Planet Lean: The Official online magazine of the Lean Global Network
Unlocking the potential of Lean in NGOs

Unlocking the potential of Lean in NGOs

Lynne Smith
April 4, 2024

INTERVIEW - In this interview, Lynne Smith discusses the potential and difficulties of applying Lean Thinking to NGOs and looks back at the lean transformation at the Gates Foundation.


Interviewee: Lynne Smith, former Director of Business Design at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Interviewers: Roberto Priolo and Steve Bell


A big thank you to Lynne for sharing her knowledge and experience, and to Steve Bell for making this interview happen!


THE INTERVIEWEE

Lynne Smith is former Director of Business Design at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

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Toyota helps Christleton High School to apply lean thinking
February 4, 2016
Toyota helps Christleton High School to apply lean thinking
INTERVIEW – At the recent UK Lean Summit, we met the Head of Student Services of an English high school. We asked her about the interesting work the school is doing to improve the delivery of education to students with special needs using lean thinki ...Read more

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Is Barcelona's government run with lean thinking?
October 1, 2015
Is Barcelona's government run with lean thinking?

OPINION – When thinking about Barcelona, most of us think of Gaudí’s architecture, tapas and beach weather, but the Catalonian capital might also be a worthy example of lean principles applied to city management.

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To initiate levelled production you need to run to time
December 9, 2016
To initiate levelled production you need to run to time

FEATURE – What if we ran our production schedule to time instead of quantity? While creating overproduction, running to time is a temporary first step to establish levelled production with fixed repetitive cycles.

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A CEO's journey of personal transformation
October 9, 2018
A CEO's journey of personal transformation

INTERVIEW - Grey Dube reflects on the approach, challenges and successes of becoming a lean CEO, and on how this helped turn Leratong Hospital into a lean organization.

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An NGO uses lean principles to rebuild New Orleans
June 4, 2015
An NGO uses lean principles to rebuild New Orleans

CASE STUDY – Following one of the deadliest hurricanes in US history, an NGO started to use lean management principles to speed up the reconstruction of homes in the Louisiana city… and the results were impressive.

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Lean project boosts sustainable development in Myanmar
September 1, 2016
Lean project boosts sustainable development in Myanmar

FEATURE – A group of Italian researchers and professionals partnered with a NGO to prove how lean thinking can pave the way for the competitiveness and sustainable development of SMEs in Myanmar. Is this a new model for the developing world?

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Supporting Sri Lankan society by transforming our company
January 19, 2018
Supporting Sri Lankan society by transforming our company

INTERVIEW – Prior to his talk at this year’s Lean Transformation Summit, the CEO of a large apparel manufacturer tells us about the company’s lean journey, and its impact on Sri Lankan society.

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How to harness lean to foster innovation and improve society
April 4, 2017
How to harness lean to foster innovation and improve society

FEATURE – We spend a lot of time talking about innovation, but what is the actual impact of leveraging lean to achieve it? As the author points out, the potential is huge, provided certain conditions are met.

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