Follow the Learner: The Role of a Leader in Creating a Lean Culture (Perfect Paperback)

~ Dr. Sami Bahri (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

What does it really mean to be a learning organization? What does it take to get the people in a nonmanufacturing environment to think of work in terms of flow? How do you build a culture based on lean principles and lead that culture as it continuously evolves? In his book, Follow the Learner: The Role of a Leader in Creating a Lean Culture, Dr. Sami Bahri describes how he and the staff in his dental practice tackled each of these questions. The book describes how their organization, the Bahri Dental Group, transformed their work and their thinking from a traditional batch-and-queue approach to one focused directly on the needs of the patient, not on the needs of the practitioners. The book is organized into three sections -- Creating the Practice, Leading the Transformation, and Discovering the Principles of Lean Leadership -- that describe a personal and professional journey in terms that anyone, at any level, can learn from. It explains the technical changes that they made in the way that they scheduled and treated patients, as well as the understanding of the human interactions needed to make this new model succeed. Along the way, it demonstrates the universal application of lean concepts and methods in an environment with which you may be familiar, but is a long way from the traditional manufacturing roots of the Toyota Production System. Dr. Bahri has created an honest and straightforward look at organizational transformation. He describes the experiments that led to rapid improvement and dramatic change, as well as the lessons he learned that changed his own definition of what it meant to be a leader. And he has created a leadership model of continuous improvement that lean thinkers and leaders everywhere can understand and relate to.

Product Details

• Perfect Paperback
• Publisher: Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc. (2009)
• ISBN-10: 193410924X
• ISBN-13: 978-1934109243
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #65,332 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Taking "lean" beyond the tools, June 26, 2009

By	Mark A. Rosenthal "Mark" (Seattle, WA, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In this deceptively compact book, Dr. Bahri offers a first-person description of his own personal journey of learning as he figures out how to apply "lean production" principles to his dental practice. In the end, he also discovers the vital leadership component that makes it all work.

The book is divided into three sections.
The first describes the mechanics of implementing continuous flow of care to the patients - which Dr. Bahri calls "one patient flow." The net effect is two fold. First, most patients can get all of their care delivered on a single visit. And, perhaps just as important, is that the effort results in a significant increase in the throughput and efficiency of Dr. Bahri's practice.

The second section, though short, outlines some of his key learnings around leadership itself.

The third section summarizes the principles of purpose, process and people in the context of his experience and his own growth as a leader.

In the "lean manufacturing" world, many people initially struggle with how to take a system that grew out of the mass production of automobiles and apply it to their specific situation.

This struggle often stems from confusing the tools and techniques with the core principles they deploy, and more importantly, the thinking behind them.

Dr. Bahri, in describing his own journey, gives insight into the thought process required for success.

In the end, some will dismiss this story as "about dentistry" and look for more concrete examples in their own industry or service. That is too bad, because this book is exactly how to take "lean" and make it work anywhere.

3.0 out of 5 stars Story of the lean dentist, October 3, 2009

By	Bas Vodde (Singapore) - See all my reviews

"Follow the Learner" is a Lean Institute published book about Sami Bahri who adopted lean thinking for running his dentist. It is a wonderful story about learning and experimenting with lean techniques in an outside of the traditional factory environment.

The book is small, less than a hundred pages, and can be read quickly. It consists of three different parts. The first part describes the journey Sami Bahri has made in his dental clinic while adopting lean practices and continuously looking for improvements. The second part discusses his role as a lean leader and a change leader -- what to do and what not to do. The first part covers principles of lean leadership.

The book is easy to read and a fascinating story of applying lean thinking outside its traditional context. It didn't provide me with major insights though. Also, the book refers a little bit too much to other material that Sami Bahri has studied, which at times made it uncomfortable to read.

All that said, "Follow the Learner" provides an interesting experience report of applying lean principles to dentistry. The book does exactly what I would expect it to do, thus I'd give it 3 out of 5 stars. I'd recommend this for people in dentistry or who are studying lean principles outside its normal context. I would not recommend this as an introduction to lean -- better look for other books for that.