I’m currently working on a Mistake Proofing class for Karen Martin and TKMG Academy. Coming soon!! In the process of writing the course and its script, I’ve gone back to some older source material that has been on my bookshelf for a long time. In this case, it’s a book I not only own but […]

A selection of highlighted blog posts from Lean bloggers from the month of February 2024.  You can also view the previous monthly Lean Roundups here.     Introduction to Toyota Kata – Mark Rosenthal introduces Toyota Kata as a way to start to nudge the culture in the direction we want it to go.   The Problem […]

Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #499 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is James P. Womack. Jim really needs no introduction for this audience, he’s the founder of the Lean Enterprise Institute (in 1987) and remains a senior advisor to them. In the late eighties, he and […]

For some reason, Mark Graban never interviewed me for his “My Favorite Mistake” podcast. It seems like he is not interested learning about in my favorite mistake (truth be told, he has been my #1 hater 😡 for years, so that’s why). But perhaps you are interested to learn what my favorite mistake is. Like […]

In this series on how to understand a shop floor, I talked a lot about the physical shop floor—which in my view is the more important part. However, as mentioned in my last post, looking at already collected data also gives a lot of insight into the shop floor. Depending on the aspect you are […]

A while back, I uploaded the entire PDF of my 2018 book, Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More, into the premium version of ChatGPT. As an author and publisher, it’s a really useful tool for generating marketing content — although maybe it’s a mistake to upload my content that way. I’m sure […]

Those of us who are familiar with Continuous Improvement programs all know the term “burning platform”, an expression used to describe a situation where a company or organization needs to take drastic action to survive. The concept has gained popularity as an effective way to motivate employees and stakeholders to make a real change. In […]

I’m excited to announce that I’ve registered for Katie Anderson‘s Japan Study Trip in November! Between 2012 and 2019, I visited Japan five times, and I learned something new each time. I’ve been really itching to go back. I’m excited to see and learn new things with Katie and her team!! It’s a great opportunity […]

In this new version of our Clean Language-inspired coaching game: Integrating the Classic and Lite editions formats Cheat mode General tidyup Standard and premium versions 1. Integrating the Classic and Lite formats The Lite format (or ‘edition’, as it has been called up to now) was introduced in 2019 in version 7 thus: To understand […]

Understanding the key principles of continuous improvement is essential for business growth and success. That is to say, these principles serve as the foundation for creating a culture of ongoing improvement and innovation within organizations. By embracing and applying these principles, businesses can strive for excellence, adapt to change, and achieve their goals more effectively. […]

Mark Anderson has created several short videos featuring Mr. Chihiro Nakao from the book Kaizen Forever. Nakao-san’s wisdom is the best there is! I hope you like them. Kaizen Forever | Nakao-san on People | Quotes | Episode 1 👇 Kaizen Forever | Nakao-san on Process | Quotes | Episode 2 👇 Kaizen Forever | […]

A Look Back at Traditional Performance Reviews For decades, the annual performance review has been a cornerstone of corporate culture. Traditionally, this process involved a once-a-year meeting between an employee and their manager to discuss performance, set goals, and possibly discuss a salary increase or promotion. This method, rooted in the industrial age’s hierarchical and […]

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 […]

Did you not know there were specifications for leaders? How could that be? You have probably been a participant in many leadership training courses and have had a lot of coaching, but you are likely not in spec and probably don’t even know it. Leaders, especially top leaders, have earned the status, rights, and privileges […]

Thanks as always to Ryan McCormack for this… there’s always so much good reading, listening, and viewing shared here by him! 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 Generative AI and Improvement Early adopters are […]

Today there are so many Japan study tours that it makes me wonder if these are not much more than the kinds of field trips we took while we were in elementary school. In elementary school, we students looked forward to field trips, as did teachers, because it was a day out of the classroom. […]

I often find myself falling into the common trap of believing that if something is worthwhile, it is necessarily difficult. I think we all expect that valuable things are hard. The truth is, however, that sometimes the most effective and impactful things we can do are really quite simple. When it comes to continuous quality […]

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 […]

What’s your purpose as a continuous improvement leader? And how can you fulfill your potential as a transformational change leader? Tune in to my conversation with master operational excellence change leader Karen Martin to find out! Move from Purpose to Greater Potential Becoming a transformational change leader means balancing your technical skills to deliver results […]

My friend Trish Wilson recently invited me to participate in a podcast hosted by Ed Brenegar. We talked a lot about artificial intelligence and the future of work. Subsequent to the podcast Trish send this New York Times article to Ed and I: “When Your Technical Skills Are Eclipsed, Your Humanity Will Matter More Than […]

The Happy Heuristics podcast was a project by Jamie Flinchbaugh and Jeff Grimshaw to explore the power of heuristics for better decision-making. The goal was to help cultivate shock-resistant leader routines and rules of thumb for a complex world. Season 1 was recorded and released in 2021 and 2022. There were plans for a Season […]

Part-way through the February Train-the-Trainer / Facilitator, I was prompted to create a new slide on the topic of breakouts. We agreed that it would be helpful to add it to every training or workshop deck – hidden by default and kept in reserve, it would be there as a reminder to the host, and […]

“The genba is the truth.” That is what Japanese kaizen consultants teach. They say this repeatedly in a deliberate effort to reorient people’s thinking away from the deeply-rooted business ideology that numbers are the truth. If we recognize the genba as the truth and make improvements there via kaizen, the numbers will follow — they […]

In my last three posts I showed you how I look at shop floors, starting with some general guidance (FOCUS!) and going into detail through the different aspects of what I try to observe on the shop floor (5S, visual management, waste, unevenness, overburden, and safety). This usually gives me a reasonable overview of what […]

As I posted recently on LinkedIn, here are some photos and a story from years ago. Signs are not mistake-proofing. Signs are not adequate process controls. “Please do not park stretchers or carts in the hallway.” I’m quite certain that stretchers and carts are ALWAYS in this hospital hallway unless they know The Joint Commission […]

By Pascal Dennis (bio) May you live in interesting times – Chinese Curse Interesting times indeed, no? The reasons are too long to recite here – changing technology, customer expectations, internationalization, rapid cultural shifts, the explosion of information… Technological change, for example, is so rapid and severe that in many industries we can no longer […]

At the recent Healthcare Systems Process Improvement conference, David B. Reid, P.E. from Chick-fil-A Restaurants brought up a very interesting point about the batch size for their pressure cookers. They don’t cook one piece of chicken at a time that way. It’s inherently a batch process that uses the same amount of oil and energy […]

Every year, Americans celebrate Presidents Day as a day of remembrance — a day to look back and learn from our nation’s greatest leaders. In today’s competitive market, business leaders are looking for the edge that will put their organization and workforce ahead of the curve. As we celebrate President’s Day today, I want discuss […]

The Lean community is forever upset with CEOs for being short-term thinkers and for their steadfast devotion to classical management. They hope for CEOs to become long-term thinkers. Of course, reality dictates that CEOs have to think short-, mid-, and long-term, though available evidence or one’s cognitive biases gives the appearance that their thinking is […]

Chief Confusion Officer (CCO) is how I think of the CEOs who persistently send out the mixed message that they want Lean management yet they restrict employees’ ability to practice Lean in such as way as to produce tangible business results. In the post “Junk Lean,” I said: Unfortunately, Lean professionals get squeezed by the […]

Improving safety on a manufacturing shop floor is crucial for the well-being of employees and the overall efficiency of operations. From heavy machinery to hazardous materials, there are numerous risks that frontline employees face daily. So, by focusing on proactive measures and fostering a culture of safety, companies can create a secure and productive environment […]

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 […]

While the Venn diagram is certainly not precise, it depicts something real: The de-evolution of Lean from generic term or synonym for TPS to a diminished form that competes against TPS. Who hasn’t been fooled by James Womack and Daniel Jones‘ longstanding characterization of “Lean” as a generic term or synonym for TPS (and many […]

In the latest episode of the “People Solve Problems” podcast, host Jamie Flinchbaugh welcomes Joshua Ehrig, Professor of Practice at Lehigh University. Joshua shares insightful perspectives on problem-solving within the realms of entrepreneurship, business model innovation, and corporate innovation. Joshua begins by highlighting the critical importance of identifying the root cause of problems. He emphasizes […]