Article

Advice from the Gemba: How Can I Change a Culture?

One of the most common questions asked by lean leaders is the question of culture change. How, they ask, can we change a firmly rooted…

by Lean Leaper

Faculty

Sandrine Olivencia

Sandrine Olivencia is the co-founder of Taktique, a firm dedicated to providing training and coaching in lean product design and development, tailored specifically for busy…

Article

Toyota Trouble: A Dialogue with Jeff Liker (AKA the Coffee Shop Talks)

With the appearance of Toyota's various quality and recall problems, Jeff Liker and I have been meeting in coffee shops in Ann Arbor to discuss…

by John Shook

Article

How Lean is Apple?

Apple may not worship at the altar of lean, but a close look at its operations and strategy show clear resonance with established lean principles.

by Tom Ehrenfeld

Article

Intentional Respect

"Most organizations fail to intentionally balance the technical tools side with the social side of Lean," writes Mike Orzen. "People say, 'We respect our people.…

by Mike Orzen

Article

Lean Transformation? Not Buying It

Companies often describe their transformation efforts in terms of an end-state: focusing on targeted results. They see transformation as a noun--a specific target or condition…

by Mike Orzen

Article

Put Your Strategy on a Diet

"When it comes to goal setting in most organizations, 'Just one more…' seems to be the compulsion," writes Pascal Dennis. Read why less is more…

by Pascal Dennis

Article

Adopt or Adapt? When Modifying Lean Makes Sense

One of the key decisions every lean coach, consultant, practitioner, and leader makes is when to fully adopt a particular lean practice or when to…

by Karen Martin

Article

Community Communication

Lean thinking and practice is all about tackling problems – little ones, big ones, wicked ones, sticky ones, concrete ones, fuzzy ones. We tackle problems…

by John Shook

Article

Lead from the Front, Lead from Behind

In my last letter I alluded to a common view in the Lean Community – shared by the broader business community at large – that…

by John Shook

Article

How Lean Start-ups Can Avoid Big Company Disease

SATPOS, a lean start-up in Norway specializing in positioning, sensing and monitoring solutions for the ocean is learning to remain agile by observing the effects…

by Daryl Powell

Article

Learning Lean - Collaboratively

John Shooks reflects on the importance of continual learning in lean practice, emphasizing the distinction between being a passive knower and an active learner.

by John Shook

Case Study

Canada Post Puts Its Stamp on a Lean Transformation

A  growing lean transformation at Canada Post's Calgary plant shows how lean principles can be implemented in environments other than manufacturing.

Article

How Do I Keep My Lean Team Motivated for the Long Term?

Dear Gemba Coach: My team often feels that they are alone in their improvement efforts. Even after all our work we continue to encounter resistance…

by Michael Ballé

Faculty

Beth Carrington

Since 1999, Beth has dedicated her career to coaching organizations through their lean transformations as an independent consultant and instructor at LEI and other global…

Webinar

How to Develop and Execute New Strategies for the New Era in Business

These times demand a new way of looking at business strategy because the way we worked before the pandemic probably won’t work in the post-pandemic…

by Mark Reich

Article

Ukrainian Resilience: How Lean is Helping Companies Cope with War, Part 1

A real-time discussion with the Lean Institute Ukraine President shows how leveraging lean thinking and practices help companies adapt to unexpected — even unimaginable —…

by Lean Leaper

Article

Isn’t lean just a scam to squeeze teams for more production?

Dear Gemba Coach: Lean is a scam. People like you who write about “respect” are pushing a smoke screen that allows consultants to just squeeze…

by Michael Ballé

Podcast

Sustaining Strategy Deployment: Lessons from 16 Years of Practice at GlobalFoundries

In this podcast episode, LEI chats with Otto Funke and Jospeh Tamayo on how to build and sustain a strategic planning process.

by Matthew Savas

Article

How the Toyota Way and Toyota Kata Fit Together

The author of The Toyota Way explains where Toyota Kata fits with Toyota’s broader management principles — and how each enhances the other to help…

by Jeffrey Liker