The Lean Book of Lean

Afterword

Hopefully you have reached this part of the book just before the flight attendant asks you to stow all items, return your seats and tray tables to the upright position and prepare for landing. If not, then I've failed in my mission to write the Lean book of Lean, but as you've made it this far, it can't be that bad!

I hope you found this useful in getting you a little prepared to launch into your change programme. After all is said and done, Lean is simple, or should be. If your solutions are complex or difficult for people to understand and to execute, they are probably wrong and definitely not Lean, so go back and have another think.

This book was not meant to be the definitive book on Lean or turn the reader from an absolute novice into a master practitioner in an afternoon; it takes practice and a few more pages to do that. But hopefully, it has helped you understand what Lean is all about, that it's not rocket science, and the few practical tools and tips provided will help you get started.

A word of encouragement or a kick in the backside to get you going: every minute you spend thinking about doing something but not doing it is one less minute you will benefit from the returns, remember the reference to how precious time is in the “Waste” section of Chapter 2? So, get started as soon as you get off this flight, right now! Whatever you do, it does not have to be perfect, that's why you have continuous improvement. To quote an old colleague of mine, “roughly ...