Build the Lean Management System Before the Tools: Why Mindset Comes First in Lean

Start with the System, Not the Tools  

I’ve walked into plants where the culture was so corrosive it was like trying to grow flowers in concrete. A union shop where the team didn’t trust leadership. A floor so jaded they’d rather let a machine alarm for twenty minutes than take two steps to address it. And leadership? Not just out of touch—absent.

So when people ask me why Lean fails, I don’t start with tools. I start with the system. 

Mindset, Skillset, Toolset—In That Order

I’ve been saying this for years: you can’t fix a cultural problem with a fishbone diagram. If the people in the room aren’t bought in, the tools won’t matter.

That’s why I always start with the human side.

• Mindset: Are people ready to change? Do they feel safe? Heard? Respected?
  
• Skillset: Are they equipped to lead, not just manage? Have they been shown—not just told—how to work differently?
  
• Toolset: Only after the first two are in place do I talk about lean tools. And by then, people are ready to use them.
  

Too often, we flip this order. We shove tools into a broken management system and wonder why nothing sticks.

A Better Way to Say “Welcome”

Here’s one of the simplest mindset shifts I teach:

• “Congratulations: you start Monday. Your job is to make widgets.”

vs.

• “Congratulations: you start Monday. Your job is to make the widget-making process better.”
  

Same amount of time dedicated…completely different message received!. The first is task-driven. The second empowers improvement.

But here’s the catch: you can’t just say it. You have to back it up. If the new hire walks in and nothing supports that mindset—no visible management, no team connection, no structured follow-through—it falls flat.

Lean Is a System, Not an Event

I’m not talking about an optional training module or a flavor-of-the-month initiative. I’m talking about a system that gets embedded into how you lead, train, hire, and interact. It’s not “something we also do.” It’s “how we do business.”

Key beginnings:

• Leadership development starts with training leaders how to talk, and how to lead
• Giving people the tools to solve problems, not just meet rates
• Building relationships before you expect results
• Creating clarity and competence —not chaos and compliance

At Johnson & Johnson, where I cut my teeth post-military, Lean wasn’t a project. It was how we breathed. And I’ve spent every year since trying to recreate that level of clarity and competence in the places that need it most.

A Lean Management System only works if improvement becomes part of the company’s DNA. That’s why our perspective aligns with Sustaining Continuous Improvement, which emphasizes embedding improvement into daily operations for long-term results.

Relationships First and Always.

I don’t care if I’m training 40 people on A3 problem solving or coaching leadership on change management. My first goal is the same: build relationships.

I ask people to introduce themselves. Share how long they’ve been there. What they want from the training.  and one fun detail—something to break the ice and remind us we’re more than job titles. Then we eat lunch together. There is just something about “breaking bread with each other”. That’s where the real conversations happen.

When people connect, they care. And when they care, they lean in. That’s the start of cultural transformation.

What a Lean Management System Needs

Beyond mindset, skillset, and toolset, a real Lean Management System needs:

• Clear sponsorship—not just top-down mandates, but visible, active leadership
  
• Structured change management—with room for feedback from the floor
  
• Project and initiative tracking—so people know what’s happening and why
  
• Onboarding that reflects the culture you want—not just paperwork
  

You also need humility. The willingness to ask questions like, “What does help look like?” or “What used to work here that we’ve lost?” Because sometimes the best path forward starts by looking back.

Final Thought

If I had one wish for struggling organizations, it’d be this: stop chasing tools and start building systems.

Get the mindset right. Build trust. Invest in your people and build the right leadership behaviors. Then—and only then—introduce the tools.

Because if your people don’t believe the system is real, it’ll never work. But if they do? That’s where transformation begins—and where sustainable improvement takes root. Want help getting your lean management system off the ground? Let’s talk.