1st Edition
Making Lean and Continuous Improvement Work A Leaders Guide to Increasing Consistency and Getting Significantly More Done in Less Time
Despite the popularity of lean and continuous improvement around the work, most organizations and their leaders struggle to make improvement work.
Many are trying to cope with day-to-day business issues. They bury their heads in the work as they either give up on trying to improve, or are floundering as they keep trying new initiatives to improve with little success. Most lean thinking and improvement publications focus on the use of improvement tools, but never really get to the core of why organizations are not seeing the real results from these techniques and Lean thinking as an improvement strategy. They talk about what to do, but not about the common problems you can expect along the way and how to navigate these and create a fundamental change in how the business works. Making Lean and Continuous Improvement Work will help solve this problem, and help leaders build a solid foundation to making lean and continuous improvement work in their business.
Through numerous examples and detailed case studies, the book shows how business leaders, managers, and front-line supervisors can make Lean and continuous improvement techniques work, increasing consistency and getting more work done, in less time.
Section 1: Introduction to Lean Thinking. Chapter 1: Introducing the Problem and What’s Not Working. Chapter 2: Introduction to Daily Management and Standardized Work. Chapter 3: Key Principles of Lean (Work, Value & Waste). Section 2: Daily Lean Management. Chapter 4: Four Elements of Daily Lean Management. Chapter 5: Pitfalls of Daily Lean Management. Section 3: Why Organizations Struggle to Fix Problems. Chapter 6: Breaking the Cycle. Chapter 7: A3 Problem Solving Process and PDCA Thinking. Chapter 8: Why Standardized Work is Not Standard (and acts as a foundation for continuous improvement). Section 4: How Leaders and Managers Can Help Play Their Roles. Chapter 9: How to Establish Effective Visual Management and Daily Management Routines. Chapter 10: Lean Management System. Chapter 11: Lean Management Routines – the Essential 3rd Cog in the System. Chapter 12: Summary and Conclusion.
Biography
Darren Walsh is Director & Leadership Coach at Making Lean Work Ltd. A leading management consultancy specialising in helping business leaders unlock the transformative power of continuous improvement. He has over 25 years of experience, working with some of the best in automotive, aerospace, medical devices, energy and financial services. Graduating with a Master's degree from Lean Enterprise Research Centre, his insights have been featured in industry-leading publications, and conferences.
