The Gold Mine: A Novel of Lean Turnaround
The Gold Mine: a Novel of Lean Turnaround deftly weaves together the technical and human pieces of implementing lean manufacturing in an engaging story that readers will find both compelling and instructive. Authors Freddy and Michael Ballé have produced the first integrated and systematic approach to a set of ideas that have maximized value and minimized waste throughout the world. At the heart of the Gold Mine is Bob Woods, a curmudgeonly sensei coaxed out of retirement by his son Mike to help boyhood friend Phil Jenkinson save his struggling company. Despite terrific products and a backlog of orders, Phil’s company cannot generate enough cash from its operations to pay its bills. And so Mike enlists Bob to help his pal fix this crisis.
"You’re trying to deal with your mess as if it was a technical problem," Bob tells Phil. "Move this machine here, change this design there, which it is to some extent, but … it’s all about people. You have a leadership problem not just a production or business problem." As Phil begins to tackle the key challenges necessary to improve his company’s operations, he comes to understand the deeper points of lean. Readers will also draw powerful insights from his journey.
The Gold Mine presents all the key lean principles, ranging from well-known ideas such as pull and flow, to lesser-known yet equally important principles such as jidoka and heijunka. The book also reveals lean as a system—using a realistic story to show how the principles are interrelated and how they lead to useful tools such as kanban or 5S.
From the Publisher
“Reading The Gold Mine is like eavesdropping on a sensei dispensing gems to a client,” says co-publisher Daniel Jones, founder of the Lean Academy in the UK. “Readers, especially those individuals working on the shop floor, will gain revelation and inspiration by living through the experiences of the hero. Managers and executives just beginning a lean transformation will learn valuable insights about how to sidestep the technical and people problems that lay ahead. And experienced lean thinkers will discover fresh insights about overcoming resistance to change.”
From the Author
From the Back Cover
This engaging novel – The Gold Mine – shares the human side of implementing lean principles. While offering the technical knowhow to get lean done, it also shows the messy human dynamics that occur when the workplace, people, and practices clash.
The Gold Mine is a gold mine for those who really want to create lean enterprise. It does what no other book – fiction or nonfiction – has done, by comprehensively tackling both the human and the technical dimension of a lean transformation progresses.
James P. Womack President and Founder Lean Enterprise Institute
This gripping companion to your lean journey comes from a unique team. Freddy Balle is one of the very first gaijen to figure out the Toyota system. He was taught by Toyota, built the Valeo Production System, and has personally led dozens of lean turnarounds. Michael Balle, his son, is a cognitive sociologist who has taught more than anyone about how we learn to think lean, both cognitively and emotionally. This is the organizational prescription you will turn to again and again on your way to lean.
Daniel T. Jones Chairman and Founder Lean Enterprise Academy
About the Author
On leaving Renault, Freddy became technical vice president of Valeo, where he created the Valeo Production System, based on Toyota practice, which pioneered lean implementation in continental Europe. He was then CEO of the French automotive supplier Sommer-Allibert, where he introduced the Sommer-Allibert Excellence System. He wound up his corporate career as technical vice president of the French automotive supplier Faurecia as it implemented the Faurecia Excellence System.This is France¹s leading lean initiative, conducted in collaboration with Telecom Paris, where Michael is associate researcher. For over a decade, he has focused on the human implications of lean implementation in fields as diverse as healthcare and administrative processes. He has published several books on these topics. He is Freddy¹s son.