A recent article in Toyota Times described Akio Toyoda’s view of Toyota Production System in the context of: “bring[ing] back what makes us Toyota” “completely redesigning Toyota for the future” and [a] “training program is for Toyota’s management leaders who don’t work at manufacturing frontlines” The article has been analyzed by Lean luminaries such as Jon […]

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 […]

Sadly, most organizations plod along with the same chronic problems, year after year, decade after decade, from one CEO to another. Problems such as these generate daily misery for workers and trouble for all other stakeholders: Poor or slow decision-making Low employee engagement Organizational dysfunction Cutthroat corporate culture Poor at preventing problems (but great at […]

WEB SERIES – In the fourth and final episode of Season 1 of our docuseries, we visit home improvement and gardening retailer Leroy Merlin and learn about their efforts to lean out their supply chain. Scripted, edited and narrated by: Roberto Priolo Supplying 47 stores across a huge country like Brazil in a timely fashion is […]

Karl: What you are trying to do is get people to wake the fuck up. Isn’t that right? Bob E. Yes, that’s right. Karl: People need to wake the fuck up. Lean management, TPS, or any effort with the wholesome intention of “change for the better,” is destined to struggle or fail if people won’t […]

Leading authors and luminaries in the Agile community have, after only 19 years, begun to publicly question its de-evolution from something grand (Agile Manifesto, to improve software development) to something “misdirected, misattributed, ineffectual, and misshapen.” They are calling Agile a failing enterprise. Bravo! There is great intellectual honesty in doing that, which may lead to […]

How Lean Management Principles Can Help You Cut Costs and Enhance Customer Satisfaction In today’s business world, companies always look for ways to improve their operations and stay ahead of the competition. One major challenge they face is managing growing costs effectively. In the past, businesses often increased prices to offset these costs, which could […]

And this is why we test things… to discover issues that we didn’t anticipate in advance. I thought I was being clever by putting a QR code in the upper right-hand corner of the slide earlier. But I didn’t realize, until doing the LinkedIn Live test this morning, that the Zoom Webinar video window covered […]

I know I am. But that is because we have been hearing the same old things about Toyota — their production system, obeya, coaching, gemba walks, A3 reports, value steam maps, LPPD, and so on. All the stuff that is easy to package and sell by various parties. You don’t hear much about Just-in-Time, except […]

What does being a leader mean to you? What is your strategy in creating people-centered and innovative cultures? How do you approach problem solving? I’m thrilled to host Elisabeth Swan on the latest installment of my author interview series – in video, podcast, and blog – to explore these questions and celebrate the release of […]

The emerging buzz these days is to expand the use of Toyota’s A3 reports from a tool to engage mid-level managers in improvement to a tool for changing business leaders beliefs and behaviors. Recent examples include “The Power of Personal Yokoten” to change beliefs and “Four Things to Remember When Working on Your Personal A3” […]

In previous work, I explained in extraordinary detail why leaders resist or reject Lean management. Unfortunately, leaders will never explain their dislike for Lean as I described it because it gives away too many of their deepest secrets. Instead, they will justify their dislike for Lean using three rudimentary, if not simplistic, macro-level arguments: Jeopardy, […]

In a recent blog post, “Ahead Yet Still Far Behind,” I lamented the continuing hope that the only solution to widespread adoption of Lean management is to change leaders’ behaviors. This is the same magical thinking bet that has been placed by untold numbers of leadership researchers, educators, trainers, change agents, coaches, mentors, etc., throughout […]

In this edition: Adaptive Organisation (II) is complete; Events in May; Events in June; Latest additions to the media page; Top posts Adaptive Organisation (II) is complete Never say finished, but the last chapter of the last part of the last module of Leading with Outcomes was released this week. Already the first certificates of […]

Today I hosted the Second Virtual Lean Mini-Conference via Zoom — a forum for freethinking (click here to view the results from the First VLMC). We again had a fantastic conference with the diverse views that one would hope to get from global participation. To reiterate. a primary objective of these conferences is to challenge […]

As you may know, I have been a passionate practitioner and advocate of the application of Lean principles and practices to teaching for more than 20 years. On 19 October 2020 I gave a presentation titled “Eliminating Waste in Teaching: The Brilliant Life and Work of Dr. Lillian Gilbreth.” Click on the image to view […]

This is the back story to the book Improvement. I wrote this book because I am concerned about the future of progressive management in relation to human needs as times change. Will it survive, or will classical management continue to prevail? What will happen to current formulations of progressive management — Toyota’s management system and […]

Next week, Tuesday May 2nd, I’ll be hosting a live event to reveal the full cover of my upcoming book The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation. Register Now: You can register to view it two ways: The recording will be available if you can’t join us at 2:30 pm […]

A selection of highlighted blog posts from Lean bloggers from the month of April 2023.  You can also view the previous monthly Lean Roundups here.     Toyota Kata: Coaching vs a Report Out – Mark Rosenthal asks as a coach if you are challenging the learner.   On Big Data – Pascal Dennis says before we […]

Do you ever wonder about these things: Why do most Lean transformations struggle or fail? Why it is so difficult for bosses to accept Lean management? Who no servant leadership? Why does classical management maintain its grip on leaders? Why are CEOs so resistant to change? Why do people get in trouble with bosses for […]

COVID-19 is having a remarkable impact on business — not in terms of shutting businesses down, but what business leaders are doing to adapt and survive. A principal strategy is to shift to various forms of e-commerce to deliver the goods and services that people need. The “process improvement space” long occupied by Lean management […]

No, not stupid, but certainly blind to how their rhetoric is interpreted by those whom they wish to influence most — CEOs. We have all done it. I as well as most others, people you know and don’t know. Frederick Winslow Taylor did it. Taiichi Ohno did it. Our beloved and iconic Lean CEO, Art […]

This was in the news the other day, and it’s fun to talk about mistakes that don’t harm or kill anybody: Confetti delays Celtics-Hawks Game 4 playoffs series As the game announcers described, it was “a legitimate confetti issue” with about one minute left in the first quarter of the NBA first round playoff game […]

Here is a guide to my books. It will help you understand the range of tiles and subject matter. Go to the books page and click on the book covers to learn more about each book. Leadership Reimagined Why Leaders Reject Lean Management Lean Leadership Kaizen Lean Management Lean in Higher Education Criticism of Lean […]

In today’s rapidly changing work environment, professionals across industries need to keep pace with new developments and continuously upgrade their skill sets. On-the-job training (OJT) is an effective method for ensuring that employees develop the necessary expertise to perform their tasks while contributing to their professional growth. This article explores the advantages of OJT, the […]

Operational excellence is a management philosophy that focuses on continuously improving an organization’s processes, systems, and workflows to optimize performance and deliver value to customers. Operational excellence happens when an organization consistently and reliably outperforms the competition through constant improvement and a dedication to customer value. When two companies have the same strategy, the operationally […]

When we think of Lean management, we probably do not think of it in evolutionary terms. But we should for two reasons. First, evolution takes a prominent place in the thinking of Toyota production system and Toyota’s overall management system — the need to evolve in response to the reality of changing times, changing needs, […]

Lean Sigma: A Practitioner’s Guide, 2nd Edition by Ian D. Wedgwood is an indispensable resource for professionals seeking to learn about and implement Lean and Six Sigma methodologies. This updated edition of the acclaimed guide delves deep into the principles and practical applications of Lean Sigma, providing readers with valuable insights on maximizing efficiency, reducing […]

CASE STUDY – The Hospital de Bellvitge in Barcelona is relying heavily on hoshin and Kata to create a working environment based on collaboration and joint problem solving. Words: Ana Alvarez, Deputy Director of Processes The Hospital de Bellvitge in Barcelona serves an area of 250,000 people – almost 2 million for specialized care or […]

One of the things that Lean practitioners learn at the start is the importance of understanding processes so that better results will be consistently achieved. This intimate relationship between means and ends is obscure to most people, and so documenting and studying process is a big revelation. They learn to see causality: how waste, unevenness, […]

Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) to reduce and shorten changeover times is one of the best-known methods in lean manufacturing. However, the original steps as shown by Shingo have, in my view, potential for improvement. Hence, I restructured the changeover workshop based on my experience with SMED to make it easier and more straightforward. […]

Most people are not familiar with the history of progressive management because they do not see how it is relevant to today’s problems or needs. But I can assure you this history is relevant to humanity today and beyond. Beginning in the late 1800s with what later became known as Scientific Management, the primary purpose […]

Another big milestone passed: yesterday evening I released the last chapter of the two-part module Adaptive Organisation: Business agility at every scale. That means Leading with Outcomes is complete! I say “complete” and not “finished” because I’ll always be making improvements. Adaptive Organisation went through two major revisions and I’ve lost count of how many […]

In my graduate-level Lean leadership course, I introduce students to eight categories of preconceptions that are deeply intertwined with one another with respect to classical leadership and management practice. I then ask following question: How do you know when economic, social, political, historical, philosophical, business, legal, or spiritual preconceptions are out of date and no […]