Thinking Lean.

• Author: O'Hollaren, Ryan
• Position: The Bookshelf - A Factory of One: Applying Lean Principles to Banish Waste and Improve Your Personal Performance - Book review

A Factory of One: Applying Lean Principles to Banish Waste and Improve Your Personal Performance

Daniel Markovitz

Productivity Press

2011, 177 pages, $26.95

More and more organizations have started using Lean techniques in recent years, with managers from every sector of the economy seeking to purge the waste from business processes. A wealth of literature is now available on the topic, diverse in scope, formality, rigidity, and purpose, and a quick Internet search or trip to the bookstore will reveal an entire universe of process improvement literature and software. A Factory of One approaches the topic of Lean from a personal perspective and tries to help readers become aware of process improvement potentials, combined with an understanding of the historical and theoretical background behind Lean.

The core of Lean, according to Markovitz, is "the development of awareness and problem-solving skills, the capacity for correction, and total dedication to improvement." That basic idea means much more than a smile and an empty e-mail inbox. The goal is "greater efficiency, less waste, and improved focus on customer value," principles that are within easy reach, so long as one correctly applies Lean, Markovitz argues. The book uses metaphors to guide readers through the process, seeing each person as a "factory" with inputs, outputs, and customers. Through this lens, Markovitz helps the reader understand "Lean" for themselves before turning their attention to broader tasks.

CREATING VALUE

Business and leadership books talk a lot about value creation, a somewhat elusive concept. A Factory of One starts with much simpler terms. Markovitz asks readers to find the "value-add" in their own jobs, which begs the question of what that job is and how it gets done on a process level. This diagnostic approach is found throughout the book, starting with an introduction to 5S, the workplace methodology underlying Lean. Markovitz points out that for most people, a vast majority of work-related activities don't actually add value. Lean uses time tracking, process mapping, and workflow diagrams to help readers visualize their personal factories in economic terms. Once a process can be visualized, it can much more easily be dissected and improved. Waste doesn't become apparent until we start looking for it--a central focus of the book, and Lean more generally. As the father of Lean, Taiichi Ohno, once said, "Eliminating waste isn't the problem. Identifying it...