For nearly 25 years, I have advocated for the concept of visual controls used in the shop or office to be applied to leadership development. Much like a checklist or leader standardized work, I view visual controls — combinations of key images and words (more of the former than the latter) — as an important […]

The end of the year is traditionally a time to look back and reflect. One way to reflect is to evaluate popular blog posts. I have been taking time to reflect on the year that was and as part of that reflection I have flipped back through the 150 blog posts I have written so […]

As 2023 comes to an end and we look toward 2024 I wanted to revisit some tips. The Lean Tips published daily are meant to be advice, things I learned from experience, and some knowledgeable tidbits about Lean to help you along your journey. Here are the top 10 Lean tips from this past year: […]

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 this journey because without learning we cannot improve. 10. […]

In the realm of project management, aligning sales, inventory, and operations is more than a practice—it’s an art. Let’s delve into SIOP, a five-fold path to synchronizing your business heartbeat with market pulses. Step 1: Data, The Foundation Before building castles in the sky, we lay the groundwork with robust data. From historical sales to […]

I’ll be off on vacation through the New Year holiday. See you in January with more blog posts and podcasts! Happy Holidays! The post Happy Holidays from Mark Graban and LeanBlog.org by Mark Graban appeared first at Lean Blog.

In 1914, Thorstein Veblen wrote a book titled The Instinct of Workmanship and the Industrial Arts. In that book, he coined the phrase “trained incapacity” (p. 347). What he meant by that was the people in a company, trained in the specific fields through education or work experience, usually work at cross-purposes with one another, […]

Are you looking to streamline your business processes and boost efficiency? If so, you may want to consider using lean enablement software. This powerful tool can help you eliminate waste, optimize workflows, and improve your bottom line. In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at what lean enablement software is and the benefits […]

In the United States, most top business leaders became aware of Toyota’s Production System starting in the late 1970s and Lean management in the late 1980s. During that time, federal rules for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) were loosened such that it was far more attractive, from profit, market share, and stock price perspectives, for companies […]

Lean process management is a method for building a company culture that supports continuous improvement. It involves a long-term approach to daily work that encourages small, incremental changes in process operations to improve quality and efficiency. The primary objective of Lean process improvement is to create value for the customer by optimizing resources and creating […]

In this episode of “People Solve Problems,” Jamie Flinchbaugh engages in an enlightening conversation with Mel Zehnpfennig, Managing Partner at Dynamic Improvement Group. With a wealth of experience spanning over two decades in lean manufacturing, Mel shares his approach to tackling complex problems in various industries, from automotive to more diverse sectors like pet toys […]

As the year draws to a close, it’s a pivotal time for reflection, both on a personal level and within our teams and organizations. Traditionally, we might engage in a ‘plus/delta’ analysis, probing into what went well and what could be improved. However, I propose a slightly nuanced approach. Let’s shift our focus to positive […]

Thanks, everybody, for reading my blog here in 2023. And for listening to podcasts… oh so many podcasts. This blog post is the “year end” report with the most read posts of the second half of the year. On one technical note, I updated the core WordPress “theme” that runs the site because the old […]

In this post of my series on the Toyota Practical Problem Solving (PPS), we finally get to the part many were excitedly waiting for—the development of countermeasures and their implementation. Some people like this part of actually doing the improvement (and hence finally the “Do” part of PDCA) so much that they skip the “Plan” […]

Whether you have followed Agendashift and Leading with Outcomes over the years or have only just found us, thank you for your interest and support. As we approach the Christmas and New Year break, let me wish you a time of peace and renewal. In this end-of-year edition: December looking forward; Top 10 posts of […]

I’ve noticed that sometimes people are reluctant to speak with me. So now, if you like, you can talk to my AI chatbot instead! Just click on the illustration of me on the lower right-hand corner of any page. Like me, the AI chatbot is a friendly guy. Sometimes he talks in a tough tone […]

This post is built around excerpts from the book The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation. Read more about Toyota, including stories and key lessons learned in the book. Download a free preview Today, we explore the transformative power of embracing failure, inspired by Toyota’s pioneering culture of continuous learning. In […]

Last week’s Leading with Outcomes trainer/facilitator Zoom [1] confirmed some changes. The first two relate to two of our favourite exercises: The exercise Good Obstacle, Bad Obstacle has been renamed Obstacles Fast and Slow (yes, both names are indeed references to books). As time passes, the more we have learned to appreciate this exercise, and […]

As a Lean professional, what is your vision of the future? It is narrowly focused on you to… acquire new knowledge? acquire new skills? gain certifications to add to your resume? learn how to use more problem-solving tools? build your resume for advancement? speak in ways that only a select group understands? get promoted or […]

Let’s begin with a quote worthy of reflection: It is difficult to see how knowledge in the social sciences will ever be cumulative, if social scientists ignore, rather than build upon, the work which has already been done. — Source: Lipset, S.M. and Bendix, R. (1951), “Social Status and Social Structure: A Re-Examination of Data […]

In the last half of the 1990s, someone or a small group of people at the Lean Bureau decided to unbundle Toyota-style kaizen into various tools and sell their individually. Nearly all others soon followed their lead. With this decision, market based or not, the Lean Bureau greatly expanded its social influence and business income, […]

Yay!! Google Bard 🤖 makes the business case for Lean! We’ve been saying this for decades, but now that the AI machine says it, leaders might finally believe it! But there is only one problem: There is still no answer for the mindset/culture shift that is needed. Bard needs new information. So do you. Click […]

Instead of seeking advice from “Dear Abby,” we can now seek advice from “Dear Bard.” So let’s ask Dear Bard for some advice: “How do you convince a CEO to abandon classical management and transition to Lean management?” Unfortunately, Dear Bard. 🤖 has no idea that all the things it recommends have been tried by […]

The Balanced Scorecard is a management framework that combines traditional financial metrics with strategic measures to give managers a more complete view of business performance. The approach rests on the premise that many business measurement schemes are weighted too heavily toward financial performance and ignore other strategically important, but often more challenging to measure, priorities. […]

The book giveaway contest that I’m running ends Friday at about 3 pm ET. ENTER TO WIN a set of all six books that I’ve written or co-authored over the past 15 years. I made a mistake today in my attempt to do an unplanned LinkedIn Live video to promote the contest. See more about […]

In the fast-paced world of manufacturing, productivity is one of the most important factors in determining the success of a business. A productive shop floor can help a manufacturing company to produce more goods at a lower cost. As a result, this can lead to increased profitability, improved customer satisfaction, and a competitive edge over […]

It took 13.79999999996 billion years for Lean management emerge from the fetid gas of interstellar space, and as far as we know Lean does not exist anywhere else in the universe (universe = “the totality of existence”). 👽 Click here to find out how it all got started.

tl;dr summary: A journal article evidences Lean’s effectiveness in healthcare, challenging skeptics. It finds that Lean adoption in U.S. public hospitals is linked to lower costs, along with better patient care and experiences. Success relies on leadership commitment, daily Lean practices, and proper training. However, study limitations and potential biases question its conclusive impact on […]

In the ever-evolving landscape of modern business, staying ahead of the competition requires more than just adept management – it demands a strategic embrace of cutting-edge technology. As companies navigate the complexities of a globalized marketplace, the need for efficient, streamlined operations and continuous improvement has never been more pronounced. Enter the realm of business […]

Imagine a monthly ritual that doesn’t just review performance but revolutionizes it. Monthly business reviews can redefine your approach, elevate critical metrics, and propel your organization toward unparalleled growth. The journey to peak performance starts with a commitment to regular reflection.  For example, Salesforce implemented a practice of monthly business reviews to assess key performance […]

Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #494 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Chad Bareither, the founder and principal consultant of Bareither Group Consulting. He brings a wealth of experience as a change agent in the corporate world, having worked with organizations that include several Fortune 500 […]

 In the workplace, often the most valuable insights often happen during informal moments. It’s these pockets of space, in between meetings and events, where casual, off-the-cuff conversations take place and ah-has emerge. Quick question, have you ever wondered what it would be like to listen in to these “hallway” conversations to discover what leaders […]

The history of progressive management, from Scientific Management to Toyota’s management system to Lean management, is marked by efforts to try anything — literally anything — to get CEOs to abandon classical management. What “try anything” really means is that there has been no learning and that experience has not produced the desired result. Yet […]

The history of progressive management, from Scientific Management to Toyota’s management system to Lean management, is marked by efforts to try anything — literally anything — to get CEOs to abandon classical management. What “try anything” really means is that there has been no learning and that experience has not produced the desired result. Yet […]