How to Manage in a Culture of Continuous Improvement

The overall objective of a lean management system is to develop people to solve problems and improve performance. A lean management system can help an organization learn and understand their business, create alignment within the organization, enable problem-solving in the gemba, and sustain improvements.

The lean management system is made up of ten interdependent components that work together to become the way of life with an organization. We like to think of the lean management system as a brick wall, if one brick is removed, the wall would crumble.  The same is true for the management system, all the components are necessary to keep the system strong.

Over the past year we have written many blog posts about aspects of the lean management system and why it is important to the pursuit of operational excellence. Read more in our blog “Why a Lean Management System.”

We focused on the benefits of the stat sheet and steps for creating one. Learn about the benefits of a stat sheet in our blog "Stop Firefighting, Start Planning.” See also our post "Simple Steps for Creating a Status Sheet.”

At the heart of the management system is problem-solving, so we have written about types of problem-solving and problem-solving processes. Read more in our blogs "Dos and Don’ts of Implementing a Daily Huddle" and "Take Action with a Problem-Solving Process.”

Problem-solving should impact the True North metrics of the organization and be prioritized to align with those measure the organization defines as important to success. Learn more about measuring and prioritizing in our posts titled "How Do You Know Your Problem Solving is Driving Improvement If You Are Not Measuring It?" and "Know What to Work, When".

Process Observation is an essential component of the lean management system that helps to ensure that standards are being maintained and that the standards are delivering on the expected outcome. Read more in our blog Dos and Don’ts of Implementing Process Observation"Dos and Don’ts of Implementing Process Observation."

Visual Management and Leader Standard Work are elements of the lean management system that support culture transformation. Find out more by reading "Five Benefits of Visual Management" and "Four Questions to Consider When Creating Leader Standard Work.”

We hope you found these blog posts about creating a lean management system valuable. Please share any insights you have gained from them in the comments section below.

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