Lean Results: Don’t Believe the Hype (At Least in a Kaizen Report Out)

Published by Jeff Hajek on

I place a lot of value on integrity. I was always pretty honest growing up. I once returned a pair of Susan B. Anthony dollars to a lunch lady when she gave them to me instead of two quarters. And my parents had a knack for finding all sorts of things and returning them to their rightful owners. Wallets, a bank deposit bag from a small business, and even a motorcycle helmet once. It rubbed off on me.

Going to West Point solidified that sense of honesty. Cadets live under an honor code, and are not supposed to lie, cheat, steal, nor tolerate those who do.

Lean Results

So when I started working as a Lean practitioner, I faced a personal challenge. I saw a lot of padding of kaizen report out numbers-the ones where people would state the Lean results they achieved. I never got the sense that there was any blatant dishonesty-just a lot of projections, assumptions, and speculation. I, on the other hand, tended to report only what I had actually witnessed.

So I was always a bit self-conscious in my early days of facilitating Lean projects. I delivered great gains, but my results never seemed to be at the top of the pile. I always knew I had helped the team I supported, and felt confident that my work was appreciated, but had that nagging feeling that I was not being seen as measuring up.

That is, until one day during a company meeting when a vice president announced that he had tallied the gains from all the kaizen events that had been conducted on his watch. We were now officially a billion dollar company with only a dozen employees, and could sell off most of our buildings. Plus, we never put out any products with defects anymore.

You see, those Lean results that were reported in the kaizen report outs didn’t quite add up to reality. Projections didn’t always pan out. Assumptions were not always right. And my boss knew it.

I learned a few valuable lessons on that day quite a few years back.

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2 Comments

Jeff Hajek · February 18, 2010 at 5:06 pm

Brian,
Thanks for the comment. It is nice to know I am not alone in my views.
Jeff

Brian Buck · February 17, 2010 at 12:51 pm

Jeff, I am right there with you.

I had a client change a slide to state they have tripled their gain in dictation savings. When I questioned the client, they advised me they were spreading the savings from the single area where we trialed to all of the areas. Seven months later, they STILL have not spread from the single trial area.

Puffing up your results is kind of an inventory waste for learning. It covers up what really goes on.

I think clients or teams that inflate their improvements feel pressured into a HERO CULTURE. Individuals or departments try to stand out in the pack to be admired because the system rewards that. A lot of organizations have heros at the center of their culture. While Lean thinking is not about heroes and doesn’t reward heroism, that is a MAJOR change for a company (especially in America).

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