Tracking the (Lean) Sasquatch

(Adapted from NWLEAN.net - January 2011)

Have you ever developed a statistic without any data? I once asked someone to show me the data on the ridiculous claim that 90% or more of lean implementations fail. What they provided for me was shocking for a professional to put forth: A list of of websites, with other people quoting the same (or similar) statistic.

The facts are these – There is no study of lean failure. There is no standard definition of lean failure. There is no data to support lean failure. No company is going to publish any data that says they couldn’t successfully find & eliminate waste. No consultant is going to (ever) say they failed, so this kind of data is truly unobtainable.

If any of this existed, lean would die an immediate & painful death. Why would any executive take a risk inherent in ANY method which failed the majority of the time? Because YOU can beat the odds? Of course not. Lean is not dying. In fact, the opposite is occurring. Lean is thriving. More and more companies are exploring lean, and using lean to plan the future of their companies. More people are participating in lean activities, lean training, and lean projects. There is more traffic about lean concepts, principles, and tools than ever before. These are facts, real and verifiable.

I’m not going to cover why so many feel it necessary to discuss the concept of lean failure. For some, it is an opportunity to discuss why leadership involvement is so important. For others, it is a reason to discuss a list of improvement philosophies, from Kaizen to TOC to Lean to Six Sigma (hoping they can get involved in a piece they’re good at). Whatever the reason, the concept has become a part of what I call lean mythology, taught from the earliest training sessions I can remember. It is taken as fact, not to be questioned, by anyone, ever. That alone makes me want to challenge the myth.

UFOs, Sasquatch, The Lock Ness Monster, Lean Failure. Show me one. Bring me the body. Display the evidence for all to see. Let us examine it, like good scientists. Let us pick it apart, question the components. Did lean fail? Or was it something else? What is your criteria for hanging the failure on lean? Perhaps it was the consultant used. Failure rarely rests on a single element, if indeed we are even talking about failure.

I expect to get none of this, and as many of you who follow me have heard, I’ve come up with a theory:

“Lean does not fail companies; Companies fail to get lean.”

A simple principle, a challenge, if you will. And I now have another theory. The theory that lean exists as a maturity continuum, not as an end state. This theory dictates that all organizations exist on the lean continuum, which spans from NOT VERY LEAN to VERY VERY LEAN. Different parts of an organization can exist on different parts of the scale. Some departments, some production lines, certain service providers, can be leaner than others. All without having to ‘go lean’. We exist on the continuum, regardless of the effort we put in. Now, if we put in some effort, we (might) get leaner. If we put in a lot of effort, some planning, proper guidance, we (can) get leaner.

But there is a momentum, always pushing us backward, toward the NOT VERY LEAN end of the scale. I like to call this momentum RESISTANCE TO CHANGE. This resistance hits us hardest when we take our eye off the ball. When we stop trying. When we stop actively changing. When we think we’re there.

This isn’t lean failure as some would have you might believe. If someone defines lean failure as “no longer actively pursuing lean”, well, that seems a little self-serving. According to my theory, you’re still on the lean continuum. You’ll still move on that continuum, sometimes forward, sometimes back. It’s the nature of change.

As professionals, we have to face facts. Not everyone wants to go on a lean journey (another myth is that ‘lean takes many years to bear fruit’ – hogwash!). Every organization has different needs. A formal lean path works well for some, different for others. Some want to dabble in lean tools. These people tend, in my experience, hang out on the NOT VERY LEAN end of the spectrum. Others are more interested in lean concepts, or lean principles.

What is the difference? It’s more than just semantics. Lean concepts & principles drive thought and behavior. Lean tools tend to drive activity. Lean concepts & principles are great for changing hearts & minds. Lean tools are wonderful for putting these concepts & principles into action. Lean tools are much better than structured training, they form experiences which foster actual learning.

If you've been stuck in the ‘lean tools’ mindset, here is a chart which can help structure a useful perspective:

This table isn’t comprehensive, to be sure. And many of these aren’t exclusively lean. This is meant as a guide, to help you design your own lean path. If you set your sights high enough, you can achieve many levels of greatness! Don’t get caught chasing a Sasquatch (like lean failure) thru the woods!

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Bill Kluck is Assistant Vice President with Genpact, LLC, and a Lean Strategist, Analyst, and Innovator. Check out his LinkedIn profile at LinkedIn/In/Leanmaster. You can also find him at NWLEAN.net, or by email at leanpro@gmail.com.