Book Review: Whaddaya Mean I Gotta Be Lean

Jeff Hajek, the author of “Whaddaya Mean I Gotta Be Lean”, was kind enough to send me a book to review. Overall, I thought the book was good for an audience of on-the-ground practitioners of Lean that are just beginning. My first impression was not to take the book too seriously, given the cute and irreverent title of the book; but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the book provided good and helpful insights for Lean Practitioners in the field. But I still hate the title.

My favorite parts of the book was his simple way of teaching the principles of Lean using everyday examples, such as a lemonade stand and Netflix. He does so in a way that is simple, but not simplistic. I think that chapter will resonate to most people with experience and are new to Lean. I also appreciated Jeff Hajek’s treatment of the “Respect for People” pillar in the Toyota Production System.

Overall, I liked the book. My criticism is two-fold: the book title. And second, this book is very basic and won’t really add much value to bookshelf of lean books.

My evaluation protocol is this: Could I do without this book?

The answer is Yes.

So, I don’t recommend you get it.

Despite the adage, most people judge books by the cover. The book title sets the tone for the book and I’m not sure if the playful book title aligns with the serious and educational content of the book. Other than that, I recommend “Whaddaya Mean I Gotta be Lean” by Jeff Hajek.

Jeff Hajek is a Lean consultant and founder of Velaction Continuous Improvement.

Below is also a video of Jeff Hajek teaching a video tutorial on the 5 Whys or Root Cause Analysis.