Celebrity Lean Jeopardy — Suck it, Womack!

By Mark Graban

If you've ever watched Saturday Night Live's Celebrity Jeopardy sketches, you probably remember the running gag: Sean Connery confidently choosing categories… and getting them hilariously wrong. He wasn't confused. He was certain. And that's what made it funny.

This meme always comes to mind when I hear Lean terms used with great confidence–and just enough inaccuracy to derail the intent. One example that shows up often is hoshin kanri. I've heard it turned into “hosing kanri,” “ho-sin kan-ree,” or treated as a vague synonym for “annual goals.” The words get picked, but the meaning gets missed. And just like on Celebrity Jeopardy, the mismatch creates confusion instead of clarity.

Hoshin kanri isn't just a fancy category name. It's a disciplined, iterative way of aligning strategy, priorities, and daily work–through dialogue, learning, and adjustment. When leaders say the words without understanding the thinking behind them, hoshin becomes a document, a meeting, or a checkbox exercise. People nod along, but alignment doesn't actually improve.

The humor in the sketch works because it exaggerates something very human: confidence without comprehension. Lean thinking asks us to slow that down. To ask, “Do we really understand this?” before declaring, “I'll take hoshin kanri for $100.” Getting the words right matters–but understanding and practicing the intent matters far more.