Sustaining Operational Excellence

Lean implementations fail for one reason: Leaders underestimate how hard it is to sustain them. Tools are easy. Events are exciting. But keeping the gains — embedding new habits, behaviours, and expectations — is where most organizations stall, slip backward, or quietly abandon the effort altogether. Sustaining Operational Excellence is the final book in Al Grainger's Lean Leadership trilogy, completing the journey begun in Lean Thinking for Leaders and Root Cause Analysis – A Leader's Guide. This volume digs into the real work of long-term success: building a culture where improvement becomes the default behaviour. Drawing on more than two decades of hands-on experience across multiple industries and continents, Grainger shows leaders how to establish the systems, rhythms, and leadership practices that prevent backsliding and make excellence stick. This is not theory — it's practical, field-tested guidance for executives, directors, managers, and continuous improvement professionals who need results that last. If you want your Lean transformation to endure — not for a quarter, not for a year, but permanently — this book will show you how to lead in a way that makes improvement part of your organization's identity.