Is Lean a dichotomy?
When I mention the word ‘lean’ in a business context some people tell me it stands for making people redundant and making do with the absolute minimum amount of people. In reality this cannot be further from the truth.
Author: Paul Wilson
Date: Jul 1, 2009 - 11:07:52 AM
When I mention the word ‘lean’ in a business context some people tell me it stands for making people redundant and making do with the absolute minimum amount of people. In reality this cannot be further from the truth.
Think about it, if the objective of lean is to remove the non-value added activities from a process enabling ‘value to flow’ so that the customer receives a better quality service or product, then this definition just doesn’t make sense. Anything that would jeopardise this objective being achieved is not in the customer’s best interests and therefore by definition cannot be as a result of a lean programme.
Instead Lean is a philosophy concerned with making processes more robust and predictable by removing ‘stuff’ that gets in the way like waiting time, bottlenecks and situations likely to induce quality issues. Lean is about making processes work better by involving the workforce and not just reducing the workforce. It is true that sometimes the process improvements thrown up efficiency gains following lean introduction can result in fewer people being required to carry out a particular activity but it is also true that it is sometimes necessary to introduce people into the process to make it work more smoothly.
Also lean organisations which understand the philosophy try to re-assign people from non-value-adding activities to value adding activities because they understand that human talent is the greatest asset a company can have. Each person is a ‘process expert’ in their own right and the knowledge they have is invaluable.
In summary, Lean is not a dichotomy, it is just sometimes badly implemented, mis-understood and used as part of a political agenda.
To read the original post visit interim management views
Related Articles...
How Time Can Be A Business Owner’s Best FriendAug 19, 2010 - 12:25:13 PM During my career as a business coach, I have come across many business owners and executive managers who find it really hard to manage their time effectively. I have also seen that the successful business owners and managers are not always the busiest people in the world. In fact, many business owners and managers who are better off in their careers are able to find more time for themselves and their family.... [Read the full story] |
Creating an Extraordinary OrganizationJun 21, 2010 - 5:16:52 PM Creating an Extraordinary Organization... [Read the full story] |
The Task Of A True LeaderJun 16, 2010 - 1:23:24 PM Funny.... [Read the full story] |
Develop Your Twitter Strategy - How To Automate Your Twitter PostsApr 26, 2010 - 5:30:56 PM Social media is an amazingly powerful tool for not only keeping in touch and finding out what is going out there but for marketing purposes. Twitter is one of those social media places many people are addicted too. One of the main reasons is - it is short and sweet. Twitter lets you get right to the point. You only have so many characters to use in which to get your message across. If you haven't developed a twitter strategy than you should! It's a great way to build followers and brand yourself.... [Read the full story] |
Newest Articles All Topics
|
|
Topics
Subscribe to our Newsletter!Subscribe to the eMarket SmartsTM Newsletter in order to keep up to date with what's happening with dime-co.com, get the emails on new video articles, featured articles, and occasional special announcements. Be assured, your privacy is always protected. We never rent, sell or trade your private information. Service provided by GetResponse Autoresponders |
Copyright © 1998-2010 DIME Consultants Inc., All Rights Reserved.
Home - Submit your Articles - Author Submission Guidelines: Part 1 - Part 2
Sponsor Log In -
Privacy Policy - Advertise With Us
About Dime-co.com - Website Terms & Legal Statement - Contact Us
Disclaimer: Dime-Co.Com is an online information article network. All articles, comments, and other features herein are for informational purposes only and are provided "as is" without warranties, representations or guarantees of any kind. The views and opinions expressed in an article, comments, links or blogs are the author's own, and not necessarily those of dime-co.com's owners. Sponsor links are usually paid advertisements. For full disclaimer, please read our TOS.
