How Lean practices can help drive innovation

Lean and Six Sigma are often used to curb organizational problems and promote greater operational efficiency. Almost by definition, they are about reducing waste and strapping resources.

For that reason, however, Lean and Six Sigma are seen as antithetical to innovation. But this is clearly not true. In fact, when implemented effectively, Lean practices can actually stimulate innovation and organizational creativity.

Innovation Excellence contributor Alex Orlov argues that businesses need to pay careful attention to a few key Lean processes in order to form an environment that is conducive to innovation. They include: defining root problems or impediments, measuring performance, analyzing core defects, identifying methods and solutions for process improvement and monitoring the progress of improvement plans.

“Regardless of the scale of innovation, whether it's an incremental innovation, an advanced innovation or just a minor improvement, all these are just variety of value in developing solution generation,” Orlov writes for the source. “Innovation despite the pace and the scope is very important to a business which is trying to grow its core proficiency.”

Some of the short-term benefits of Lean innovation include better margin contribution, increased revenue and market share, and extended product life, among other results.