University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
Leading the Lean Enterprise Transformation
Book

Leading the Lean Enterprise Transformation

George Koenigsaecker
Productivity Press, 2009
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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Applicable

Recommendation

On the subject of lean transformation, you can trust George Koenigsaecker. Besides dedicating his career to the exploration and application of lean principles, he writes with the courage of his convictions, producing a lean study on lean leadership. His book moves briskly and offers useful nuggets in almost every paragraph. Whether you want to dive into a full-scale lean transformation or simply pick up a few sound leadership ideas, this book is a good starting point for learning about lean practices. Koenigsaecker tells leaders that they’re only effective if their employees improve and grow. His insistence that executives visit worksites and witness the way waste gums up the works reads almost like a moral imperative. getAbstract recommends this book to leaders interested in developing talent and managers who want to streamline their procedures using lean methods.

Summary

Lean – Peeling Back the Curtain

Lean business practices fight waste and unnecessary processes in an organization. An appropriately lean culture excels at spotting waste and getting rid of it. Toyota, an acknowledged champion of “continuous improvement,” identifies seven ways to help workers detect waste in their procedures by watching out for: 1) “overproduction,” 2) errors, 3) needless “movement,” 4) too much inventory, 5) “overprocessing,” 6) “waiting time” and 7) “unnecessary motion.” The trick is to turn an honest eye to your work and identify what adds value and what doesn’t. If you wouldn’t feel comfortable asking a customer to pay for a certain action or step, question seriously whether there’s a good reason you continue to include it.

Many proponents of lean principles look to the Toyota Production System as the true definition of lean. You won’t find a lean manual or guidelines at Toyota, but you will find people focused on constant progress. Toyota blends its never-ending search for excellence with “respect for people,” who are the engines of that goal.

Bringing about lean transformation in your organization requires a certain set of tools and a specific...

About the Author

George Koenigsaecker, who has led numerous lean conversions at major corporations, invests in lean businesses and serves on the board of the Shingo Prize, an international award for lean firms.

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