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The Lean Post
The Lean Post
Sharing how the world is making things better through lean.
Changing the Way New Value is Created with Lean Product and Process Development
Learn the six guiding principles of LPPD and why they are critical to successful new product, process, and service development. More »
Lean Lessons from Cobra Kai(zen) and the Karate Kid
The unexpected wake-up call of the modest perfection of the original Karate Kid movie was that we need to move beyond defending this or that method of work and look to highlight opportunities of improving things beyond monetization, says Michael Balle in this reflection on the meaning of this classic movie. More »
Mining the Lessons From Designing the Future
Designing the Future shares a wealth of insights that transcend product development minutiae; this articles shares the broader argument presented by the authors in this notable book. More »
New Book, Becoming the Change, Shows that Real Organizational Change Is Personal
Learn the cause of and cure for healthcare improvements that relapse to the old ways of working. Kim Barnes, Catalysis CEO, and John Toussaint, MD, demonstrate in their new book, Becoming the Change, that the problem is CEOs, boards, and executive teams who are disconnected from improvement work. The cure is for leaders to fundamentally change how they behave toward people. In other words, they must become the change. More »
Building People-Focused Problem-Solving Capacity
While Lean promises robust solutions to the most pressing of problems, it’s core promise offers something even more enduring: the organizational capacity to frame and face problems in a dynamic manner. This piece explores how the best lean organizations discover that disciplined lean practice helps develop a capacity to explore, learn, and indeed, solve problems by everyone. More »
Lean Thinking's Past, Present, and Future: A Q&A Roundtable with Jim Womack and Jim Morgan
To close each week of the Lean Enterprise Institute's Virtual Lean Learning Experience 2020 (VLX), we bring together the week's speakers for a Q&A and discussion on Zoom. The panel ending the Kickoff Week covered a wide range of topics. Here's an excerpt. More »
Ask Art: What Was Danaher Like In the Early Days of Lean?
In this personal account of launching lean at Danaher, Art Byrne shares a wealth of insights into how to seed an enduring lean culture and business system. More »
Lean Management Leaders Weigh in on Climate Change, Coronavirus, Innovation, and More
Jim Womack, founding CEO of the nonprofit Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI), and Jim Morgan, an experienced product development executive, explained how lean management practices could solve today’s toughest challenges during keynotes at a conference organized by LEI. More »
The Hidden Value of Filling Out the Paperwork
Respect for people--and sustained continuous improvement--begins with something as simple as carefully filling out the paperwork for standardized work, says Josh Howell. More »
View Crises as Manageable Challenges Through Steady Lean Leadership
If you are using lean to tackle a series of crises, you may not be using lean in the first place, say a range of thinkers who urge leaders to cultivate a shared mindset that seeks problems from every person every day as a means of avoiding unexpected challenges. More »
The Second P in LPPD: Why the Future is About Lean Product and Process Development
Jim Womack, speaking at the Designing the Future summit in 2019, describes the thinking behind lean product and process development -- and why it's the future of lean thinking & practice. More »
How the Coloplast Parts Distribution Center Reduced its Process Lead Time
How the Coloplast Parts Distribution Center in Tatabanya, Hungary, reduced its process lead time from 3 to 14 days to half a day. More »
Tap the Power of Flow to Develop Lean Thinkers
Flow is personal--a moment of enrichment, and a mental state. It´s stretching oneself just that little bit extra, not because someone else tells us to, but because we love doing it. Authors Gert Frick and Eivind Reke tie this to the purpose of lean, which is to develop people who have passion for making things (creating and building great products and services), and the skills to make them. More »
No Standard, No Problem? Not Really. It’s a Big Problem
Learn why the A3 is more than a problem-solving tool, and why it's critical to leading change. More »
How Respect for People Animates the Lean Spirit
Practicing respect is an animating force of lean leadership that colors how one coaches and develops people. This roundup of articles from our archives shares a range of voices on this essential practice. More »
The Art of Lean: Use These Tools to Help You Improve a Process, Part 2
Take a closer look into this four-step approach that will help you "pinpoint the tricky parts" of a process as you work to improve it, says Art Smalley, president of Art of Lean, Inc. More »
Jim Womack Shares a Future-Focused Reflection on 'Machine'
Jim Womack shares a future-focused, humble reflection of the groundbreaking book he co-authored with Daniel T. Jones and Daniel Roos, The Machine that Changed the World, during its 30 Anniversary. More »
How Menlo's Virtual Teams Are Lighting the Way Forward
While Menlo Software continues to adjust to the never-ending changes caused by COVID-19, founder Rich Sheridan takes solace that they are teeing up these challenges as a team, figuring it out together, and continuing to work with each other across boundaries. More »
Popular Content
LEI Responds to The Wall Street Journal's Mischaracterization of Just-in-Time
By Lean Leaper
August 31, 2020 | 4 Comments
August 31, 2020 | 4 Comments
Growing from a Tactical Practitioner to a Strategic Thinker
By Andrew Quibell
August 25, 2020 | 2 Comments
August 25, 2020 | 2 Comments
The Art of Lean: Use These Tools to Help You Improve a Process, Part 1
By Art Smalley
August 21, 2020 | 1 Comment
August 21, 2020 | 1 Comment
