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Real Lean: Understanding the Lean Management System
REAL LEAN (Volume One) opens the six-volume REAL LEAN series with sixteen practical essays written, each aimed at a specific question or confusion managers have about Lean. Its through-line is the argument that Lean is a comprehensive management system, not a toolkit, and that its most neglected half, the "Respect for People" principle, is the true key to successful transformation. Written from hard-won practice rather than theory, it helps leaders understand what "REAL Lean" actually requires.
This book helps readers
Distinguishing Real Lean from Fake Lean. Opening essays like "Keep It REAL" and "The Great Misunderstanding" confront the confusion of Lean with six sigma and tool-only imitations, showing why misunderstanding the system undermines well-intentioned efforts. Restoring the Leadership and Culture Dimension. A cluster of essays on improving leadership, creating a Lean culture, and even understanding Lean leadership through the metaphor of music makes the too-often-ignored "Respect for People" principle concrete. Returning to the Original Teachings. "Remembering What Ohno and Shingo Said" and value-stream-map "myth-busting" correct distortions by going back to what Toyota's pioneers actually meant. Confronting Waste and Selfishness. Essays like "The Tragedy of Waste" and "Too Much Selfish Thinking" expose the zero-sum mindsets that quietly corrupt Lean and betray its non-zero-sum intent. Winning Executive Commitment. "Gaining Executive Buy-In for Lean," with real examples, tackles the perennial problem of getting senior leaders genuinely on board rather than merely sponsoring. Extending Lean Beyond Manufacturing. Essays on higher education, government, and non-profits show that Lean as a management system applies far outside the factory, while a closing essay warns how Lean activities get sabotaged.
Concise, pointed, and practical, each essay stands alone yet builds toward a single Lean succeeds only when understood as a complete, human-centered management system. For practitioners and leaders who suspect their Lean efforts have stalled at the level of tools, Volume One is both a course correction and the gateway to the deeper REAL LEAN series.
This book helps readers
Distinguishing Real Lean from Fake Lean. Opening essays like "Keep It REAL" and "The Great Misunderstanding" confront the confusion of Lean with six sigma and tool-only imitations, showing why misunderstanding the system undermines well-intentioned efforts. Restoring the Leadership and Culture Dimension. A cluster of essays on improving leadership, creating a Lean culture, and even understanding Lean leadership through the metaphor of music makes the too-often-ignored "Respect for People" principle concrete. Returning to the Original Teachings. "Remembering What Ohno and Shingo Said" and value-stream-map "myth-busting" correct distortions by going back to what Toyota's pioneers actually meant. Confronting Waste and Selfishness. Essays like "The Tragedy of Waste" and "Too Much Selfish Thinking" expose the zero-sum mindsets that quietly corrupt Lean and betray its non-zero-sum intent. Winning Executive Commitment. "Gaining Executive Buy-In for Lean," with real examples, tackles the perennial problem of getting senior leaders genuinely on board rather than merely sponsoring. Extending Lean Beyond Manufacturing. Essays on higher education, government, and non-profits show that Lean as a management system applies far outside the factory, while a closing essay warns how Lean activities get sabotaged.
Concise, pointed, and practical, each essay stands alone yet builds toward a single Lean succeeds only when understood as a complete, human-centered management system. For practitioners and leaders who suspect their Lean efforts have stalled at the level of tools, Volume One is both a course correction and the gateway to the deeper REAL LEAN series.
- GenresBusiness
170 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
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February 9, 2016
Great for those undergoing a Lean Transformation
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