It was more than “mildly infuriating” to see this photo and post shared on Reddit’s “mildly infuriating” subreddit. “Mildly infuriating” is when Group 7 passengers clog the boarding gate area when Group 1 is being called. Mildly infuriating is getting an unnecessary spoon in your diner coffee when you clearly said “no cream and no […]

In the fast-paced world of manufacturing, the quest for excellence is relentless. Continuous improvement, a principle at the heart of lean manufacturing, is not just a strategy, but a culture that empowers companies to climb the ladder of efficiency and quality. This approach, centred around the idea of ongoing, incremental betterment, has revolutionized the way […]

The other day, Katie Anderson and I did a livestream about her November Lean study trip to Japan. I’m going with her in November. Come join us! Summary: In our discussion, we delved into the rich learning opportunities presented by the upcoming Japan study trip, an endeavor I’m thrilled to join this November. With a […]

When I wrote my first draft of People Solve Problems, I was very clear that the tools were not where the magic was but I still referred to my favorite tools and methods a bit too often. After a structural edit and some great feedback, I committed further to write a truly method-agnostic book about […]

Critical thinking or scientific thinking. What is the difference? And which should you practice? Let’s begin with definitions of these two cognitive skills: “Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide […]

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 […]

Embracing Imperfections and Learning from Mistakes: A Leadership Insight from the 2022 AME Annual Conference… In a riveting conversation between Larry Culp and Katie Anderson at the 2022 The Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) Annual Conference, valuable lessons on leadership, transparency, and fostering a culture where challenges and imperfections are openly shared were illuminated. Here’s […]

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 […]

Designing a workstation is not about creating a physical structure; it’s about crafting an optimized space tailored to specific tasks, workflows, and user needs. Whether you’re setting up a desk for logistics processing or creating an inspection or packing station, defining the workstation’s purpose is the first step toward efficient design.  After you understand the […]

The cover for my book mistakesbook.com is in the running for this book cover design contest… please check it out and consider voting for this creative design by Don Coon. Vote for your favorites among the finalists here People voting online don’t have the ability to see the full design as it wraps around the […]

It has been 25 years since the workbook Learning to See was published. The historical consequence of its publication is two-fold: 1) It was the first “Lean tool” book, and 2) People have become more accustomed to drawing value stream maps than eliminating waste. After 25 years, it’s time to move on and return to […]

I recently spoke and facilitated at a health system’s quarterly leadership forum event on the topic of “Psychological Safety as a Pre-Condition for Continuous Improvement.” It was very well received, and I’m very passionate about the need for leaders to help every team member believe that it’s both safe and effective to speak up in […]

Gaining mass appeal for something usually means to simplify it so that people can both see a need for it and to make it easier to understand and use. That means ensuring the product or service is an advancement while at the same time not breaking so many norms that people avoid it. The Holy […]

On Forbes: Forget Time Management—Manage Your Attention Baseball players can easily hit home run after home run in batting practice. But things are different when it’s the bottom of the ninth and the game is on the line in a stadium full of people cheering (or maybe booing). The difference is a player’s ability to […]

This is the third post in my series on how Fendt handles its rather large variability. As mentioned before, all of their tractors—eleven different models with countless variants—come from the same assembly line in Marktoberdorf. This includes small tractors that are just barely one meter wide and huge ones as you see here on the […]

2024 Update: A new April Fool’s Post for KaiNexus… or is it? The Rediscovered Origins of KaiNexus: A 1980s Video Game The Full Collection of Previous Posts: Here’s a collection of my April Fool’s Day posts and pranks from previous years that might give you a chuckle. Some of these did fool people 🙂 Do […]

A song about Toyota and Lean management. (Verse 1)Oh Toyota, king of the road, your cars reliable, your work showed us the codeYou built a system, a perfect flow, kaizen forever, let the good times grow (Chorus)Respect for people, that’s the key, continuous improvement, constantlyBut the West came knockin’, got it all wrong, took your […]

April Fools’ Jokes Posted on LinkedIn I hope you enjoy my series of seven April Fools’ jokes that I wrote and illustrated. The theme is satire. We have to laugh at ourselves and the absurdities (denial of logic) that people find ways to justify as normal. These April Fools’ jokes are more than humor. They […]

I wrote this piece for IndustryWeek… it starts: “In January, passengers, crew and the public were stunned by the latest high-profile incident involving a #Boeing 737 MAX-9 jet. A door plug blew out during an Alaska Airlines at 16,000 feet. Thankfully (and perhaps luckily), nobody was killed in the incident. In the aftermath, the general […]

I’ve been following Mark Graban’s Lean Blog for so many years now. He’s been a friend for quite some time due to our connections within the Lean community. His contributions in this area have certainly been highlighted here before. Perhaps like many of you each year you may look forward to today to see what […]

By Pascal Dennis (bio) In honor of my late father, Frank. I learned the fundamentals of management at my dad’s restaurant, the Imperial Grill Value & waste, standardized work, visual management, flow & pull — Mama & Dad practiced them all. They didn’t call it Lean, of course. It was just common sense. Value at […]

In their quaint unsuspecting neighborhood of the 1980s, two young visionaries, Greg Jacobson and Matt Paliulis, embarked on an adventure that would unknowingly pave the way for a future innovation. While their peers were preoccupied with the latest Atari games and BMX bikes, Greg and Matt found themselves enthralled by a different kind of challenge: […]