Company culture has been a hot topic among people leaders in recent years. Many executives will probably say their organizational culture is their most valued asset when considering what makes their company unique.  While many organizations take pride in their culture, the truth is not many leaders have wrapped their heads around it. Company culture […]

In my previous posts I went into great detail through all the categories of the Toyota KPI dashboard: safety, quality, productivity, and cost. I also explained the additional section on HR development, albeit this may not really be KPI in the normal sense. However, the dashboard often contains even more: a section with the monthly […]

With a week to go to the Manchester training, let me mention a recent (post-Melbourne) update to the Constraints Club exercise. As you may recall, this forms part of the string of exercises described in some detail in the blog post What Lies Beneath (Spoiler: Constraints), which I have updated too. For full context, read that […]

What is willful ignorance? It is to intentionally keep one’s self unaware of the facts to avoid negative consequences associated with the actions that one takes. For example, going all out to promote Lean while knowing that all is not well with Lean (misunderstandings, misapplications, etc.) while failing to investigate why Lean is not doing […]

How would you feel about paying for the burnt coffee beans, extra coffee they made, the fuel spent transporting your creamer from the grocery store, and so on? That is exactly how your customers will feel if you do not eliminate waste in your process and make them pay for it. What is ‘Waste’ anyway? […]

Waste in project management refers to any resource or effort expended without adding value to the project’s ultimate goals and objectives. Waste can manifest in various forms throughout the project lifecycle and significantly impact a project’s success. Adopting Lean Agile project management principles, which maximize value while minimizing waste, is essential to mitigate waste in […]

Courage is essential in the professional realm because it allows us to face challenges and take risks, to take the next step with confidence. Leaders who have courage are those who dare to lead by example, who can make difficult decisions and act accordingly, even when the outcome is not certain. They are those who […]

Packaging serves a multi-faceted role within the manufacturing and logistics industries. Beyond its primary function of protecting parts, the choice of packaging material, design, and process has far-reaching implications for cost, sustainability, and overall operational efficiency.  Let’s explore some key characteristics of a lean packaging and handling process, highlighting how purposeful packaging and material flow […]

I’m happy to host another session in the KaiNexus Continuous Improvement webinar series. Learn more and register here: No More Flavor of the Month! Learn How To Deliver Sustainable Change It’s being presented by D. Lynn Kelley, Ph.D., who was recently my guest on the Lean Blog Interviews podcast. Scroll down for a short video […]

As you may know from my writings, I have long had a great interest in social, political, economic, and management history. And as the Baby Boomer generation of Lean thinkers and innovators get older, we become part of history — Lean history. The younger generation of Lean practitioners and continuous improvement professionals — Generation Y […]

After authoring or co-authoring 28 books in 20 years, you may wonder why I stopped doing something that I love to do and which gave me so much pleasure. The reasons are many… 1. I accomplished what I set out to do. 2. I have exhausted my initial three lines of research questions to my […]

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 […]

Long ago I fell out of favor with a friend and colleague over my “no nonsense approach” to writing and speaking about Lean management. Many years have now passed. Today, here is what he had to say: We may have butted heads a couple times in terms of approach, but I have tremendous and deep […]

Excel Like a Pro with These Tips! Excel is more than just a spreadsheet tool; it’s a robust platform that allows you to manage data, perform complex calculations, and even develop custom applications. Whether you’re a finance expert, a data analyst, or someone who loves to organize and analyze data, Excel can be your best […]

Background: I wrote this article as a response to what was then (early 2000s) the still-strong focus on “Continuous Improvement” while neglecting “Respect for People.” The article was first published in 2009 in The Lean CEO, a website created by Kevin Meyer. I was a frequent contributor to The Lean CEO, with most of the […]

Many employees who choose to leave their job claim lack of appreciation as a major reason for leaving. Therefore, every organization should try to provide and encourage recognition as much as possible. But, the main problem is that each employee values different things, and they want to be rewarded in different ways. Fortunately, modern HR […]

In today’s fiercely competitive business landscape, success hinges on the relentless pursuit of improvement. Within this demanding landscape, the efficient management of business processes becomes paramount. That’s where cutting-edge process management software comes into play. Continuous and process improvement are twin pillars of organizational growth, underpinning the essence of business evolution.  This article will provide […]

Here is a short, 60-second video to help you decide which books to read.

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. Insights about improvement, innovation, and leadership… Operational Excellence, Improvement, and Innovation If you build it, will they improve?  Productivity software platforms are big business and […]

The continuing faith that the Lean community has on changing top leaders’ behaviors, from the old way of leading to the new Lean way of leading, is worrisome. Why? Because it is based on a preconception that leaders’ behaviors are rationally informed and thus can be changed via facts, persuasion, etc. As such, it totally […]

Nobody likes making mistakes. It is human nature to make mistakes. If you go through life afraid to make a mistake, you’ll spend most of your life doing absolutely nothing. There is no harm in making mistakes, it is an essential part of learning. If you feel the need to avoid mistakes at all costs, […]

Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #489 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Ward Vuillemot, a seasoned C-suite executive with over six years of leading fully remotely while building technology organizations from the ground up for companies 150 to 650 employees in size and $50M to $125M […]

Cultivating Organizational Growth, Learning, and Innovation What is a growth mindset and how is it a critical foundation if you want to develop a culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence? In this episode, I speak with Professor Carol Dweck –  Professor of Psychology at Stanford University and bestselling author of Mindset – about how […]

Join Greg Jacobson, MD, co-founder and CEO of KaiNexus, and me for another episode of the KaiNexus Continuous Improvement podcast. 

Here are the dozen images that I posted on LinkedIn every day from 20 to 31 October in the run-up to Halloween 2023. Also shown are the words that accompanied each post. When I first posted the texts and images, most of the comments were (oddly) a defense of the concept, tool, method, or practice […]

Sometimes it frustrates me that people misunderstand my intentions and the work that I do to advance progressive leadership and management. First, there are the noisy people who are so wildly off base in their personal criticism of me and of my work that their main aim is clear: To discredit and discount my work, […]

In this edition: From Melbourne to Manchester; Adaptive Organisation workshops; Adaptive Organisation online; More free sessions; Train-the-Trainer / Facilitator (TTT/F) and alternatives; Top posts From Melbourne to Manchester It was a privilege to open the inaugural Kanban Australia – congratulations to Daniel Ploeg and the team there for putting on such a great event! The […]

With the KPI groups safety, quality, productivity, and cost, this series on the Toyota KPI dashboard has covered the main topics. However, there is more. Not always but often you can also find a section on human resources (HR) development. Yet, these are usually not KPI, but more organizational topics that may be part of […]

Encouraging a Growth Mindset and Human Connection in High-Performance Organizations What does it really take to create a thriving organization  – one that is not just focused on delivering results, but doing so by engaging people’s minds and hearts to collaborate, innovate, and solve problems as the way to get to those results? If you’re […]

A selection of highlighted blog posts from Lean bloggers from the month of October 2023.  You can also view the previous monthly Lean Roundups here.     From Punishment to Improvement: Transforming Workplace Culture – Mark Graban explains why it is important create a culture of learning and innovation instead of fear and punishment.   The Strategy […]

By Pascal Dennis (bio) Number 1 daughter, who studied Law at McGill University, spent a lot of time in court, and is appalled at the hassle & confusion. “It’s awful, Dad! I spend hours trying to find and make sense of things – and I’m a Law student! How do regular folks feel?” We’ve had […]

The Fall season is my favorite time of year. It is a special time of the year, especially in New England. The trees produce a stunning explosion of color as the leaves change from green through yellow, orange, red and then turning to brown before falling to the ground. Trees are a wonderful example of […]

Image Source: Pixabay Whether you’re a new leader or an experienced one, there’s always more to learn. This is especially true if you don’t get formal leadership training — which most leaders don’t. In one study, almost half of leaders with 10 or more years of management experience said they’d had nine total hours of […]

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 […]