Before I was a Lean practitioner, I ran a business.
I spent the first half of my career in sales and business development — progressing from internal sales to field representative, business development manager, and eventually General Manager of Labelmakers WA in Perth, Australia. An $18 million operation. Thirty people. Full P&L responsibility across manufacturing, warehousing, sales, design, and accounts.
I know what it feels like to be the person under pressure — not just the consultant standing in front of them.
The move into Lean
In 2009 I moved directly from that GM role into continuous improvement at Rio Tinto — one of the world's largest mining operations. Not as a theorist. As someone who understood how businesses actually work, what operational pressure feels like, and what it takes to get people moving in the same direction.
Over the following years I worked inside Rio Tinto and Alcoa as a Business Improvement Specialist — deploying Lean across complex, high-pressure operational environments. I also worked with Spectra Training and Think Perform, delivering both Lean training and project work on-site at companies including BlueScope Steel across manufacturing, food production, and resources.
What I got wrong — and what I eventually learned
Early in my CI career I defended the methodology. I knew the value of Lean. I told people it would be different this time because I was delivering it. I tried to convince people, push for results, get everyone on board.
In hindsight, most of that produced reluctant followers — people who went along with things to get the work done and move on. Not genuine change.
What I eventually learned — slowly, through difficult projects and honest conversations — is that the methodology is never the problem. The problem is almost always the human foundation underneath it. Trust that wasn't built. Concerns that weren't listened to. Leadership commitment that was assumed rather than earned. A history nobody bothered to ask about.
The Alcoa Fines project changed how I thought about this. The manager didn't just support the initiative — he coordinated rosters, modified procedures, pulled resources together, made it clear to his team that this mattered. The result was real. The improvement was real. And it happened because the human conditions were right, not just the methodology.
That's the gap this business is built on.
The honest bit
I don't have all the answers. I never did. What I have is nearly 30 years of being in those rooms — the difficult ones, the political ones, the ones where the plan met reality and the reality won.
I'm based in Franklin, Tennessee, and I work with manufacturers and operations teams across Middle Tennessee. Every engagement is selective. I take on a small number at a time and I'm honest when something isn't the right fit.
If you're dealing with the gap between what Lean promises and what's actually happening on your floor — that's exactly where I work.
Stay Lean…
Mark Fairclough
The Lean Gap | theleangap.com
Franklin, Tennessee