The Lean Strategy: Using Lean to Create Competitive Advantage, Unleash Innovation, and Deliver Sustainable Growth

CHAPTER 8

Accelerate the Gains

Gains can be accelerated by reinvesting learning from operations into product improvement, and then vice versa.

After Jacques’s company was sold and he had retired, he pondered a key question: how sustainable is Lean? Fiancette and Prévot had continued to pursue Lean learning, and they enjoyed impressive results for several years, but over time the increased pressure from the new owners to return to traditional financial decision-making forced both to give up and move on. Naturally the company rapidly returned to its pre-Lean performance levels. Interestingly, the acquiring company saw itself as committed to Lean ...