THE ENGINE OF KNOWLEDGE CREATION

When.we.eliminate.waste.in.our.processes.and.in.our.products,.we.set.in.

motion.a.virtuous.cycle.that.frees.up.time.and.energy.for.the.thing.that.

matters.most:.how.to.deliver.the.best.product.to.the.right.customer,.at.the.

right.price,.at.the.right.time.

This.virtuous.cycle.is.the.engine.of.knowledge.creation.(Figure 1.2)..All.

product.development.organizations.create.knowledge,.but.few.have.the.

capacity.to.learn..They.waste.time.learning.the.same.things.over.and.over,.

and.they.miss.opportunities.to.use.their.knowledge.to.drive.innovation.

Lean.product.development.unlocks. the. value.from.all.of.this.knowl-edge.by.making.it.easier.to.create,.capture,.share,.and.use..We.can.use.this.

knowledge.to.ensure.that.we.don’t.repeat.the.same.mistakes.over.and.over,.

and.we.can.leverage.this.knowledge.to.form.the.basis.for.innovative.prod-ucts.that.have.high.value.and.low.risk..The.incremental.investment.it.takes.

Lean Product Development: The Mastery of Innovation  •  11

Discussion Questions

•. What.are.some.of.the.attributes.that.drive.customer.value.for.your.

company’s.products?

•. Of.the.benefits.of.Lean.Product.Development.in.this.chapter,.which.

ones.are.most.important.for.your.company.right.now?

•. What. waste. do. you. see. in. your. organization’s. product. develop-ment.process?

next Actions

. ☐. Check.your.calendar.to.see.how.much.time.you.spent.in.meetings.

over.the.past.week..What.happened.during.those.meetings?.If.your.

colleagues.spent.most.of.the.meeting.time.on.e-mail,.what.could.you.

do.to.improve.the.effectiveness.of.those.meetings?

. ☐. For.the.next.week,.notice.the.times.when.you.get.interrupted.and.

have.to.shift.from.one.task.to.another..What.does.this.do.to.your.

productivity?

Teams Increase Time to Create Knowledge Time to Market

Decreases and Capacity Increases

Product Developers Seek Value Maximization Technical Risk

Decreases Late Design Changes Decrease

Leaders Set Balanced Targets for Value Creation

FIGURE 1.2

The.virtuous.cycle.of.knowledge.creation.in.product.development.

. ☐. Notice.what.the.organization’s.leaders.talk.the.most.about:.winning.

products,.speed,.cost,.quality,.or.some.combination..What.does.that.

say.about.your.organization’s.mastery.of.innovation?

Lean Product Development: The Mastery of Innovation  •  13

tHe HiStoRY oF LeAn tHinKinG

“Lean”.is.not.an.acronym.or.a.synonym.for.“cut.the.fat.”.It.is.the.word.

that.MIT.graduate.student.John.Krafcik.first.used.in.1988.to.denote.

a.few.automotive.companies.that.had.achieved.outstanding.results.

year.after.year.as.documented.in.MIT’s.International.Motor.Vehicle.

Research.Project..In.1990,.the.project’s.leaders,.James.Womack.and.

Daniel.T..Jones,.published.their.results.in.The Machine That Changed the World and. “Lean”.became.a. management. buzzword—but.one.

with.extraordinary.sticking.power..Twenty-two.years.later,.it.is.hard.

to.find.a.U.S..manufacturing.organization.that.does.not.claim.to.be.

Lean.

LeAn tooLS

In.the.early.1990s,.“Lean.Manufacturing”.described.a.set.of.manu-facturing.practices.gleaned.from.studies.of.the.Toyota.Production.

System,.especially.the.methods.that.Taichi.Ohno.pioneered.in.the.

1950s.and.spent.the.rest.of.his.career.refining..The.Lean.Manufacturing.

toolkit.included.concepts.like.work.cells,.just-in-time,.and.one-piece.

flow.. Throughout. the. 1990s,. most. Lean. Manufacturing. programs.

focused.on.the.tools.without.looking.deeper.

These. practices. dramatically. improved. manufacturing. perfor-mance,. but. they. didn’t. always. work. and. the. improvements. didn’t.

always.stick..When.Lean.tools.moved.off.the.factory.floor.into.cre-ative.areas.of.the.business,.they.didn’t.work.well.at.all..Lean.Thinkers.

had.to.look.deeper.to.understand.why.Toyota.had.such.a.long.track.

record.of.profitable.growth.

LeAn cULtURe

Researchers.like.Jeffrey.Liker.and.Jim.Womack.kept.digging,.and.

they. found. that. Toyota’s. management. system. was. the. real. secret..

Toyota.applied.this.philosophy.across.the.entire.business,.not.just.

on. the. manufacturing. floor.. Today,. we. have. Lean. Office,. Lean.

Logistics,.Lean.Accounting,.Lean.Supply.Chain,.and.Lean.Product.

Development—all.wrapped.up.in.the.Lean.enterprise..The.manage-ment.system.was.the.key.to.pull.it.all.together,.and.culture.change.

was.the.rallying.cry.to.create.a.Lean.Enterprise.

Yet.that.wasn’t.enough.either..First,.Toyota.grew.too.fast.in.the.

early.2000s.and.stumbled—with.aggressive.cost.reductions.that.hurt.

the.customer.experience.and.major.recalls.that.tarnished.its.reputa-tion.for.high.quality..Second,.cultural.differences.didn’t.fully.explain.

why.some.companies.were.able.to.make.Lean.stick.and.then.spread.

it.beyond.manufacturing..Third,.“culture”.became.an.excuse.for.not.

doing.anything.at.all.with.Lean.methods..Yet.the.emphasis.on.cul-ture.came.from.the.companies.where.Lean.failed—not.where.Lean.

succeeded..What.was.different.about.them?

LeAn PRoBLeM SoLVinG

Toyota’s.challenges.in.the.2000s.helped.by.pointing.out.what.went.

wrong:.In.all.the.emphasis.on.cost.reduction,.global.expansion,.and.

market.share.growth,.the.company.forgot.to.make.sure.that.every-one.in.the.organization.solved.problems.systematically..At.the.same.

time,.when.we.look.at.the.companies,.including.those.in.this.book,.

that.have.made.Lean.stick.over.a.long.time,.we.see.that.it’s.their.abil-ity.to.solve.problems.systematically.that.has.kept.them.going..Today,.

we.recognize.that.systematic.problem.solving.to.maximize.value.and.

minimize.waste.is.the.core.of.Lean.Thinking.

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