Journey to lean

In this book, McKinsey consultants present the conclusions of several years of implementing lean production and operating systems. They highlight the fantastic performance improvement potential that they have observed in many industries. However, they also warn of frequent failures. Although initial results are often rapid in coming, performance frequently drops sharply shortly afterwards. They attribute this effect to change management practices. Readers are succinctly and efficiently reminded that the key is not just to understand the principles of lean management, but to realize a profound transformation of the infrastructure, leadership, attitudes and behaviors of the entire organization. Many recommendations are offered in this sense, theoretical in the first half, then illustrated with a fictitious case study in the second half of the book.