Richard Gray: A novel approach to the implementation of good lean management

Mostly, I read in order to relax, so my heart sinks when-ever someone recommends a business-related book to read. Nonetheless, this is exactly what I have been doing in the past month.

The book in question is The Lean Manager by Michael and Freddy Balle. It is published by Lean Enterprise Institute and one reviewer confessed to having stayed up all night to finish it. All I can say is that perhaps the reviewer should get out more.

However, I must say that written as a novel, the book is an easily digestible way of absorbing the challenging issues that lie behind the sustainable implementation of any lean management programme.

The principal character is a British plant manager fighting to avoid the closure of his operation – an automotive supplier in Eastern France. The story is clunky at times and the dialogue turns occasionally into a lecture. But, chapter by chapter, the reader comes to understand the traps that cause so many lean programmes to fail and the hard but realistic way to engage people successfully and in a sustainable fashion.

For me, there are three key lessons in the book. Firstly, the need to integrate lean programmes as part of the way we do things around here rather than keep it a separate issue. Secondly, to understand that you have embarked on a long-term cultural change not a short-term dash for cash and, finally, the need for a sustained top-down commitment to any programme, rather than delegating implementation to middle management.

Yes, The Lean Manager is a textbook disguised as a novel but it does get you to think. The overriding message is: ‘making people before making things’. When it comes to sustainability, that means taking the time to encourage the right behaviour in every employee rather than rushing to save money by the simplest means. When we are all struggling against such challenging market conditions, such an important principle is worth attention. Happy reading.

Richard Gray is commercial director of the BPIF and director of Vision in Print

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