Common Pitfalls

encountered by Lean newcomers

1) Ineffective Change Agent

Change Agent does not have enough...

1. Political juice
2. Personal understanding and/or experience with Lean teachings & practices
3. Passion to make it happen

2) Missing or inadequate Lean Management Systems

"We tried that, and it didn't work here."

Whenever you hear that lame statement, you can be almost certain that the reason for failure was a failure to simultaneously implement an appropriate lean management system to support and sustain the isolated changes that were "tried."

If you plant a sapling in the desert with no systems to water or tend it, what do you think its chances might be of eventually growing into a fruit-bearing tree?

Every element of every lean system needs supporting lean management systems and visual management systems.

There are no exceptions.

3) Over-reliance on outside consulting

4) Inappropriate team organization

There are many ways to organize your team.

If the team doesn't even have the right foundational structure, its chances of success are low.

5) Choosing the wrong tools and systems

If a professional carpenter comes home to find a leaky pipe, will he try to fix it using his familiar hammer and nails?

Just because you're more comfortable with a small set of familiar tools doesn't mean that those are the right tools for the job.

Have you ever noticed how much easier it is to repair a car when you have all the right tools?

5a) Mistaking lack of functionality for ease of use

It is not uncommon for a Lean newcomer to be attracted to a "simple-looking tool" without realizing that the reason it looks so simple is because it is missing a large part of the functionality that will soon become important.

And just because you don't yet fully appreciate some of the features of any given tool doesn't mean that you won't soon.

5b) Thinking you're stuck with the tools you started with

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