8 TRAPS:Why LEAN

implementations

sputter, stall, and FAIL

Created by Tom Curtis 2010Blog: www.onimproving.blogspot.comOther presentations on www.slideshare.net Search Onimproving Email: ideamerchants@gmail.com

LEAN ImplementationLean implementation is more than teaching concepts

and using tools. It is harder than it sounds and seems. Many enterprises and individuals have started the

path only to sputter, stall, and ultimately fail. There are some major traps that drive this result. This deck

highlights those traps so that understanding, planning, and mitigation may help managers to improve both

their results and experience with LEAN. - Tom Curtis 2010

Traps to avoid in LEAN implementation

Confusing simple concepts for easy execution

Unrealistic expectations of time and resources required to implement

Focus on short-term cost savings

Insufficient tangible management support

Implementation without maintenance plan

Neglect of required culture and thinking change

Lack of systematic planning and execution

Underdeveloped understanding of need for change

Confusing simple concepts for easy execution

Lean is conceptually simple. This often allows its pursuers to misunderstand that it is simple

because of refinement not because it is easy to implement. That may also be true for certain aspects, but not all. We must recognize that

simple does not equal easy. If we do not we will fail. Beware of this trap. It leads to most of the

other traps. See simple correctly.

Unrealistic expectations of time and resources required

This is a trap that waits in all human planned activities. It is amplified in Lean. The amplification comes from the combination of the traps. Lean is not free, it if to be sustained. There are aspects

of Lean that happen quickly and cheaply, but that is not true for everything. Under resourcing

and expecting results too soon creates a situation where success cannot follow. Invest enough.

Focus on short-term cost savings

It is tempting to try to harvest early. There will be some results and savings that will come early. The trap is to begin focusing on short term savings at the expense of the overall implementation. This

focus erodes support below the management level, damages trust, and ultimately hampers what

the implementation provides at full maturity. Enjoy the early fruit, but remember that harvest

rarely comes right after planting. Wait for harvest.

Insufficient tangible management support

Support is more than a sign-off. Support is more than funding. Support is barrier clearing,

focusing priorities, and participating. Many Lean implementations die from lack of nourishment

(provide resources) or lack of sunlight (be there enough, but provide space for change)or harsh storms ( provide protection). A signature and a

smile will rarely be enough. Figure out what support is needed and provide. Be supportive.

Implementation without maintenance plan

How we will sustain and maintain is many times an afterthought. Sometimes we only think of it after

we have seen erosion from the gain we made. Decay is a slow and silent enemy. The

destruction is not done with aggression or malice, but taken through the natural forces of entropy,

time, forgetting and wear. Regardless of how slowly or silently it comes, it is real, painful, and

preventable. The answers are to plan, implement the maintenance mechanism, and to audit and

protect. If not, only failure can follow. Maintain.

Neglect of required culture and thinking change

A Lean Culture and Lean Thinking are different from how most businesses are run. The thinking and culture change do not naturally happen, they

require planning, training, retraining, and management. To not change is like planting good

seeds in bad ground. They may sprout, but rarely bear real fruit. This is part of the new operating system that must fully replace the existing. Left

neglected, failure and regression will win out. Create.

Lack of systematic planning and execution

Lean Implementations must move forward in a systematic and planned way. To do otherwise weakens the overall roll out. It is easy to grab isolated concepts

and tools and get started--you may even see some results, but many of these concepts only work for long

when supported by the structure of the operating system. The other issue that often arises is continuous changes in focus and method. Such changes hamper

and ultimately smother Lean progress. Plan well.

Underdeveloped understanding of need for change

Without a why, the will runs dry. There must be a developed understanding in the organization of

the need for change. It must permeate the whole group. A few people are not enough--they will

fatigue from having to face additional opposition and carrying extra weight. It is often taken as a

given that everyone sees the way we do and recognizes the urgency and requirement. To

assume is to likely doom. Educate constantly.

What Traps do you need to get

out of?