation,
the tools will do little to drive sustained improvements. Lean is about
transforming leadership, planning, learning, and thinking. Reductions in
waste will happen, but they will be impossible to sustain without
transformation.
Our obsession with quick results has somehow led to the mistaken idea that
lean is a toolbox for waste reduction. We call in a lean expert who knows
which tool to apply to a particular problem, and expect it to be solved while
we go about business as usual. The problem may even appear to be solved
but it eventually creeps back into the process without warning often much
larger than before. In the end, we conclude that lean doesnt work and
abandon it altogether.
So What is Transformation?
Just saying that lean is about transformation isnt enough to make it happen.
People need to know what transformation is, what their roles will be in the
effort, and what they can realistically expect as a result. A big part of the

effort will be to assure leaders stay engaged and make a sincere effort to
learn a different way to lead.
Although there is no magic formula for deploying lean within an organization,
there are some basic elements of transformation that need to be included in
the effort. These elements include the following:

Clear Vision: The organization needs to have a clear and common

vision of the future. The vision pulls people and teams together and
aligns efforts toward common objectives. Without a vision, improvement
efforts will become disjointed and random, resulting in little or no
sustainable success.
Team Learning: Long-term sustainable improvement requires a

method to assure continual team learning. The Plan-Do-Study-Act

(PDSA) cycle is a method for learning that, when applied consistently,
can lead to effective team learning. Based on scientific method, the
PDSA cycle reprograms the way people think and approach the work
they do, and leads to the development of a true learning organization.
Focused Annual Planning: Making the vision a reality requires that

the organization continually adjust its efforts based on a number of

internal and external factors that affect performance. Instituting a clear
and focused annual planning process helps maintain focus on the vision
while assuring that yearly targets are achieved. When approached
effectively, the plan drives an effective balance between the daily work
(the annual targets) and improvement efforts (the vision).
Line-of-Sight Between Work & Long-Term: The benefits of aligning

the work people do with the long-term objectives of the organization are
huge. Strong and focused leadership, along with effective dashboards
can help people understand how the work they do connects to longterm objectives.
Enlightened
Leadership: Achieving any level of sustained
improvement is not possible without a leadership team that is focused,
aligned, and continually learning how to become better leaders. The
role of leaders shifts dramatically toward being a coach with the
objective of developing the problem-solving skills of team members and
creating future leaders.

These elements comprise a system of improvement and, as with any system,

requires development of the whole to be effective. Although there are times
where you may put more effort in one of the elements than the others,
ignoring any one will result in a breakdown of the system. The key, however,
is to understand how each is connected to the vision, and that they work
together to make the vision a reality.
Waste will be significantly reduced as the organization is transformed, but it
is the result of a constant and obsessive focus on achieving the vision.
Targeting waste at the outset misses the point by attempting to skip the
learning that is absolutely necessary for sustainable improvement.