Top 20 Quotes for Lean Business Inspiration

Applying a Lean model to your business is a marathon, not a sprint. You have to be in it for the long haul. Although the odds are good that you will continually see improvement and results, there may be times when you feel burnt out. When those times come along, look to these top 20 quotes for Lean business inspiration to keep you going.

1. “There are so many men who can figure costs, and so few who can measure values.” —Author Unknown
2. “A corporation is a living organism; it has to continue to shed its skin. Methods have to change. Focus has to change. Values have to change. The sum total of those changes is transformation.”–Andrew Grove
3. “The most dangerous kind of waste is the waste we do not recognize.”–Shigeo Shingo
4. “Your lean process should be a lean process.”–Author Unknown
5. “There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”–Peter F. Drucker
6. “Continuous improvement is not about the things you do well — that’s work. Continuous improvement is about removing the things that get in the way of your work. The headaches, the things that slow you down, that’s what continuous improvement is all about.”–Bruce Hamilton
7. “If you need a new process and don’t install it, you pay for it without getting it.”–Ken Stork
8. “Everything can be improved.”–Clarence W. Barron
9. “Willful waste brings woeful want.”–Thomas Fuller
10. “There are many experts on how things have been done up to now. If you think something could use a little improvement, you are the expert.”–Robert Brault
11. “Amateurs work until they get it right. Professionals work until they can’t get it wrong.”–Author Unknown
12. “It is not the employer who pays the wages. He only handles the money. It is the product that pays the wages.”–Henry Ford
13. “Nature does constant value stream mapping — it’s called evolution.”–Carrie Latet
14. “Don’t waste time learning the ‘tricks of the trade.’ Instead, learn the trade.”–James Charlton
15. “Time waste differs from material waste in that there can be no salvage. The easiest of all wastes and the hardest to correct is the waste of time, because wasted time does not litter the floor like wasted material.”–Henry Ford
16. “Waste is a tax on the whole people.”–Albert W. Atwood
17. “When solving problems, dig at the roots instead of just hacking at the leaves.”–Anthony J. D’Angelo
18. “A bad system will beat a good person every time.”–W. Edwards Deming
19. “It is an immutable law in business that words are words, explanations are explanations, promises are promises, but only performance is reality.”–Harold Geneen
20. “Waste is worse than loss. The time is coming when every person who lays claim to ability will keep the question of waste before him constantly. The scope of thrift is limitless.”–Thomas A. Edison

These top 20 quotes for Lean business inspiration represents some of the truths of the Lean model.

If you are interested in learning more about Lean and how it can improve your business, contact the Leading Edge Group.

The Leading Edge Group offers a variety of Lean training courses at all belt levels, from the white belt to the master black belt. Our training courses are accredited and nationally recognized, and can be delivered online or in-house.

For more information, get in touch with the Leading Edge Group today.