“An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made in a very narrow field”  

Edward Teller (1908-2003) 

 

 

I’d like to tell you about ten heinous errors that you should never make as part of your Lean activities. They are in no particular order. They all work particularly well as standalone activities to ruin your kaizen efforts. 

Ignore these at your peril!

That was a bit too dramatic…. 

 Just avoid them and life will be better.   

#1 Not Planning Properly 

“No plan is a plan to fail.” Just common sense really. Putting together a successful program of Lean activities needs a comprehensive amount of planning. 

#2 Lack of Sponsorship 

Your Lean Program needs a credible business leader as a sponsor. Lean Programs without a credible sponsor become irrelevant side shows. 

#3 Not Communicating Properly 

I mention this just to insult your intelligence. How many times have you heard this? Dozens and dozens. Change can be fearful for many individuals.
The more we can share what we are up to the better. Go over the top on bringing people with you. People will be suspicious of any change. The worst thing we can do is ignore people and then act surprised as we watch the inevitable car crash unfold in slow motion before our eyes. This stuff is all about hearts and minds… 

#4 Trying to do too much 

If you are involved in making improvements then by your very nature you are probably a very optimistic “glass half full” type of  person. That is great, but just ensure that this enthusiasm does not lead you into the trap of over promising and under delivering. Always,always understate your promise and always over deliver. This leads me onto the next error. 

#5 Going Wide and Shallow rather than Narrow and Deep 

It is far better to create a “narrow and deep” improvement that is sustainable. Avoid the trap of quantity of activity over the quality of that activity. Often less is more. 

#6 Failure to create standards 

One of the worst “Lean” crimes is to come up with lots of great improvements, try them out to ensure that they work, and then fail to implement them properly. Documenting the new process and then training staff on the new methods takes time , dedication, and commitment. As Taiichi Ohno said, “No standards, no improvement” 

#7 Not involving local leadership 

I previously mentioned failure to communicate as a massive error. Not involving local leadership is another error that can kill your improvement efforts. They need to be involved and fired up by the improvement activities. At the end of the day these are the people who will lead the improvements day after day, month after month. If they are not on board then it just isn’t going to happen. 

#8 Not training people properly 

If you have had the opportunity to learn about Lean thinking in both an academic and a practical setting that is great. One of the dangers is that the more you know the more you assume that other people should know. i.e. if you send e-mails every day you assume that everyone else can do it to. 

Never water down the Lean training for staff, just because you know about it already .They don’t. Afford them the same opportunities that you have had. 

#9 Not having the proper resources 

Very simple this one. Down to good planning. Make sure you have the resources that you need to make improvements when and where you need them. e.g. improvement forms pro forma, booked rooms, business services, lean toolkit (post its, masking tape………..etc.) 

#10 Poor follow through 

We’ve made some “improvements” .One week, one month, one year later have we gone back to check if these improvements are still alive and well. If you fail to do this then your improvements will never sustain. 

Experiment

Think about these 10 errors. 

Have you ever committed any of them? 

Write down examples from your own environment. 

Now, for each example think about what you could do in the future to avoid them. 

Hope this helps 

best regards 

Graham Ross

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