I never thought I would be penning a piece using the word “lean” in the title. Being six-foot three and weighing 250 pounds the word “lean” and I are not always in the same neighborhood, or country for that matter. But when I heard about a different kind of lean, one that brands and marketers and business owner of all sizes can benefit greatly from – my naturally investigative mind took over and I knew I had to learn more.
What I found was Lean, with a capital L. Some refer to it as “Lean manufacturing”, “Lean enterprise”, or “Lean production” where others just refer to it as “Lean.” Whatever name you prefer it all essentially means the same thing: maximizing customer value while minimizing waste.
The roots of “Lean” can be traced back to the Toyota Production System, “which is steeped in the philosophy of ‘the complete elimination of all waste’ imbuing all aspects of production in pursuit of the most efficient methods.” The term “Lean” was first used by John Krafcik in 1988 – who at the time was a graduate student at MIT and now just happens to be the CEO of Hyundai.
My quest to learn more then took me a gentleman by the name of Paul Akers. You want to talk about a renaissance man, try this on for size:
- Founder and president of FastCap LLC, an international product development company based in Bellingham, WA
- An instrument rated pilot
- A master craftsman, gardener & designer
- Highly sought-after speaker
- Radio host
- Former U.S. Senate candidate from the state of Washington
- And author of the book 2 Second Lean
It is that last bullet that drew me to him wanting to learn more about “Lean.
As it turned out, Akers had been on an obsessive search for the essence of Lean as well.
His search took him to Japan where he met with officials from Lexus, which is owned by Toyota. During one conversation with a vice-president, he was so blown away by the answer he received to one very direct question that he knew right then and there he would one day write a book which ultimately became 2 Second Lean.
The question he posed to the vice-president was simply “What is the important thing for Toyota?”
Paul was expecting something about eliminating waste or along those lines.
Instead he got: “The most important thing for Toyota is people. Toyota is all about teaching and training people and building a culture of continuous improvement. We don’t care about the next hybrid, the next engineering marvel, not even the next sales strategy. Our number one concern is how to build our people and how to build a culture of continuous improvement.”
Nothing about eliminating waste or even sales for that matter – it was all about the people.
I had a chance to chat with Paul Akers not long to learn more.
Steve Olenski: What is 2 Second Lean and why did you feel the need to write it?
Paul Akers: 2 Second Lean is a dyslexic, left-handed, A.D.H.D, wild and crazy Greek’s interpretation of a somewhat sterile, sometimes boring, business concept. I have simplified the most important ingredient needed to make any business wildly successful: improve everything everyday a little bit and everything else will take care of itself. 2 Second Lean is about building a culture of continuous improvement; a culture where people are hell bent on improving everything. Why do we want to improve so dramatically and consistently?
First, because we love our customers and appreciate that they want to do business with us. Our gift back to them is higher quality at a better price continually throughout the time they do business with us. Secondly, the human race was designed to do continuous improvement. It is incredibly satisfying work when your thoughtfulness and innovation improves the quality of life for another human being. Third, waste is live gravity pulling at us 24/7. Continuous improvement is the antidote to the continual degrading and it guarantees long-term success in anything you endeavor.
Olenski: How has the concept of “Lean” impacted your company/brand?
Akers: The concept of Lean is something FastCap does; it is who we are, everything else is secondary. Our employees understand this internally and so do our customers. This scares the hell out of our competitors.
Olenski: How would you describe Lean in 25 words or less?
Akers: Lean is the most exciting journey any human being will ever embrace. The notion of having a systematic way to transform and improve your life and the lives of people around you is a fantastic proposition!
In my quest to learn more about “Lean” I was also introduced to a man named Greg Glebe.
Greg is the owner of Xylem Design, a company that specializes in specialty display manufacturing with an emphasis on showcases, pedestals, and trade show fixtures. Like Paul, he too is quite the well-rounded individual for in addition to running his company he has also:
- Modified the first powered parachute to enable a quadriplegic woman to fly solo
- Developed a mixed-use loft project that was nominated for an urban design award
- Designed and manufactured a subterranean trash vault with keypad protected hydraulic “dump doors” for residents and scissor lift dumpster access for the waste removal vendor
A few years ago he noticed a change in his employees; there was a lot of “confusion and frustration” as he puts it. A friend of his turned him onto the “Lean” method of operating and running a business and he has never looked back.
Steve Olenski: What drew you to Lean in the first place?
Greg Glebe: Initially it was Lean’s empowering focus on and systems and simplicity. It is hands down the best way to operate. As a recovering artist, I recognized the need for a new way of being that would help us all escape from the mental and physical clutter we were floundering in. Who doesn’t crave the consistent feeling of accomplishment? You can’t get that unless there’s a culture where everyone speaks the same language and has a deep commitment to continuously improving everything.
Lean showed us the way out of the confusion and frustration we were floundering in. We were swimming in thick seaweed, and were finally able to punch through to clear water.
The focus is on organizational health.We focus on people, process and product – not the other way around.
We’re actively practicing “crowd sourced problem solving” – we’re all process engineers and team mates. We’re learning and encouraging each other to think differently about how we operate. It’s safe to discuss our screw-ups, as long as we all learn from them and create systems to eliminate the likelihood of repeating them. It’s genuinely exciting.”
Olenski: What was the initial reaction from your employees?
Glebe: The typical, disinterested, slack jawed response honestly. “Oh great, another new initiative from the cheerleader-can’t wait till this one blows over. I’m a textbook ADD high strung entrepreneur. I would come back from various seminars with great ideas, or talk about a book that I loved, but nothing would ever stick due to the lack of a clear plan, focus, or discipline on my part. It’s a frustrating aspect of being me.
Change is the only constant. You make it happen or it happens to you.
Olenski: How has Lean changed your company?
Glebe: We’re more positive and cohesive than any time in the company’s history, hands down.
Authenticity is a core value here. I try to avoid any language that isn’t authentic. “team” and “service” were words that I historically avoided like the plague. When I hear these terms bandied about by so many businesses I want to laugh-it seems that more often than not, the opposite is true.
Since starting my Lean journey, I have intentionally cultivated an environment where we can all proudly use those terms unblinkingly. We’re here to help each other and actually serve our customers; to drive as much value to our awesome customers as quickly as possible. Are we there yet? No way, we’re totally wet behind the ears, but we’re seriously engaged.
I recently asked one of our quieter team members how he would describe Xylem Design. He stopped, and just gave me a huge grin. “We kick ass!” was his response.
Olenski: Can any business/brand benefit from Lean?
Glebe: There is no question whatsoever. Lean is the hard work that makes life easier.
Lean allows you to intentionally reduce struggling with silly life wasting problems and focus more on creativity and higher thinking.
How many days of our life have we spent looking for keys, glasses and wallet? Scary, ain’t it?
Olenski: How would you describe Lean in 25 words or less?
Glebe: Lean is learning to see waste, then eliminating it through the process of continuous improvement. That’s best accomplished by creating a learning culture where everyone is encouraged, respected, and recognized every day.
Images Source: Google Images
Named one of the Top 100 Influencers In Social Media (#41) by Social Technology Review and a Top 50 Social Media Blogger by Kred, Steve Olenski is a senior creative content strategist at Responsys, a leading global provider of on-demand email and cross-channel marketing solutions. He is a also a member of the Editorial Board for the Journal of Digital & Social Media Marketing and co-author of the book StumbleUpon For Dummies. He can be reached via Twitter, LinkedIn or Email.