Lean Thinking in Education

There are two dimensions to the Lean Enterprise Academy’s work in pushing forward the frontiers of Lean – taking Lean to different environments and gaining new insight into environments where Lean is already being used. For a number of years our Lean Summit has shared examples of Lean practices being applied to frontiers such as healthcare and government where implementation is only a few years old and our YouTube channel now has a number of talks from these areas.

At our 2014 event Dan Florizone (then Deputy Minister of Education for the Canadian Province of Saskatchewan) shared his inspirational story about the way the government has been changing the way it thinks about and delivers its services in healthcare and education. We’ve now published Dan’s talk on our YouTube Channel to complement others in this area and you can re-read Kate Bailey’s article written live at the event. 

Tony Lamberton And Sarah Williams Of Christleton High School UK Lean Summit 2015 SpeakersThis year we have found a UK example, applying Lean thinking in secondary education, that I’m sure will inspire you. I first learned about the work at Christleton High School from Toyota’s Mark Davies as Toyota’s Lean Management Centre had been helping the school, close to it’s Deeside Engine facility. Subsequently Buckingham University’s Pauline Found also told me about their story. I am delighted that Tony LambertonExecutive Headteacher and Sarah WilliamsHead of Student Services are able to share their story and reflect on what they have learned. Having both a head and school teacher share their Lean journey in education fits this year’s theme “Developing the Capability to Improve the Work” extremely well.

I do hope you will be able to join us and, in the mean time, I hope you enjoy the videos.