The Lean Tech Manifesto Receives Shingo Publication Award
November 7, 2025 – the Shingo Institute
LOGAN, Utah – November 7, 2025 – The Shingo Institute, a part of the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University, is proud to announce that The Lean Tech Manifesto by Fabrice Bernhard and Benoît Charles-Lavauzelle has been awarded the Shingo Publication Award. This award recognizes writing that significantly impacts and advances the body of knowledge regarding organizational excellence.
The Lean Tech Manifesto introduces a powerful and innovative framework for building an Agile culture in technology organizations, streamlining value delivery, empowering teams, improving quality, and accelerating innovation. Drawing on decades of Lean thinking and the principles that have inspired tech pioneers like Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos, Bernhard and Charles-Lavauzelle provide a practical blueprint for combining Lean strategy with the speed and scale of modern technology.
This groundbreaking guide is designed to transform how leaders lead by placing customer value at the core of every decision while simultaneously empowering teams through robust problem-solving and collaboration technology. The authors emphasize the necessity of quality, detailing how to prevent defects with a right-first-time approach. For dynamic and complex environments, strategies are outlined to drive continuous delivery using efficient just-in-time techniques. Ultimately, the guide enables organizations to foster innovation by creating a customer-led learning environment where continuous improvement is the norm.
“The Lean Tech Manifesto is the Agile Manifesto that scales,” said Ken Snyder, Executive Director of the Shingo Institute. “It equips organizations to deliver more value, faster and with fewer resources, while sustaining innovation.”
The relevance and impact of The Lean Tech Manifesto is being praised by industry leaders:
“This is an important book. It describes the business system that organizations around the world so desperately need, and it reminds us that when it comes to solving the complex and urgent problems of our time, human decision-making and teamwork are just as important as technology.”
-Daniel T. Jones, coauthor of The Machine That Changed the World and Lean Thinking
“Scaling your business while remaining agile can feel like an impossible task, but fear not! Fabrice and Benoît have developed a practical playbook that is based on their deep experience, providing you with the tools you need to continue to reap the benefits of Lean as your business grows.”
-Colin Bryar, coauthor of Working Backwards and former Amazon VP
“After more than twenty years, it was clear that the Agile Manifesto needed Kaizen. This book is doing exactly that, based on the rare experience of a tech company that has combined agility with the genuine Toyota Production System (Lean), implemented thoroughly with some of the best sensei. I highly recommend it to all those who want to deliver more and more value to their customers. And there should not be any others.”
-Dr. Pierre Masai, Lean coach, former CIO of Toyota Motor Europe, and Senior Advisor to Toyota Systems Corporation in Japan
“If Lean thinking alone were enough, the most valuable car company in the world would still be Toyota. But it isn’t. This is the book you need, combining the experience of mastering Agile with Lean thinking. With this book, you can prevent hierarchical slowdown and keep people at the center as you scale up and automate.”
-Joe Justice, author of Scrum Master, creator of eXtreme Manufacturing, founder of Wikispeed, lecturer on #JoeDX, Tesla alum
“If you are adopting Agile across your organization but sense that something vital may be missing from your approach, this is an important book for you. Within these pages, you will find a wealth of ideas that may lead you to discover solutions for your particular challenges in pursuit of a ‘learning organization’ that will prepare you to skillfully meet the challenges of an uncertain future.”
-Steve Bell, two-time Shingo Research Award recipient, author of Lean IT and Run Grow
The Shingo Publication Award celebrates works that advance thought leadership to drive ideal behaviors and cultural transformation. The Lean Tech Manifesto exemplifies this mission, bridging Lean principles with modern technology to equip organizations with practical strategies to create customer value, empower teams, and sustain innovation, helping them thrive in today’s fast-changing world.
The authors will be formally presented with the award at the Shingo Connect Awards Gala in Warsaw, Poland, on May 19, 2026. Shingo Connect includes workshops, site tours, keynotes, and sessions focused on achieving organizational excellence. Learn more at shingo.org/events. To purchase a copy of The Lean Tech Manifesto or other Shingo publications, visithttps://shingo.org/books.
About the Authors
Benoît Charles-Lavauzelle is the Group CEO of Theodo, a leading technology consultancy he cofounded with Fabrice Bernhard. Recognized as a pioneer in the industry, Benoît has experienced how technology and Lean principles can empower people and make organizations more ingenious. Benoît is an active member of the Galion Project, a non-profit think tank that helps other entrepreneurs grow faster and become better leaders, and a seasoned angel investor with successful ventures in companies such as Aircall and Ubble. Benoît holds a Master of Science from Ecole Polytechnique and a Master of Management from HEC Paris. He resides in Paris, France, with his wife and three daughters.
Fabrice Bernhard is the CTO of Theodo, a leading technology consultancy he cofounded with Benoît Charles-Lavauzelle. An expert in technology and large-scale transformations, Fabrice has helped multiple startups scale more sustainably with Lean thinking and has been invited to share his experience at international conferences, including the Lean Summit, DevopsDays, and CraftConf. Fabrice is the cofounder of the Paris Devops meetup and an active YPO member. He studied at École Polytechnique and ETH Zürich and lives in London with his two sons.
About the Shingo Institute
The Shingo Institute is home to the Shingo Prize, an award recognizing organizations that demonstrate an exceptional culture fostering continuous improvement. Part of the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University, the Shingo Institute is named after Japanese industrial engineer and Toyota adviser Shigeo Shingo, one of the world's thought leaders in the Toyota Production System.
Drawing from Dr. Shingo’s teachings and years of experience working with organizations worldwide, the Shingo Institute developed the Shingo Model, the basis for its various educational offerings, including workshops, study tours, and conferences. Workshops are available in multiple languages through the Institute's Licensed Affiliates. For more information on workshops and affiliates or to register to attend an event, please visit https://shingo.org.
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