Mean and Scrawny

The manager of a small office proudly spoke about how Lean their organization was. He described how few staff they now had, and how much more work they were doing than before. Conversations with staff quickly revealed that they were all extremely stressed, turnover was high, clients were falling through the cracks, important tasks weren't getting done, and serious mistakes were common. This office wasn't Lean, it was just mean and scrawny. What he called Lean was really just dramatic under-staffing.