Leading and Managing the Lean Management Process

CHAPTER 4

Lean Team

The third element of Lean Management is the use of a team-based approach. The logic for utilizing teams can be summed up by Aristotle's idea that ‘the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.’¹ Namely, a team possessing the correct camaraderie and espirit de corps will facilitate objective attainment. As noted by Taiichi Ohno, “a championship team combines good teamwork with individual skill.”² The outcome of a team-based approach further promotes system goals more so than any individuals could achieve acting independently.

Lean is primarily about management, workers, and the trust that binds the two. These are the critical elements of a Lean system.³ The Italian philosopher Machiavelli (1469–1527) has been attributed ...