Article

What Lean Thinkers Think About The Gold Mine

Questions and comments†from readers to co-author Michael BallÈ about his book The Gold Mine.

by Michael Ballé

Article

How the A3 Process Developed to Help Build Better Managers

One of the hallmarks of a successfully executed A3 process is that it is a collaborative activity--a learning process for everyone involved: for learner and…

by Isao Yoshino

Article

Solutions from Afar

A leader's job isn't to provide solutions to problems; it's to teach and coach their staff to solve problems themselves--at the gemba.

by Josh Howell

Article

Never Fail...To Create the Conditions for People to be Successful

In this excerpt from Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn, Katie Anderson shares the story of how Isao Yoshino learned first-hand the value that Toyota…

by Katie Anderson

Article

Expanding Our Perspective on Lean Management, Part 1: A Creative Ethic

To explore the idea that there may be other angles for understanding lean management principles than purely business or analytical perspectives, a group of lean…

by Joanna McGuffey and Thomas Richert

Article

Be More Innovative with These Resources and Ideas for Exploiting World-Shaping Trends

Great products and services begin with great ideas and great ideas are informed by the big trends that are shaping the world. But how do…

by Chet Marchwinski and Andi Plantenberg

Article

Lessons Learned from the Cleveland Indians’ Historic 22-Game Winning Streak

In the wake of the Cleveland Indians' record-shattering 22-game winning streak, George Taninecz reflects on some important business lessons that we can learn from this…

by George Taninecz

Article

Put Your People at The Center of Your Development System

"It is your people that provide the skills, energy and creativity," writes Jim Morgan. "They are the single most important element of great product development…

by Jim Morgan, PhD

Article

Why We Are a Nonprofit (And How You Can Benefit)

Every month I get calls and emails from folks thinking the Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI) is a consulting business and wanting to hire a sensei.…

by James (Jim) Womack, PhD

Article

The Leader's Dilemma: Becoming a Learner

We build leaders up to be all-knowing, but leaders who act as 'knowers' (as opposed to learners) actually limit their ability to accomplish what is…

by Jim Luckman

Article

Fixing Lean’s “Sales” Problem

When companies begin lean transformations, IT systems too often are viewed as obstacles. So, some lean thinkers may view Jacob Stoller, author of The Lean…

by Jacob Stoller

Article

The Story of an Error

As a followup to his popular article from earlier this summer about lean profit-sharing plans, Orry Fiume delves deeper. He shares a booklet that McKesson…

by Orest (Orry) Fiume

Article

How to Improve Your Product Development Process

Members of LEI's Lean Product and Process Development Learning Group share their successful strategies.

by Matthew Savas

Article

What comes after Lean?

Lean practice is an ongoing process, it never ends. But what are we learning about the field? What comes after Lean in terms of emerging…

by Michael Ballé

Article

Creating Value or Shifting Wealth?

How do we judge the progress of the Lean Movement? One critical indicator is our success in extending lean thinking to new industries and activities.…

by James (Jim) Womack, PhD

Article

Customers Should Determine the Businesses of the Future, Not the 1%

"We set up entrepreneurs to fail when we put all the emphasis on pitch day and the amount of money raised, instead of rewarding companies…

Article

The Prospects for Lean

As we all return to work in the New Year, I wanted to provide a few thoughts on the prospects for lean thinking in the…

by James (Jim) Womack, PhD

Article

Developing Students, Improving Universities

"Today, lean thinking in higher education is uncommon," writes Theresa Coleman-Kaiser of Michigan Tech University. "As a rule, institutions that teach lean continuous improvement in…

Article

LEI looks for success stories to share

I routinely end my talks by offering to give anyone 15 minutes of fame in my and Dan Jones’s next book if they will do…

by James (Jim) Womack, PhD

Video

Lean Principles Are the Bread & Butter of this Retail Transformation

Entrepreneurs explain how their chain of bakeries and retail stores used lean continuous improvement to profitably expand, engage employees, and meet growing customer demand for…

by Lean Enterprise Institute