Discussion on lean. Is it going out of style? What are senior managers focusing on today?
I may come off as a little bold, but "lean concept," will never be a tired subject as long as the focus of a company or organization has a goal to act profitably and optimally. It becomes less important of a subject for R&D oriented companies because there is larger uncertainity, but rest assured..., no pharmaceutical company, for example, wants its biochemicists working on a drug that doesn't have a market.
In conclusion, people like new trendy terms and updates / improvements to formulas. While "lean" means 1/4 the LT, double the productivity, and a 20% cost reduction, today, no one would have a problem with a modification to the parameters if, e.g., it morphed into 25% cost reduction. "Lean Concepts" are not tired. "Lean" is a tired word.