Mark Graban, consultant and host of www.leanblog.org , and a good lean friend, once posted a web log topic on “lean or lame” (a phrase he coined). That topic drew a variety of comments from his readership. He described L.A.M.E. as “lean as misguidedly executed,” and it’s his description that so many companies use to describe their efforts at developing implementations that aren’t based on true lean principles, but on using lean tools to maximize short-term benefits, reduce headcounts, and even to look good to current or potential customers (with no real intent to walk the walk). Many web logs, forums, and other mediums of communication gravitate toward conversations that fit this model.

In our corporation, I’m blessed to work with an external consulting group. Their objective is to help us understand the lean, or Toyota’s production system, philosophy, and guide us down the path. This group is made up of previous Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada (TMMC) and Toyota Supplier Support Center personnel. One consultant was previously a team leader at TMMC, another was a supplier logistics manager, another was from the human resources arena, and yet another was from the supplier side to TMMC. Each of these people spent more than 20 years living and learning in the Toyota system.

Why is that important?

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