I’ve have been studying the Lean Manufacturing movement in the US for the last 10 years and there seems to be a a pattern that is developing on how companies view Continuous Improvement.
- Companies hire consultants to teach them how to use “Lean Tools” (5S, Kai-zen, Value Stream Mapping, etc…)
- Companies search out problems or issues to apply these tools to, in hopes of fixing them
- Companies then create teams of people who know how to apply these tools
The problem is that, in general, we are creating lean doers, not lean thinkers. And its hard to continuously improve when you are simply applying technique and not questioning why you are using this technique. Or if the tool is right to improve the issue.
Let’s begin to develop THINKERS, and DOERS in 2009.
