Lean Enterprise Institute Logo
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter Signup
  • Cart (0)
  • Account
  • Search
Lean Enterprise Institute Logo
  • Explore Lean
        • What is Lean?
        • The Lean Transformation Framework
        • A Brief History of Lean
        • Lexicon Terms
        • Topics to explore
          • Operations
          • Lean Product & Process Development
          • Administration & Support
          • Problem-Solving
          • Coaching
          • Executive Leadership
          • Line Management
  • The Lean Post
        • Subscribe to see exclusive content
          • Subscribe
        • Featured posts
          A Simple Question Without An Easy Answer

          Transforming Your Organization with Lean Thinking and...

          Edgar Schein and John Shook at the Stanford Lean Healthcare Academic Conference.

          In Honor of Dr. Edgar Schein: A...

          • See all Posts
  • Events & Training
        • Custom Coaching and Learning Experiences
        • Co-Learning Partnerships
        • Forms and Templates
        • Featured learning
          • Lean Summit 2023

            March 08, 2023 | Optional Pre-Summit Workshops March 6-7
            Tucson, Arizona

          • Key Concepts of Lean Management Remotely 

            March 13, 2023 | Online Live Course

          • Building a Lean Operating and Management System 

            March 21, 2023 | Boston, MA

          • Improvement Kata/Coaching Kata Remotely

            April 10, 2023 | Online Live Course

          • See all Events
  • Store
        • Shopping Cart
        • Featured books
          Managing to Learn: Using the A3 management process

          Managing to Learn: Using the A3 management process

          Learning to See

          Learning to See

          • See all Books
  • About Us
        • Our people
          • Senior Advisors and Staff
          • Faculty
          • Board of Directors
        • Contact Us
        • Lean Global Network
        • Press Releases
        • In the News
        • Careers
        • About us

The Lean Post / Articles / A Simple Question Without An Easy Answer

A Simple Question Without An Easy Answer

Coaching

A Simple Question Without An Easy Answer

By Steve Bell

June 6, 2014

Our understanding of Lean (and how best to talk about what it is with others) evolves over time, just like our capability to practice it.

FacebookTweetLinkedInEmailPrintComment

When is the last time someone asked you the simple question: “What is Lean?”

It happens to me quite often, and I’m surprised by how difficult I find it is to answer in a simple way. Why is that, I wonder? 

I believe one reason is that our individual understanding of Lean practice evolves with experience. This brings to mind “Shu-Ha-Ri”, a Japanese martial arts concept, which describes how one attains degrees of mastery.

“Shu” (learn) is the beginner state, where one is instructed through strict adherence to traditional form, intensely practicing basic forms until they are deeply internalized. Consider martial arts (where the forms are called “kata”) or similarly, the repetitive practice of fundamentals to learn a musical instrument, a sport such as tennis or golf, or a new language.

Once an individual internalizes the basic forms as habit, they progress to the “Ha” (detach) state where they are able to put these individual techniques together into meaningful patterns to achieve a goal, such as to play a piece of music with technical proficiency. Over time, and with continued practice, the individual relies less on the strict fundamentals, developing their own particular style through experimentation and innovation, guided by a master. An example of this would be to perform a musical composition with technical mastery as well as emotion. At this stage, the student is often asked to teach others who are in the Shu state, and by doing so they deeply internalize their own learning (learn it, do it, teach it).

Finally there is mastery, the “Ri” (transcend) state. At this stage, our musician becomes a composer. Here the practices are so deeply intuitive that they can be performed in a natural, fluid way. Actions flow from a deep state of understanding, where everything is done in a way guided by mindfulness of the situation rather than according to a prescribed set of rules. Of course the master frequently returns to the fundamentals, gaining new insights each time.

Thus, at each stage of mastery, an individual is likely to respond to the simple question “What is Lean?” in a fundamentally different way. The novice may focus on the form (tools and techniques) or if they attempt to address the question in a more holistic fashion, it may be a shallow interpretation not yet founded upon their own deeper experience.

The master, on the other hand, may simply respond to the question by posing a thoughtful and provocative question in return, helping the questioner to find deeper meaning and relevance from their own perspective and experience.

So how will you respond, the next time someone asks you this “simple” question? 

FacebookTweetLinkedInEmailPrintComment

Written by:

Steve Bell

About Steve Bell

Steve Bell is a pioneer of Lean IT and Lean Digitization, applying principles and practices through a method-agnostic approach, drawing on a variety of disciplines— including Lean, Six Sigma, Agile, Scrum, Kanban, DevOps, Lean Startup, Kata, Design Thinking, ITSM, Visual Management (Obeya), and Strategy Deployment (Hoshin Kanri) —as appropriate to…

Read more about Steve Bell

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related

jpw fund for the numbers

Coaching

Assessing a New Way to Develop More Lean Thinkers

Article by Patricia Panchak

a group of people holding large puzzle pieces

Coaching

How to Get the Most from Your A3 Thinking and Practice

Article by Lean Leaper

Students Take the Lead in JPW Fund Internship

Coaching

Students Take the Lead in JPW Fund Internship

Article by Patricia Panchak

Related books

The Gold Mine (Audio CD)

The Gold Mine (Audio CD)

by Freddy Ballé and Michael Ballé

graphical user interface

Four Types of Problems / Managing to Learn Set

by John Shook and Art Smalley

Related events

April 10, 2023 | Online Live Course

Improvement Kata/Coaching Kata Remotely

Learn more

April 17, 2023 | Online Live Course

Developing Structured Problem-Solving and Leadership Skills using A3 Thinking: Managing to Learn Remotely

Learn more

Explore topics

Coaching graphic icon Coaching

Subscribe to get the very best of lean thinking delivered right to your inbox

Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Facebook

©Copyright 2000-2023 Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.
Lean Enterprise Institute, the leaper image, and stick figure are registered trademarks of Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Learn More. ACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!