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Lean Lessons from Japan: Day One

This week, LEI is in Japan with 19 eager learners. The purpose of this trip is not just to see Just-In-Time. The purpose is to…

by Lean Leaper

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Now is the Time for Resilience and Adaptability!

People and organizations can create the conditions for building their own resilience by drawing from TPS, the Thinking People System, says Sandrine Olivencia. But for…

by Sandrine Olivencia

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Lean and "emotional heijunka" in a Time of Pandemic

In this timely reflection, Jim Womack calls for "emotional heijunka": taking a deep breath, identifying the most important problems that must be addressed in a…

by James (Jim) Womack, PhD

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Back-to-School Lean: Lunchbox Kanban

Lean thinking is just as impactful on the home front as it is at work. In honor of back-to-school season, LEI Learning Activities Manager Deb…

by Deborah McGee

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Lean Thinking for Quicker Police Emergency Response Time

Bob Downing and Erin Magee reflect on the results of a collaborative project they worked on last year when their company was asked by the…

by Robert Downing and Erin Magee-Hall

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The High Velocity Edge Chapters 1 9 and 10 (Intro Leaders Crisis)

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The (Real) Lean Firefighter: Bringing Lean to the Grand Rapids Fire Department

Brad Brown had no lean experience when he joined the Grand Rapids Fire Department (GRFD) in 2003. But as the Great Recession went into full…

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Flaatnes Elektro-Mek Reveals How Double Loop Learning Supports Lean Thinking and Practice

Every experience is a learning experience. However, we tend to only experience single-loop learning where we reaffirm what we already think is true. Lean gives…

by Daryl Powell and Eivind Reke

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Standardized Worrying

Years ago when Dan Jones and I first visited Toyota in Japan, we were struck by something that seemed out of keeping with their continuing…

by James (Jim) Womack, PhD

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Ask Art: What Do You Focus on When Assessing the Potential Gains From Converting to Lean?

Lean veteran Art Byrne shares the key areas to look at for gains to be realized from lean: focus on sales growth as the result…

by Art Byrne

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From Troubleshooting a Leaky Toilet Flapper to Innovating the Internet, a Comprehensive Problem-Solving Framework

Arriving at his hotel after midnight, author and business consultant Art Smalley just wanted to get some sleep before his keynote presentation later that day.…

by Chet Marchwinski and Art Smalley

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Use Jidoka to Avoid Death by 1000 Cuts

I’ve learned from experience the need for tech teams to adopt jidoka as a basic design consideration: getting it 100% right the first time with…

by Andrew Quibell

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How Can Lean Take Root in a Crappy Culture?

Dear Gemba Coach: I've done a lot of working with lean, and recently started my first coaching/consulting gig. And while I'd love to help by…

by Michael Ballé

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Understanding Customer Value: How Accounting Applies this Foundational Lean Concept to its Work

Putting the entire customer experience first in thinking, not just the transaction, is the Lean Accountant's goal, asserts Nick Katko and Mike De Luca,

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Want to Respect Your People? Share the Profits!

People and profit are key in any company, not just a lean one. But too often, an organization's drive for profit can cause it to…

by Orest (Orry) Fiume

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Start Up By Diving Deep

"The important thing is answering some fairly core questions about your business before spending time and money developing solutions," write Jim Luckman and Durward Sobek.…

by Jim Luckman and Durward Sobek

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How Many Whys Should I Ask?

Coach Tracey Richardson explains just how many whys to ask when conducting 5 Why analysis.

by Tracey Richardson

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