Lean Initiatives Limping?

Well what do you expect? LEAN came out of Toyota. How's that working out?

That statement is a bit of a red herring. LEAN is one thing and an outgrowth of Six Sigma, but Six Sigma is a direct descendent of Deming's work in statistical quality control.

I understand your frustration, but the fundamental reason any change does not work is because any change must be anchored into the culture for it to be effective long term.

Therein lies the crux of the problem. It's like a garden - if you do not tend to it regularly the weeds return.

It's one thing to send an agent of change into an organization, but most organizations do not consider the continued effort required to maintain and cement that change. It simply is not part of the plan and the management is too busy fighting the next fire to notice the slow creep of entropy returning. Toyota does not have the patent to that problem!

You saying that Toyota's quality program didn't evolve or keep up with the company's growth.

No, I am saying that it takes a concerted effort to not only implement a change in corporate culture, but a long term sustaining effort to keep the culture from reverting back to past habits.

It's not just a Toyota problem.

That I agree with. and that problem is always a continuing one

What annoys me of any of these corporation improvement programs is that they never seem to address the question why the "poor" business practices came into being in the first place. The forces that made the old habits a habit are likely still there. These forces I believe predominantly come from management itself, the business model used (management) or are just the nature of the business in question. I'm all for periodic reevaluations of productivity practices, but if the staff keeps returning to a particular method of operation there's likely a good reason for it.

What annoys me of any of these corporation improvement programs is that they never seem to address the question why the "poor" business practices came into being in the first place.

Because the top echelon looked at move the company into short term profits and growth where it actually effect the company in the long term.

after not only receiving a large bonus with their large paycheck they move on.

And when their efforts start to become critical and the deep effects begin to hurt the company, these MBA after not only receiving a large bonus with their large paycheck they move on and are somewhere else with a great fiscal history where they were.

Doing it all over again

The forces that made the old habits a habit are likely still there.

There are still out there but at somewhere else. Raping and pillaging.

I should say....White collar raping and pillaging.

p911

Well that's one of the models I had in mind with my comments.

I am mostly in agreement with the Anonymous Hero (who is that guy,anyway?) but I would add two points:

1) I believe that the vast majority of the lean initiatives that fail are the ones top down ordained (big bosses demand), not those genuinely initiated by the people who actually own the process (workers).

2) What the esteemed writers of the WSJ have really described is the latest incarnation of the Hawthorne effect. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect "Those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it, " applies to history of manufacturing and quality and experimental sociology, not just famous generals or nations.

milo