Think Lean! Discover and develop your lean mindset

This essay collects knowledge and experiences gained by the author in the field as a university professor, ontological life coach as well as Lean Thinking and Lean Management trainer. The focus of the essay is the mindset, which is presented with an overview in the first chapter, mainly using the successful model due to Carol Susan Dweck, and also considering the contributions of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and ontological life coaching. An original proposal that models the mindset on the basis of the Lean Thinking principles is also presented and discussed.
After introducing the doctrinal approaches to mindset, the second chapter presents the Quality in its conceptual and factual evolution until the arise of Lean Thinking in the Japanese Toyota Motor Corporation. Starting with the importance given to the mindset in a workplace according to the Lean Thinking approach, the locution Lean mindset was used with the aim of combining and synthetizing many concepts useful for personal growth and development. Using the keys of biochemistry, fundamental concepts of habit and comfort zone are also discussed. Then, starting with the concept of waste, fundamental in Lean Thinking, in the third chapter the concept of mental waste is deep analysed and the language is proposed as the key skill to foster personal transformation. The fourth chapter collects suggestions to apply the previous concepts in order to develop new empowering paths of thought, mainly selecting and streamlining the language. A genuine learning attitude helps people to become more proactive, perseverant and resilient in reaching one’s goals: the core trick is to let learning attitude become a habit.
This essay may be useful to university students (in courses on soft skills and in specialised courses of management, economy, communication, psychology and pedagogy, for instance) and to various professionals (like teachers, educators, psychologists, life and executive coaches, counsellors, mentors and company’s trainers). The work can also be intended as a self-help manual, probably for educated people. The essay could represent a novelty for all the organisations adopting a quality system based on Lean Thinking pillars, but it could also support companies that are looking from scratch at the quality (with its loading of challenges and benefits).