Creating a Lean Culture: Tools to Sustain Lean Conversions

I searched high and low for a book on Lean manufacturing to better understand its application and function. To many authors go into theory and academic explanations or dialogs of Japanese words. This was what I was looking for! I found this book so valuable that I made it required reading for my entire staff. We have now started on the lean journey.

This book is an excellent start to navigating a lean culture change. David Mann challenges you to change your "management system" in order to change your culture. Once focus is put on the "management system" you can observe, and measure impact which will then translate into cultural shifts. The book is well written and full of concrete examples of actual implementations as well as roadblocks.

This book fills an essential gap between Liker's Toyota Way and the many books on Lean Tools. We intentionally didn't begin our lean transformation in our large service orgnization until we had this book because we saw the folly in trying to implement a bunch of lean tools without the necessary management system. We have visited some Tier 1 Toyota suppliers and Kaizen really means continuous improvement not a succession of week-long projects that many big-time consultants and organizations focus on. This book is our defacto lean transformation handbook and I am glad to see that it has become a standard reference for at least two MBA programs in the area.

This is a fantastic book, one of the small number of "core" lean books that I recommend to people. I've used the book with many healthcare clients who are new to lean. They have loved the book so much that they have read it three times, learning something new each time, and learning something different at each stage of their lean learning journey. The most frequent comment I hear is that the book means one thing to them before they start but it means even more to them after they have "struggled" with a lean environment on their own, revisiting the book and its concepts helps immensely. Mann's book helps make concrete the vague notion of a "lean culture" and spells out steps leaders can take to start moving in that direction. The book doesn't promise quick fixes, nor should it, but it puts you on the right path to developing your people, your leaders, and your problem solving skills. Kudos to David Mann for a very practical, actionable guide for lean leaders or those of us who strive to become lean leaders.

I've been doing Lean since 2000 (Six Sigma earlier, 1997) and have been applying general Toyota methods with what I'd consider a very good amount of success. The problem has been, how do you convey the necessity of the Toyota Lean method as a complete "business system" as opposed to JIT and "tools" thinking for busy, batch-thinking individuals? This book fills the gaping void. Pro: -Straight forward principles, complete and thorough -Appear to be true to the Toyota principles as I have seen demonstrated by ex-Toyota executives/leaders turned consultants -Drives to the heart of lean as a business system, with many elements that I've personally tried or seen work well -A Shingo Prize winner... impressive -Avoids excessive Japanese terminology (not an issue for me, but sometimes an issue for others) Con: -I think that the power of IT applications is somewhat understated, and pitfalls of using or attempting to use IT-related systems not well described. Would like to see a better description of pitfalls and issues more specifically. Until then, think of IT as you would if you were automating a process... it had better be high volume and well understood/mature. Bottom Line: I think this a must-have text, and it is excellently written and laid out... plus it's to the point reinforced with numerous short case study examples. I'd recommend pairing this book with "The Toyota Way" (read that first to pave the way for this book). Also consider "The Toyota Way Fieldbook" as the ideal 3rd text to study. A word of caution, these books require a whole new way of thinking and commitment.