Several weeks ago, I wrote a post here that defined (or, at least, described) what I mean by "culture".  In that post, I alluded to several important elements of all organizational cultures.

Here they are again:

1. Communications - how information gets transmitted
   
2. Collaboration - how organization members work together, integrate and synchonize their work
   
3. Decision Making/Problem solving - how problems are identified, analyzed, and solutions are developed.  How  courses of action are chosen.
   
4. Planning/Goal Setting - How longer term goals are established and how plans are developed and carried out
   
5. Motivation - The assumptions the organization makes about what motivates people and how it puts those assumptions into practice.
   
6. Managing Agreement - How organization members identify differences and resolve them
   
7. Learning - How organization members learn what they need to do
   
8. Innovation - How new ideas are developed and implemented

I call these the Levers of Cultural Change.  If you want to change the organization's culture, you need to work these levers.

Some things you need to know about these Levers of Change:

• All of these elements exist to some extent in all organizations.  One or more of these elements might be pretty weak in a particular organization but there's no such thing as a complete absence of any element, e.g., there's no such thing as an organization within which no communications take place, no decisions are made, no learning takes place, or no approach to manage agreement is in place.
• That said, organizations can differ widely in the manner in which they carry out these elements and their effectiveness in doing so.
• A culture is "good" to the extent that it fits the organization's strategy.  In other words, there is no one  best culture.  In other words, a culture that works well for a manufacturing organization in a stable market won't necessarily work well for a health care organization.  Or even a manufacturer in a less stable environment.
• All the Levers of Culture are "workable".  In other words, an organization can develop and implement plans to change any of the levers.   But it's not always easy.  In fact, it probably never is.

So, the quick but incomplete answer to how an organization creates a lean culture is, "You start pulling/pushing on the Levers of Cultural Change.  As to the longer, more complete answer,  keep checking back here.