Sometimes people are hesitant to try something new. Then, when they try and it’s a struggle, they emphatically decide it won’t work. But don’t give up hope too quickly. There is intangible and critical value in “experience.” Experience is riding a bike over and over again until you can balance on your own. And the real experience is deeper than that, it’s about falling off that bike, scraping your knees, and banging up your elbows until you learn to ride. The journey to implement lean and make it a part of the daily corporate DNA can feel a lot like learning to ride a bike. 

You start with the training wheels- by implementing Safety and 5S and focusing on sustaining the improvements. Next, you learn and use basic problem solving tools like 5 Whys, Brainstorming, and various mapping tools, maybe even a fishbone diagram or two. The training wheels of early lean are a distant memory, but these foundational tools have laid a solid foundation for you to build upon.

Your knowledge and experience continues to expand as you participate on lean/continuous improvement projects and teams. Your confidence continues to grow as you apply yourself to learning more about how lean can lead to positive changes and when you see how these projects have impacted daily operations for you and your peers.

Over time, others will notice that you have mastered the basic lean/continuous improvement tools and you might be asked to take it to the next step and lead a complex project.  And just like that, before you know it, you are out there riding with “No Hands!”  You find that you are confident leading any project and that you’re ready to apply any of your lean tools out of the extensive lean toolbox you have at your disposal.

Now, anyone up for a BMX race?

Click here to read more about lean management practices at MAU.