What CIOs Should Know About Lean

As smart executives delve into the core of Lean Thinking, the role of technology in Lean-based performance improvements becomes abundantly clear. Senior executives expect their CIOs to drive improvements in the effectiveness and efficiency of technology usage as well as core business processes. When applying Lean as a performance-improvement strategy, CIOs should consider four essential practices: 1) specify value from a business perspective using five principles; 2) define improvement goals top-down in terms of delivery, costs, and quality; 3) implement improvements bottom-up by eliminating waste from processes; and 4) synchronize the top-down and bottom-up levels. CIOs should apply these practices at the right time in the life cycle of the performance-improvement program to ensure Lean outcomes can be defined and tracked against strategic business goals.