You've heard about Lean. It's just for manufacturing companies that have a production system going. It sounds like something really crazy people do, or something you do when you are just desperate to make things harder than they need to be. Right?

Or maybe you've realized that having cash tied up in years' worth of raw materials is killing your cashflow. Maybe you've noticed that you're losing a lot of productivity due to the same mistake happening over and over again. Maybe you just think that your organization can be more efficient, and you're not afraid of what it looks like to get there.

Lean is one of the most inspiring ways to run a company. Why? Because it takes the bare bones: your product/service, the people you have running it, and the customer you serve and helps you find the most efficient, fun, and satisfying way to get the work done. Lean helps you harness every resource, take advantage of the best opportunities, and bring all of your employees or colleagues into an environment where they are empowered to do their best work.

For those of you who like a little historical context, Lean was pioneered in Japan by Kiichiro Toyoda (of Toyota) - but only after the latter had come to study Ford in the States. All that to say, don't be intimidated by the occasional Japanese transliteration!

Inspired? Check out these resources!

Lean Production Simplified - This is a fantastic introduction to Lean, the thinking behind it, and how to get started.

Lean Office - Lean isn't just for manufacturing. If you're running an office, chances are you have processes that are clunky and lead to more confusion and mistakes than they do excellent execution.

What is Lean? - The question everyone wants a simple answer to. This links to a video!

Key Lean Manufacturing Principles - I really like the rundown at this site.

The Eight Wastes - This is really critical, and I challenge you to look at this and identify what wastes you see in your organization. Disclaimer: There are several acronyms for these, including WORMPIIT, DOWNTIME, TIMWOODS, etc. The point is there is waste, we can identify it, and then we can eliminate it. I like WORMPIIT because it doesn't have any compound nouns, but the link will take you to a DOWNTIME explanation. As you look at this, you'll see that we're all using different words to talk about the same thing. The wastes are:

WAITING

OVERPRODUCTION

REWORK

MOTION

PROCESSING

INVENTORY

INTELLECT

TIME

Hopefully as you wade through all of these, you will come to the understanding that Lean is not a quick fix. It is in itself a cultural shift that can help your company refocus on what really matters: the people, internal and external, that make your business exist and succeed.