Training Industry Magazine - November/December 2016 - 51

FROM THE DAWN OF CIVILIZATION, HUMANS HAVE SOUGHT OPPORTUNITIES TO
BECOME BETTER AND FASTER WHILE MAXIMIZING USE OF LIMITED RESOURCES.
THIS IS A BUSINESS REALITY, LEADING EVERY LEADER TO ADOPT THE MANTRA:
DO MORE WITH LESS. SOME PEOPLE REFER TO THIS AS EFFICIENCY, BUT IT'S MUCH
MORE THAN THAT. IT'S APPLYING LONG-TERM STRATEGIC JUDGEMENT FOR THE
DECISIONS RELATING TO ORGANIZATIONAL PROCESSES. YES, DOING MORE
WITH LESS IS ABOUT EFFICIENCY BUT BEING "LEAN" IS ABOUT APPROPRIATELY
ALLOCATING FUTURE RESOURCES FOR STRATEGIC GROWTH. LEAN IS NOTHING
NEW TO BUSINESS, BUT IT IS SOMETHING VERY NEW FOR L&D.
Naturally, leaders expect to maximize
value within every business process while
minimizing waste. But lean thinking strives
to continuously improve value-focused
processes that drive sustainable results.
Successfully implementing lean for any
process is far from a one-time occurrence.
It's an iterative process most effective
when driven by the organization's culture.
Toyota is an infamous example of a
company successfully implementing
lean into its manufacturing processes,
cultivating a reputation for reliability and
quality far exceeding competitors. This is
the power of lean.
But there is more to every "Toyota-type"
success story than simply cutting process
costs in the right areas and getting
people to buy-in. The focus should be
on integrative and continuous learning.
Regretfully, even lean methodology
rarely acknowledges learning's relevance
and significance to increasing value of
primary business performance.
You may be saying, "This is a nice story for
large multinationals but how does this apply
to us small guys?" Actually, lean processes
and lean learning is exceptionally more
pronounced within small organizations

because of effective resource utilization and
an edge on speed. This implies that small
organizations are organically lean and that
learning is organic and unstructured. There
are also greater risks for knowledge flight,
misapplication or misappropriation that
should drive value and ultimately, profits.
Missing key learning opportunities can
result in stunted business growth. This is how
essential L&D is for growing organizations.

A SHIFT TO LEAN LEARNING
Without realizing it, L&D is rapidly moving
toward lean learning. For learning
professionals, however, lean and creativity
appear at opposite ends of the business
spectrum. Learning professionals often
believe that it's ineffective to restrict
resources when attempting to effect
actual learning while leaders demand L&D
become more efficient and effective. With
lean, it's both, not one or the other.
Business leaders expect learning efforts to
deliver impactful results while minimizing
disruptions to key processes. This is not an
unusual or an unreasonable expectation
as L&D is a business activity and faithfully
respects the lean concept, or in this
specific case, lean learning.

T R A I N I N G I N DUSTR Y MA GAZ INE - TRENDS201 7 I WWW.TRAI NINGINDU S T RY . C OM/ MAGAZ I NE

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