Customer Reviews

Getting Lean (Making Companies Globally Competitive)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It is so refreshing to read a book that explains Lean in straight-forward language and that Lean can be and should be fun!

"Getting Lean" clarifies the key ingredients required for Lean take root and flourish in a company.

So often, the subject of Lean is diluted by using big words for the author to feel important instead of "walking the talk" and actually using "Lean" to write a book by being consistent with the Lean principle of eliminating waste.

I give the book a 9 out of 10 for clearly explaining what's possible for people when they work together and learn to help each other think, do and transform their workplace and personal life.

Thank you Jerry Feingold for showing that Lean is fun, balanced and basic enough to work in any type of facility or industry anywhere!

Getting Lean is a cleverly written, fun, and extremely worthwhile book to learn about Lean manufacturing. It reminds me of The Goal by Eli Goldratt; however, it's much better.

Fred H. Neu, President of Frederick H. Neu & Associates

What a fast and enjoyable read! Jerry Feingold makes this an easy learning experience for everyone.

Getting Lean provides an excellent overview of the Lean approach and how that approach can help any organization. The book is clearly organized and takes the reader through the steps of applying Lean to critical issues. The discussion points at the end of each chapter are extremely helpful by highlighting key items that are relevant to every organization. This book can provide your staff a great foundation and "food for thought" in advance of a Lean Event or in advance of whether you are considering using the Lean approach. It also helps to pinpoint a way to address some common issues that all organizations face.

Lean management is more about experience - working with people in improvement teams; creating the culture to bring forward ideas; giving positive feedback and maintaining the momentum. For this reason, lean is an area well suited to the business novel approach to describe the process, since there isn't really that much theory to learn. This book opens with 100 pages of overlong and unconvincing build up to the lean transformation. The characters are thin and more annoying than engaging. Even when we get onto lean activities Mr Feingold's narrative skills are weak and his descriptions of the process are superficial and don't really give a feel for it. There are some good ideas in here but the book is very much hampered by poor description and text that fails to engage and involve the reader. Overall Jerry Solomon's lean novels, from the same publisher, are better.

After reading Jerry Feingold's "Getting Lean," I recommend it as an introduction to the topic. A priori, the idea of using a novel as a vehicle to introduce the concepts did not appeal to me. I read novels for titillation, but books on technology or management for rational thinking without emotions, which made me skeptical. I read Jerry's book anyway, because I have known and respected him as a lean consultant for years, and he won me over. The setting is a factory that makes loudspeakers, a business he knows first-hand. The tools and methods are described accurately, and so are the human behaviors at the outset of lean conversion. The hard-nosed manager's epiphany is a bit abrupt, and the sensei does not seem to spend much time upgrading his knowledge, but those are minor quibbles.

"Jerry's book brings lean principles to life! This is an "inside out" version tracking what's going on inside the head of stressed-out practitioner. This is the "battleground" for the lean revolution. No theory here! Jerry's own experiences spring to life in his work."