In August, I had the opportunity to speak with Stephen Yorkstone shortly after the publication of his new book, Global Lean for Higher Education: A Themed Anthology of Case Studies, Approaches, and Tools. Stephen's book reflects the state-of-the-art in the global practical application of Lean for higher education. It demonstrates the diverse
applications of Lean in universities inspiring others to deeply engage
with Lean thinking in their own unique context and to drive successful,
sustainable, Lean work.
During our conversation, I asked him: "Where
is the application of Lean most prevalent in higher education? Where is it most
effective?" Here is his complete answer:
Universities
are curious places to think about as Lean organizations. They are connected to
every industry, while being idiosyncratic all of their own.
Given
that, as you might expect, there isn't one clear pattern to the kind of
universities that successfully apply Lean. There are institutions with under
10,000 students making a big difference with Lean, and universities with
tens of thousands of students equally making advances.
There
are clusters of practice however. Where I live in Scotland, a large proportion
of the universities have Lean type work going on, there is a growing momentum
behind Lean in the United Kingdom higher education, a large and highly influential
group of Australian practitioners, and there are examples of great and well
established practice in North America and across Europe.
The
pattern of growth of Lean in universities seems to spread organically, from a
few pioneers outwards. It's fair to say not all activity to embed Lean in
higher education is successful, however, and it can be challenging to estimate this.
The existence of a named "Lean" team while on the one hand is clear
evidence of a deep organizational commitment of one kind, it on the other hand
doesn't guarantee that that university is itself highly Lean. Conversely, the
absence of such a team doesn't indicate a university is not in fact advanced in
applying Lean thinking.
There
are a number of maturity models that look to solve this problem and allow
institutions to benchmark against each other. However, given the higher
education sector is hugely diverse, simplistic comparisons can be unhelpful.
"Paralysis by analysis" is a real risk. Perhaps a practical approach
is better.
It's
a practical approach that is behind the successful Lean applications in
universities. We see use of classic lean tools like visual display boards and
team huddles, rapid improvement type activity, lean linked with project boards
and technology. However, it's not one way of "doing" lean that works
in universities, but "being" Lean that works. Lean in higher education works where
institutions don't slavishly adhere to one particular tool or product; but
rather when they reflect deeply on their purpose, take action to improve,
learn, and always do so with respect for people.
And
isn't this the right thing to focus on, regardless of the industry we work in?
Lean in higher education is only growing, and it has already been applied both to administrative and academic services. What do you think of Stephen's perspective? Do you feel that Lean can have a significant and measurable impact in higher education?