Your Feedback: The Trouble with Lean and Millenials

You need only look to reader comments on last month's stories to realise that BNET UK is a community of experts. And there were plenty of comments in May, a month filled with election drama, cricket victory and the news that Apple has become the biggest technology company.

By far our most discussed post this month was John Seddon's Why Lean is a Wicked Disease, with jakub.bielikowski saying "The one thing 'lean' process surely brings is mediocre quality with average cost" and Lconsulting adding "most companies do not truly use lean. If you study lean, you will find that its foundation is built on quality....The correct application of lean is as a holistic approach."

FabulousFutures is "overwhelmed at how Lean is being implemented in many organisations (including the one I currently work for), there is a philosophy that sits behind lean, and one which John Seddon and most of the comments have failed to pick up on: the first principle of lean is to specify what adds value to the customer!"

"Let's change thinking and help people along their own learning journeys - not rip people off peddling sexy-sounding tools," adds Hmmmmmmm
Petera Hunter suggests that "instead of trying to find solutions, managers would be better employed figuring out what it was they did that caused the workforce to lose confidence in them".

Do you agree?

Elsewhere, Simon Caulkin's pre-election post on the sorry state of management in government prompted swl22 to comment: "All one has to do is look at how much money government spends on reorganisation and an ever increasing number of 'managers' employed to see that management is not a skill employed by many in government."

Advice on how to mentor millenials also sparked a generational debate: "These millennials I see coming into the workforce are the ones that need to change," writes Bernie Walko. "In a perfect world we all would have resources to spoon feed these people until they learn their job. It today's world, with 'do more with less' that's impossible. kbertrand65 agreed, saying that "companies aren't entirely run on 'tomorrow'. TODAY is when the payroll is due."

But Sporty1401 took the millenials' side: "Boomers got more than they are giving, plain and simple. Look at how hard it is to get an apprenticeship in any trade right now. Many Boomers I've met don't want to give up their secrets to someone who may take there job before they are ready to leave it."

Commenting on Stuart Cross's post about the 7 Proven Ways to Steal Ideas, jd claims innovation is more than "simply connecting the dots...We build on those who have gone before us...This is not stealing it is expanding our knowledge".

Yann Gourvennec's post describing the social web in five words sparked a broader debate about transparency online. Chris Emmins comments:"disclosure is certainly a key issue -- transparency is sadly lacking at the moment, which has allowed severe abuses to take place. Anonymous reviews, for example are a scourge on the internet. Good and bad fake reviews are everywhere as are malicious campaigns designed solely to damage the reputation of businesses and individuals."

And speaking of reputations...as England's cricket team managed to win the world Twenty20 championship, Stuart Cross posed considered whether captain Paul Collingwood was the latest management guru.

BruceLynn writes:"Sport is an excellent showcase for leadership and management because the objectives and rules are clear. As a result, great sports successes are typically due to inspired leadership and management more than individual talent."

That was May on BNET UK, and every comment helps make the site what it is -- keep them coming.