My First Book Review
When I started this blog, I figured I'd do book reviews every so often. Well, you seen how that idea has gone...no book reviews to date.
A couple of months ago, somebody actually sent me a book and asked if I'd review it. I'd be honored, I replied. Well, 300 pages and two (maybe more) months later, I'm finally writing a review. Apologies to the author, Jeff Hajek, for taking so long.
How many books on lean are there out there by now? A hundred or more? So how does a writer carve himself or herself a "lean book" niche? Hajek has done this (I would think) by writing a book, the intended audience of which is the employee of any company implementing lean. In other words, it's a book to hand out to workers, shop floor and office, at the commencement of a lean project. Not a bad idea. You've got to keep it fairly simple because you'll be writing for folks with a variety of reading skills. Jeff Hajek does this...mostly...in his book, Whaddaya Mean I Gotta Be Lean?. The book is a bit long and there are a few chapters that get pretty heavily into culture change, employee motivation, and such that I think could have been shorter. On the other hand, Hajek uses a good number of illustrations. His chapters on lean tools have short "What You Already Know" sidebars that use everyday examples and illustrations for ideas he's working to get across. Most of them were on the mark.
The usual treatment for lean tools as a "set" of techniques is presented here. I'm still looking for a book that ties all the tools (or at least a good portion of them) together better. The traditional presentation of muda and various other Japanese terms is also here. That's not a problem; the book is intended, after all as a primer for employees being introduced to lean methods.
The weakest part of the book are three chapters in the middle. The "Hard Truths of Lean" reviews lean challenges that may impact the employee. The idea of presenting those challenges to employees is a good one but I'm not sure that telling them things like, "Lean, like life, is not always fair," or "Lean can create internal conflict," is the best way of getting the skeptical on board. The next two chapters represent an effort to present a model of behavior intended (I think) to give employees a way of looking at and thinking about responding to the changes that lean brings to the organization. It's not a bad idea but difficult to pull off if Jeff's efforts are any indication. I got lost in these two chapters and I was a Psych major. In any case, they might be overkill when you simply want folks to understand what 5S and Setup Reduction are about. (I know many will, rightfully, say, "But this isn't all that it's about!" and I agree. But, in the early days, it's what you need and putting too much on the employees' plates too early could be counterproductive.)
The book really comes into it's own in the second half. The format of the last four chapters is very readable, very "to the point". A wide variety of realistic problems, challenges, and barriers are presented. After each problem is presented, several paragraphs addressing "How This Affects You", "Actions to Take" and "Why This Works" are given. The author's experience is evident in these chapters. Again, the problems presented are real and realistic. The other information given for each problem is on the mark. If I were using this book, I'd highlight the last four chapters.
Jeff covers a lot of ground in the book. Maybe more than enough, in some cases. But the last several chapters are worth the price of admission all by themselves.
A couple of months ago, somebody actually sent me a book and asked if I'd review it. I'd be honored, I replied. Well, 300 pages and two (maybe more) months later, I'm finally writing a review. Apologies to the author, Jeff Hajek, for taking so long.
How many books on lean are there out there by now? A hundred or more? So how does a writer carve himself or herself a "lean book" niche? Hajek has done this (I would think) by writing a book, the intended audience of which is the employee of any company implementing lean. In other words, it's a book to hand out to workers, shop floor and office, at the commencement of a lean project. Not a bad idea. You've got to keep it fairly simple because you'll be writing for folks with a variety of reading skills. Jeff Hajek does this...mostly...in his book, Whaddaya Mean I Gotta Be Lean?. The book is a bit long and there are a few chapters that get pretty heavily into culture change, employee motivation, and such that I think could have been shorter. On the other hand, Hajek uses a good number of illustrations. His chapters on lean tools have short "What You Already Know" sidebars that use everyday examples and illustrations for ideas he's working to get across. Most of them were on the mark.
The usual treatment for lean tools as a "set" of techniques is presented here. I'm still looking for a book that ties all the tools (or at least a good portion of them) together better. The traditional presentation of muda and various other Japanese terms is also here. That's not a problem; the book is intended, after all as a primer for employees being introduced to lean methods.
The weakest part of the book are three chapters in the middle. The "Hard Truths of Lean" reviews lean challenges that may impact the employee. The idea of presenting those challenges to employees is a good one but I'm not sure that telling them things like, "Lean, like life, is not always fair," or "Lean can create internal conflict," is the best way of getting the skeptical on board. The next two chapters represent an effort to present a model of behavior intended (I think) to give employees a way of looking at and thinking about responding to the changes that lean brings to the organization. It's not a bad idea but difficult to pull off if Jeff's efforts are any indication. I got lost in these two chapters and I was a Psych major. In any case, they might be overkill when you simply want folks to understand what 5S and Setup Reduction are about. (I know many will, rightfully, say, "But this isn't all that it's about!" and I agree. But, in the early days, it's what you need and putting too much on the employees' plates too early could be counterproductive.)
The book really comes into it's own in the second half. The format of the last four chapters is very readable, very "to the point". A wide variety of realistic problems, challenges, and barriers are presented. After each problem is presented, several paragraphs addressing "How This Affects You", "Actions to Take" and "Why This Works" are given. The author's experience is evident in these chapters. Again, the problems presented are real and realistic. The other information given for each problem is on the mark. If I were using this book, I'd highlight the last four chapters.
Jeff covers a lot of ground in the book. Maybe more than enough, in some cases. But the last several chapters are worth the price of admission all by themselves.
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