When introducing lean, the business owner’s biggest concern is whether lean can make the company money. This urgency is understandable, since every business investment expects a return. So lean must be a down-to-earth path of practice, not a war of empty words. Balancing short-term gains and long-term capability is a matter of strategic deployment throughout a lean rollout: a good strategy succeeds and a bad one fails. Some companies introducing lean may have been swayed by certain consulting firms’ so-called “high-end” pitches: from organizational change to Industry 4.0, everything sounds wonderful, but it all lives in the imagination, while quality problems and low efficiency on the shop floor remain unsolved. The biggest danger in implementing lean is doing long-term things too early while disdaining the near-term tasks, which is why many companies’ collaborations with consulting firms fail.
Success takes patience, but it also takes speed. When lean is treated as a method and tool, it must quickly bring benefits to the company, improving quality, efficiency and cost. When lean is treated as a philosophy, it reshapes the company’s DNA: changing how things are done develops people, and developing people changes more things, forming a virtuous cycle.
Finally, talking only about philosophy without results is empty, and chasing only results without philosophy is short-sighted and unsustainable. Only by finding a way that balances your company’s short- and long-term needs can lean take root in your business.
If you are weighing an investment in lean, read our latest practical guide: How to Implement Lean Manufacturing — and see RCG's lean manufacturing consulting and one-on-one gemba coaching.
First published August 2019; revised and updated October 2026.