Has your organization tried Lean already? If so, you surely see and feel the Joy of Lean in your workplace now, right?

Don't worry. If you're not quite to joy yet, you're not alone.

As it attracts more and more attention as a successful business philosophy that can improve results in any type of organization, Lean has still sometimes been misunderstood as a method for just cutting expenses. The useful ideas of eliminating waste and driving greater efficiency can pick up a negative spin, with perceptions of job cuts, employees doing more with less, and managers squeezing more productivity from each person. None of that sounds very joyful.

But it doesn't have to be that way. This book will show leaders how to cultivate a positive Lean Culture of excellence that creates value for customers, profitable growth for businesses, sustainable cost reduction, and fulfilling jobs for employees.

Lean Culture means empowerment.

Lean Culture means better value for the customer.

Lean Culture means better performance for the organization.

Lean Culture means a more engaging, rewarding, and yes, even joyful role for each employee.

And Lean Culture provides the competitive advantages that a team needs to survive and grow.

We call the approach Lean Engaged Team Performance (Lean ETP). It's a purposeful combination of value innovation, process excellence, performance measures, team goals, collaborative norms, organizational structure, enabling technology, and most of all, visionary leadership. And it's hard to achieve and even harder to sustain, but it's worth the journey!