In yet another example of misunderstanding Lean thinking and methodologies, I have ocassionally had people tell me that Lean can’t work in a retail or customer service environment. If Lean were simply about crudely copying the tools Toyota developed, that would be true, but it isn’t, so it’s not.
In fact, Lean is about how we think about the business, how we think about customers and their needs, how we think about business problems, and how we design solutions to those business problems. Lean thinking applies in virtually any business and, I dare say, in most human endeavors. Let me give an example.
I have a friend (which many acquaintances find surprising) who works as an operational support person in a retail operation. He occasionally has to fill in answering phones, and he has repeatedly gotten stung on “secret shopper” calls.