Value streams, effectiveness and the achievement of balance

This paper considers the interconnected nature of business processes and the high incidence of failure in change projects, including those based in Lean principles. The need for teams to adopt a systemic philosophy is emphasised, rather than naively applying tactical ‘toolkits’. The need to balance internal and external complexities is recognised, taking into account particular difficulties this poses for service industries. The authors suggest that the Viable Systems Model (Beer, 1985) may be a useful approach. This model attempts to balance variety between organizations and their environments, and between operational units and management, through recursive levels of autonomy.