Who is the governing body of Lean?

Who is the governing body of Lean?

The short answer is that there is no governing body for Lean. There are, however, quite a few powerful influencers.

In terms of companies, Toyota is the company most closely associated with Lean. While they have no authority over “Lean”, when they speak, people listen. They are frequently copied, so the way they do things tends to be copied widely.

As far as government agencies, there really isn’t anybody in the lead on this. In fact, most governmental organizations are decidedly un-Lean.

The most prominent Lean group is the Lean Enterprise Institute. It was founded by James Womack, one of the authors of Lean Thinking. It is a non-profit, so has a somewhat different character than most of the Lean training and consulting groups online. They are a leading source of Lean training. Because of their size and reach, they carry a lot of weight.

The University of Michigan is one of the more prominent programs in higher learning. They have Jeffrey Liker on staff, so it gives them star power. He is a prominent writer about the Toyota production system.

Utah State University also has a lot of say because of the Shingo Prize that they give out. The award’s criteria guide tends to act somewhat as a framework for companies wanting to become Lean.

The ASQ (American Society for Quality) and to a lesser degree, the AMA (American Management Association) both have a healthy dose of Lean on their site and in their training. With large audiences, they have some significant say in Lean.

For the most part, though, the bulk of Lean knowledge online is fragmented and provided by a lot of companies like mine. Go to YouTube and you’ll lose count of the number of people making videos, and pretty much any Lean trainer or consultant with an internet connection has a Lean glossary or a blog on their site.