By Pascal Dennis (bio) By any objective measure, Lean has ‘done well’. Most major organizations have active Lean/Continual Improvement activities. Lean thinking has developed roots far from its manufacturing beginnings and into far-flung fields like healthcare, construction and the process industries. Yes, there have been dead-ends, detours and growing pains. Why do so many organizations […]

Many of you have heard Art Byrne say: “about 95 percent of all lean conversions fail.” To that I’ll add: “about 95 percent of all CEOs don’t care about Lean.” Despite our awareness of these long odds, I, like most Lean practitioners, continue to look for opportunities to promote Lean in my workplace and in […]

Some three decades ago when Lean came to the fore, various assumptions were made about business and leadership. What if those assumptions were wrong? For example, what if business is not all about money-making? What if the true nature of executive leadership was misunderstood? If the assumptions were wrong, then there is a large gap […]

The following material was found on the “cutting room floor” for my upcoming book, The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation. And I’ve supplemented it with some new material to flesh it out into a post. Come to the live book cover reveal event tomorrow (Tuesday, May 2) if you […]

The business climate is becoming increasingly more competitive. With multiple options for consumers companies must stay competitive to survive. Many organizations consider improving quality as the best way to enhance customer satisfaction, to reduce manufacturing costs and to increase productivity. For this, the cost of quality (COQ) must be reduced. The costs associated with making […]

In a recent blog post, “Dr. Emiliani’s No’s for Lean,” I challenged people to solve the problem, in the words of Gregg Miner (Vice President Enterprise Excellence at Trane Technologies), of “how to make 100% of CEOs Lean zealots.” This is next problem now that the prior problem, why CEO resist or reject Lean management, […]

In the previous blog post, “Lean Must Learn from Black Lives Matter,” I wrote: …Lean management has been, and continues to be, in the shadows in terms of public opinion… Lean will be nothing more than it has been if it remains narrowly focused on the business community and continues to advocate from a position […]

In America and elsewhere, many people look to the Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI) and its global network for leadership in the long fight to advance Lean management. People look to these organizations for new ideas and as inspiration to carry forward progressive management and progressive leadership. But in recent years, it seems that something is […]

I sometimes wonder how my large body of work on Lean leadership, Lean management, Classical management, and Lean applied to higher education would have been received by the Lean community if it was written by any one of these people: Specifically, how influential my work might have been — not from a money-making perspective — […]

You are most likely aware of the tragic Boeing 737 Max crashes that killed 346 people and the protracted grounding of the fleet to correct various defects before safely returning to passenger service. One of the most interesting facts about the investigation is Boeing’s decades-old design assumption that test pilots and other experienced pilots set […]

“Implementation of Lean Six Sigma methodology to improve machining flatness and meet internal machining rejection target” Project Report 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. COMPANY OVERVIEW Manufacturing company ABC provides aluminum to automobile industries and possesses a wide range of casting and machining setups. For the last few months, the company has been facing an inclining rejection ratio […]

Poor Frederick Winslow Taylor. Almost everyone hates him these days. Yet, just about everyone loves Taiichi Ohno. Why? What Taylor started — the application of the scientific method to management (Scientific Management), the field of industrial engineering, and ensuring non-zero-sum outcomes for workers — Ohno-san and a small army of Toyota engineers finished. In modern […]

People who have deep knowledge of TPS (or Lean) typically claim they are not experts due to the vastness of problems and possible solutions. There is a solid rationale for this view. But the reality is they are experts compared to others who have far less knowledge and experience. I would rather learn TPS from […]

One of the foundations of Lean management is to think — to be a Lean thinker. That means more than thinking only about Lean and how great Lean is. It means thinking about evolving and adapting to changing times based on needs. It means changing Lean and building upon Lean if the need exists, because […]

This page summarizes the research that I have been engaged in since 2007 to unravel the most important question that we have all had for many years: Why do leaders resist or reject Lean management? Read the three books in the order shown above, staring with The Triumph of Classical Management (US$65 total investment, print […]

Leader Standard Work (LSW) is an essential component of Lean management. It is a set of documented and standardized daily routines and behaviours that guide leaders in their roles, ensuring they consistently deliver value to their organizations. LSW drives continuous improvement and fosters a culture of team engagement and accountability (Dombrowski & Mielke, 2013). This […]

A common scenario goes like this: Salaried professionals somehow become aware of Lean management. They learn more about it and soon begin to see it as a much better way to lead and manage an organization. Seeing this great opportunity, they become strong advocates for Lean within their organization. They look for opportunities to influence […]

Quality management is a crucial aspect of any organization’s success, and one of the most important components of this process is the implementation of effective Corrective and Preventive Actions (CAPA). CAPA is a systematic approach to identifying, documenting, and addressing problems within a business to ensure that they do not recur. In this blog post, […]

The Lean Global Healthcare Initiative recently came out with a white paper titled “5 Guiding Principles to Transform Healthcare.” Its purpose is to accelerate the 10 years that it takes to “reshape management systems and leadership behaviors” given the “pressing issues facing the industry today: patient harm, aging population, squeezed budgets and an increase in chronic […]

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, organizations must be proactive and adaptive to stay ahead of the curve. A well-structured strategic planning process is a roadmap for achieving long-term success, enabling businesses to navigate challenges, capitalize on opportunities, and maintain a competitive edge. This comprehensive 10-step approach ensures that every aspect of an organization’s strategic […]

Path dependence means that what happened in the past is likely to persist in the future because of resistance to change. The sources of resistance to change usually boils down to doing what is best for an organization or its leaders, and could be financial, to assure continuity with past decisions, personal pride in what […]

I find university students’ recent lamentations about missing classroom teaching, caused by the shift to online teaching due to COVID-19, quite interesting. Most students dislike classroom teaching (more on that below), but suddenly they see great value in classroom teaching. Why the shift in students’ perspective? Is their newfound nostalgia belated appreciation for the work […]

The concepts, ideas, values, methods, and assumptions of Lean management combine to create an understanding of ourselves and our profession (progressive management) which leads to a conclusion that there is inherent goodness in Lean management — so much so, that for many people Lean is beyond critique. Lean is awesome. Period. As a result, people […]

I sometimes joke with people and say: “Thirty years ago, 1 percent of CEOs were interested in Lean transformation. Thirty years later, 0.1 percent of CEOs are interested in Lean transformation.” In humor there is truth — declining demand for Lean transformation, despite our many and varied efforts for more than a generation. Those of […]

Unlocking the True Potential of Your Production Line In the world of manufacturing, efficiency is everything. To ensure that operations run smoothly and that companies can get the most out of their equipment, a metric known as Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is used to evaluate and improve productivity. This valuable tool can help businesses identify […]

Nothing disappoints me more than to see my impassioned colleagues labor to advance Lean management using arguments that go back 100 years and which are known to be ineffective. What the purpose of doing that? Is it stubbornness, ignorance, clinging to an outdated worldview, or an inability to destroy their preconceptions? For being on the […]

In order to thrive in today’s business world, companies are always looking for ways to enhance their processes and overall efficiency. There are several continuous improvement methodologies available, including PDCA, DMAIC, A3, and 8D, which are among the most commonly used approaches. Although each methodology has its own advantages and steps, it can be difficult […]

Today I hosted the first free Virtual Lean Mini-Conference via Zoom — a forum for freethinking. I am happy to say it was a much greater success than I had anticipated! It was fantastic conference with diverse views that one would hope to get as a result of global participation. A primary objective was to […]

Master the Examine, Theorise, Experiment, Review, Normalize, Apply, and Learn process to excel in professional and personal development. The ETERNAL (Examine, Theorise, Experiment, Review, Normalise, Apply, Learn) method is a powerful approach that enables individuals and organizations to address challenges effectively, acquire new skills, and develop expertise. The method provides a comprehensive framework integrating critical […]

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 […]