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I really like these three tips: Complaining trumps self satisfaction. The people in an organization which is 10 years into a lean transformation should not be satisfied with their condition. A happy lean culture is a faltering lean culture. People should be happy, but there should be a distinct sense of dissatisfaction with the status quo. Frequent and brief complaining followed by 5 why root cause analysis and corrective action is a characteristic of a sustaining lean culture. Structured program trumps invisible behaviors. It's tempting to think that a formal, structured lean program is no longer necessary after 10 years of practicing lean because it is now "in the blood" and does not require special promotion or attention. However this is rarely the case. Nature abhors a vacuum, and corporations seem to abhor a vacuum in program-space. Best to keep the lean program and improve it also continuously as a support mechanism. Pedal to the metal trumps cruise control. Thomas Jefferson said, "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance" and coincidentally this is also the price of a sustained lean culture. At no time is it safe to put the program on cruise control. Corners always want to be cut, people naturally want to do what is easy, and without strong leadership to remind people that sometimes the important things are not easy, a lean culture will not sustain. Developing people trumps driving results. After 10 years even people who may have only paid this lip service begin to see the cause and effect connection and begin to believe. It takes time to develop people. When you can point to people that have developed with the organization and are driving results, this is a sign that the elements of a sustainable lean culture are in place.

Four

Great list of factors that make change last.

Why wouldn't the team follow the new procedure since there are such clear benefits?  You probably have a theory or two if this experience sounds familiar to you.  The Toyota Way Fieldbook states that when people deviate from the original plan, it's a strong indication that there is a flaw in the plan.  This was also one of the main points of Implementing Change - Get It Done! There are reasons why people are not following a new procedure.  You need to find out what those reasons are and figure out what to do about it. Sustaining the improvements can be the most difficult part of the change process.

What do you get when you combine free and Lean?  Well, the FreeLeanSite.com. Jay Watson is the Lean thinker behind this site. It grew from a passion of implementing Lean on the shop floor at companies like Motorola, Honeywell, and General Electric. He started the site to make "lean thinking" concepts of continuous improvement highly accessible for practitioners in North America. Our primary focus is on accelerating the developmental process, sustaining the effort, and most importantly - driving for results. The majority of the training modules are absolutely free to download and modify as needed. A management improvement process focused on elements of Safety, Quality, and Speed of Execution provides a framework for action. The site has four major sections to aid in finding the right resource: Jay also provides some advice on implementing Lean by defining a Lean Roadmap.The roadmap consists of the following three phases: PHASE 1 (GET READY): PLANNING FOR IMPROVEMENT PHASE II (GET SET): CONDUCTING A PILOT PROGRAM PHASE III (GO!): TEAM PROBLEM SOLVING/ SKILLS DEVELOPMENT I have been truly amazed by the sheer amount of Lean related material that Jay has compiled.  This is a great resource for learning on your own or sharing with your team.

If your process isn't simple, it's going to be very expensive, not very usable, and probably not sustainable - put simply, it will fail. Whether evaluating new processes, or determining which ones to re-engineer or discard, make simplicity a key consideration. Remember this - usability drives adoptability, and simplicity is the main determinant of usability.

Changing your life is a marathon. There are thousands of tiny steps that need to be taken, one at a time. You can't do them all right now. But eventually, you'll get to them all. So what step will you take today?

That's right - only focus on one specific change and drive that change into making it a habit. When it becomes a positive new habit, you will realize the result. Life is a marathon - (I used to be a long distance runner) and you learn very quickly to set a fast pace that you can sustain, but don't run so fast that you burn yourself out. Trying to change 5 or 10 things is just too much/too fast, at one time. Change is also hard because we think about it too much. Listen to Nike "Just do it" Make a single change and watch the results!

"I long to accomplish great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker." - Helen Keller

The truth is, when everybody practices status quo behavior almost every day,that is what is sustained. If employees are not practicing the new way every day, by default they are practicing the old. Practice makes permanent

Great point! Great article!

In other words, HABITS drive the right BEHAVIORS that deliver the right CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE, highly engaged PEOPLE and sustainable business RESULTS.

The TOC theory seeks to provide precise and sustained focus on improving the current constraint until it no longer limits throughput, at which point the focus moves to the next constraint. The underlying power of Theory of Constraints flows from its ability to generate a tremendously strong focus towards a single goal and to removing the constraint to achieving more of that goal.