What does system too lean means?

Answer 1

A system that is too lean has too few resources to effectively do what it is intended to do. For example, if there are too few sales clerks in relation to the number of people wishing to make a purchase, the result is excessively long lines. Or if the number of police is too few to effectively enforce the law. And so forth. Cost cutting measures are always popular, whether in the public or private sector, since they will result in either lower taxes or higher profit respectively, but it is also true that some costs are actually necessary, and if you cut them, the system no longer works properly, and can then be said to be too lean. Compare this with a system that has more resources than it actually needs, and costs more than it should; such a system could be described as too fat.