Lean For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 3

Lean in the Organization: Principles, Behaviors, and Change

In This Chapter

Probing the cultural climate

Aligning behaviors to Lean principles

Understanding the phases of organizational change

You are part of one or more organizations. An organization is a group of people arranged and structured for a purpose. It could be for a business purpose (such as, to develop or provide goods and services to customers for a profit). It could be another purpose (such as education, government, or nonprofit contributions to humanity). A family is a type of organization.

An organization’s culture and the principles that drive people’s behaviors ultimately determine the degrees of an organization’s performance, quality, and success. Think about famous organizational cultures — such as Facebook, Nordstrom, P&G, Nike, Toyota, or Goldman Sachs — and how they’ve performed. In each of these cases — as in the case of every organization — people’s behaviors have both steered and been steered directly by the principles and belief systems fostered from within and spread across the organizational landscape . . . for better or for worse.

Organizational cultures are deeply ingrained. The principles ...