Episode 171: Ryan Tierney Resources

https://humanisethenumbers.online/episode-171-ryan-tierney-of-lean-made-simple/

https://vimeo.com/1215173436?fl=ip&fe=ec

1. Listen to this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Ryan Tierney of Lean Made Simple. Ryan talks about his journey at Seating Matters and Sperrin Metal and the way Lean has transformed both businesses.

2. Listen to this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Ryan Tierney of Lean Made Simple. Ryan shares stories of improvement at both of his businesses and why Lean starts with small improvements.

3. Listen to this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Ryan Tierney of Lean Made Simple. Ryan discusses the importance of getting your team involved when it comes to introducing Lean and how they will eventually lead the way.

https://humanisethenumbers.online/episode-171-ryan-tierney-of-lean-made-simple/

1. Listen to Ryan Tierney of Lean Made Simple as he shares how Lean is often misunderstood as being all about efficiency, data, and spreadsheets. For him, the real heart of Lean is people. Every improvement starts with making someone's life better.

Ryan loves the story of Toyota's origins. What became the world's most famous improvement system actually started when a son wanted to make weaving easier for his mother.

That perspective changes everything. Instead of focusing purely on metrics and output, Lean becomes about solving problems for real people in meaningful ways.

2. Listen to Ryan Tierney of Lean Made Simple discuss why so many businesses unknowingly punish their customers for their own inefficiencies. It is a powerful way of looking at waste.

When processes are messy, teams spend more time fixing problems, holding meetings and chasing information. The customer ultimately pays for all of that hidden inefficiency.

Ryan believes businesses have a responsibility to remove waste and return as much value as possible to the people who trust them with their money.

The question is simple. Are we making life easier for our customers, or are they carrying the cost of our poor processes?

3. Listen to Ryan Tierney of Lean Made Simple share one of the most important lessons he learned about value. It came while standing outside a barber shop in Japan.

He was challenged to identify exactly when value was being created. The answer was surprisingly simple. Value happened only when the hair was actually being cut.

That insight changed how he looked at every business process. Most activity feels productive, but much of it is not directly creating value for the customer.

4. Listen to Ryan Tierney of Lean Made Simple discuss one of the biggest wastes he sees in professional services - waiting.

He talks candidly about long email chains where weeks pass between responses. The work slows, decisions stall, and nobody is creating value in the meantime.

For Ryan, waiting is one of the most overlooked opportunities for improvement. Customers rarely enjoy delays, even when businesses have learned to accept them.

5. Listen to Ryan Tierney of Lean Made Simple share why he believes the future belongs to businesses operating with live information rather than with historic reporting.

He points to Toyota, where teams can identify and fix issues as they happen, instead of waiting weeks or months to review results.

Ryan questions why organisations wait long after an event to understand what happened when technology allows for much faster visibility.

6. Listen to Ryan Tierney of Lean Made Simple discuss why continuous improvement beats waiting for the next big piece of software, technology, or AI solution.

When asked how businesses can get ahead of competitors, his answer was remarkably simple - small improvements, repeated consistently.

At Sperrin Metal, Ryan is aiming for performance levels that many people believe are impossible. The approach is not dramatic transformation overnight. It is countless small changes that compound over time. The organisations that improve fastest are often the ones making progress every day.

7. Listen to Ryan Tierney of Lean Made Simple share why flow sits at the centre of everything he teaches about Lean.

Whether it is a factory, an office, or an accountancy practice, he believes work should move smoothly from start to finish without unnecessary interruptions. 

Every blockage, delay, missing piece of information, or backlog is a signal that flow has been interrupted somewhere in the process.

Ryan's challenge is simple. Look at how work moves through your business and identify where it stops. That is usually where the opportunity lives.

8. Listen to Ryan Tierney of Lean Made Simple discuss why businesses often underestimate how much can actually be standardised.

Many professionals argue that their work is too bespoke, too creative, or too varied for systems and standards. Ryan hears this in every industry.

His view is that while creativity cannot always be standardised, there are countless supporting activities that can. Removing unnecessary decisions creates more space for meaningful work.

The goal is not to systemise creativity. The goal is to remove distractions so creativity can flourish where it matters most.

9. Listen to Ryan Tierney of Lean Made Simple share his belief that improvement starts with seeing waste before trying to eliminate it.

He jokes that he walks around wearing "waste goggles" because inefficiencies jump out at him wherever he goes.

Most people walk past waste every day without noticing it. Ryan believes the biggest breakthrough comes when teams learn how to recognise it for themselves.

10. Listen to Ryan Tierney of Lean Made Simple discuss why the best improvements often begin with the smallest frustrations.

He describes three levels of improvement and explains that major breakthroughs usually come after teams develop a habit of fixing everyday irritations.

Simple changes may seem insignificant on their own, but they help build a culture where people actively look for better ways of working.

Ryan's message is clear. Do not wait for game-changing ideas. Start by fixing what bugs you, and bigger improvements will follow naturally.

https://humanisethenumbers.online/episode-171-ryan-tierney-of-lean-made-simple/

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Here is a soundbite of the interview with Ryan: