Lean Strategy Formulation

If you just finished planning seasoning and feel like OKRs are a four-letter word, I promise you this talk I had with Jeff Gothelf "aka the Gotfather of OKRs" will change your mind. Key takeaways: 1️⃣ Addressing The Dreaded "Planning Season" We’ve all dealt with big off-sites, hours lost in spreadsheets, and the year-long product roadmap—only to watch half the “strategic plan” unravel. Jeff says that's garbage. “Why does planning need a season?” The market doesn’t wait, your customers don’t wait, why should you? He suggests continuous, lightweight planning—think weeks, not months—recognizing your plan as a best guess. When unexpected events arise (and they will), you can quickly pivot and act on new insights. 2️⃣ Clear Strategy First, Then the OKRs Many teams jump straight into OKRs in a vacuum and wonder why they fail. Jeff’s Lean Strategy Canvas helps clarify direction: identify the big internal goal, obstacles, “where to play,” and how you’ll win. OKRs that don’t flow from a bigger-picture strategy are bound to disappoint. “If we set goals in that way [i.e. customer-centric key results], it fundamentally changes how the organization works.” Start with a long-term objective—like “become the easiest way to onboard a new team member”—and define *measurable behavior changes* (“increase the percentage of first-time admins who set up a new user flow without support”). Without a strategy anchoring your OKRs, you’re just picking numbers and hoping they work. 3️⃣ Actionable Key Results Should Measure A Change In Behavior Every successful product or feature drives a change in user behavior: 🔸 They use your product more often 🔸 They complete key workflows at a higher rate 🔸 They finish workflows faster 🔸 They report higher satisfaction Effective Key Results capture that shift by answering three questions: ✨ Who? ✨ Does What? ✨ By How Much? Instead of celebrating a launch date, measure how many users complete a core workflow with the new feature. This can be tricky for early-stage products, but start with rough indicators. Talk to users every week. Over time, refine these metrics to prove you're delivering real value. It’s far better than shipping blindly, hoping something sticks. 4️⃣ Acknowledge The Uncertainty Of It All Even the best OKRs fail if your culture punishes learning. Teams often know they’re off track but stick to the plan out of fear. As Jeff said, “If we’re going to do discovery work, we’re going to learn that we were wrong about some stuff.” Leadership must handle that truth if you want the real benefits of OKRs. Stop clinging to the illusion of certainty that comes with a 12-month roadmap. Confirmation bias will push you to stick with whatever you put on there, even if better opportunities emerge. Embrace continuous discovery. Update your OKRs as you learn. Measure the user behaviors that matter. Trust your team to adapt as the world shifts. Stop waiting for “planning season” to make your next move!

Lean = Profit. Not Philosophy “If digitization shows you the problem… Lean is what solves it.” In the last post, we discussed how many factories already have production scanning and real-time data, yet performance does not improve. So what is the real challenge? It is not a lack of machines or data, but the reality that factories are running with , unstable flow, and constant firefighting, where work moves in batches, problems are discovered late, and decisions remain reactive, slowly turning waste into a norm and firefighting into a culture. This is why Lean is essential—not as a toolkit, but as a strategy to fix flow and build a culture of problem solving. By reducing WIP, balancing lines, and solving problems at root cause every day, flow becomes stable, variation reduces, and teams move from reacting to controlling. The mistake most companies make is jumping straight to digitization and expecting transformation. But digitization only makes problems visible faster—it does not solve them. That’s why many factories have data but no action, visibility but no improvement. The real answer is simple: Lean is the strategy, digitization is the enabler. When combined, digitization accelerates Lean by making flow visible in real time, exposing bottlenecks instantly, and triggering faster response, while also making a culture of problem solving easier to sustain because problems cannot hide and data drives daily action. Most factories miss this synergy. They either have digitization without direction or Lean without speed. But together, they create a system where problems are not just seen, but solved every day. Digitization enables . Lean builds the capability to improve it. Together, they turn data into action and action into results.

✨Happy 2026 ✨ A new year is often a good excuse to slow down for a moment, and rethink what we take for granted. Especially when it comes to #strategy. Because strategy rarely fails loudly. It fails quietly, when the world changes, and our mental models don’t. Two books make this contrast remarkably clear. 📗 In The Lords of Strategy, Walter Kiechel tells the story of how modern strategy was shaped: - Bruce Henderson (Boston Consulting Group (BCG)) introduced competition as a dynamic game, with experience curves and analytical advantage, - Bain & Company emphasized sharp focus, scale, and doubling down on a few winning bets, - McKinsey & Company institutionalized strategy as a top-management discipline, structured analyses, fact-based recommendations and execution through hierarchy, - Michael Porter gave us positioning, trade-offs, and competitive advantage through structure. What emerges is a shared assumption across the great strategists of the postwar era: 👉 strategy is primarily an analytical act, performed upstream of execution. These approaches were powerful. They worked, in a world of relative #stability. 📘 In the Lean Strategy (Michael Ballé, Daniel Jones, Jacques Chaize and Orest Fiume), strategy starts from a very different observation: In today’s world, competitive failure rarely comes from poor analysis. 👉 It comes from the inability of organizations to #learn fast enough. Lean strategy does not reject strategic choice. It redefines how strategy is discovered. Through the #4F cycle: 1️⃣ Find real customer and operational problems at the Gemba, 2️⃣ Face them instead of hiding them behind buffers and plans, 3️⃣ Frame learning through flow, standards, and clear responsibilities, 4️⃣ Form people so the system keeps improving. This is a break from classical strategy. 👉Where traditional models optimize decisions before execution, 👉Lean builds advantage through execution itself. Lean's enterprises do not win by predicting the future better. They win by discovering better answers faster, every day. That's the power of #Kaizen. That’s why Lean is not an operational overlay. It is a strategic alternative. And that’s why companies that remain locked in yesterday’s strategic logic will struggle not because they lack intelligence or discipline, but because their strategy no longer matches how value is created. 💥 Lean is awesome — not as a slogan, but as a serious answer to how organizations can still make sense, learn, and succeed. Wishing you all a thoughtful, demanding, and learning-rich 2026. #LeanIsAwesome

🧭☣️ The Best Formula to Do Lean — with AkiJun Everyone wants to “do Lean.” However too often, companies confuse “doing Lean” with “implementing tools.” They start with 5S, add some KPIs, maybe even do a few workshops… and then wonder why nothing truly changes. Lean isn’t a checklist. It’s a way of thinking, behaving, and leading. It’s not about perfection, it’s about progress through purpose and people. After years of leading transformations, one thing became clear to me: there is a formula for Lean success. It’s not written in textbooks, but it’s proven in practice. ➡️Here’s my AkiJun Formula for Lean: ⚙️ 𝘓𝘌𝘈𝘕 = (𝘒𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 × 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 × 𝘋𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯) × 𝘗𝘋𝘊𝘈ⁿ Let’s break it down 👇 1️⃣ KNOWLEDGE Lean starts with understanding, not copying. You need to know your processes deeply: the flow, the problems, the causes. Data helps, but real knowledge comes from going to see, asking why, and showing respect. When people understand the why, improvement becomes natural, not forced. 2️⃣ RESPECT Respect is more than being kind. It means listening, challenging, and empowering. You cannot improve a process you don’t respect, and you cannot respect a process if you ignore the people who run it. True Lean grows in organizations where everyone’s voice matters. 3️⃣ DETERMINATION Lean is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. You’ll face resistance, failures, and moments of doubt. But determination is what separates “projects” from “transformation.” It’s the inner drive to keep improving, even when it’s uncomfortable. 4️⃣ PDCAⁿ Continuous Learning The most powerful part of the formula is the exponential PDCAⁿ. Because the more you practice Plan–Do–Check–Act, the faster your learning curve grows. Each cycle makes you stronger, smarter, and closer to true continuous improvement. Lean maturity isn’t built in one project, it’s built through repetition. When these elements work together, Lean stops being something you do and becomes part of who you are. It’s the difference between applying tools and transforming culture. So next time someone asks, “What’s the secret to Lean success?” Tell them it’s not about having the best templates, or the perfect process map. It’s about building knowledge, showing respect, and staying determined, every single day, and repeating the cycle until improvement becomes habit. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘬𝘪𝘑𝘶𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘺: 𝘚𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦. 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭. 𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯. 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦. Because Lean isn’t just a methodology. It’s a mindset that, when practiced with heart and discipline, changes everything. 💡 Your turn: What would your version of the Lean formula look like? Which part of the equation- Knowledge, Respect, or Determination, do you find the hardest to sustain? #LeanByAkiJun #ContinuousImprovement #LeanThinking #Leadership #Kaizen #OperationalExcellence #RespectForPeople

#Strategy isn’t just about the destination — it’s as much about how you get there.   In my experience, when organisations take strategic decisions as one-off, they lose time, clarity, and momentum. They end up with inconsistency in decision making and perhaps end up with poor choices and missed opportunities. In fact, I would not call them strategy at all. They are just that - one-off decisions.   The latest Harvard Business Review article on Lean Strategy Making strongly resonates with me inasmuch as strategic decisions are concerned. It argues that strategy should be treated as standard work—structured, repeatable, and deliberate. Much like operations. Such an approach reduces waste and improves outcomes.   It begins with taking decisions grounded in facts, exploring multiple alternatives, and committing to a focused, resourced choice. For this kind of approach, one has to keep at the centre, a strategic priority pipeline. This is nothing but a dynamic list of high-value goals, ranked by urgency and impact. Moreover, every outcome—whether pursued, delayed, or dropped—is logged and tracked. It becomes a learning for future decisions.   At Spice Money, we follow a similar model. Our mission to empower #Bharat is disaggregated as clear priorities. Be it expanding our #Adhikari network or entering underserved regions or launching inclusive services - each initiative goes through the same disciplined flow: gather data, evaluate options, act decisively, and track outcomes. This structure helps us move ahead with confidence and stay aligned with our larger purpose - of growing and growing right.   If you’re looking to make strategy a true capability in your organisation, this HBR article is worth your time: https://lnkd.in/d8BiRBiV   #LeanStrategy #PurposeDrivenLeadership #SpiceMoney #StrategyExecution #DigitalBharat Ramesh Venkataraman| Rashmi Aggarwal | Ram Rastogi 🇮🇳| Harsh Mittal| Usha Murali| Kuldeep Pawar | Venkatramu J | CA. SUNIL KUMAR KAPOOR | sameer nagpal | Rohit Ahuja| Pankaj Vaish | Dr. Binu Varghese | Rohit Sood| Srikrishna Narasimhan | Pankaj Vaish | veena mankar I Subramanian Murali | Mayank Jain