The Fine Print About Lean Transformations

By Jon Miller | Post Date: May 27, 2010 10:46 PM | Comments: 6

Here's the deal. If you call between now and July 1, 2012 we will guarantee a full 5X return on investment for a lean transformation! Benefit now and pay in 24 easy monthly installments. No capital investment is required. Ready to accelerate your trip along the lean journey expressway? There are three easy ways to get in touch: phone, e-mail or leave a comment below!

Whenever you're ready to make a deal it's a good habit not only to read the fine print but to read only the fine print. The small print often says exactly the opposite of what the larger print. The pill may promise in large print to cure all, but the fine print suggests it may kill you. The larger print may say "you are already approved" while the fine print says "subject to approval." Large print says "free of charge" while the fine print says "charges may apply". The bigger the print the less it matters. Many great offers promoted in large print apply only when exacting conditions are true. The same can be said for lean transformations. The big, bright, colorful promises are the ones we are attracted towards like moths to the flame, but you-know-who is in the details.

While I am always grateful to meet enthusiastic senior leaders who exhort their people to cut through the bureaucracy, go out and make improvements, take photos of before and after and "Don't send me any reports, I won't read them," there is a fine line between this and refusing to read the fine print of what makes a culture change lasting. Photos can capture the big print but finding the fine print takes the critical, and sometimes even skeptical eye for detail, followed by boring and difficult meetings to unwind these details. Change management and preparatory activities during a lean transformation exist not for their own sake, but because they prevent failures later. Everyone wants results fast, but just like credit card spending demands that you repay the bank, fast track lean implementations require that the Bank of Preparation be paid back sooner or later. The words of a few leaders I've met recently echo in my head and worry me. So far they've been lucky with the fine print they've ignored and my advice is falling on deaf ears.

So here again is my offer:

Lean Brings You Fast Results! Recognition, Pride and Prosperity Can All Be Yours with Lean! Try Lean Management Today!
May require significant changes to leadership behavior. May require dismantling existing reporting structures, organizational boundaries or performance measurement schemes. Positive results due to employee empowerment may be accompanied sense of grief due to perceived loss of power, position or authority. May cause adverse interactions with existing accounting systems, ERP systems and vendor management systems. Results may be delayed due to resistance from key stakeholders. Side effects may not be reversible even if lean management is abandoned. Seeing bottom line results may depend on business growth or restructuring. Actual results may vary. Sustaining of results may require constant effort. Not applicable in industries and processes where waste does not exist. One per customer. Some restrictions apply. Offer void where prohibited by law.

But seriously, if you're in the market for a great sustainable lean transformation vehicle, slightly used but well-maintained and with a fully tested and traversed road map, do give us a call.

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