Customer Reviews

The Lean Manager: A Novel of Lean Transformation

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I have just finished reading the newly published book from the Lean Enterprise Institute, The Lean Manager, written by Michael Balle and Freddy Balle. The Lean Manager is a business novel about a lean transformation and a sequel to their international bestseller, The Gold Mine.

The format of a business novel has been popular for several years with some done well and others not so well. In general, I am not especially fond of the novel format due to poor story lines, poor dialogue, extra noise in the story line, and poor pace that drags the story along or slaps together the ending. If done well, I love the novel format.

In the case of The Lean Manager, it is hands down the best business novel on lean transformation that has been written yet and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Michael and Freddy did an outstanding job on all accounts providing a strong story with outstanding dialogue and many, many powerful insights into the lean transformation.

I started highlighting and taking notes of many of the best points which ended up being too numerous to list but I will share just a couple with you. I will not reveal all the golden nuggets found in the book so you can explore it on your own.

"People are natural problem solvers. Once we understand the problem, our mind will follow seamlessly to adopting a solution."

"When a solution is forced onto us where we do not see a problem, chance are we will fight tooth and nail against it, no matter how clever the new approach."

"There are very few operational experiments which cannot be reversed quickly, and hence, a bias to action is perfectly reasonable in routine process."

"Requires radical transformation of managerial behavior."

1. Problems have to be solved one at a time.
2. Managers need to remain close to people as they conduct experiments.
3. Managers have to be maniacs about check.
4. Drawing the right conclusions from the experiment is often really tough.

"Improve Management Practices"

"Only way to be more competitive is to improve management practices continually."

"Managing by problem solving"

"Develop people by kaizen so that they know more."

The major themes in The Lean Manager include: Kaizen Spirit, Go and See, Teamwork, Mutual Trust, and Clear Direction. Each theme is strongly woven into the story line with added company politics, disappointments and frustrations as the fictional plant manager, Andy Ward, struggles to save his plant from pending closure.

Although The Lean Manger is an excellent book, there are a few points that I did not like. For starters, it uses the crisis of plant closure to create a sense of urgency and drama to the lean transformation. Why does it take always take crisis to drive the motivation for a lean transformation?

Second, I absolutely love the character Phil Jenkinson, CEO in this story. Where are all the Phil Jenkinson's in this world!!!! I have never meet a super CEO like this that is a master coach, long term thinker, lean knowledgeable, shop floor comfortable, hands on leader yet keeps his ego in check and lets his people learn by doing. He is as close to perfect as a CEO can get for a lean transformation. This makes a great story and provides an outstanding example however this character is far from the norm.

In addition, there was just one mention of using six sigma in this story during a dialogue between Amy Woods (consultant) and Andy Ward (plant manager) which is less than positive. The story portrays the six sigma approach as "one guy working in a corner and looking for brilliant solutions". In my experience, this is not a true application of six sigma. Those few paragraphs could have been eliminated to remove the negative swipe at six sigma and the lean transformation message would still remain powerful.

One important point to remember while reading this story is not to turn it into a roadmap in a lean transformation. It would be easy to pick up many points in the book and turn it into a roadmap which would not guarantee success. Look at the problems you are facing in your company and determine your own path. Use the story as a discussion platform with other leaders in your company on what it takes in a lean transformation and how are we going to head there.

Despite my few critical points of this story, I highly recommend this book to all of us working on lean transformations. It captures the true essence of a lean transformation in all its accomplishments and struggles with eloquent emphasis that we cannot force a lean transformation and we cannot do this alone.

Mike Wroblewski

Today there are hundreds of books that claim to explain what "lean manufacturing" (aka the Toyota Production System) is actually about. Most of them rehash the same stuff in the same way.

The Lean Manager stands out from this crowd.

While the critical role of leaders in the TPS has been covered in a technical sense, Michael and Freddy Ballé have captured the very human aspect of what really makes "lean manufacturing" different.

The book is written in the "business novel" genre and tells the story of a complacent factory manager, Andy, who convinces his new CEO to give him at least a chance to make the plant competitive rather than just closing it. The twist from the classic formula is that the CEO is not only Andy's nemesis, he is also his mentor.

Thus, the reader is brought through Andy's steep, and sometimes rocky, learning curve as he tries to apply the tools while struggling to discover the principles of leadership behind them. In the end, the reader has a much better perspective on what is actually meant by "making problems visible" and "engaging the workforce," and the critical relationship between the classic tools and the people who do the work every day.

I say "read this book first" because it goes beyond filling a gap left by other all of those other books. Instead, it sets out the framework for subsequent reading to fit into. Read this book first and you will have a different perspective for the other coverage you find elsewhere.

Having read "The Gold Mine" previously, I ordered The Lean Manager as soon as it was released. I was enamored by it, same as "The Gold Mine". The Balle's have taken technical and/or challenging subject matter and once again struck gold by converting it into an easy-to-read and easy-to-understand novel that anyone at any level of your organization will be able to read, comprehend, and put to immediate use (well, hopefully after some honest, personal reflection [hansei!])

I attempted to re-read "Toyota Culture" after finishing "The Lean Manager" to pick up things I've lost or forgotten, but I find I can't commit myself to a second read. It is too 'text-written' to follow "The Lean Manager" -- too much like being back in school. That's not to say it isn't a great book, well worth the money and a required read for Lean, but it's just not as easy to read and be engulfed in as "The Lean Manager" or "The Gold Mine". I only have two regrets - 1) I don't have an autographed copy of the books and 2) the books are 'company-owned' so I couldn't highlight and note pages for future reference!

The Lean Manager is very easy to relate to for operations managers and executives that are beginning to learn about the lean concepts and tools, as well as an excellent reminder of the core principles and purpose for more seasoned individuals.
The book does a great job of discussing common challenges in the business world, such as IT systems, automation, and outsourcing, and how everything is interlinked. I enjoyed how the book focuses on developing knowledge and experience in the people doing the work through leadership--not just a core set of expert-types that have no deep understanding of the problems that are trying to be addressed.

Very enjoyable and valuable reading.
--Matt Zayko

Outstanding and enjoyable sequel to "The Gold Mine", AND, super illustration of what Jeffrey Liker was saying in "The Toyota Way". I stress the management mindset in my book "ASWO!... Aw Shucks, We're Out!" for exactly the reasons depicted here. A great read, with a profound moral.

Having been an avid fan of the Gold Mine, I got my hands over a Lean Manager copy as soon as it was available from the Lean Enterprise Institute. When I opened it, I was a bit worried that it was another fiction-based book : I remembered Golratt's sequel to the enjoyable (though now outdated) Goal, which was very desapointing.

I just finished it and all my worries are gone : I am very excited that the Lean Manager is the best management book I ever read. We are very far from "lean manufacturing" and into management, real management. Call it "lean" if you like, but the real thing it is. Everything seems real in the book -- I cannot imagine that these situations do not exist somewhere.

If you have read the Gold Mine, read the Lean Manager. If you have not read the Gold Mine, I feel like you can read the Lean Manager and then get back to the Gold Mine, which is somewhat more technical.

In any case, read both!

What a fun way to learn about Lean management! This is not a textbook. It is a novel. But, as you read it, you will be exposed to the lean system and tools. I was participating in a "Lean 101" class and the teacher recommended "The Gold Mine." I bought it, read it and enjoyed it. At that time, I did not realize that this book existed. If you are a manager and you are trying to transform your organization to a Lean culture, this book will help give you the "big picture" of Lean.

I often ear managers saying: "I know what is LEAN, I already apply it since years".

In this LEAN novel, the main character had a past experience as "Lean expert". In is new position of Plant Manager, he has to learn again what leans means, pushed by an experienced CEO and a Lean senseď.

And the lean he learned to implement is not the usual common sense present in his manufacturing organisation, nor the set of tools he was used to speak about in his consultancy years.

good reading...

The Business Transformation as a novel is a niche genre, and the idea is to teach by drawing the reader into the story. This has the disadvantage of having the medium distract from the message. Dramatic storylines demand the characters to exhibit behaviours that would be inappropriate in real life.

The corporate boss protagonist is portrayed as boorish, indecisive, and poor at communicating with his plant managers. He cuts a swathe through his organisation leaving a trail of stressed or broken managers by threatening plant closures and making poorly explained demands for changes in behaviour and methods.

As a result the plant manager character panics, runs down more blind alleys than enough, but eventually is brought to the right conclusions by trial and error. The corporate boss changes his mind, promotes him and they live happily ever after.
It might be less interesting as a story if all this drama could be avoided, but if this is how lean management works, this is hardly an appetising exemplar.