The Company That Invented Lean

Principle 1: Base your management decision on a long-term philosophy, even at the expense of short-term financial goals

Principle 2: Create continuous process flow to bring problems to the surface

Principle 3: Use “pull” systems to avoid overproduction

Principle 4: Level out the workload( heijunka)

Principle 5: Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time.

Principle 6: Standards task are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee empowerment

Principle 7: Use visual control so problems are hidden

Principle 8: Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves your people and processes

Principle 9: Grow leaders who thoroughly understand the work,live the philosophy and teach it to others.

Principle 10: Develop exceptional people and teams who follow your company’s philosophy

Principle 11: Respect your extended network of partners and suppliers by challenging them and helping them improve.

Principle 12: Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situations (genchi genbutsu)

Principle 13: Make decision slowly by consensus, thoroughly considering all the options implement decisions rapidly (nemawashi)

Principle 14: Become a learning organization through relentless reflection (hansei) and continuous improvement (kaizen)

I hope that I get the chance/time to read the book. I think the principles are sharp enough just to go by for yourself. Have them as a checklist and plan where you are heading – Bon Voyage!

Wikipedia has a more elaborate article.