Inspired by a lesson from David Mann’s Creating a Lean Culture
Early in my manufacturing career, I experienced what many Lean practitioners are familiar with: the rush of early improvements. You introduce a kanban system, reconfigure a line, run a focused kaizen event — and suddenly the world looks brighter.
Productivity jumps.
Quality stabilizes.
People feel energized.
It feels like Lean is “working.”
But then something happens.
A few months later, the boards aren’t updated.
The line slips back into old rhythms.
Visual controls become wallpaper.
And the early excitement fades into “how we used to do it.”
I saw this pattern more than once. And for a long time, I thought the problem was the tool. Maybe the kanban wasn’t designed quite right. Maybe the standard work needed more detail. Maybe we just needed more Lean.
But then I learned what David Mann articulated so clearly:
“If you don’t change the way leaders lead, don’t expect lasting change in the way people work.”
That one sentence reshaped the next 30 years of my career.
The Missing Link: Leadership Behavior
Tools improve processes.
Leaders improve systems.
Without leadership routines — real, daily habits — Lean tools simply don’t survive. They fade because the behavior that sustains them was never built.
What I eventually realized is this:
Lean tools create improvement.
Lean leadership makes improvement stick.
And that required me, and every leader I coached, to show up differently.
Not as firefighters.
Not as armchair problem solvers.
Not as project sponsors who “check in” after the work is done.
But as coaches who develop capability in others.
A Moment That Changed My Perspective
Years ago, I visited a team that had just completed a major line redesign. The early results were fantastic. Output was up, ergonomic risks were down, and the team was proud of what they’d accomplished.
But when I returned a few months later, things had slipped.
WIP was creeping back in.
A couple of workarounds had become “the new normal.”
And the improvement momentum had stalled.
When I asked what had changed, the team lead said something that has stayed with me:
“No one’s been out here with us since the launch. We’re trying, but it feels like we’re on our own.”
That was it.
The missing ingredient wasn’t motivation. It wasn’t skill. It wasn’t commitment.
It was leadership presence.
Leaders weren’t going to the gemba.
They weren’t making performance visible.
They weren’t coaching problem-solving in real time.
They weren’t reinforcing the habits that made the new system possible.
The line redesign wasn’t the problem — the lack of leadership routines was.
Lean Isn’t a Toolset. It’s a Leadership System.
The organizations I see sustain Lean — in both manufacturing and healthcare — all share the same pattern:
They establish daily routines that create clarity.
They make performance visible so teams can see reality quickly.
They coach people to solve problems at the source.
They don’t just develop processes — they develop people.
When leaders shift their behavior, something powerful happens:
- Work becomes easier.
- Teams gain confidence.
- Problems are surfaced earlier.
- Old habits lose their footing.
- Continuous improvement becomes part of the culture.
This is the heart of Lean culture.
Not the tools — the behaviors.
What I Carried Into Healthcare (and Everywhere Since)
When I moved into healthcare, the insight held true. A new rounding tool, a revamped workflow, a fresh visibility board — they all delivered great early wins.
But none of them lasted unless leaders practiced:
- Going to the place where work happens
- Seeing problems as they occur
- Coaching teams daily
- Reinforcing standards
- Celebrating learning, not just outcomes
When leaders changed, the system changed.
When leaders didn’t, Lean became “another project.”
This is why so many organizations experience short-term improvement that quietly slips away. It’s not a failure of Lean. It’s a failure of leadership routines.
A Question for Every Leader
If your Lean efforts gained traction but faded, ask yourself:
Did the tools fail?
Or
Did leadership behavior fail to evolve?
Changing tools is easy.
Changing habits is harder.
But it’s the only path to a culture where improvement lasts.
Closing Reflection
Lean tools can spark improvement.
Lean leadership sustains it.
So the real question is:
Have you changed the way your leaders lead?
If not, don’t expect lasting change in the way your people work.
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