Lean and mountaineering! What relation between the 2?
Lean is a management philosophy while mountain climbing is a sport. On Wikipedia, we will take as definition:
- LEAN is a management “without waste”, a “light” management.
- Mountaineering is a sport of high mountain climb.
Well, in the approach, in the methods of implementation, in the tools we find a lot of correspondence.
- Lean is generating the maximum value at the lowest cost and faster. Mountaineering is peaking, making a first, as quickly as possible and thus with the lightest equipment possible.
Lean is continuous improvement and elimination of waste. Mountaineering is hours of workouts, acclimatization to altitude, and it’s also learn to use and do the necessary. Lean relies on many tools, like mountaineering.
Continuous improvement :
Lean is a lot of training and practice. Mountaineering is the training.
- The climber is progressing steadily. It is by making and doing, he learns nodes completion techniques, abseiling techniques, progress on glacier techniques, …
- The best climbers, those who realize first over long distances at high elevations are generally climbers who practice for many years. A young mountaineer, an exploit may succeed, but never in duration.
Waste elimination :
Mountaineering is also an elimination of waste. LEAN identifies 7 waste.
- Overproduction: A climber is just doing the necessary. He learns not to waste his energy doing unnecessary things.
- Waiting times: Climber only stops to rest. He always prepares his ascension, for example to avoid having to stop to look his way.
- Transport: Climber search the safest and shortest way. It does not disperse in return.
- Unnecessary inventory: View backpack of a climber. The is only the necessary inside.
- Inadequate processes: Climber saves gestures, for example, nodes completion techniques are perfectly defined.
- Motion: The minimum movement, not tiring and avoid any risk of accidents.
- Defects: To this point, I admit that I did not find any matches, except that all its equipment must be controlled to avoid accidents.
Tools :
For a implementation of LEAN, many tools are used. Well it is the same in mountaineering.
- 5S: A climber learns to fill his backpack, removing the superfluous and ordering it perfectly.
- SMED: If we look at specialists ski mountaineering, the methods to put and remove the seal pelts are perfectly studied and mastered in order to lose the least possible time.
- TAKT: Even the Takt Time is controlled by a climber, though he did not know its meaning. A climber will always tell you its capacity in number of vertical meters per hour.
- The pull system: A climber, is a beautiful picture of pull system, and even a beautiful picture of one pice flow!
Well yes, it is possible to explain the Lean referring to mountaineering. Let me end with these two important points.
- In mountaineering, for a team peaked, we need a leader climber and the will of all. Lean requires a leader and the will of all.
- Mountaineering, we say, we must have three points of support, to secure and keep moving forward. Lean, we must implement continuous improvement, and always think of the PDCA 4 points before moving on to the next step.
