Random thought for the week: You always hear “we're not Toyota, we don't build cars, etc. etc.” in context of making excuses for not implementing Lean, since:
- Lean comes from Toyota (which earlier inspiration from Ford, TWI, etc.)
- It's obviously in the name “Toyota Production System“
“We're not Toyota” becomes a ready excuse for Lean failure. Since some of us are fond of saying, “Lean does not implement itself, Leaders do,” what if it was called:
Leaders Production System
That way, if the effort failed, you couldn't only say, “We're not Leaders!”
p.s. I'm not seriously suggesting a name change. Just food for thought.
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Mark Graban is an internationally-recognized consultant, author, and professional speaker who has worked in healthcare, manufacturing, and startups. His latest book is Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More. He is author of the Shingo Award-winning books Lean Hospitals and Healthcare Kaizen, as well as The Executive Guide to Healthcare Kaizen. He also published the anthology Practicing Lean that benefits the Louise H. Batz Patient Safety Foundation, where Mark is a board member. Mark is also a Senior Advisor to the technology company KaiNexus.
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LPS… I like it. I also like “Thinking Production System” for TPS and promote this when I teach.
It also has another meaning I like: a system to produce leaders. Producing leaders is something lean does. A system that focuses on making numbers looks good produces managers that try to make numbers look good. Management systems that aim to improve the system produce managers that lead improvement efforts.
As with any system, interactions between components are important. The people effect the system and the system effects the people.