Creating a Lean Culture, 3rd Edition

198 ◾ Creating a Lean Culture: Tools to Sustain Lean Conversions

When Gemba Walks Are Not Enough

I was leading an internal consulting team bringing Lean applications to

end-to-end business process value streams. The initiative had been the idea

of the senior VP for global operations. His area’s performance results had

dramatically improved in five years of concentrated Lean applications in

manufacturing, sustained by adoption of Lean management. He persuaded

I had met briefly with the president after the meeting with his leader-

ship team. He seemed eager to get involved with Lean in a more active

way. It was in this context that he asked a memora ...