Visual management is increasingly common in offices implementing lean. Yet even though signs, large LCD displays, whiteboards, and charts dominate the wall space, these tools often become part of the wallpaper. After just a few months, many offices revert back to meetings and management to provide information and services within the company or, more important, to the customer.

This breakdown often results from a lack of understanding about why visual management is important in the first place. Defining operational excellence as “when each and every employee can see the flow of value and fix problems before the flow breaks down” goes a long way toward explaining why visuals are important, but the complete answer is more complex.

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