Using Lean to meet basic needs in society – Lean Global Connection

In the 2023 Lean Global Connection, a panel discussion was organized to discuss the use of Lean to assist with basic needs and societal challenges such as hunger, healthcare and unemployment.

The discussion features four panelists from diverse fields:

  • Ariba Jahan: Founder and Host, UPN in Tech podcast and former VP of Product Experience and Innovation, Ad Council
  • Cara Gabris: Director of Distribution, Houston Food Bank
  • Noelle Thomas O’Neal: Collaboration Lean Collaboration Coach, Vitalize Health
  • Marcelo Pinto: Project Manager, Lean Institute Chile

The panelists strongly believe in the immense potential of lean thinking and practice to address complex social issues, such as:

  • Improve efficiency and resource utilization, leading to greater impact
  • Provide skills and abilities to solve problems faster within complex systems
  • Prioritize critical needs using data-driven methods
  • Approach problems holistically, considering interconnectedness and systems thinking
  • Facilitate experimentation and learning
  • Enable multi-stakeholder collaboration for impactful solutions
  • Blends nicely with other methodologies like human-centered design and agile for a multi-faceted approach

Cara Gabris shared some examples of Lean applied within the Houston Food Bank by optimizing their kitchen and warehouse operations and improving food quality and service delivery. You can learn more about the Houston Food Bank in another presentation from Cara: https://www.leansixsigmaforgood.com/providing-more-meals-for-impoverished-people-lean-global-connection/

Arba discussed a project at the Ad Council focusing on helping people access unemployment benefits during the pandemic when demand was the highest. They started by listening to those in need, and reached out to all stakeholders so they didn’t duplicate efforts or leave out any key resources. This helped them figure out where they could best leverage their skills. It also allowed them to build stronger relationship which led to better prototypes and more honest feedback.

Noel described a project at Vitalize Health focusing on reducing diabetes-related hospital readmissions, where Lean helped visualize the patient journey, conduct root cause analysis, and document knowledge for future problem-solving.

Marcelo highlighted a project with a plastic recycling company where value stream mapping identified waste sources, leading to a shift in mindset towards waste reduction and demonstrating the business case for sustainability.

You can watch the entire video below, or go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa7qd8078oM