‘Lean’ Is the Flavor of the Moment

Lean on me. The Leaning tower of Pisa. Jack Spratts wife could eat no lean.

You may forget, for now, any other context for the word lean. The only approved usage of lean these days is as a method for improving workplace efficiency and productivity.

But you already know this, unless you are oblivious not only to business but also to politics.

Both Washington gubernatorial candidates promise to apply the theory of lean to state government. Presidential candidates espouse the qualities of lean that will make the federal government operate better on less money.

Lean long ago swept through business. A review of the applicants for Seattle Business magazines Washington Manufacturing Awards reveals just how pervasive lean is; it would be easier to count the number of applicants that didnt make adoption of lean operating principles a prime feature of their submissions or at least mention it in passing.

For those who have spent any time working in or watching business, none of this trend will seem unfamiliar. From the dawning of the industrial age, Business Man has attempted to improve the productivity of the workplace and those who work in it.

What often is heightened by these efforts, however, is not productivity but the inherent tension between management and workers. Management pins its hopes on Taylorism, total quality management, Six Sigma, lean and the like as a way to finally get some work out of those lazy bums who call themselves employees.

The workforce, meanwhile, collectively rolls its eyes at yet another Gospel of Efficiency preached by gurus with books, seminars and consulting contracts to sell, wondering how much time this latest fad will take away from actual useful work.

Cynicism on the part of the workers is understandable. Devotion to workplace productivity theory tends to mirror personal dedication to New Years resolutions about diets and exercise: a burst of initial enthusiasm, a fading of fervor as results prove to take longer than expected to materialize, an eventual shelving of the entire scheme, to be replaced by the next flavor of efficiency enhancement.

Lean advocates themselves acknowledge that getting the full benefit requires a lot of time and more than a few pretty posters and slogans. That fact is useful to remember when evaluating productivity programs and the promises made on their behalf.

Even the most diligent of us do not work at full speed and perfect efficiency. We cant. That way lies burnout. We break up our day with moments of down time, of contemplation (even if its just the pattern in the acoustical tiles overhead), or, if you must be blunt about it, of just plain goofing off. At least we hope its just moments, instead of a career. And such idle moments may have some benefit in terms of productivity, if they recharge us for the tasks ahead or give us a moment to see a problem to be solved in a fresh way.

If its difficult to pare away inefficiency in our own lives, imagine how tough it is to do it for an organization, be it business or government. Fat rarely occurs in distinct, easily detachable strips that can be trimmed like a steak.

What lean does do is create a framework for evaluating how things are done and why. Do operating procedures consist of a lot of patches and quick fixes that no one had time to replace with something better? Are tools, machines and inventory placed where they are because thats where they were dropped years ago, instead of being where theyre most useful?

If business and government leaders realistically promise what lean can do, and stick with the program, then lean stands a good chance of being something more than the fashion everyone was wearing last year. If not, then heres a business opportunity for you: Think up leans successor. Because if business has proven itself consistent and efficient about anything, its the propensity to latch on to the next cant-miss, sure-to-deliver way to squeeze a few more minutes of work, and dollars, from the office, jobsite or production floor.

BILL VIRGIN is the founder and editor of the subscription newsletters Washington Manufacturing Alert and Pacific Northwest Rail News.