Well, that's not all that surprising.  If you've ever felt like you needed to learn the Japanese language just to understand some of the vocabulary involved with these initiatives, trust me, you're not alone.

But there is an easier way than studying Kanji characters to get a handle on this, and it's called Simple Excellence. Actually,

"Simple Excellence: Organizing and Aligning the Management Team in a... 

Detailing the role of senior management in achieving a successful transformation to organizational excellence, Simple Excellence: Organizing and Aligning the Management Team in a Lean Transformation charts a course of simplification through the complexity often associated with managing performance improvement initiatives. It spells out the roles of key individuals on the management team—including those from sales and marketing, human resources, purchasing/supply chain, information technology, finance, and engineering.  

Maintaining a focus on the big picture, this book explains what value streams are and how to use them to structure your business so that all stakeholders are aligned with what matters most. It reduces constraint management to its most practical terms and lays out a sound approach to accounting that enables everyone to spend money where it adds value and stop spending where it doesn’t. 

• Drive your management team with dedicated allegience to the concept of  value enhancement
• Propel your organization to higher performance through the employment of Lean culture and decision-making principles
• Enact management structures needed to put new ways of thinking into play
• Focus on the bottom line with the right performance metrics

Written by respected authorities with extensive experience helping leading organizations achieve Lean transformation, the text includes case studies from high-profile organizations recognized for operational excellence. Addressing human resources management practices, it explains how to manage the day-to-day operations and pricing factory capabilities for the greatest possible profits. It also discusses the ongoing process of strategic planning to help you move away from annual goal setting, toward a dynamic process of engaging the entire company in the effort to provide your customers with an improved sense of value.

Check it out. And tell your friends.  Adam Zak