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The renowned football coach and philosopher, Vince Lombardi, once said, “Perfection is unattainable, but if we chase perfection, we catch excellence.”
That’s the mindset of a Lean organization. There’s a bedrock belief that every process, investment, employee, or action should directly translate to value for the customer with no waste. That ideal is unattainable, of course, but Lean organizations try to get close to it every day, and in doing so, reach a level of success that their competitors can only envy.  Every Lean organization is unique, but there are some core qualities that they tend to have in common.

12 Characteristics of a Lean Organization

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James Womack and Dan Jones are the founders of the Lean Enterprise Institute and the Lean Enterprise Academy (UK), respectively. Their book, Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation, is considered by some to be the bible of Lean Manufacturing. It was initially published in 1996 based on their in-depth study of Toyota’s fabled Toyota Production System (TPS).
Womack and Jones realized that every business output results from a process. Process thinking in operations management requires leaders and workers to view the organization as a set of related processes that work together for a common goal rather than a group of departments supporting a specific function.
These ideas are widely used by organizations in every sector to better design, track, and optimize business operations. Companies have not done away with functional departments. Instead, they view the work departments do differently. Departments don't exist on their terms. Each receives inputs from other functions and provides outputs that other departments must consume to complete their work.
In short, each function or person contributes to one or more business processes. So, instead of managing departments, process thinking means managing entire operations. A process might move through a series of teams or functions, each with its requirements, but the purpose of each one is to create value for the customer, which is what matters.

Quick Guide: Process Thinking in Operations Management

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Maybe Albert Einstein was talking about continuous improvement when he said, “Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.
Too often, we see organizations struggling to measure only those things that can be tied to a dollar amount and they, unfortunately, neglect the impact of ALL improvements. Let’s have a look at the top six ways to measure the impact of your organization’s improvement efforts.

6 Essential Continuous Improvement Metrics That Matter

Presented by Elizabeth Chase

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Join us for a look at how one library’s practice of Lean introduced a city to its benefits and informed the design of the 5th largest public library in Texas, a 158,000-square-foot library (in a repurposed rocket factory).

Covering everything from creating a Lean training curriculum to specific examples of applied Lean fundamentals – with a detour into Vaccine site administration – this webinar has something for everyone interested in continuous improvement and/or libraries.

Elizabeth Chase is the Material Services Manager for the Frisco Public Library.

Elizabeth began her career with the City of Frisco in 2003. Before taking her current position, her roles at the Library included Adult Services Reference Librarian, Cataloger, and Senior Librarian.

In the category of “other duties as assigned,” Elizabeth is a member of the Frisco Lean Team Steering Committee, which develops and implements Lean certification for City employees. Her primary role is teaching a 4-hour Lean fundamentals class to employees throughout the City and celebrating the improvements made as a result.

[Webinar] Lean: From Theory to Practice - One City’s (and Library’s) Lean Story… Abridged

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Join Mark Graban as he hosts Elizabeth Chase to preview her webinar...
April 24 from 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm ET
Presented by Elizabeth Chase
One City’s (and Library’s) Lean Story… Abridged
Join us for a look at how one library’s practice of Lean introduced a city to its benefits and informed the design of the 5th largest public library in Texas, a 158,000-square-foot library (in a repurposed rocket factory).
Covering everything from creating a Lean training curriculum to specific examples of applied Lean fundamentals – with a detour into Vaccine site administration – this webinar has something for everyone interested in continuous improvement and/or libraries.
Attendees will be able to ask as many questions that dive into specific details as time allows.
Elizabeth Chase is the Material Services Manager for the Frisco Public Library.
Elizabeth began her career with the City of Frisco in 2003. Before taking her current position, her roles at the Library included Adult Services Reference Librarian, Cataloger, and Senior Librarian.
In the category of “other duties as assigned,” Elizabeth is a member of the Frisco Lean Team Steering Committee, which develops and implements Lean certification for City employees. Her primary role is teaching a 4-hour Lean fundamentals class to employees throughout the City and celebrating the improvements made as a result.





12 Characteristics of a Lean Organization

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