ABSTRACT
Companies are often initially sold on Lean by the fact that a paint-by-numbers problem solving method is fairly easy for all employees to understand—after all, there never seems to be a shortage of problems at any workplace. Given the plethora of problems in every business, it is easy for most people to conclude that their firm needs to be better at problem solving. Companies that are initially enthusiastic about Lean because it will make them “better” at problem solving usually lose their enthusiasm when they understand how slow, methodical, and scientific their thinking has to become to solve problems in a way that truly elevates a firm’s performance. Effective root-cause problem solving becomes essential to the purpose for why a company exists. When people learn to see flow and the lack of it, they see problem solving as primarily being about learning how to remove the barriers to the flow of value to the customer.
