12/2017

Understanding Lean Transformation

 Lean Enterprise Institute Underdstanding Lean Transformation

Table of Contents
Introduction: What is the
Lean Transformation Framework?......................................................... 2

People-First Leadership:
A Conversation Between
Jim Morgan and Alan Mulally............................................................... 7

Lead from the Front, Lead from Behind .............................................. 8

Becoming Horizontal in a Vertical World .............................................10

Respect for People:

Making Jobs Easier for Workers.......................................................... 12

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Lean Enterprise Institute Underdstanding Lean Transformation

Introduction
What does it take to undergo a lean transformation? It is more than
a collection of tools – lean transformation is a paradigm shift that
aligns purpose, process, and people, leading to extraordinary business
performance and better jobs for workers. This ebook, “Understanding Lean
Transformation,” explores what it takes to transform your enterprise and
provides inspirational examples to learn from.

The ebook will teach you about the Lean Transformation Framework (LTF), a
powerful tool that helps you align purpose, process, and people. It will also
ground you in five key questions you can ask at any enterprise level to assess
gaps in your transformation effort.

There are two examples of lean leadership, one from the frontline and another
from the top. You’ll also read a real-world case study that demonstrates lean
principles in action.

Prepare to reflect on the Lean Transformation Framework, scrutinize your

management, and begin to construct a transformation roadmap.

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 Lean Enterprise Institute Underdstanding Lean Transformation

What problem are we trying to solve?

VALUE-DRIVEN PURPOSE
a situational approach

What is the work, and PROCESS MANAGEMENT CAPABILITY How do we develop

how do we improve it? IMPROVEMENT SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT our capability?
Continuous, Sustainable
practical changes What management improvement
to improve system and capability
the way
work is done
leader behaviors in all people
at all levels
do we need?

BASIC THINKING, MINDSET, ASSUMPTIONS

What is our basic thinking?

What is the Lean Transformation Framework?

The Lean Transformation Framework is a proven, systematic approach to resolving
problems at every level of the enterprise, from executive-level strategy to frontline
operations. Whether you lead an established organization or a startup, you can use the
Framework to address any troubling issue by answering its five questions.

The questions guide you through the fundamental questions of purpose, process, and
people, which will help you to identify solutions that align with all three.

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Lean Enterprise Institute Underdstanding Lean Transformation

After decades of practical, hands-on lean practice, lean practitioners now understand
that the best way to learn about lean transformation is by improving some element
of a work process. Moreover, the lean community discovered that this improvement
process requires asking the questions that LEI incorporated into the Lean
Transformation Framework.

They are as follows:

1. What is the value-driven purpose? Or what is the problem to solve?

2. What is the work to be done (to solve the problem)?

3. What capabilities are required (to do the work to solve the problem?)

4. What management system — operating system

and leadership behaviors — is required?

5. What basic thinking, including mindsets and assumptions,

are required by the organization as a purpose-driven socio-technical system?

These questions are fractal — meaning that the same questions apply whether
working at the macro enterprise level or the level of individual responsibility.
So, anyone at any level of enterprise — from the CEO to the frontline supervisor —
can use the Framework.

When using the Framework, it’s vital to understand how each question — and answer
— relates to the others to maintain momentum toward achieving transformation.

Watch the video at lean.org/LTF

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 Lean Enterprise Institute Underdstanding Lean Transformation

Lean Transformation Framework Questions

1. What problem are we trying to solve?
This question clarifies whether you’ve clearly defined your organization’s True North or value-driven purpose. If
you make headphones, for example, have you specified your value proposition from your customer’s viewpoint
in terms of quality, cost, and lead time?
 hen, what is your current situation versus that target? For example, if you make custom headphones to order
T
and it takes one month to deliver, but your customers expect delivery in two weeks, that gap becomes your
problem to solve.

2. What is the work, and how do we improve it?

Based on a quarter century of practical experience, LEI believes organizations must focus on improving the
frontline work to resolve business problems and, ultimately, achieve their organizational purpose. So to solve
the business problem clarified in Question 1, the Framework calls for closely analyzing, describing, and breaking
down the work process to determine how to improve it.
In the headphones example, you’d go to the gemba, where the work of producing the headphones occurs, to
study the work and ask: What, in the work process itself, is preventing us from achieving our objective of a
two-week lead time? Is it design? Production? Logistics? Something supplier-related? Of course, you’d use lean
practices and tools proven to help answer these questions, such as value-stream mapping, standardized work, A3
problem-solving, and others.

3. How do we develop our capability?

Once we clarify the problem to be solved and the work-process improvements that will resolve it, we often find
that we cannot make the necessary changes with our current capabilities. Continuing with our example, we may
require new design, production, or logistics capabilities to improve the lead time to deliver our headphones in
two weeks.
Furthermore, a natural part of a lean transformation is developing the capability to transform. Across the
organization, how capable of solving problems and continuously improving is each individual? Have we specified
the skills we need and a plan to help everyone develop them?

4. What management system and leader behaviors do we need?

As we develop our people’s capability of improving their work processes, we will encounter problems in the
management system. Discovering this is a natural by-product of this type of development. Issues with the
management system often relate to how the organization is structured or leadership practices and behaviors.
For example, if we want everyone to be capable problem solvers, what organizational structure is needed to
build this competence? How do leaders at every level connect to the day-to-day work at the gemba? How does
communication and review of the work occur daily, weekly, monthly, or annually to confirm we are achieving our
objectives and to allow management to step in and offer support as needed? And what leadership behaviors are
necessary to ensure that problems are quickly surfaced and resolved?

5. What is our basic thinking?

The final Framework question helps identify the fundamental thinking or mindset behind our lean transformation.
While the example we’ve laid out may seem straightforward, it’s clear that one of our basic assumptions in taking
lead time from four weeks to two is that, as a business, we will first and foremost focus our work on fulfilling the
customer’s needs. And if you follow that same logic through our set of questions, you’ll see that another part of
our basic thinking is that we will focus on increasing the value-added work.
Also, we will show respect for the people doing the work by ensuring that every step of their work process adds
value for the customer. So, as these few examples show, the answer to Question 5 becomes clear as we work
through the transformation process by improving the work.

5
 What is your current What is your specific target condition What are your
Lean Enterprise Institute Understanding Lean Transformation situation?
Lean Enterprise Institute to achieve in the next year? Understanding next steps?
Lean Transformation

Lean Transformation Framework Questions

1. What problem are we trying to solve?
This question clarifies whether you’ve clearly defined your organization’s True North or value-driven purpose. If
you make headphones, for example, have you specified your value proposition from your customer’s viewpoint
in terms of quality, cost, and lead time?
 hen, what is your current situation versus that target? For example, if you make custom headphones to order
T
and it takes one month to deliver, but your customers expect delivery in two weeks, that gap becomes your
problem to solve.

2. What is the work, and how do we improve it?

Based on a quarter century of practical experience, LEI believes organizations must focus on improving the
frontline work to resolve business problems and, ultimately, achieve their organizational purpose. So to solve
the business problem clarified in Question 1, the Framework calls for closely analyzing, describing, and breaking
down the work process to determine how to improve it.
In the headphones example, you’d go to the gemba, where the work of producing the headphones occurs, to
study the work and ask: What, in the work process itself, is preventing us from achieving our objective of a
two-week lead time? Is it design? Production? Logistics? Something supplier-related? Of course, you’d use lean
practices and tools proven to help answer these questions, such as value-stream mapping, standardized work, A3
problem-solving, and others.

3. How do we develop our capability?

Once we clarify the problem to be solved and the work-process improvements that will resolve it, we often find
that we cannot make the necessary changes with our current capabilities. Continuing with our example, we may
require new design, production, or logistics capabilities to improve the lead time to deliver our headphones in
two weeks.
Furthermore, a natural part of a lean transformation is developing the capability to transform. Across the
organization, how capable of solving problems and continuously improving is each individual? Have we specified
the skills we need and a plan to help everyone develop them?

4. What management system and leader behaviors do we need?

As we develop our people’s capability of improving their work processes, we will encounter problems in the
management system. Discovering this is a natural by-product of this type of development. Issues with the
management system often relate to how the organization is structured or leadership practices and behaviors.
For example, if we want everyone to be capable problem solvers, what organizational structure is needed to
build this competence? How do leaders at every level connect to the day-to-day work at the gemba? How does
communication and review of the work occur daily, weekly, monthly, or annually to confirm we are achieving our
objectives and to allow management to step in and offer support as needed? And what leadership behaviors are
necessary to ensure that problems are quickly surfaced and resolved?

5. What is our basic thinking?

The final Framework question helps identify the fundamental thinking or mindset behind our lean transformation.
While the example we’ve laid out may seem straightforward, it’s clear that one of our basic assumptions in taking
lead time from four weeks to two is that, as a business, we will first and foremost focus our work on fulfilling the
customer’s needs. And if you follow that same logic through our set of questions, you’ll see that another part of
our basic thinking is that we will focus on increasing the value-added work.
Also, we will show respect for the people doing the work by ensuring that every step of their work process adds
value for the customer. So, as these few examples show, the answer to Question 5 becomes clear as we work
through the transformation process by improving the work.

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Lean Enterprise Institute Underdstanding Lean Transformation

People-First knew none of that at the time and was fairly suspicious
of the note. Perhaps the cost cutting was about to start.
Instead, that meeting led to a life changing adventure

Leadership: and a treasured mentor and friend who I continue

to learn from to this day. But more relevant to this

A Conversation podcast, it was my introduction to the guy who would

lead one of the most dramatic turnarounds in recent

Between Jim
business history.

Alan Mulally is a brilliant engineer who was a major

Morgan and part of creating nearly every airplane in Boeing’s fleet.

He led the total development of the game changing
777 airplane and then went on to lead historic

Alan Mulally transformations as CEO of Boeing Commercial and

then Ford Motor Company. But just as important
as what he accomplished, is how he accomplished it.
By Jim Morgan
His people first, inclusive approach to leadership not

I was starting to think that I had made a huge only created great products and successful companies,
mistake. I had been at Ford for a little more than but also created an organization people (from the plant
a year and while my work with Mazda and others in floor to senior leaders to UAW Leadership) wanted to
creating a new global development process was both be a part of.
rewarding and exciting, I knew there was so much
In this podcast, Alan shares:
more to do, and the toxic culture I was experiencing
in my new role as an engineering director made me • His view on the CEO’s role in a successful
doubt that we could ever get there. My friends and transformation.
colleagues from the lean community outside of Ford
• What “people first” leadership means to him and
reinforced this view based on their previous work with
how his basic values and love for people guide his
the company. “Hopeless” was a term I heard most often
decision making
and the numbers seemed to support their view. (The
company was about to lose $17B.) Ford had just hired • What he learned about innovation and customer
some “airplane guy” as CEO but I figured that just focus from his lawn mowing business.
meant additional rounds of cost cutting. In any case,
whatever he did would likely be too little too late. But • How his early experiences with Lean and Toyota
I had made a commitment and I resolved to do my best shaped his views on leadership and the importance
and see it through. of an effective management system.

And that’s when I saw it. Buried in my daily stack of mail

was a hand written note from the new President and
CEO, Alan Mulally (AKA “airplane guy”) asking me if
I could find time to stop by his office to talk. I would
find out later that this invitation was due to an email
Jim Womack had sent Alan and part of Alan’s effort
to deeply understand the current state at Ford. But I Listen to the full podcast at lean.org/PeopleFirst

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Lean Enterprise Institute Underdstanding Lean Transformation

• How he has continuously improved and evolved

his management system over forty years starting Lead from
with aircraft development, to the transformation
of global organizations and how it influences his
work with Google, The Mayo Clinic and Carbon
the Front, Lead
3D today.

The Working Together Management System

from Behind
• Alan takes the time to share the key attributes of his By John Shook
management system, including its basic principles
of inclusion, transparency, accountability, be data Leadership Again
driven, and have fun – but never at anyone else’s
expense. When you see
• He also describes its three foundational elements: good leadership,
compelling vision, aligned plan, and relentless follow it if you wish.
execution through an effective operating system.

• He explains how “trusting the process” builds If you don’t see it,
successful and sustainable organizations take it. If you wish.
where people really want to work and creates
accountability without all the energy sapping If you don’t,
drama.
don’t complain.
• How it minimizes firefighting, enabling you to
create products with speed, precision, and quality In my last letter I alluded to a common view in the
that your customers actually love. Lean Community – shared by the broader business
community at large – that promotes the notion of the
Throughout our conversation, he shared stories from heroic leader, riding a stallion into a troubled situation
the products he developed and transformations he led. issuing directives and saving the day. “The leader must
Providing valuable insight for leaders like you who lead” the dictum goes. Well, yes, the leader must lead.
are trying to navigate today’s disruptive and turbulent But, what does that mean?
environment. n
I am growing ever more leery of cries for “strong
leadership” of the hero variety with the leader exercising
command and control, telling the troops what to do.
This view not only misses the point, it obscures the
real issue. The issue isn’t “leadership” at all; it’s what
leadership accomplishes. As long as any system is
dependent on “leadership” it is fragile and dependent
– literally – on the individual who happens to be in
charge today. Fans of charismatic or forceful leadership
squirm at this message. But over time I have come to
think that the real issue is learning to build systems

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Lean Enterprise Institute Underdstanding Lean Transformation

that accomplish the things we advocate (problem Group Leader Hyodo was assigned to support a
solving culture, individuals engaged in continuous model changeover in assembly. Hyodo graduated
improvement, etc.). from a technical high school and started working as
an assembly line worker for Toyota’s Takaoka Assembly
Lean practice represents a fundamentally
plant when he was about 18 years old. After ten years,
different type of leadership. Lean leadership is highly
Hyodo was promoted to Team Leader along with
situational in practice, yet consistent in underlying
most of his colleagues that entered at the same time.
principle; flexible and adaptive in situation-based
Five years later, he was promoted to Group Leader, in
action, yet solidly rooted in an unwavering way of
charge of a group of less than 30 team members and
thinking. There are occasions that call for more
leaders. At NUMMI, he was responsible for supporting
directive leadership behavior and those that call
the work of a larger group and, now, facilitating the
for patient consensus building, always in pursuit of
learning required to achieve a successful launch.
attaining organizational purpose. But, lean thinking in
practice calls for more than just leadership that sways As leader of the final assembly launch team, Hyodo
with the situation of the moment. Close examination was developing the skills of his team members while
reveals a few common denominators. Observable working to ensure the best possible design of jobs
behaviors include demonstrations of respect for for the workers who would perform the work on the
people, rigorous application of scientific thinking, assembly line The work needed to be designed so
and flexible application of practices to solve problems that it developed people as they carried it out – an
and continuously improve processes. Observable ambitious target condition and a challenge to develop
behaviors – things we can see; things we can choose job designers with that skill!
to do.
His launch team was learning to build dollies and
Most important of all, lean leadership isn’t a matter fixtures, to design efficient standardized work, to balance
of position, it’s a matter of action. Action that can be and rebalance jobs while eliminating waste, ergonomic
taken at any level, in any situation, and the leadership concerns and other problems. He wasn’t just designing
can work down, up, or sideways. good jobs, he was building good job designers and
(For a look at what those behaviors are, read lean.org/ problem-solvers. The immediate problems that Hyodo
LeadershipLesson) was focused on were problem-solving capability itself,
along with job design skills. NUMMI had initiated
Leading Up at NUMMI some training to enhance standardized work design
Here’s another example from that organization I and problem-solving skills, but Hyodo saw that the
often use for illustration, the joint venture between training was too removed from the gemba.
Toyota and General Motors: New United Motor
Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI). Hyodo recognized the good intentions of the training
being offered by the HR department but also knew
One advantage NUMMI (and many other transplant that developing excellent job design skills requires –
companies of the 1980s) enjoyed was a substantial more than anything – deep understanding of the work
allocation of resources from the headquarters (the itself and how the actual work impacts each individual
home culture) to kick-start the creation of a local, on the assembly line. As his team did its work, Hyodo
hybrid culture in North America. In the first year or found many of his team’s ideas being rejected,
so, Toyota dispatched about 400 “trainers”, technical sometimes by senior managers in HR, sometimes by
specialists, to NUMMI on rotating three-month senior production managers. Hyodo concluded that
assignments.

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Lean Enterprise Institute Underdstanding Lean Transformation

the HR and production organizations were misaligned.

His solution? Arrange for HR representatives to be Becoming
assigned full time to his launch team. This was a smart
move on the surface – he would get alignment and
learning at the front lines of the organization.
Horizontal in a
If it was a smart move on the surface, it was a brilliant
move when examined more deeply. From the very fact
Vertical World
that neither the HR nor the production organizations
By Jim Womack
were in favor of the proposal, Hyodo knew that the
matter would have to escalate to the highest levels.
And therein lay his real objective: he was intentionally
One of my favorite value-stream walks is with the
causing highest levels of the organization to talk to
senior managers of several organizations who share
each other about the problem.
and jointly manage a value-creating process that
So, he pushed his ideas. Hyodo pushed his ideas because stretches all the way from raw materials to the end
he wanted to instigate conflict at the lowest levels of customer. I’ve been taking walks of this sort for more
the organization precisely because he knew that it than 20 years and I usually see the same thing: Smart,
would force the highest levels (vice presidents) to work hardworking managers, each trying to optimize their
together for the betterment of the overall company. portion of the value stream and wondering why there
is so much inventory, interruption, and waste along
Hyodo knew the poison of high-level corporate
the stream and why it is so hard to truly satisfy the
systems operating independently of the real world
customer waiting at the end.
gemba reality. So he decided to deliberately drive
issues on the floor with the specific intent of creating This is what I usually see because we live in a world
conflict to force high-level cross-functional dialogue where everything is oriented vertically – departments,
and progress. functions, enterprises, and, very important, individuals
– despite the fact that the flow of value to the customer
Wow.
is horizontal across all the departments, functions, and
A high-school educated shop-floor rat (a union member,
enterprises. And – here’s the really odd part — every
by the way) intentionally introducing technical change
manager and employee touching the value stream
on the plant floor in order to disturb the social system
knows intuitively, just below the surface, that value
at the broader level.
flows horizontally and that customers have no interest
That’s lean leadership. at all in the vertical constraints interrupting the flow.

Doesn’t sound like a typical illustration of the kind of So what’s the problem? Why is it so hard for us to act
leadership practices that many companies are trying horizontally rather than just work around (or simply
to establish. But, that’s what it looks like eventually. ignore) the enormous problems of being vertical?
Front-line value creators not just being led but leading.
I hate to say, but the problem begins with you and me.
(For a deeper dive into Hyodo’s story and a look into We are all points along the stream, standing tall in our
how it relates to “hoshin kanri” click here.) own estimation, and our first objective is to optimize
ourselves, our own point! Given this, it’s not surprising
So, that’s what those opening words mean. Don’t look
that we first seek to optimize our department (where
outside yourself for leadership. Take it. n

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Lean Enterprise Institute Underdstanding Lean Transformation

our boss, our personnel evaluation, and our career path packaging of goods, etc.) and behaviors may need to
reside) and then our function and then, maybe, our change at this or other points to create a better result
enterprise, with no energy left over for optimizing the for the whole stream.
whole stream.
But why would the managers of the factory or the
But let’s not be too hard on ourselves. Our personal warehouse or the retailer do this when all of the benefit
objectives, compensation and career trajectories goes to one or a few points elsewhere along the stream?
strongly direct us to look up, for fear of falling down, And why would employees cooperate in rethinking
rather to look from side to side in hopes of doing better. work when they may individually have more work or
We aren’t so much bad people – at least I’m not! – but no work at all? The answer, of course, is that they won’t
good people working in a bad management process. and everyone involved will spend their time instead on
However, unless we can devise a new framework for explanations of why the failure to improve performance
thinking together about the horizontal flow of value is everyone else’s fault. A classic prisoner’s dilemma in
in a way that makes everyone better off, we will all which everyone gets to stay in their vertical jail!
continue to act as we always have. The predictable
So the job of the value-stream leader – who it should
result is frustrating work lives and an exasperating
be noted has no authority over most and perhaps all
experience for customers.
of the departments and firms involved – is to take
How can we do better? The first step is simple. responsibility for the performance of the whole value
Take a walk together along the stream to see, and stream and discover ways to make everyone along the
to reach agreement on, what is really happening stream whole as the stream is improved. In the end
and the problems the current state causes managers, the senior leaders of all the departments, functions,
employees, and customers. Then draw a map that and firms will need to agree with the plan, arrange
everyone touching the stream can see and post this compensation mechanisms for those who would
as the baseline. This step always produces amazement otherwise be losers, and make sure that everyone
and then relief that all of the dysfunctions and conflicts touching the stream has incentives aligned with the
are finally out in the open. goal of optimizing the stream. But the first step is
to raise consciousness, create the vision, highlight
Next, assign someone to lead a team involving every
the problems to be overcome, identify the costs of
function and firm touching the value stream to
improvement along with the benefits of success, and
envision a value-creating process that better solves
describe the ways to offset costs with benefits to achieve
customer problems while saving time and money.
a positive sum solution. Without this first step, starting
Then ask why this can’t be created and seek the root
with a simple walk together, we will all continue along
cause. Part of the problem may be technical and some
our vertical path, where value stream performance is a
outside help may be needed when skills are lacking. But
stagnant, horizontal line. n
in my experience the critical problems are more likely
to be organizational across multiple functions and
enterprises. For example, money may need to be spent
at one point (for facilities, equipment, training, new

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Lean Enterprise Institute Underdstanding Lean Transformation

Respect for insulation and come down; and then go back up and
install the panels.”

People: Making Communication between the teams was inconsistent

as well, adds Sanders. For example, the prep team

Jobs Easier for

wasn’t always preparing what the install team needed
next. Generally, people had questions about why they
needed to spend time improving the process when they

Workers were already meeting their targets.

“They were, in fact, meeting their daily quota the

By David Drickhamer way they were doing the work,” explains Bob Grimes,
Turner vice president and director of lean, adding
Turner Construction Company is the largest general that construction teams often don’t recognize how
builder in the United States, with over 10,000 direct unplanned disruptions affect overall productivity until
employees and an annual construction volume of $15 the deadline nears. But then, the industry’s traditional
billion. Turner has regional offices across the country reaction to these events is to add more people and
and internationally. extend work hours to close the gap.

The Lean Enterprise Institute has been working

with Turner since 2017 to help the firm more deeply
embed lean practices and a lean mindset within the By the end of the week,
organization. As part of this Co-Learning Partnership,
last year LEI helped facilitate several weekly job site the teams had improved
coaching engagements that were only minimally productivity by more
disrupted because of the pandemic. On one of these,
LEI lean coach and Toyota veteran Bryant Sanders than 50%. ‘One day, they
worked at a job site in Dallas, where several trade installed 21 panels, which far
partners were installing exterior panels on a building.
exceeded anything they had
“The process did not follow what we would call
continuous flow,” Sanders recalls. The contractor that
done in the past.’
fabricated the panels prepared them for installation— — Bob Grimes

drilled holes, attached extrusion strips to the edges,

and removed some protective film. Then the workers
passed the panels to another team on a mast climber By the end of the week—with Sanders having coached
[motorized scaffold] to attach a z-shaped channel to them through job analysis, experimentation, process
the building and install the panels. In between, because changes, and adjustments—the teams had improved
of how the construction contracts had been awarded, productivity by more than 50%. “One day, they
another contractor was responsible for the insulation. installed 21 panels, which far exceeded anything they
had done in the past. And they weren’t breaking their
“That just added lead time,” says Sanders. “They would
backs; they were just working without the problems
attach the channel and ride down the scaffolding;
they’d had to deal with before,”says Grimes.
wait for the other trade partner to go up, install the

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Lean Enterprise Institute Underdstanding Lean Transformation

Improving the Process of Installing Exterior Building Panels

Before

Team A Team B Team B Team A Team A Team B

Unload tools, prep panel and Waiting for Team A to finish. Unload tools, install insulation. Waiting for Team B to finish. Unload tools. Finish panel install. Waiting for Team A to finish.
bring over for install. Pack up tools. Pack up tools. Pack up tools.

Long lead time

After

Team A Team B Team A

Unload tools, prep panel and Unload tools, install insulation. Finish panel install.
bring over for install.
Team A Team B
Free to work on other projects Free to work on other projects

Shortened lead time

Sanders notes that the results Turner achieved on its Caution: Productivity
first project represent the quick wins construction Improvements Ahead
companies experience when viewing the work with a In the United States, the construction industry has been
lean mindset — and offer a glimpse of the enormous grappling with a shortage of skilled, capable people for
potential benefits of coordinating lean thinking and years. Unlike manufacturing and IT work, construction
practices across the industry. For example, he explains cannot be outsourced to other countries with lower
that even if a trade partner finishes their work early, the labor costs and fewer regulatory requirements.
next one has a scheduled start date. So, they can’t start
any earlier because they’re finishing other jobs, which On top of this, productivity in the construction
creates a gap in time that companies can’t leverage and industry has not improved much in recent decades. On
interrupts the continuous flow. the contrary, it has, by some measures, gotten worse.

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Lean Enterprise Institute Underdstanding Lean Transformation

Getting in the way of progress is the widely held Opportunities Hidden Inside
belief that there’s little to be gained by standardizing Every Challenge
or improving work processes in construction because
There is an ingrained belief in construction that the
every project is different, with different timelines,
work is physically demanding and tiring — and that
plans, and expectations.
that’s just the nature of the job. It’s even a point of pride.
Another barrier to improving productivity is the Everyone in the industry has lived with the strenuous
number of different organizations that are involved physical demands for so long they don’t even see it as
in every construction project. Consider one building an issue. The work hasn’t necessarily been designed to
project: be hard. But neither has anyone designed it to be less
strenuous.
Construction Project Stakeholders

Redesigning the work

Building Fu
e
ad rs
Tr tne
Owner Te tu
na re eliminated significant
r nt
Pa
physical strain and reduced
the installation cycle time
Real
Estate for eight cables from 239
Owner
minutes to 24 minutes.
— Bryant Sanders

In any industry or business, when poor job design

makes work harder than it needs to be, it increases
costs and leads to schedule overruns and rework. From
a lean perspective, improving the work — removing the
difficulties that cause sore hands, sore backs, and sore
The large number of groups involved in every construction legs — demonstrates a respect for people, especially
project hinders the adoption of lean thinking and practice in for trade partners and the work they do. Showing this
the industry. Turner has had the most success coordinating
respect is a key goal at Turner, where Actively Caring
work process improvements with its trade partners.
for each worker on the project sites is one of the five
elements of the company’s path to success.
“In construction, although the work is repeatable,
you only get one shot. Take this hospital in Dallas: It comes as no surprise that making the work less
We looked at where the painters were working on six physically difficult can impact productivity. In one
floors. Once a floor is finished, it’s finished. We can’t example LEI previously shared, electricians struggled to
go back and study it again,” he explains. “That’s very install conductors into an electrical panel. Redesigning
different from an auto plant where Toyota is building how the work was done eliminated the physical strain
1,000 cars per day. There’s a much longer runway for and reduced the installation time from 110 minutes to
improvement in manufacturing.” four minutes.

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Lean Enterprise Institute Underdstanding Lean Transformation

At the Dallas job site, the team similarly redesigned The 3C Framework
the installation of cables. In this case, redesigning the
work eliminated significant physical strain and reduced Content • Value add
the installation cycle time for eight cables from 239
• Nonvalue-add (waste)
minutes to 24 minutes. “We captured those guys’
• Incidental/auxiliary
hearts when we made that job so much less difficult,”
(necessary but doesn’t
Sanders recalls. add value)
Characteristics • Easy or difficult
Redesigning the Work of Cable (physically hard)

• Overburdened

• Uneven
Categories • Cyclical (happens at a
regular cadence)

• Periodic (doesn’t happen

Before: Terminating the cables After: Redesigning how the every cycle, but happens
inside the cabinet was difficult work was done eliminated the with some frequency)
for the worker to reach, causing physical strain and reduced the
• Abnormal (to be
strain and causing the installation installation time to 24 minutes.
eliminated)
time of 239 minutes.

The Three Cs: Learning to See the Pain

To remove the physically demanding aspects of the cabinet. At the start of the day, they will know their
work, you have to be able to identify them quickly. As assignment but not which cabinets to work on or how
noted above, the runway for making improvements many terminations they must finish. With a detailed
on the construction site is short; the repeatable work daily work plan, an electrician can gather all the
needs to be evaluated and acted on promptly. Adapting supplies needed to do the job without having to stop
what he learned at Toyota, Sanders shares a critical- at any point to retrieve additional materials, thereby
thinking framework to help people see the work better, minimizing periodic work.
which he calls the “critical eye.”
The final work category is abnormal work — anything
To help develop this critical eye, he divides the work that happens that shouldn’t happen. After identifying
into three parts: content, characteristics, and categories, abnormal work, workers can establish standards and
as shown above. countermeasures to eliminate it.

Consider drywall work as an example. After the drywall Sanders offers an example he saw on a Turner job site
panels are fitted and installed, the joints are taped, the in Denver. “They were shaking out the deck, attaching
drywall compound is applied and allowed to dry, then the tin bottom to the cross members before pouring
the walls are sanded flat. Applying the joint compound concrete to make the floors,” he remembers. “They
is cyclical work; retrieving additional compound when started the job but soon realized that they didn’t have
the worker runs out is periodic. Efficiency gains come the tool they needed to rivet the panels in place. So one
from keeping the work as cyclical as possible. guy had to go find it while the other two sat around
being paid but unable to do any work.”
Here’s another example. An electrician’s job on a
particular day is to terminate wires inside an electrical

15
Lean Enterprise Institute Underdstanding Lean Transformation

Falling under the banner of gemba-based improvement The other weakness of giving people a list of
(GBI), LEI’s support is designed to help more people improvement to-do ideas is that they must stop doing
at Turner Construction see the work in terms of the what they’re doing to implement them. Everyone
three Cs. The emphasis is to reduce physical burdens, in construction — and most jobs, for that matter —
make the work more repetitive and cyclical, reduce the is recognized, rewarded, and promoted based on
amount of periodic work, and eliminate abnormalities. output, how much they produce, and how quickly.
In the decking example above, they built a job cart Any suggestions or additional work that undermines
with a silhouette of every tool. Now, when the team immediate output they logically ignore.
moves to the next floor, they can easily see if they
That’s why, besides focusing on actual pain points, the
have everything they need and are less likely to leave
GBI approach seeks to generate a list of improvement
anything behind.
ideas and immediately commandeers the necessary
resources to implement them. Speed is especially critical
The Categories of Work Motion
in construction, where the window of opportunity to
make improvements and capture the benefits is tight.

Building Momentum in the

Construction Industry
LEI and Turner coordinate conversations between
trade partners To improve uptake and overcome
objections on construction job sites. For example,
having trade partners in San Antonio who have directly
experienced the benefits of the GBI process talk to their
peers in Denver or Dallas makes it easier to overcome
potential misgivings and objections.

Human actions (motions) involved in producing products can be

At Turner, we’re playing
divided into three categories based on their value to the process.
the long game. By building
This approach is different from a single-minded drive deeper relationships with
to eliminate waste. Identifying physically demanding
our trade partners, we will
work requires studying the work in greater detail — at
the task and individual worker level. Sanders explains: reap the benefits for the long
Many novice change leaders watch people work and
term, allowing us to deliver
look for ways to improve the process. If anyone is
standing around, they recognize the wasted resources greater value to our clients.
and give them another assignment. Equipped with a
— Bob Grimes
menu of lean tools, they try to implement any of them
that seems useful. After giving a team a list of action It doesn’t hurt that the financial gains mostly benefit
items to improve, they get frustrated when workers the trade partners. After all, they’ve bid on the work and
adopt few or none of the recommendations. won the contract based on certain labor expectations.
So, any changes that make the job easier or reduce the
labor hours go straight to their bottom line.

16
Lean Enterprise Institute Underdstanding Lean Transformation

Other significant and immediate benefits for the Turner is dedicated to moving forward, understanding
general contractor are increased safety, reliability, and that progress is built by experimenting and capturing
schedule adherence. “At Turner, we’re playing the long the learning. While the existing Turner staff is working
game,” says Grimes. “By building deeper relationships on learning and implementing these concepts, Turner
with our trade partners, we will reap the benefits for has its eyes on the future, looking forward to engaging
the long term, allowing us to deliver greater value to and helping people who are just coming into the
our clients.” industry to learn how to see the work differently.

A more daunting long-term challenge is how to work Turner’s Lean Structure and the LEI
the lean approach and mindset into contracts from the Co-Learning Partnership
beginning, to work it into the requests for proposals.
LEI’s engagement with Turner Construction
To do this, people at the general contractor level must
Company began in 2017 when Jim Barrett, Turner’s
understand each project’s work requirements from
vice president and chief innovation officer, met with
a continuous flow perspective. Then, they can build
LEI Coach Mark Reich and John Shook, an LEI senior
potential efficiencies into the contracts (avoiding
advisor, in Boston. Barrett believed that lean had been
situations like the exterior panel installation described
too narrowly applied in the construction industry, and
above).
there was significant untapped potential. He said he
“You have to take these learnings and discoveries back wanted Turner to be a leader in expanding its impact.
to the front-end of the process,” says Sanders. “Turner
In response to that leadership pull, Reich led a pilot A3
is embracing it — call it kaizen leadership or lean
problem-solving project among the company’s senior
leadership—this is how the industry as a whole can
leadership team in its New York office. New York is the
begin to change.”
company’s largest operation in terms of annual sales.
Management’s understanding must deepen so they Rather than start on the job site, where LEI typically
can set the appropriate expectations. They have to gets down to work, Reich’s intent was to leverage leader
push a vision that eliminates unnecessary hard work, engagement and change their mindset. Changing their
for example. Engineering organizes the work the way perspective would help them appreciate the potential
it does for logical and historical reasons. Operations and eventually cascade the new thinking and practices
leaders must expand the factors that engineering down to the building sites.
considers during the design phase, eliminating upfront
The pilot project did, indeed, open people’s eyes.
the difficult termination of conductors in the electrical
The participants thought they spent a lot of time on
panel, for example. More people in construction need
job sites and understood how best to solve problems.
to see the physical strain and future aches and pains
The exercise demonstrated how they were mostly just
as literal pain points that can and should be alleviated.
firefighting and not really seeing the work. New York
Another challenge, Sanders adds, is the need to move began to share their renewed understanding with the
more quickly. Turner has over 10,000 employees. To other regional leaders.
expand the number of people exposed to the GBI
Turner has an established lean/continuous
methodology, Turner is working with its internal,
improvement program with dedicated resources.
self-perform group that executes some of the work on
Senior Vice President Matt Papenfus is responsible for
various projects like concrete or carpentry. That way,
the company’s central region, with offices in Dallas,
the company can directly realize some of the financial
Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Denver, and Kansas
benefits, which always catches people’s attention.

17
Lean Enterprise Institute Underdstanding Lean Transformation

City. He is also the senior leader driving the company- • Develop a “critical eye” and other lean capabilities
wide adoption and implementation of lean practices. among trade partners and Turner’s staff.
Bob Grimes, vice president and director of lean, reports
• Deepen senior leaders’ appreciation for practical
to Papenfus and coordinates the activity of regional
problem-solving.
lean leaders. They, in turn, support local lean managers
in each office (40-plus across the United States and • Help executives understand the business case and
Canada), who are all well-versed in the Last Planner potential financial gains.
System™, a production control system developed by
the Lean Construction Institute. • Build capabilities for making the work safer, easier,
and more efficient.
Following the pilot project with LEI, Reich met with
Turner’s CEO and executive leadership team every This strategy that Turner is pursuing with LEI’s support
quarter in 2019. They spent an entire day learning is a significant commitment. Time will tell how much
about lean’s untapped potential in construction in of an impact these efforts have within Turner and the
discussions, touring Herman Miller and Turner job construction industry as a whole. n
sites. In addition to expanding the executives’ thinking,
the engagement clarified the business’s need to embrace
lean methodologies more deeply.

At that time, Turner and the entire construction

industry faced a labor shortage. Reviewing video
recordings of work on the job site during the quarterly
lean exercises, company executives began to understand
how much productivity could be improved.

The targeted gemba-based improvement (GBI)

About Turner Construction:
projects described in this article began in 2020, mostly
on job sites in Texas and Colorado. They continued Turner is a North America-based, international construction
services company and is a leading builder in diverse market
throughout much of the year despite the pandemic.
segments. The company has earned recognition for undertaking
Each team participates in three projects with large, complex projects (such as Southwest Neighborhood Library
increasing responsibility each cycle for identifying and in Washington D.C., shown above), fostering innovation,
implementing changes. embracing emerging technologies, and making a difference for
their clients, employees and community.
In addition to implementing work process
improvements, Turner aims to achieve four learning
objectives through the GBI projects:

18
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