A 'lean' organisation is more likely to rely on a small number of individuals, or one person, to manage a large deployment. The devops approach gives a single good engineer a large amount of leverage in terms of deployment, but that will then bring a commensurate increase in pressure on that individual. I think it's a fair criticism of lean principles that it increases the pressure on individuals.

I agree most business owners wouldn't believe anything close to "some must die" - however, I do believe that inaction is almost as bad, and I do think mental health / wellness doesn't get anything like enough thought or attention. The harder you work your staff, and the more pressure you heap on them, the more you have to focus on them as individuals and support them better.