The Two Pillars of Lean Management
Lean management derives its values from 2-key principles of lean; Respect for People and Continuous Improvement.
Continuous Improvement:
A lean manager is focused on solving problems incrementally. Each solution is an experiment which helps in the learning process and paving the path to the next level. Small improvements followed by the time of stability and then again a small improvement, is a cycle that is preferred in a lean environment. this form of small changes is easier to manage without much disruption to the supporting processes like a material supply to the line.
Respect to People :
As easy as it seems this by far has been the most difficult things to understand. It has often been described as an important quality that any lean manager should possess. A lean manager respects people by giving them the authority to solve their problems. This way the lean manager uses the knowledge of the people who actually add value to the process and also able to get buy-in by engaging all the employees. This does not mean that a lean manager completely disconnects himself from problem-solving. He guides his people to solve their problems by asking the right questions, till they find the root cause.
