Lean Implementation Process:
An outline of the Straus Forest approach to a complete Lean implementation

What results can you expect?

Our approach to:

• Consulting
• Training
• Lean executive coaching

Straus/Forest clients have enjoyed dramatic process improvement results, as illustrated in the following figure.

Your own results will depend on your unique circumstances and your level of commitment.

Our approach to consulting

We begin our work with two assumptions about our clients: (1) they are doing a lot of things right, and a lot of things well; and (2) they have tremendous untapped capacity and capability that is hidden under wasteful and ineffective processes.

Our job is provide the structure for our clients to step back and make a clear-eyed appraisal of the current situation, to see the possibilities without all that waste and inefficiency, and then to act decisively to make those possibilities a reality.

Clients find our approach challenging and rewarding. Challenging because we encourage everyone to look at things a new way, a way that is sometimes at odds with closely held beliefs. Rewarding because we encourage our clients to seize opportunities to go beyond what was thought possible.

Our approach to training

We avoid stand-alone training. Rather, we provide just-in-time training in support of a useful work task.  For example, a client asked us to train their organization on how to do Value Stream Mapping, a process documentation and planning method. Rather than have a class on how to apply the method on a simulated process, we led a team on a Value Stream Mapping workshop on an actual business process.

Here are the benefits to our approach to training:

1. Real work is accomplished as a result of the training
2. Positive changes in the process are possible
3. Participants learn first-hand how the concepts apply to their work
4. The delay between learning and doing is eliminated

We have found from experience (and research on adult learning) that people learn better by doing. When we began implementing Lean in aerospace organizations over ten years ago, we spent an enormous amount of time training the workforce up front. While that was a well-intentioned plan—and there were some benefits—the amount of information retained was not as much as we would have liked. Also, while information was being disseminated, no actual progress in terms of process improvements were made.

Our approach to Lean executive coaching

We help our clients learn and practice the principles of Lean in the way they make business decisions. This is a rational, clear-eyed process that most find very rewarding. In our approach, the emphasis is on clarity and action: clarity in vision, goals, strategy, intentions, and the action to make those things a reality.