John Shook's eLetters
In pioneering books such as Learning to See, Managing to Learn, and Kaizen Express John Shook has taken Lean Thinkers from the fundamentals of implementing lean business systems to new territory. Stay on top of this thought leader's latest ideas, insights, and tips by reading and subscribing to his monthly e-letter.2013
- Boston Marathon 2013 – Reflections
April 16, 2013 In business, as in sports, we like to compete. We believe competing can benefit everyone. “Everyone” means everyone – not just the “winners.” Competing is a way for us to focus our energy, to focus our efforts on improving. That improvement usually comes a little at a time. Sometimes we experience breakthroughs while at other times we suffer steps backwards. But, that’s okay. We can still focus on moving forward, on making things better. read more
- Lead from the Front, Lead from Behind
February 20, 2013 In my last letter I alluded to a common view in the Lean Community – shared by the broader business community at large – that promotes the notion of the heroic leader, riding a stallion into a troubled situation issuing directives and saving the day. "The leader must lead" the dictum goes. Well, yes, the leader must lead. But, what does that mean? read more
2012
- Encouraging signs on lean leadership
December 13, 2012
- Coach Says: What Do You Think?
October 24, 2012
- Coaches coaching coaches
August 22, 2012
- Visual Management – the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
June 20, 2012
- Taiichi Ohno's Birthday and 100 Years of Lean
February 29, 2012
- Learning Lean - Collaboratively
January 26, 2012
2011
- So, what are you going to do about it?
October 28, 2011
- Was Steve Lean?
October 20, 2011
- PDCA at the Plate
August 9, 2011
- How to Go to the Gemba: Go See, Ask Why, Show Respect
June 21, 2011
- Any Color You Want Except Tuxedo Black
April 28, 2011
- Let's Take a Gemba Walk
March 17, 2011
- Toyota and Sudden Acceleration: Facts from the NASA Report
February 17, 2011
- Glad That I Asked You
January 20, 2011
2010
- A Fundamental Question
December 21, 2010
- Frontiers and Fundamentals
November 16, 2010
- The Joys of a Brownfield
October 28, 2010
- Passing the Baton
September 28, 2010
From October 2008 to April 2010 John Shook published his Lean Management Column here at lean.org.
- Toyota the Bad Guy
April 12, 2010
- Toyota Troubles: Fighting the Demons of Complexity
March 9, 2010
- Robert Cole's Observations on the Liker-Shook Dialogue regarding Toyota's Quality Crisis
March 2, 2010
- “Arigatou NUMMI”
February 26, 2010
- Toyota Trouble: A Dialogue with Jeff Liker (AKA the Coffee Shop Talks)
February 22, 2010
- Don't Gloat Too Quickly - If This Could Happen to Toyota, It Could Happen to You ...
February 12, 2010
- It's Not the Crisis; It's How You Respond to It
February 5, 2010
- Detroit Auto Show Overshadowed by Dr. Womack's Trashing of Toyota
January 25, 2010
- So Long 2009 - Hello 2010!
January 6, 2010
2009
- The U.S. Versus the World Healthcare Cost Gap
November 17, 2009
- A Trip to the Dentist That You’ll Enjoy
November 3, 2009
- Five Missing Pieces in Your Standardized Work (Part 3 of 3)
October 27, 2009
- Five Missing Pieces in Your Standardized Work (Part 2 of 3)
October 20, 2009
- Five Missing Pieces in Your Standardized Work (Part 1 of 3)
October 14, 2009
- How NUMMI Changed Its Culture
September 30, 2009
- Was NUMMI a Success?
September 14, 2009
- You Gotta Have Wa
August 25, 2009
- Managing to Pitch with PDCA (Pitch-Defend-Catch-Adjust)
July 28, 2009
- Recruiting Creative Ideas
July 16, 2009
- Managing To Learn in Sloan Management Review
July 7, 2009
- Weighing in on Balance
May 18, 2009
- Forward to Fundamentals Redux – Kaizen Express
May 5, 2009
- Forward to Fundamentals
April 22, 2009
- Thinking About Buffers and Production Systems (Birth of Lean Chapter IV – "The Evolution of Buffers at Toyota" – Kaneyoshi Kusunoki )
April 14, 2009
- Purpose, Process, People
March 30, 2009
- And You Forgot About Overproduction
March 23, 2009
- Back to Basics at the Lean Transformation Summit
March 11, 2009
- Learning from Managing to Learn
March 3, 2009
- GM Veteran Lou Farinola Responds to, “Why hasn’t GM learned from NUMMI?”
February 24, 2009
- Coaching and Questions; Questions and Coaching
February 17, 2009
- Gemba-Based Leadership – Not Just for Chief Engineers
February 10, 2009
- The Remarkable Chief Engineer
February 3, 2009
- We’re all connected and nobody is in charge
January 26, 2009
- 14 Principles
January 15, 2009
- Back to Basics
January 9, 2009
- New Year 2009
January 5, 2009
2008
- "What's your challenge?"
December 22, 2008
- A Lean Dream…
December 11, 2008
- Survive to Make Money or Make Money to Survive?
December 4, 2008
- Eiji Toyoda and Management Muda
November 20, 2008
- The Most Frustrated Person in Your Company
November 14, 2008
- "Our people are our most important asset"…Really?
November 6, 2008
- The A3 Process -- Discovery at Toyota and What it Can Do for You
October 30, 2008
- No Excuses
October 22, 2008
- What is Lean Management?
October 15, 2008
Managing to Learn
