The Gold Mine: A novel of lean turnaround explains key concepts of the Lean approach to management in a fictional story format. Mike Woods, the protagonist of the book, convinces his father, Bob, to help the struggling company of Phil Jenkinson, his childhood friend. Phil’s company manufactures the best-performing breaker boxes on the market. The product is popular among the customers — the most successful model has a month’s backlog of orders. However, Phil’s enterprise is balancing on the verge of bankruptcy despite the quality and popularity of its products (BallĂ© & BallĂ©, 2005). Bob Woods successfully removed waste — unnecessary inventory, overproduction, and inefficient use of operators’ labor that was killing Phil’s business by applying the Lean method. In the end, Lean worked perfectly for an industrial equipment manufacturer; its strengths optimized flawed business processes. Moreover, Lean promotes professional discipline and systemic order, which is beneficial for any business. However, I argue that striving for Lean perfection may not be feasible for smaller-scale companies in other industries. An unhealthy obsession with Lean implementation in small businesses may result in mutual frustration, psychological problems, and worsening relationships between employer and employees.
Firstly, I would like to clarify that certain concepts within the Lean approach are beneficial, regardless of industry type and business scale. For instance, Bob mentions the Japanese 5S initiatives framework, which stands for “seiri”, “seiton”, “seiso”, “seiketsu”, and “shitsuke.” These words can be translated in English as “eliminate”, “order”, “clean”, “maintain”, and “discipline”, respectively (Ballé & Ballé, 2005, p. 111). 5S promotes and reinforces responsible, self-disciplined professional behaviors, which are useful in any business. Furthermore, 5S may serve as a powerful tool for standardizing work and improving the efficiency of work processes. Standardization occurs naturally, as the employees begin to follow the standards out of an inner feeling of responsibility instead of merely submitting to the will of the management.
In addition, the novel stresses the importance of careful balance between workload, supply, and inventory management. Phil’s business struggled because he clogged the inventory with an excessive supply of raw materials. The company also operated on a single-shift schedule, which resulted in a pile-up of work in progress (WIP). In Bob’s words: “everything that is not currently being worked on is a wasteful inventory” (BallĂ© & BallĂ©, 2005). Lean teaches entrepreneurs to spend rationally since acquiring resources that are not working costs severely. Moreover, the Lean approach helps build a system that creates an internal culture of smart, disciplined spending.
Overall, the benefits of Lean are considerable, and its potential for improving the situation is impressive. Unfortunately, most of Lean’s features show their true power in larger-scale companies with the resources and organizational capacity to implement the framework. In my opinion, smaller businesses require a more people-centered approach, which does not impose takt times or set strict standards. In this regard, I found it quite ironic how Bob Woods claimed that everything depends on people (BallĂ© & BallĂ©, 2005). At the same time, he treated people as a resource rather than living human beings.
In conclusion, I want to share my thoughts based on professional experience. I used to own a gift shop in my native country before moving to the USA. If I tried to maximize our efficiency via Bob Woods’ methods, my employees would have considered it a “muri” — unreasonable work, which unnecessarily pushes a person beyond the natural limits (Ballé & Ballé, 2005). In the novel, Bob Woods took power and applied Lean to solve the evident issues. If there is no practical necessity for implementing Lean elements, the excessive urge to do that may bring more harm than good. Therefore, appropriateness serves as a vital condition for Lean implementation. One should not initiate significant changes merely because some management trends or techniques are popular.
Reference
Ballé, F., & Ballé, M. (2005). The Gold Mine: A novel of lean turnaround. Lean Enterprise Institute.