Augmented Lean: A Human-Centric Framework for Managing Frontline Operations
Natan Linder and Trond Arne Undheim
Wiley (October 2022)

“If what you do is what you’ve always done, it’s probably wrong.” Charles Kettering

Years ago, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. observed, “I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity.” I was again reminded of that assertion as I began to read this book in which, as I soon realized, Natan Linder and Trond Arne Undheim take their reader to the other side of the lean methodology’s complexities. (Note the plural.) I agree with them that, when juxtaposed with Classic Lean 1930-19789) and Digital Lean (1980-2009), Augmented Lean (2010-2029) offers a significant improvement when contrasted with its two predecessors (See Figure 5.1 on Page 122).

Augmented Lean has eight core principles. They comprise its WHAT. In Summary, here are four of the eight: “Every process starts and ends with learning, reflection, and applying what you learn to the next challenge…Industrial organizational changes must emerge bottom-up. They should be human-centric, emphasize self-service over centralized teaching, and be implemented as low-code/no-code apps that don’t require software development skills…Build human capability; don’t just r place or automate…Localize responsibility and control; consider operations as a network of people, sites, and systems.”

Here is Augmented Lean’s WHY: “Frontline workers are knowledge workers in operational environments, working with tacit knowledge, data, information, and machines to assemble, install, check, or repair products, and make stuff that society needs and depends on, or move parts and products around (logistics) — often with subpar digital tools (for decision-support, process control, reporting, and feedback) — especially compared to office workers.”

Linder and Undheim provide in their brilliant book an abundance of information, insights, and counsel that explain HOW to design and implement “a new management framework that is equally valuable for frontline operatives and executives”…and of course, also for customers in terms of the value derived.

These are among the dozens of other passages that also caught my eye:

o Four Industrial Revolutions: A Briefing (Pages 30-48)
o Beyond Point Solutions (63-67 and 68-72)
o An Outlier Reshaping the Industry (81-84)
o The Emergence of Manufacturing Systems (88-91)
o How Digital Lean Is a Journey Far Beyond Digital (103-109)

o The Augmented Lean Framework (119-144)
o Classic Lean vs. Digital Len vs. Augmented Lean (121-122)
o Core Principles of Augmented Lean (123-127)
o Ddecentralize IT — Spread Responsibility to the Edge (132-135)
o The Global Lighthouse Network: Top-Down SYnthesizesd Best Practices (148-152)

o Four Distinct Ways to Digitally Transform an Industrial Organization (163-174)
o Leveraging Organizational Capabilities (188-197)
o The Evolution of the Industrial Engineering Field (205-211)
o How to Avoid Training the Workforce for (232-235)
o From Automation to Augmentation (255-257)

o The State of Play in Industrial Robotics (258-264)
o What Augmentation Is and What It Will Become (270-273)
o The Promise of Machine Monitoring (288-290)
o The Size and Shape of the Future Industrial Pie (316-320)
o Augmented Lean Management for the Frontline Workforce (367-372)

This is a research-driven book. I commend Linder and Undheim on their masterful use of hundreds of primary and secondary sources as indicated in the comprehensive REFERENCES section at the conclusion of each of its 14 chapters. They also make brilliant use of other reader-friendly devices that include an end-of-chapter CONCLUSION that focuses on key points, Tables, Figures,  and checklists as well as dozens of supplementary interviews and other resources that are easily accessible with an electronic device.

Whatever their size and nature may be, most (if not all ) industrial organizations now need — or will soon need — a human-centric framework for managing their operations. I think Augmented Lean is a “must read” for C-level executives (or their equivalent) because their organization will face unique and severe challenges in the months and years to come, especially in a global marketplace that is more volatile, more uncertain, more complex, and more ambiguous than it was at any prior time that I can recall. Just about everything they need to know is in this book.

On their behalf, I presume to say “Thank you, Natan Linder and Trond Arne Undheim. Well-done! Bravo!”