Lean management is a strategy for business efficiency. It’s a system that was developed from the Toyota production system and it focuses on eliminating waste in order to reduce costs, accomplish objectives, and increase customer satisfaction.
The term lean management was first used by James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones in their book “The Machine That Changed the World” in 1990. They coined the term to describe how the Toyota Production System (TPS) lowered manufacturing costs while maintaining high quality standards. They introduced it as a new way of thinking about production systems largely because of how it differed from mass production techniques, which were popular at this time, but left many companies with excess inventory, poor quality standards, and high manufacturing costs.
Today, leaders are held more accountable for their actions and decisions. This creates a situation where the leadership and management strategies need to be re-defined and improved on.
The new model of leadership is called “Lean Leadership”. Lean Leadership is a leadership method that focuses on creating value for the business through efficient processes. It helps in developing sustainable organizations by reducing waste and improving collaboration between the various departments in the organization.
There are several methods that have been developed by Lean Leaders, but there are three key principles which are common to all of them:
Remove waste, build quality products and services, create flow systems.
In this course we will explore various Lean tools and how to use these, along with the Lean Thinking leadership qualities.
