I was listening to Alan Robinson present recently at the Lean Systems Summit about the power of “small ideas.” Alan wondered aloud why so many organizations continue to pursue the few million-dollar ideas while small ideas account for more than 75 percent of the innovation outcome.

I reflected on a conversation I’d had several weeks earlier with a client, call him Bob, who was struggling with his lean journey.

“I can’t see how we’ll ever make a significant improvement,” Bob remarked. “Doing anything around here is like moving mountains.”

“How would you go about moving that mountain?” I asked.

“I’d blast,” Bob said with a smile.

I think that is the answer to Alan Robinson’s question: When presented with an obstacle, managers are trained to “blast.” We are paid to get things done; the bigger the obstacle, the more explosives.

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