How to Support Lean Thinking

Abstract: Lean thinking has been around for decades, yet relatively few organizations have adopted its ideas to the fullest extent. And as the evidence for radical improvement is compelling you have to wonder why. The clues are in the way that most organizations are designed and managed and the difficulties of changing from hierarchies to self-managed teams. This paper examines lean thinking and, by taking a closer look at the Toyota case, provides some guidelines that will help leaders to better understand what needs to be done