From Push to Pull in Lean Implementation

by Mark Graban on August 3, 2006 · 2 comments

Here’s a good post from the Daily Kaizen blog about the need to “stop selling” lean. Remember, “push” is bad, so if you’re pushing lean (or pushing tools) on people, they are likely to be defensive.

If you are helping people solve real problems, helping them reduce and eliminate waste (thereby making their lives easier, as employees, and helping customers), then people will start pulling on lean. “Pull” is good. Show some success and people will start pulling on lean methods and your lean help.

About LeanBlog.org: Mark Graban is a consultant, author, and speaker in the “lean healthcare” methodology, focused on improving quality and patient safety, improving access, reducing costs, and fully engaging healthcare professionals. He is also the Chief Improvement Officer for KaiNexus.

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1 Jamie Flinchbaugh August 3, 2006 at 6:30 am: But not EVERYONE will just come along once they see the evidence. Since we’re using pull here as an analogy, it does have limitations. SOME people will have to be pushed.

However, go first where there is pull. Why create artificial barriers to progress?

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2 SandyC February 28, 2009 at 2:02 am: In one of my earlier blogs, I had mentioned the pitfalls of using a ‘Pull Production’ in case of a remanufactured product where there is a combination of new and salvaged percentage of components. Even with a new product manufacturing and pull production, you may not have optimized your global supply chain.

http://www.infosysblogs.com/oracle/2009/02/pull_production_have_you_achie.html

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