A New Way To Learn Lean
Helping to Make Your Business Great Again
- Stories from NUMMI #11
A New Way of Learning Lean
You may have read many of the great books written about Lean.
That’s wonderful! We need to gain as much knowledge as we can about Lean. Reading articles, watching videos and attending Lean seminars are all a vital part of our Lean learning process.
But what happens when we finish our book or leave our Lean event and return to our facility?
What do we do next? Where do we begin?
Why Leaders Can't Delegate Lean Implementation
We have seen examples where managers send a team of employees off to an expensive Lean workshop. When the team returns to work they are given an assignment to “Make Their Area Lean”.
It is almost like the manager is sitting back and saying, “Show me what you have learned”.
The employees are all excited about what they have learned. They want to try out some of the new Lean principles. They want to set the world on fire!
But guess what? Turning a highly motivated “Lean Team” loose on your production line is not a good idea! That won’t work! It’s the old “accident waiting to happen”.
Leaders Must Be Involved
Now don’t get me wrong. From the very beginning of the Lean transformation at NUMMI, managers and leaders were very much involved in the Lean transformation.
In fact, the leaders learned to teach Lean to the employees. But the key word is “teach”.
The new Lean managers had to learn the difference between managing Lean and teaching Lean.
“Managing” Lean used the old command and control style. “My way or the highway”.
The problem with this method is that employees become afraid to make a move without instructions from the manager. And so they tend to do nothing. They wait to be told what to do.
This creates a “no win” situation. The manager is too busy to do everything and the employees are frozen with fear of taking the next move without approval from their manager.
Learn by Doing
The manager, who may also be new to Lean, might not understand his or her role either.
The manager is in a learning mode.
They will be Learning a new style of leadership. That of a coach and trainer and no more command and control.
I could continue on and on with these examples but what I am trying to point out in this short post is that “Going Lean” is more than a course or an activity.
Learning Lean is a process. And training Lean is a process.
Lean is about improving the process.
Learning to improve the process of training and of Lean itself is a long term commitment.
The Lean Learning Academy
The Lean Learning Academy saw a need to help others learn about Lean using a cost effective and yet results focused method.
We studied many of the Online courses and repeatedly heard that a trainer or coach was not available to support when needed.
At first, we focused on the cost issue and the time and expense involved in Lean training. Especially during the Lean startup phase.
And then we developed “The Lean Challenge” which uses the same training method that we learned while working at NUMMI and Toyota. But, instead of a classroom, we are using a weekly FREE Zoom Lean Coaching call to actually see and hear the students and guide them through the projects they are working on.
Focus on Reducing the Cost of Lean Training
One of the biggest expenses during the startup period is the expense of training both leaders and employees on the lean basics.
Our hybrid model of Online training includes live coach led training.
