The Tour That Inspired the Lean Movement in the United States
(This is the first in a 12-part Series on the Origins of Lean in the U.S. and my role as one of its pioneers.)
Those who have read my book, Business at the Speed of Now, and who work with the great team at Mass Ingenuity, rarely hear us talk about Lean. Even though the principles we believe in and the tools we work with are totally Lean, I stopped talking about Lean many years ago for two reasons: 1. I, along with many others, found the Japanese terms to be a turnoff and so I created an American version of it. 2. Lean has become so misunderstood and so misapplied over the years I did not want us to be associated with its malpractice. That said, we believe in Lean, and the Now Management System® is the application of Lean to the work of management, work that leads to creating a successful Lean enterprise.
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John,
Thank you for sharing your expertise that you’ve learned first hand about Lean. I’m looking forward to your future posts about how you have “Americanized” the Lean terminology and methodology to meet the needs of American companies. Bravo!