Why Practicing Every Day is Important
Lean isn't a one-time fix. It’s about creating an ongoing cycle of improvement that becomes ingrained in every part of your organization. When you practice Lean daily, you constantly encourage your team to look for small, incremental improvements. Over time, these small changes add up to huge gains. This culture of continuous improvement ensures that no process is ever "good enough"—there’s always room to refine and optimize.
One of the core aspects of Lean is problem-solving. Practicing Lean daily means you are constantly identifying issues, analyzing root causes, and finding ways to solve them. This strengthens the problem-solving skills of your team and encourages a more proactive approach to challenges. Instead of waiting for problems to escalate, your team will have the tools to address them quickly and effectively, preventing larger issues down the line.
How Lean Gets Misunderstood
1. That it is a Project, a Program, or a Philosophy
Lean is none of the things listed above: It is a daily practice that is practiced by EVERY single person in the organization.
2. That it is Complicated and You Need Consultants to Execute It
Lean is actually very simple: Once your organization becomes well-versed in the 8 wastes, it will begin to come naturally to identify and eliminate waste daily. We recommend 2-Second Lean by Paul Akers as a tool to get well-versed in the 8 wastes and create a plan to conquer them.
How to Ensure It's Daily
Okay - This is the hard part! Learning waste and tackling small amounts of waste every day is actually easy and FUN! But most businesses struggle with when and how they will do it.
You must set aside time for learning and time for improving. And you must trust every one of your employees to use that time wisely. This proves difficult for many organizations - but it builds trust which will enhance your culture AND things will begin to improve at a rapid rate.
At TrippNT we have scheduled time in the morning for communicating, learning and improving. In fact, we do not start production until 1.5 hours into our day. We call it "thinking time" and "doing time." It has resulted in tremendous gains in productivity and engagement!
The Payoff for Daily Practice
If leaders set the tone and daily improvement becomes a happy habit for each employee - two things will happen:
1. You will develop an army of problem solvers! You can't be a problem solver and a victim at the same time. People will feel autonomy and pride in their improvements. They will take this problem-solving skill with them to their families and communities making the world a better place.
2. You will see profound levels of change over time. Little changes eventually add up to big changes. Give the practice some time to take hold and prepare to be dazzled. It requires the commitment of all leaders to model improvement, recognize improvement and encourage it. Also - employees must be allowed to try and fail without consequence. Think of it as experimental scientific thinking. Sometimes things will go wrong. But the point is: we are continuously improving!