In 1996, James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones popularized the term “lean thinking.” It was their expression for what they observed studying Toyota’s manufacturing operations: an absence of waste. Today, lean concepts have moved beyond the factory floor to become an organizing set of principles and practices applicable to all business operations and activities, including entrepreneurial startups. Every idea in your company can benefit from a lean approach, be it a product, process, service, or strategy. But what does it really mean to be lean?

It’s often easier to describe what lean isn’t than what it is. Lean isn’t about being spartan, skinny, or stingy. It isn’t about slash-and-burn cost cutting, reducing head count, or beating up suppliers to get the lowest price. Being lean means taking a subtractive approach and systematically removing anything impeding the free flow of value to the receiving party.

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