Use this category only when the content is materially about Lean as a management approach for maximising customer value by identifying and eliminating waste in processes.

Definition: Lean is a methodology rooted in the Toyota Production System that improves work by reducing non-value-adding activity and improving flow. It centres on customer value, continuous improvement, respect for people, and empirical learning.

Must have:

• Explicit discussion of waste, non-value-adding activity, or eliminating inefficiency from a workflow
• Focus on customer value or value delivery as the reason for process improvement
• Use of Lean practices such as value stream mapping, flow efficiency, bottleneck identification, or resource optimisation
• Continuous improvement, experimentation, feedback, or iterative learning as an operating principle
• Reference to Toyota Production System, Lean mindset, or Lean culture, including respect for people

Strong fit:

• Primary: Lean is the main subject and at least two Must have items are discussed.
• Secondary: Lean is a substantial supporting theme and at least one Must have item is discussed.

Weak fit:

• Tertiary: Lean is mentioned or adjacent, but the content is mostly about Agile, DevOps, operations, productivity, or process improvement in general.
• Ignored: Lean is absent, only implied, or supported only by generic language about efficiency, quality, optimisation, delivery, or improvement.

Exclude:

• Agile or Scrum content that does not discuss Lean waste reduction, value streams, or Lean principles
• DevOps content focused only on deployment, automation, CI/CD, or collaboration
• General operational excellence, productivity, cost-cutting, or business efficiency without Lean-specific practices or principles
• Quality management, Six Sigma, or process control unless Lean concepts are materially discussed
• Generic terms such as efficiency, value, workflow, improvement, innovation, feedback, or customer satisfaction are insufficient on their own