What if everything you thought you knew about transformation was wrong? In this episode, Matt Gaskin cuts through the nonsense and shines a spotlight on the brutal truths why most lean transformations fail. And what Lean really looks like when it’s done right.
📲 Tune in now and rethink everything you know about Lean, sales, and leadership.
Why Most Lean Transformations Fail
💡 Key Takeaways
🔹 Lean isn’t a methodology, it’s a mindset. It’s about learning, adjusting, and delivering value daily from the bottom up, not just implementing a new set of tools.
🔹 Go to Gemba! True leaders don’t make decisions from behind a desk, they go to where the work is happening. Want to understand inefficiencies? If you want to know whey most lean transformations fail, get out there and see for yourself
🔹 Simplicity is hard. Lean sounds straightforward, reduce waste, increase value, but in reality, cutting through organisational complexity is an art form.
🔹 Selling isn’t about pushing, it’s about pulling. Lean organisations understand that the market should pull products through the value stream, not the other way around. Deadlines and durations are not the same thing.
🔹 The trap of traditional sales systems. Most sales processes are riddled with inefficiencies, so what are we actually prospecting for? The ideal customer isn’t just someone willing to buy but one who will return, expand, and refer.
🔹 Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation. When the task is simple, extrinsic rewards (like money) work. But when creativity and problem-solving are required, intrinsic motivation wins. The famous Candle Problem experiment proved this decades ago: when people were rewarded for solving it faster, they actually performed worse.
🚩 Red Flags in Transformation Programs:
❌ Consultants promising specific cost savings before they’ve even observed your processes? Run.
❌ Leaders who think transformation is about tools, not people? It will fail.
❌ Ignoring how change impacts individual contributors? Expect resistance and failure.
🛠 Lessons from Toyota
Toyota is hard on the process, not the people, a critical distinction. Sustainable improvement happens when organisations hire problem solvers, not just people who follow orders.
🔥 If revenue wasn’t your primary measure of success, how would you define whether your transformation is working?
Contact Details
Connect with Matt Gaskin on LinkedIn
Matt’s Recommended Books
Eric Ries – The Lean Startup
Jeffrey Liker’s books on The Toyota Way
Mike Rother – Toyota Kata
Taiichi Ohno – Workplace Management
John Kotter – Matsushita Leadership
2 Second Lean – Paul Akers
Taming Toxic People – David Gillespie
The Road Less Stupid – Keith Cunningham
