Making IT Lean

178  ◾  Making IT Lean: Applying Lean Practices to the Work of IT

Lean Enablers

The Lean Improvement Model says that we should “enable everything,” the

point being that the degree to which we can facilitate the work of the Lean

Problem-Solving script, the easier it is to identify and implement improve-

ment projects. This means we are trying to remove obstacles. Surprisingly,

we find in many IT (and other) operational environments that obstacles

seem to be the norm and not the exception. When we identify Management

Support as an enabler, for example, what we mean is that management

helps remove obstacles, but again, surprisingly, we often find that manage-

ment puts as many obstacles in the way as they may attempt to remove.

We have seen this hap ...