I have been reflecting on the parallels between Lean and the martial arts. As a long time practitioner of the martial arts this subject has always intrigued me. In fact, I have thought many times of writing on the parallels of business strategy and martial strategy. "Been done exhaustively," you say. Oh, contraire.

Let's examine the concept of Kokoro. This can be translated as heart, intestinal fortitude or mental attitude. For the practitioner of budo (the martial way) this is the indomitable spirit. In Lean this is the unrelenting pursuit of perfection.

On the surface this seems fairly straightforward. I imagine many reading this are saying, "I get it. Stay focused." But this isn't about staying focused. It's about being focused. It's about committing to Lean not as an idea or a tool, but as the way business is done.

This week, I was speaking with a colleague concerning the differences between learning martial arts under an American instructor versus a traditional Oriental instructor. In America, the student picks the instructor. The student pays for the instruction and thereby expects to have input in how the instruction is given. From the traditional Oriental perspective, the instructor chooses who will be taught. The instructor holds the traditions of the system - the hiden or principles behind the techniques. Here is a dramatic difference in the relationship. It is not a student and instructor relationship but a sensei and deshi relationship: literally one who has gone before and the one that follows (disciple).

This sheds some light on the difference between a Lean Consultant and a Lean Sensei. The consultant is hired to give advice. Essentially, once the contracted information exchange has occurred, the consultant doesn't have any responsibility for outcomes. If results are not achieved, shame on the organization for its failure. The sensei's mindset is different. The sensei's responsibility is to lead the follower down the path that the sensei has already traveled. If, therefore, the follower gets lost along the way then this is a shame on the sensei.

This is why it is the Lean sensei that chooses with which company he/she will work, and why the first test is, "will you do what I tell you, without hesitation, no matter what?" The sensei must know that the disciple will follow.

So, what do you do if you do not have a Lean Sensei?

From the executive perspective this means creating the conditions where the practice of Lean is not an organizational option. When consultants are used, or when the Lean effort is initiated internally, it is executive kokoro that is the determining factor of success. A continued documented reason for Lean deployment failure is lack of executive sponsorship.

From the management perspective this means connecting Lean tools to Lean principles. It means helping the staff to master the tools of Lean while revealing to them the principles that support the tools. It is this two-prong approach that allows Lean to take organizational root and creates the kokoro that enables the practitioner to weather the turbulent business cycles and to continuously improve.

Can’t I have success using the tools?

Yes. But consider the following: a sword is the tool that is an extension of the samurai. But deploying the sword requires an understanding of varying principles and strategies. Owning a katana - the sword of the samurai - does not make one a samurai. It is the transmission and practice of the principles and strategies that transforms the practitioner into a samurai. Likewise, having a Lean consultant in your organization, or using Lean tools does not mean that your organization is Lean.

 Sounds a bit inflexible. Does this mean that Lean is static?

Not at all. But Lean is an operating system with fundamental principles that cannot be ignored. The first of these principles is the concept of valuing opposites. This concept plays a key role in Lean Thinking. For example, a sensei will see no contradiction in saying, "Do not deviate from what I tell you to do. Think creatively!"

In his book, The Opposable Mind, Roger L. Martin describes one of the chief constructs in Lean thinking. Martin dubs it "Integrative Thinking": that is, the ability to integrate two divergent ideas, value each idea individually, and produce another idea that is not simply a combination of the parts but a new idea with element of the separate parts but distinctly different. It is the understanding that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. In Japan it is the "in-yō." It is perhaps known better in the west as the "ying-yang."

How is this demonstrated in Lean Thinking? Consider the following:

• No problem is problem
• Fix mistakes immediately (temporary counter-measures), but take the time to do root -cause analysis so that mistakes don't reoccur (permanent counter-measures)
• Stop production so production never stops
• Spend more time to complete your cycle in less time
• Maintain standards, change standards to improve standards
• Promote innovation, apply rigor

It is these seeming contradictions that give Lean its in- yō nature. In the martial arts one must understand the hard and soft, the circular and linear, the internal and external nature of the system. But understand that the parts point to something greater than themselves. As Bruce Lee explained, "It is like a finger pointing to the moon. Keep your eye on the finger and you miss all that heavenly glory."¹ 

Lean fails when its tools are deployed without its frame of mind. One can learn the tools or techniques of Lean but still not be truly Lean. It is understanding the integrated dichotomy of Lean principles that put us on the path to true Lean. We understand that Lean is an unrelenting journey towards perfection. We understand that it is a journey that demands an indomitable spirit and the skill to integrate opposable ideas.

I have said that you need both innovation and rigor to be successful in the Lean journey, and that innovation without rigor is chaos. A colleague recently noted that while "innovation without rigor is chaos. Rigor without innovation is bureaucracy."²  How beautiful is this dichotomy of thought. How necessary that we embrace the whole. This is Lean frame of mind.

1. Enter the Dragon, 1973.
2. Jauna Werner, LBC, Memorial Health System, Colorado Springs, CO.