Leading a Lean Operation ◾ 225
Lean Thinking Looks for the Sources of Problems
A Lean thinker is interested in and in a way even welcomes (if not joyfully)
the appearance of interruptions, anomalies, and problems in his or her pro-
cesses as opportunities to understand and eliminate sources of variation
and disruption. This root cause orientation to corrective action is a power-
ful engine in driving continuous, lasting improvement. After all, continuous
improvement focused on the same set of recurring problems is not exactly
what Lean thinking is all about. Instead, a Lean thinker’s version of corrective
action is aimed at uprooting the sources of problems so they never appear
again. A Lean leader’s capabilities should include being able to l ...