MYLS Newsletter: June, 2013

Last updated by Jeff Hajek on July 28, 2013

As I write this, I am facing a bit of a dilemma. I have seen a few red flags popping up in the Lean community, and wanted to address them. But on the flip side, I don’t want to come across as being all reprimandy, especially since what I am seeing is coming from just a few interspersed people. I am afraid, though, that some of the things I have observed will become contagious and spread. So, what I will do instead is just post a few rules that I’d like you to help me enforce. If you see these things going on, please make a point of addressing them.

  1. Thou shalt not use “Toyota does it that way” as a point in an argument.
  2. Thou shalt not replace current terms with Japanese terms just to sound smarter.
  3. Thou shalt not be afraid to challenge the teachings of Deming/Shingo/Ohno/Shook/Womack etc.
  4. Thou shalt not treat anything about Lean as sacred. Everything can be improved.
  5. Thou shalt give straight answers. If your answer is a plumped up version of ‘it depends’ ask more questions until you can give a straight answer.
  6. Thou shalt not make use of quotation marks when referring to someone as an “expert” or a “consultant”.
  7. Thou shalt not ridicule companies that are not Lean or that are doing it poorly.
  8. Thou shalt not be uppity about whether Lean is a set of tools, a philosophy, a methodology, or a mindset, and about whether you can implement it or not. Just focus on getting better.
  9. Thou shalt not waste time arguing about whether Lean or Six Sigma is better or what each focuses on. There is an 80% overlap between the two.

OK, I now relinquish my soapbox. Please help police the Lean community. If you have any thoughts on these, let us know in the comments section at the bottom of the online version of this newsletter.

As always, best wishes on your Lean journey.


1 Comment

zion1958 · July 2, 2013 at 1:39 pm

Totally agree with the “Notes from Jeff.”
Well stated. Often, I believe things are communicated as a mystery to better market someone’s perceived expertise. At the end of the day it boils down to, “can we get better?” Yes, we can. Doesn’t simply become continuous improvement in area of life, whether personal, professional,spiritual, etc.? What went well or not well today and can I make it better tomorrow? Pretty basic in my mind.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *