Lean thinking is when I am able to think what my boss wants before he evens think of it and have it ready when he thinks of it. Which in other words means perfection a good goal to aim for.
A Lean organization is similarly a perfect organization - one which is able to produce a service or product which meets the customer needs (what my boss wants since he is my customer) and is able to do say better, faster, cheaper and simpler.
Is this possible? Does not better quality mean higher price or faster means complex technology. It need not be so. In US I am able to buy a Japanese Toyota Yaris which is made in Japan, shipped to US, have to pay duty on imports and yet the car is cheaper than the US cars - GM, Ford, Chrysler. And when I say cheaper it is the TCO - total lifecycle ownership - maintenance, repairs, spare parts, etc. My earlier Toyota Corolla survived 13 years without the need to ever take it to a dealer, gave me a mileage of 30 mph till the last year of its service (before it got totalled in an accident - a five car pileup).
No wonder Toyota is the solid example of lean thinking.
Is Lean thinking possible? Yes it is and it does exist because there are smarter people than us, so all we need to do is tap their potential. The MTO who is able to ensure that all needed vehicles are on road is a lean thinker. If in my tenure I never hear of shortage of vehicle, lack of drivers, lack of spares means there is a MTO who is a damn good Lean Mean fighting machine.
The IO who keeps my map up to date before even I feel the need for it it a lean thinker.
A payroll commission which is able to anticipate all possible issues that may crop up and cater to all demands (not satisfy all of them of course) would be the output of lean thinking.
A company commander who knows exactly which soldier is due for promotion, which ones need to be groomed in next 2 years for promotion and plans for their training is a lean thinker. And when the officer is on his way out, he should be able to hand over notes to the new officer of the detailed plans. If the soldier is being transferred to another battalion he should be able to send a letter to the new Adjutant about the details related to the soldier - that is lean thinking.
Is lean thinking possible and how does it happen. My balance blogs will deal with this aspect.
A company commander who knows exactly which soldier is due for promotion, which ones need to be groomed in next 2 years for promotion and plans for their training is a lean thinker. And when the officer is on his way out, he should be able to hand over notes to the new officer of the detailed plans. If the soldier is being transferred to another battalion he should be able to send a letter to the new Adjutant about the details related to the soldier - that is lean thinking.
Is lean thinking possible and how does it happen. My balance blogs will deal with this aspect.
No comments:
Post a Comment