2024 Preface: I’m re-posting this blog post from 2012 about Lean at Boeing. The WSJ headline emphasizes “speed up,” but that could be the fault of their editors not realizing that Lean means quality and flow go hand in hand. The article shares an example where an employee-driven Kaizen improvement (a small, inexpensive improvement) would […]

When employees get laid off from a company, so do Lean tools. Fewer employees due to layoffs or reduced hiring due to the incorporation of new technologies means less demand for and use of Lean tools. And business leaders always opt for new technologies over employees. At some point, probably soon, AI will incorporate Lean […]

As a former university professor and now emeritus professor, one of my job requirements was to conduct research, write papers, and submit the papers for review and eventual publication in peer-reviewed academic and practitioner journals. I have loved doing research and writing from my days as an undergraduate student, where I did a bachelor of […]

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 Lean is helping the “great GE turnaround” […]

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 world of manufacturing, digital work instructions are revolutionizing the way tasks are carried out on the production floor. By integrating technology into traditional manufacturing processes, companies are reaping the benefits of increased efficiency, improved quality control, and enhanced productivity. In this blog post, we’ll get into the benefits of using digital work […]

“At least two of the major things that are required for continuous improvement to take root: Psychological Safety and problem-solving…” Here’s a clip from my 2023 keynote talk at KaiNexicon, the KaiNexus user conference. I invite you to learn more in my latest book, The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and […]

It appears that I introduced a new term (again!) in a recent blog post: “Junk Lean.” What is Junk Lean? The phrase expresses the gap between Lean management being understood as a generic term for Toyota’s production system (circa 1988) and how Lean is practiced in reality as popular problem-solving tools (2024). You can call […]

Kerry Creech became President of Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Kentucky (TMMK) in July 2023. He had joined Toyota as a team member in powertrain quality control in Georgetown, KY in 1990. Toyota’s policy of developing people and promoting from within made this career possible. Kerry Creech got a degree in electrical and electronics engineering in […]

Lean organizations make use of Daily Management systems, a structured process to focus employee’s actions to continuously improve their day-to-day work. Daily Management empowers employees to identify potential process concerns, recommend potential solutions, and learn by implementing process changes. Daily Management, if done right, can be a critical tool in any organization’s toolbox to engage […]

I loved a recent New York Times article about Chef Gordon Ramsay, including this part: “Ramsay said that when he makes a mistake, he owns up to it. He has been candid about the misjudgments that led to the closure of Amaryllis, his fine dining restaurant in Glasgow, and admits that he has opened restaurants […]

 From Operational Excellence Expert to Transformational Change Leader What if you could have a new superpower that would unlock your leadership potential? One that is so simple yet will amplify your impact, open doors to the C-suite, and accelerate engagement across your organization so that you deliver more business results while realizing your vision […]

Sometime in late 2000 or early 2001, I coined the phrase “Fake Lean” (learn more about the origin of the phrase here). “Fake Lean” meant organizations that practiced “Continuous Improvement” without “Respect for People.” In recent years, some people have been using it as a pejorative term which was never my intent. But now, nearly […]

In my last post I looked at some general tips on how to see the shop floor. Most of them involve focusing on the right areas of the shop floor, and avoiding interesting but not relevant technical details. This post will discuss different aspects that can be observed. Here, too, try not to see everything […]

As a previous keynote speaker at this event, and as a friend and colleague of KaiNexus CEO Dr. Greg Jacobson, I was very excited to learn that he will be one of the keynote speakers at next week’s event. It’s the Healthcare Systems Process Improvement conference, as presented by the Society for Health Systems (which […]

By Pascal Dennis (bio) In an era of breath-taking innovation, is there anything more important? The ‘Essential Eight Technologies’ – Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Drones, 3-D Printing, Big Data Analytics, and Distributed Ledger Technology (‘Blockchain’) – make disruption almost inevitable. Prosperity, and in some industries, survival, depends on an organization’s ability to […]

Maybe you don’t have buy-in from Executive leadership for a Lean transformation or maybe you do. You know your organization can fall behind the competition if you aren’t actively looking for ways to streamline and improve processes. One way you can combat this is by implementing continuous improvement or Kaizen. If you’re looking for ways […]

I’m pleased to share the newly released JFlinch Learning Lab, which offers the video content I’ve provided to my clients in a private offering over the past many years. This subscription at $79 per year includes around 100 videos not available elsewhere across courses which include management systems, culture change, strategic thinking, process design, as […]

As I recently shared on LinkedIn, I really appreciated the annual shareholder letter that was published and shared by Larry Culp, who has been CEO of General Electric for just over five years now (the first-ever outsider CEO in over 125 years). First off, I can’t help but notice that the photo shared at the […]

Please review the questions and understand the sample answers provided. Then, consider how you could answer these questions based on your experiences. Once you complete the next module, write down your answers and practice delivering them until you can confidently articulate them. Having pre-prepared and rehearsed answers will help you come across as a seasoned […]

Understanding the Dynamics of Corporate Leadership In the complex world of corporate governance, the CEO, CFO, COO, and CHRO each play a vital role in the success of a company. These high-level executives bring unique skill sets to the table, and their responsibilities are crucial in shaping a company’s culture, growth, and stability. Understanding these […]

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 […]

If you work in the manufacturing industry, you know how crucial it is to reduce lead time in order to stay competitive in the market. Lead time refers to the amount of time it takes to get a product from conception to delivery. The longer the lead time, the more it costs to produce and […]

For a long time, I’ve heard the phrase “the hidden factory” used to describe various forms of waste in a factory, including rework operations and activity. I was surprised to hear Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun refer to this in a news story using a similar phrase, “shadow factory.” Boeing Wants to Close Its ‘Shadow Factories.’ […]

My friend Emiel van Est wrote an insightful blog post titled “Has Toyota Lost Its Way?” You must read it. In the post he provides strong evidence that The Toyota Way, as described in Toyota’s 2001 document, and later in the 2020 update, may no longer be operative in Toyota Motor Corporation or its 17 […]

  In this episode of the People Solve Problems podcast,  host Jamie Flinchbaugh engages in a deep and insightful conversation with Andrea Jones, the founder of AJC. Andrea shares her extensive knowledge and experiences in project management and change implementation, particularly in mid-market companies. She introduces her unique framework, Executeagility, which stems from both her […]

Having been involved with progressive management for 30 years, and having written a lot (a lot!) about it for 26 years, you may wonder what inspires me to keep going — especially given that I am often a lone voice in the wilderness. This is what inspires me: The obvious need for improvement My ability […]

Despite 100 years of research, academic papers, books, magazine articles, all imaginable types of training programs, etc., the focus on improving the behaviors of leaders, from CEO to supervisor, have been mostly a failure. From one generation to the next, leaders behave pretty much as they always have: however they want to, more or less. […]

STOP PRESS – just too late for the main roundup below, here’s the episode I recorded on Monday for the Clean at Work podcast with hosts John Barratt and Sarah Baca. Enjoy! Clean at Work: Episode 14 Strategizing Clean – Mike Burrows on Integrating Clean Language More: media In this edition: February TTT/F; 15-minute FOTO, Obstacles Fast and Slow, […]

Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #497 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Tobias Gilk, the founder of Gilk Radiology Consulting (GRC). He is an architect by training, but has spent 20+ years focusing on MRI safety… initially through the architecture and planning of MRI facilities, but […]

A selection of highlighted blog posts from Lean bloggers from the month of January 2024.  You can also view the previous monthly Lean Roundups here.     The Pearls and Turds of Continuous Improvement – Kevin Meyer illustrates keys points of continuous improvement in small sequential steps and learning from failure from the documentary Stutz he recently […]

If you feel in a rut at work, many people overreach looking for the big problem or the big solution. Sometimes we can simply reactive the beginners mind through small changes, which then activates curiosity, observation, and the spririt of experimentation. These things can spill over from small changes to more important parts of your […]

How you think and do things — and especially how top leaders think and do things — is deeply rooted in the past. Only a small amount reflects the present. Therefore, we must always be attentive to ask ourselves these questions: “Why keep doing things today as they have been done in the past?: “What […]

Twenty-five years ago, the first Lean tool book was published, Learning to See, a workbook about value stream mapping. This was the start of the mania for Lean tools. Many other Lean tool books soon followed. Prior to that time, from the late 1970s to the early 2000s, the focus has been kaizen. This was […]