Learn and appreciate the pioneering work of Masaaki Imai and the Kaizen Institute, and Yoshiki Iwata, Chihiro Nakao, Akiro Takenaka and Shingijutsu for bringing kaizen to the world. Please carefully study these 39 pages and return to the basics: TPS and kaizen! Learn more about the Kaizen Institute, Shingijutsu Global, and Shingijutsu USA. Kaizen-Institute-Part4Download NOTE: […]

  Cheryl Stokes, the CEO of CNEXT, joined Jamie Flinchbaugh on his podcast “People Solve Problems” to share her insights into corporate education, leadership development, culture change, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. With a rich background that spans over two decades, Cheryl has significantly contributed to these fields through her roles at Heidrick & Struggles […]

There was a fascinating article in Bloomberg BusinessWeek about GE doing it’s final spinoff of GE Vernova (ticker symbol: GEV) and the remaining business that Larry Culp remains CEO of: GE Aerospace (formerly GE Aviation, ticker symbol: GE). AN EMPIRE DIVIDED The inside story of how GE CEO Larry Culp dismantled a 131-year-old American giant. […]

Lean thinking is fundamentally transforming the way organizations operate. The Lean principles of continuous improvement, respect for people, and a relentless focus on delivering customer value are making teams and organizations rethink the practices that might have guided them for decades. For Lean to be truly effective, it needs effective Lean Leadership — to champion […]

Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #502 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is DeWayne Allen, an executive, speaker, and workshop facilitator. DeWayne is a results-driven executive with over 20 years of experience, renowned for leveraging a solid engineering and operations background to propel growth for Fortune 500 […]

Learn and appreciate the pioneering work of Masaaki Imai and the Kaizen Institute, and Yoshiki Iwata, Chihiro Nakao, Akiro Takenaka and Shingijutsu for bringing kaizen to the world. Please carefully study these 39 pages and return to the basics: TPS and kaizen! Learn more about the Kaizen Institute, Shingijutsu Global, and Shingijutsu USA. Kaizen Institute […]

Leaders who want to develop a culture of rapid continuous improvement have many tools at their disposal. So many that it can be challenging to keep them all in mind when deciding how to execute an opportunity for improvement or address a difficult challenge. Most organizations don’t use all of these techniques simultaneously, but each […]

I am pleased to confirm the venue for the London 2024 edition of Leading in a Transforming Organisation. I am grateful to PA Consulting for hosting us again, this time at their Farringdon office, a short walk from Farringdon tube station. You can book your place now: 25-27 June, London, UK:Leading in a Transforming Organisation […]

Mistake-proofing is a spectrum. Some things are “somewhat mistake-proofed” (or “error-proofed). I love eating at Kura Revolving Sushi. It’s not “the best” sushi in the Dallas area, but it’s a fun experience and it’s quick. I went today for lunch. If you’re not familiar with their standard process: 1) You can take a plate off […]

On Forbes:  19 Graceful Ways To Ensure Recognition For Professional Contributions Being recognized for one’s professional contributions is not simply a matter of fair acknowledgment; it can also be a key factor in career advancement. However, many professionals find it challenging to strike the delicate balance between ensuring they receive credit for their good work […]

As part of my grand tour of German automotive, I visited the BMW plant in Leipzig. As of now, this is my second most favorite German automotive plant, after BMW in Munich. I will talk more about this quite well-organized and indeed beautiful plant in a later post series, but in this post I’m going […]

Learn and appreciate the pioneering work of Masaaki Imai and the Kaizen Institute, and Yoshiki Iwata, Chihiro Nakao, Akiro Takenaka and Shingijutsu for bringing kaizen to the world. Please carefully study these 44 pages and return to the basics: TPS and kaizen! Learn more about the Kaizen Institute, Shingijutsu Global, and Shingijutsu USA. Kaizen Institute […]

There is often a missing link in many Lean organizations – which is, the set of leadership structures and behaviors that constitute a lean management system. People frequently equate ‘Lean’ with the tools used to standardize processes and generate efficiencies; and organizations tend to focus more on the implementation of these tools. However, implementing tools […]

Learn and appreciate the pioneering work of Masaaki Imai and the Kaizen Institute, and Yoshiki Iwata, Chihiro Nakao, Akiro Takenaka and Shingijutsu for bringing kaizen to the world. Please carefully study these 32 pages and return to the basics: TPS and kaizen! Learn more about the Kaizen Institute, Shingijutsu Global, and Shingijutsu USA. Kaizen-Institute-Part1Download NOTE: […]

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 What would you pay to not lose a finger? […]

Listen: In Episode 45 of the Lean Whiskey podcast, Jamie Flinchbaugh and Mark Graban join the Just-in-Time Cafe team of Elisabeth Swan and Tracy O’Rourke as a special nod to their 100th Episode, while also having a chance to toast Mark’s accomplishment of 250 episodes of My Favorite Mistake podcast and 500 episodes of the […]

Thing 1: Yesterday’s webinar recording For this month’s webinar we were joined yesterday by Karl Scotland, who over the years has made a number of significant contributions to the development of Agendashift and Leading with Outcomes. You can access the recording and related bits & pieces here. Enjoy! While we’re on free events, there are […]

Episode 45: “Crossover event: Just-in-Time Cafe and Lean Whiskey” In Episode 45, Jamie Flinchbaugh and Mark Graban join the Just-in-Time Cafe team of Elisabeth Swan and Tracy O’Rourke as a special nod to their 100th Episode, while also having a chance to toast Mark’s accomplishment of 250 episodes of My Favorite Mistake podcast and 500 […]

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 […]

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 […]