You may be wondering if the world needs another Lean website/blog. In short, what’s my “Why”?

It’s like this: While there is excellent information on the web, particularly at the Lean Enterprise Institute, Mike Rother’s site, and Mark Graban’s LeanBlog, many companies still struggle mightily with the Lean transformation. One has to wonder why.

In my experience there are three overarching problems in making a successful Lean transformation. Discussion of any of these problems is rare, but they must be addressed. Addressing them will the the main, though not exclusive, focus of this website.

The first of these problems — one from which many other challenges flow — is compensating for the differences between the culture of Japan at the time Lean originated, and American culture today.

We can think of culture as a set of common reference points of a group of people — reference points that, without us even thinking about it, shape our thought processes and tell us which behaviors or reactions are socially acceptable and which are not. Culture shapes our self identity and our sense of duty or of entitlement. Culture tells us how to act with business associates, with peers, with those in positions of authority, and with subordinates. And culture helps us predict how other people will act.

Trying to implement Toyota’s methods without understanding cultural differences will absolutely create problems. Consider, for example, the admonition “Don’t buy on price alone.”

When I’ve put this statement to Japanese friends and clients, their reactions have basically amounted to “Duh.” On the other hand, most American managers are completely baffled by this idea. It is such a foreign concept that Americans rarely even ask the obvious question: what do we do instead? ( A question I will answer in a future post…)

These different reactions stem from fundamental cultural differences. If Americans (and those in other cultures) don’t compensate for the differences, it will have profound implications for the success of any Lean transformation.

The second major problem I have seen in transforming an organization into a Lean one is that management fails to understand Lean as a holistic approach to business.

In my experience, instead of pursuing a holistic approach, many managers in the U.S.A. see Lean as a set of add-ons to the present, unchanging, way of doing business. Figuratively speaking, they just want to add a new App. It doesn’t work that way. It can’t work that way.

Consider, for example, how Toyota shape their own company culture. Do you suppose Toyota hire just anybody? Of course they don’t. They seem to want to hire people who are curious, who naturally think in terms of a system, who will collaborate in the search for opportunities for improvement.

Who does the initial screening of applicants? The Human Resource (HR) department of course. This means that HR talent acquisition and management functions are an integral part of Lean. This seems really basic, but I’ve never seen this association made before. In my experience, most Americans just don’t think in terms of how the wider business practices affect a Lean transformation. Toyota’s approach is holistic. Ours must be as well.

The third major problem in Lean transformations is that managers don’t fully appreciating and act on the teachings of Edwards Deming.

Deming’s teachings culminated in his System of Profound Knowledge. This comprises four interrelated points: appreciation for a system, knowledge of variation, theory of knowledge, and psychology.

Of these four, knowledge of variation is the only one that seems relatively widely understood, or is at least widely discussed, in Lean circles. My hope is that this website will increase understanding of the other three.

Ultimately I started this website and blog because I believe… well, no, actually, because I know… that many American companies are trying to create Lean environments with knowledge, with attitudes, and with some staff members, that are completely unsuited to the task. I’ve spent years trying to understand this stuff. My hope is that this website will improve the learning curve for others, and that it can make work more rewarding for more people by helping make Lean more widespread in the U.S.A. and wherever managers are willing to consider the effect of their local culture, take a holistic approach to the Lean transformation, and study and act on all of Deming’s teachings.

That’s my Why.