The Top Lean Books
Today you can find a large selection of books on almost any subject and Lean Management is no different. What we have tried to do here is find 12 of the best Lean Management books that focus on the key principles and ideas behind Lean.
These are books are for the general reader with an interest in change management, business improvement and business management.
So why have we selected these books?
These books are what we would recommend to our students, clients and anyone else who is interested in understanding Lean. And we would recommend them in this order – starting with two books that should turn on the light blub for any business professional before the “The Simplicity of Lean” which is focused on how to implement the basis of a Lean culture.
This selection of the top 12 Best Management Books covers the traditional Lean Manufacturin plus Lean in Service, Lean Strategy, Lean Startup and how applicable Lean is in today’s society from a Leadership and overall management perspective.
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Lean Manufacturing Books & Lean Service Books
by Womack & Jones
by Womack & Jones
by Philip Holt
Initially, I had some reservations about this book but I must say that it is one of the most practical Lean books I have read. The way the book builds up the approach across Culture, Kaizen, Projects and beyond is excellent and very few books have managed to capture the practical implementation of Lean. It is almost a Lean Playbook and it has grown on us to be one of our favorites.
by Jeffrey Liker
BONUS - If you are studying, then buy this book!
by Quentin Brook
Now, WARNING, this is a technical book which I would recommend for anyone doing their Green Belt or Black Belt training and particularly useful for candidates who are running DMAIC project. The book is structured around DMAIC and with the practical examples, downloadable data sets recently updated screenshots from Minitab, its a great companion.
by Mike Rother
by Eric Ries
by Womack & Jones
by Taiichi Ohno
Written by Taiichi Ohno, who many consider being the inventor of the Toyota Production System, this books covers the key concepts of waste, Just In Time thinking and looks at the overall Lean Production approach. “All you are doing is looking at the timeline … from the moment the customer gives an on order to the point when we collect the case. And we are reducing that timeline by removing non-value-added wastes.
by Jeffrey Liker
by Kevin Duggan
by John Bicheno & Matthias Holweg
This is not a book you pick up and read for the beginning to end, but something you delve into as you need to or when you a particular questions. It covers the tools, system, and principles of Lean. While it covers the tools with excellent examples that are well written, it also covers The Lean Philosophy and discusses a number of Lean Transformation frameworks for organisations. I reviewed this against the 4th Edition which I own.
by Mike Rother
This is not a book you are going to read from start to end. Its more a step by step guide on how to value stream. If you are going to do any value stream, I would suggest that this is read in advance and kept by your side during the sessions. It’s a great resource to help and will help get a much better result.
