Since awareness about Lean has spread, it seems that Lean experts are plentiful. However, when paying closer attention to those ‘experts’, they can broken down into 3 main categories, according to my opinion: Lean speakers, Lean tool users and Lean Thinkers

Lean speakers

Lean speakers use a lot of Lean jargon and Japanese words they do not even understand. They throw a lot of names of concepts and tools to impress their audience, but the more they throw and the more vocal they are about Lean, the more void their knowledge and experience.

In contrast, true experts and Lean savvy people don’t feel the need to brag about it. They are confident in their knowledge or expertise and internalize it as something normal, not worth making a fuss about it. 

Lean speakers can turn pretty exasperating especially when their Lean logorrhea (which means extreme loquacity) is full of approximations, errors, misunderstandings and the like.

Lean tool users

Lean tool users have some knowledge about Lean tools and methods. The extent of their knowledge varies from casual participation as a member of a working group using this or that tool to a really knowledgeable person.

However, the knowledge is focused on some tools and techniques and these Lean tool users usually lack the systemic approach and thinking. Muda hunters are a good example of Lean tool users. They’ll typically use Value Stream Mapping to find wastes in a process, ‘improve’ the process by removing or reducing the wastes, but without prior analysis about the need for this process nor checking if the implemented improvements will not harm another process and be beneficial for the system as a whole.

Too often, the ‘improvements’ have only a local benefit, but require to push the initial problem or burden to a neighboring department, with adverse effect to the performance there. All too often the net result for the system is negative, which explains why so little improvements can show on the balance sheet despite the tremendous efforts paid and changes that have been made on the shop floor.

Lean Thinkers

Lean Thinkers have developed a sensitivity about frugality, look to everything wondering if there is a better, faster, easier and cheaper way to do it for serving better the purpose, delivering higher value or ease a pain. If there is, their broad knowledge about Lean tools, methods and techniques will make them confidently structure a way to improve, preferably by coaching the people in charge to see by themselves and helping them to implement whatever is necessary to make the improvement.

Lean Thinkers are supposed to think in a systemic, holistic way, seeing the whole and how the actual process can be improved so that the system as a whole is improved. This is not always the case, making some Lean tool users with a broad tool knowledge look like Lean Thinkers.

Lean Thinkers aren’t usually loud about how they think, what they see and think but are happy to share if invited to or if the situation requires proactive acting.

20, 70, 10 ?

If my assumptions and categorization are valid, or at least good enough to be accepted, what are the proportions of speakers, users and thinkers?

I would happily guess and propose 20% of speakers, 70% of users and 10% of thinkers.

Do you agree ? What is your opinion?