Cambridge, MA, Oct. 7, 2010 – Two books on lean management and leadership published by the nonprofit Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI) have won Shingo Research and Professional Publication Awards.
Follow the Learner: The Role of a Leader in Creating a Lean Culture by Dr. Sami Bahri, DDS, and The Lean Manager by Freddy and Michael Ballé will be honored at the 23d Annual Shingo Prize Awards Gala and conference in Cincinnati, March 28-31, 2011. Both books were published in 2009.
“This prestigious award recognizes the impact of both books on helping companies change their culture and management systems to sustain lean transformations,” said Jane Bulnes-Fowles, LEI’s Lean Learning Materials manager.
Practical Lean Advice
Follow the Learner is the personal account of the 20-year lean leadership journey of Dr. Bahri, the world’s first lean dentist, who provides universal lessons about culture change for executives and managers aspiring to lead a lean organization.
Dr. Bahri offers examples and practical advice that apply to leaders in small businesses as well as large companies who want to use lean management principles to create learning organizations. In this intimate and honest look at a lean transformation, readers learn how Dr. Bahri and staff taught themselves how to adapt lean manufacturing concepts of pull, flow, and quick changeovers to his Jacksonville, FL, practice.
“Our team and I feel really honored to receive such a prestigious award,” said Dr. Bahri. “I hope this recognition will encourage more Lean Thinkers to build learning cultures based on continuous improvement and genuine interest in resolving customer problems. Many thanks to LEI for its help and support.”
Beyond Lean Manufacturing Tools
The Lean Manager, the sequel to the popular business novel The Gold Mine, shows managers and executives how to go beyond implementing the tools of lean manufacturing to creating and sustaining a complete lean management system. The book follows fictional plant manager Andrew Ward’s struggle to rethink his entire managerial approach under the guidance of no-nonsense executive Phil Jenkinson, who used lean principles to save his company in The Gold Mine.
“Freddy and I believe that lean is essentially an effort to apply what we’ve learned from Toyota outside of Toyota and beyond the automotive industry,” said Michael Ballé. “The Gold Mine was a description of how to use the lean system to turn around a failing company. But when Freddy was the CEO of a French automotive supplier, he learned deeper lessons from his Toyota senseis about leadership and transformation. These are the messages we tried to capture and convey with this second book, and we’re thrilled to get such recognition for our work on the leadership dimension of lean.
“On a second front, we’ve always believed the lean movement to be truly global: an endeavor, beyond Japanese or American cultures to sketch out a new form of management for the 21st century. Our research is based mostly on European efforts to apply lean thinking outside of Toyota, and we are delighted to see the old continent’s lean contribution recognized by such a major award.”
Both books are available at the LEI web site at https://www.lean.org , click Store, or call 617 871-2900.
What is Lean?
https://www.lean.org/WhatsLean/
The terms lean manufacturing, lean production, or lean management refer to a complete business system for organizing and managing product development, operations, suppliers, customer relations, and the overall enterprise.
Shingo Prize
Named in honor of the late Shigeo Shingo, who wrote about many aspects of the Toyota Production System, the Shingo Prize was established in 1988 to educate, assess, and recognize organizations for creating a culture of continuous improvement through employee-empowerment and effective leadership.
Lean Enterprise Institute
Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc., was founded in 1997 by management expert James P. Womack, Ph.D., as a nonprofit research, education, publishing, and conference company with a mission to advance lean thinking around the world. We conduct research projects and support other lean initiatives such as the Lean Education Academic Network, the Lean Global Network and the Healthcare Value Leaders Network. Visit LEI at https://www.lean.org for more information.
Media, including review copies: Chet Marchwinski, cmarchwinski@lean.org, (617) 871-2930