Hi Aly,

As an engineering student entering the work force many years ago, I too was thrown some curve balls. My big revelation was that the engineering taught in college was theoretical – based on models of reality and not reality itself. The real world doesn’t follow the model exactly. I was able to calculate loads and velocities to 5 decimal places but in reality the results didn’t quite match up. This is where statistics come into play as well as hands-on experience. As George Box stated, “Essentially, all models are wrong, but some are useful.”

Therefore, my opinion is that both “book learning” and learning by doing are equally important. The book learning is theoretical and based on perfect-world models and the doing lets you understand how well those models translate in the real world. To properly learn lean management simply by doing, you would need to experience the perfect lean management workplace – a pretty tall order. I would approach it from both sides, theoretical and real world. This way, you learn how it’s supposed to be vs. how it really is.

I have found that the Lean Enterprise Institute (www.lean.org) is a great resource to explore lean management. The book Managing to Learn by John Shook has also been a great resource for me. I’m sure you can/have found others as well. For real world learning, you don’t necessarily have to work at a firm to learn about lean management. Next time you’re at McDonald’s, look around at how the work stations are laid out and how the workers interact. Compare that to Arby’s or Wendy’s or any other fast food place. You will likely see some differences and how those differences affect the customer. Do the same at other retail locations and you will begin to see how well (or poorly) different organizations implement the lean and quality initiatives you have learned about.

Good luck (but I don’t think you’ll need it).