This presentation was given at the Lean Software and Systems Conference 2012 (LSSC12).

Lean works in today's companies ... sometimes. Agile works ... sometimes. Traditional methods used to work, but don't anymore. Over the last 47 years, across tens of thousands of companies and despite massive expansions in both management and technical theory, corporate Return on Assets (ROA) today is only 25% of what it was in 1965. Let that number sink in a minute.

How can companies be doing so poorly when they are more bottom-line focused than ever? It is because most people, at a deep level, still think of the world in much the same way people did a hundred years ago. Even many Lean and Agile people. Today we know much more about how the universe works than we did then. This session will explore how we can leverage the best current understanding of reality into a Lean Systems Framework that improves technical execution and business performance.

The Lean Systems Framework is built upon the foundations of Lean product development, cognitive science, physics, philosophy, complexity theory, and systems thinking. Kanban, Lean Startup and other proven systems streams fit naturally into this framework, and we shall discuss how and where they fit. The framework reinforces and integrates these approaches so they can work together even better than they do alone. The best companies today are already implementing elements of this framework. They have largely escaped the great economic slide of the last 47 years and are currently experiencing 1965-level returns. The framework as a whole gives even greater opportunities, creating synergy and adding performance leverage.

Come and find keys for moving your company and your technical work beyond historic norms to new levels of success.