When you love something too much it can prevent you from seeing problems that you need to see. Love is blind. Many people are so in love with Lean that they are essentially “Lean groupies,” which I define as: Excessively devoted fans of Lean celebrities who intently and uncritically follow their words and work and […]

A good question is one of the most valuable of my possessions, and I am always looking to add to my collection. I discovered, or rediscovered, a powerful question from commentator and author David Brooks. He was giving a talk at Lehigh University for the Hagerman Lecture from The Center for Ethics and was exploring […]

Pull requires a significantly different type of CEO leadership than push. Click here to learn more.

Assembly lines are everywhere in mass production. From mobile phones to cars to airplanes, almost all items produced in large quantities come from an assembly line. Just look around you wherever you are and try to find a produced item that did NOT come from an assembly line. My general recommendation is that if you […]

In this edition: Books in progress: 2; Two new videos; Upcoming: online, Berlin (SOLD OUT), London, and Southampton; Top posts Books in progress: 2 I’m putting the final touches on Organising Conversations: Patterns of Dialog for the Transforming Organization and have a decent first draft of the first part (of two) of Wholehearted: Engaging with […]

It’s interesting to observe a hospital process (or lack thereof) when a family member needs surgery. I had the opportunity to do so one day last week. I originally shared this on LinkedIn as a post and real-time updates. Thankfully, the clinical care seemed to be good, and that family member is recovering well from […]

Many years ago I learned the term “materiality” in accounting practice. It is defined as: Materiality is an accounting principle which states that all items that are reasonably likely to impact investors’ decision-making must be recorded or reported in detail in a business’s financial statements using GAAP standards. Essentially, materiality is related to the significance […]

A selection of highlighted blog posts from Lean bloggers from the month of April 2024.  You can also view the previous monthly Lean Roundups here.     Strategy Digi-deployment – Bruce Hamilton shares a few potential (and common) pitfalls to avoid when digitizing your strategic deployment plan.   Simplifying Lean – Bob Emiliani discusses the problems from […]

Today I posted these two items on LinkedIn (click here and here to view them). Note: To the simple minds, this blog post expresses war and hate. To the intelligent, it merely points out the facts. Which are you? Research? 🤣 As far as know… The number of peer-reviewed research papers since 2000 = 0 […]

The other day, I read about the passing of Donald E. Peterson, who was a key CEO for Ford Motor Company in the 1980s (from 1985 to 1990). From the Detroit Free Press: Former Ford CEO Don Petersen, who spent 41 years with automaker, dies at 97 From that article: “He was a real change […]

By Pascal Dennis (bio) Building on a blog from earlier this year, the strategy is not about perfection. In fact, there is no right strategy. This is often difficult for senior leaders to accept because it runs contrary to their experience. Senior leaders are usually the smartest kids in the class, the ones who always […]

What is a Fishbone Diagram? A Fishbone Diagram is a “Cause and Effect” diagram. The importance of the FBD is that it uses visual power to highlight the problems and the relationship between problems and their potential sources. When to use a Fishbone Diagram? When a simple approach is needed to reduce the effect of […]

Embarking on a Lean transformation journey can revolutionize the way you operate. It can help you streamline processes and enhance efficiency to achieve extraordinary levels of performance and customer satisfaction. At its core, a Lean transformation is about adopting a mindset of continuous improvement and waste elimination. Moreover, it enables businesses to focus on value […]

Welcome to my book chatbot! I have written a lot of books and perhaps you, like others, would like a way to obtain some useful information but you do not have the time to read a book. That AI Book Chatbot will help you get the information you need. The AI Book Chatbot gives you […]

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on […]

On IndustryWeek: What We Learned: Expertise and Episodes from Three Years of ‘Factory Talk’ The video series Factory Talk began as a collaborative project between me and IndustryWeek to bring voices of leadership from the factory floors to all of you. These interviews were meant to focus on practical techniques and experienced perspectives helpful to […]

In this episode of People Solve Problems, host Jamie Flinchbaugh welcomed Jeff Grimshaw, Principal at MGStrategy, for a thought-provoking conversation. Jeff Grimshaw, who has dedicated over 25 years to assisting leaders worldwide in aligning their organizations’ people, strategy, and culture for better business outcomes, shared his insights on creating environments where taking calculated risks is […]

Navigating Corporate Politics & Leading Through Influence What’s your reaction when you hear the phrase “corporate politics”? Does it make you cringe and want to run away, or do you get curious about how to leverage them to influence outcomes? In this episode, Betsy Jordyn joins me to discuss the essential skill of successfully navigating […]

In this video, I share a thought from my book The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation. Below the video is an excerpt from the book… Fail Often–or Learn to Succeed? In recent years, entrepreneurs have been increasingly keen to talk about failures. People in Silicon Valley and other innovation […]

Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #503 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Sam Morgan of Illuminate Coaching + Consulting. He was previously a guest in Episode #457. Today’s episode was originally live-streamed on April 9th… Sam’s been doing a livestream series on “Lean Coaching for Lean […]

Good communication is a core leadership function and a key characteristic of a good leader. Effective communication and effective leadership are closely intertwined. As a leader, you need to be a skilled communicator in countless relationships at the organizational level, in communities and groups, and sometimes on a global scale in order to achieve results […]

When plotting a sequence of points, should we connect the dots into a line? We usually do, but it shouldn’t be a foregone conclusion. Every chart element should have a clear and precise meaning: if we can’t explain what it means or it is ambiguous, it confuses readers and we should omit it. The bulk […]

In my previous post on the automotive assembly line I showed how the earliest chain-driven assembly lines evolved to modern moving platforms. However, in automotive assembly, you also need to work underneath the car. While I have seen truck assembly lines where the entire undercarriage is flipped on its back, in automotive, this is usually […]

Some context: Measured in chapters (not time, alas) I’ve reached the halfway mark in the writing of my fifth book, Wholehearted: Engaging with Complexity in the Deliberately Adaptive Organisation, completing the first three of six chapters and with those, part I (Business agility at every scale) of two parts. I’ve adapted the article below from […]

tl;dr summary: Starbucks’ mobile order system demonstrates significant variability both in the organization of pickup areas and in how beverages like the Nitro Cold Brew are handled across different locations. Inconsistencies persist, such as different labeling methods and the timing of Nitro Cold Brew preparation, which varies with some stores waiting for customer presence to […]

How often do you hear executives blaming employees, including frontline workers, for different problems or poor performance? I don’t think that’s a good look when leaders do that. Leaders are responsible for the system. Even though they are part of a system, they have more freedom and more ability to change systems that ultimately drive […]

For my Facebook fans you already know about this great feature. But for those of you that are not connected to A Lean Journey on Facebook or Twitter I post daily a feature I call Lean Tips.  It is meant to be advice, things I learned from experience, and some knowledge tidbits about Lean to […]

The shift towards Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing represents a significant evolution in how goods are produced, utilizing advanced technologies to enhance efficiency, productivity, and flexibility across various industries. Industry 4.0 refers to the fourth industrial revolution, characterized by integrating digital technologies into manufacturing processes, often termed “smart manufacturing.” This post will explore the ongoing […]

Digital transformation at the enterprise level is essential for organizations to remain competitive, relevant, and resilient in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape. By embracing digital technologies and modernizing processes, enterprises can enhance operational efficiency, improve agility, and unlock new opportunities for growth and innovation.  Digital innovation in business enables organizations to better understand and anticipate […]

In the blog post “Lean Zombies,” I said: The problem is akin to walking along a Möbius strip. Following a straight path leads management innovators in a loop, but also flips them around. The change in orientation gives them a feeling of progress — an illusion of progress within the confines of one’s own generation […]

The adoption of a continuous improvement culture has become increasingly important for organizations looking to achieve operational excellence and remain competitive. But what exactly is a continuous improvement culture, and why is it so pivotal for the success of modern enterprises? At its core, CIC is an organizational ethos that encourages constant evaluation, improvement ideas […]

Thanks, as always, to Ryan McCormack for this. He always shares so much good reading, listening, and viewing here! Subscribe to get these directly from Ryan via email. News, articles, books, podcasts, and videos about how to make the workplace better. Operational Excellence, Improvement, and Innovation Whose Chatbot is it anyway? In a March mixtape, […]

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on […]

In today’s fast-paced environment, Lean transformation emerges as a strategic approach to streamline processes, optimize resources, and drive continuous improvement while embracing technologies. Combining Lean methodology principles with innovation, Lean transformation emphasizes efficiency, agility, and customer-centricity.  Maximizing return on investment (ROI) in transformation is paramount as organizations seek to justify investments, prioritize initiatives, and ensure […]