ABSTRACT
Failure is a pretty strong word, but considering all the effort that has been invested in a Lean transformation for a few years, it is not too strong. We define a Lean failure as a management decision to limit the company’s Lean efforts to certain departments and just do Lean stuff. This usually manifests itself when the company reaches the point where it must make a decision to adopt a strategy shift to Lean or give up on the Lean journey. Consider the fact that a Lean strategy is a long-term culture and commitment of company resources to achieve business success. Typically, there has been significant Lean training to orient all employees and to build their expectations from management. Not only have Lean tools been absorbed and some Lean systems have been developed into standard work, but the culture has been gradually turned to begin alignment with the two key building blocks of Lean: continuous improvement and respect for people, including management mentoring. So a failure of Lean is a significant backward step and results in the questioning of management direction. All the “I told you so” foot draggers and resistors to change now have evidence that if they wait it out, management is not really committed to long-term strategies.
