In order to start a lean culture, you must understand the principles and values, and this book gives you a great introduction.
Summary
Title: This is Lean - The Solution to the Efficiency Paradox
Author: Niklas Modig, Pär Åhlström
Themes: Leadership, Management, Business, Agile, Lean
Year: 2012
Publisher: Rheologica Publishing
ISBN: 919803930X, 9789198039306
Pages: 168
This groundbreaking book delves into the principles of Lean management and how they can be applied to achieve maximum efficiency and success in any industry.
From start-ups to established corporations, 'This is Lean' offers a fresh perspective on how to streamline processes and achieve sustainable growth.
While lean management is the most widely used management philosophy in our time, it has yet to be properly defined and is widely misunderstood.
This book provides individuals, as well as internal organizations, with an understanding of what they read by using clear, concise language and insightful examples, introduces the paradoxical concept of efficiency, and argues that organizations lack an understanding of what efficiency means.
It is common for organizations to focus too much on not using resources efficiently - in the traditional and more common sense of efficiency. This leads to an increase in work that does not add value to the organization.
The result of the organizations is that we try to be efficient (to be busy) and they become less effective.
The book "This is Lean" explains the key concepts of Lean management, a method for improving efficiency and reducing waste in business operations.
Some of the key concepts covered in the book include:
The Lean philosophy is centered around the idea of creating more value for customers with less work.
The concept of flow, emphasizes the importance of creating a smooth and uninterrupted flow of work in order to reduce waste and increase efficiency.
The concept of pull is about producing only what is needed when it is needed, rather than producing in advance.
The concept of perfection is about continuously improving processes and systems in order to achieve the highest possible level of efficiency.
The concept of respect is about treating all stakeholders (employees, suppliers, customers) with respect, as they are all essential to the success of the business.
The concept of leadership is about creating a culture of continuous improvement and empowering employees to identify and solve problems.
The concept of visual management is about using visual cues to make information easy to understand, such as using Kanban boards, to help teams understand the flow of work.
The concept of experimentation is about using scientific methods like A/B testing, to test hypotheses and improve processes.
There is a great deal of emphasis in the book on the efficiency paradox - what organizations perceive as being efficient and whether it is actually true.
Depending on how many variations you're dealing with, resource efficiency can lead to even more work.
Because of the additional work, the more you strive for resource efficiency, the more inefficient you can become.
My Book Highlights:
"... Lean is not a static state to reach. It is not something you complete. It is a dynamic state characterized by constant improvement..."
"Lean is not a set of ready-made tools. It is a way of thinking and acting..."
"... Lean is not about being cheap; it is about being less wasteful and thus more productive and profitable..."
"... Flow is the heartbeat of Lean. Without flow, there is no progress..."
"... Leadership is about creating a culture of continuous improvement, where everyone is encouraged and empowered to identify and solve problems..."
"... Lean is about creating value for the customer, not about reducing costs..."
"... Perfection is not about being perfect. It's about pursuing perfection and getting as close as possible to it..."
"... Respect for people is about treating everyone as a valuable member of the team..."
"... Visual management is about making information easy to understand and using it to manage the flow of work..."
"... A/B testing is a way to experiment and find out what works best, to improve and optimize processes..."
In the efficiency matrix, suggested in this book, operations can be optimized along two axes: flow efficiency and resource efficiency.
The flow efficiency of a process measures how quickly and undisturbed a customer's demand is met.
The efficiency of a company's resources can be defined as the extent to which they are used in its processes.
Niklas and Pär's goal is to solve this 'efficiency paradox'.
In order to achieve high resource efficiency, you must have high inventories and long throughput times, whereas to achieve high flow efficiency, you must have low inventories.
An efficiency matrix suggests that companies can have four different states of efficiency; 'wasteland', 'efficient ocean', 'efficient islands', and 'perfect state'.
The perfect state, or lean, is not easy to achieve, and it is not even strategic for all companies.
The biggest enemy of lean is variation.
The company is forced to choose between optimizing flow or resource efficiency as variation increases.
If the company decides to build inventory, resource efficiency will be improved on flow efficiency expenses.
The pursuit of the perfect lean state is not always the right strategy for all companies.
Chapters of the Book:
Chapter 1: From resource focus to customer focus
Chapter 2: Processes are central to flow efficiency
Chapter 3: What makes a process flow
Chapter 4: The efficiency paradox
Chapter 5: How Toyota became number one through customer focus
Chapter 6: Welcome to the Wild West... We call it lean
Chapter 7: What lean is not
Chapter 8: The efficiency matrix
Chapter 9: This is lean!
Chapter 10: Realizing a lean operations strategy
Chapter 11: Are you lean? Learn to fish!
Epilogue: Develop a lean outfit!
This Is Lean by Niklas Modig and Pär Åhlström is an essential guide to Lean principles and practices for software engineers.
The authors provide a comprehensive overview of the Agile software engineering process, from laying out the foundations to implementing the practices.
They also offer practical advice on how to improve teamwork, collaboration, and communication to increase efficiency and reduce costs.
With This Is Lean, engineers can gain a deep understanding of the Lean methodology and apply it to their own projects in order to increase productivity and deliver better results.
Niklas Modig has been conducting research at the Stockholm School of Economics since 2004 and was a visiting researcher at the University of Tokyo between 2006 and 2008. Thanks to his fluency in Japanese, Niklas had the opportunity to spend thousands of hours within Toyota's service organization in an attempt to understand how its philosophy can be applied in non-manufacturing contexts.
Pär Åhlström holds the Torsten and Ragnar Söderberg Chair in Business Administration at the Stockholm School of Economics. He previously held positions at Chalmers University of Technology and the London Business School. With 20 years of experience researching Lean, he is one of the pioneers in the field. He frequently publishes Lean in manufacturing, product development, and, more recently, in the service sector. His research is often cited, and he is also an award-winning professor.
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