Exploring perceptions of Lean in the public sector

IMPACT This paper provides three major lessons for public managers and policy-makers who are in the process of introducing Lean to reduce costs and improve the quality of services. The first is the presence of diverse, parallel and competing discourses around Lean. Second, there is a missing awareness of central Lean concepts like quality, strategy and flow for managers and key personnel in public services for whom Lean is new. Finally, there is the need to emphasise Lean as a mindset in order to support a viable and coherent platform in public services. These lessons have implications for the objectives, perspectives and ways of organizing work associated with Lean initiatives. In particular, when communicating with new users of Lean, the mindset perspective of Lean must be emphasised, and the key concepts behind this mindset, such as quality, strategy and flow need to be developed and conveyed to new users. Clarity in communication of Lean concepts will increase the chances of setting realistic expectations for new users of Lean. This paper explores discourses around Lean by examining the perceptions of new users of Lean in the public sector. The paper draws on actor-network theory as the basis for exploring what these new users think about Lean and uses data analysis tools to extrude concepts of significance. The data suggests that Lean continues to retain diverse, parallel and competing perspectives. The responses also signal that key concepts of Lean are missing from the discourses, and that this highlights a need to discuss Lean as a mindset-not just as a set of tools. The paper suggests future directions for research to further explore the issues emphasised by respondents.