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Lean Events and Training / Events / Intro to Lean Thinking & Practice

Intro to Lean Thinking & Practice

An introduction to the essential concepts of lean thinking and practice.

Location

Online – On-Demand, Self-Paced

Why you should attend

Get a comprehensive introduction to the essential concepts of lean thinking and practice, including the philosophy, principles, practices, and tools.

Cost

$249 Users will have access for 12 months

Register now on our eLearning platform

Register
  • Overview
  • Agenda
  • Instructors
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This in-depth, self-paced learning experience will set you on a path toward adopting lean thinking and practice, an approach to managing work improvement to ensure your organization creates the most value for your customer while reducing waste by minimizing resources, time, energy, and effort.

In addition to learning about the foundation and history of lean thinking and practice, you’ll get a clear definition of lean thinking and practice, a look at what it might look like in your workplace, and advice on how to begin applying it. 

The Lean Transformation Framework

With this go-at-your-own-pace online learning experience, you’ll get an introduction to each element of the Lean Transformation Framework (LTF), a proven systematic approach to achieving continuous improvement at every level, from executive-level strategy to frontline operations. By understanding the LTF, you’ll not only understand the essential elements of lean thinking and practice. But you’ll also see how the various lean concepts, methods, and tools fit — and work — together.

Lean thinking and practice help organizations become innovative and competitive, which ensures they become sustainable.

Narrated by John Shook, Toyota’s first American manager in Japan, Senior Advisor of the Lean Enterprise Institute, and Chairman of the Lean Global Network, this learning experience guides you through a comprehensive description of lean thinking and practice’s essential elements, with emphasis on practical, hands-on exercises. In addition to learning by doing, you’ll engage with videos, PowerPoint presentations, articles, case examples, and book excerpts.  

The information and insight delivered in this learning experience will enable you to begin applying lean principles, practices, and tools to improve your and your company’s work processes by providing you with the getting-started essentials. As you learn and practice them during the course, you will launch your never-ending journey toward creating perfect work processes and workplaces.  

Who Will Benefit?

  • Individuals who aim to enhance their career prospects by adopting lean/continuous improvement principles, practices, and mindset 
  • Lean practitioners who feel they must fill in learning gaps or refresh their lean thinking and practice knowledge and skills 
  • Leaders, from mid-level managers to top executives, who are trying to level up their team’s knowledge of lean thinking and practice to speed progress, including continuous-improvement and human-resource leaders 

Course Goals

  • Discover why the lean way of working is beneficial.
  • Recognize what contributes to a lean enterprise.
  • Gain motivation to learn how to put lean thinking into practice as an individual, team-member, and leader.
  • Ground improvement efforts, problem-solving, and people development in the work.

What Else Should I Know?

Get a head start or supplement your online learning. This ebook helps beginner and mid-stage Lean Thinkers gain a more comprehensive understanding of lean thinking and practice — and refreshes advanced practitioners’ knowledge:

Also, though no prerequisite training or reading is required, having familiarity with lean management basics will be helpful. We recommend the following books:

Kaizen Express

Kaizen Express by Toshiko Narusawa and John Shook

Lean Lexicon 5th Edition

Lean Lexicon 5th Edition by Lean Enterprise Institute

Time Estimates Per Unit*

*Actual times may vary.

INtro to Lean THinking Concept Map

Download the Intro to Lean Thinking and Practice Concept Map and share it with your manager.

Detailed Subject-Matter Information
Estimated Time to Complete*
Pre-Work & Reflection
2 hours
Unit 1. Understand Value
2 hours
Unit 2. Define Work
6 hours
Unit 3. People
2 hours
Unit 4.Management
2-3 hours
Unit 5. Basic Thinking
1-2 hours
Post-Work & Reflection
1/2 hour
Total
~16-18 hours

John Shook

Senior Advisor, Lean Enterprise Institute

John Shook learned about lean management while working for Toyota for 11 years in Japan and the U.S., helping it transfer production, engineering, and management systems from Japan to NUMMI and other operations around the world. While at Toyota’s headquarters, he became the company’s first American kacho (manager) in Japan. In the U.S., Shook joined […]

Read more about John Shook

Need to level set your team’s lean knowledge and skills?

Choose the Lean Fundamentals Enterprise Bundle and gain unlimited access for everyone in your organization to three foundational lean learning experiences.

Lean Fundamentals Bundle

Hear What Our Customers Are Saying:

Intro to lean thinking and Practice is very good for business improvement.

—Yaman Parid

Good and insightful course. Very helpful and deep drilled insights regarding lean principles and its implementation in organizations.

—Shivangi Rastogi

This is an excellent course.

—Sachin Karahadkar

Related Events

June 18, 2025 | Webinar

Webinar: Connecting Strategy and Problem Solving

Learn more

June 26, 2025 | Salt Lake City, Utah

Future of People at Work Symposium

Learn more

September 05, 2025 | Coach-led Online Program

The Lean Management Program

Learn more
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