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What the Books Don't Tell: Explaining the Financial Benefits of Lean

It's a curious fact that very few books about lean address the topic of finance. Questions about lean's financial benefits are often the first that…

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 James Morgan, PhD

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Your Value Stream Map Looks a Little Different...

If you think there’s a different way of applying a tool, ask, “Are we changing the tool to prevent us from changing the organization, or…

by Aaron Hunt

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Advice from the Gemba: Top Mistakes Lean Leaders Make I

Making mistakes is a natural part of lean thinking and practice. Here, three LEI faculty members share some common, yet easily avoidable mistakes made by…

by Alice Lee, Jim Luckman and Sammy Obara

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Lean and Agile: Finding a Role for Your Leadership in Your Transformation Model

"Lean and Agile are two of the most commonly discussed (and hotly debated) principles for managing a business, particularly when there’s a transformation underway," writes…

by Bruno Guicardi

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Do the Words You Use Create Clarity or Chaos?

"If words matter, shared understanding of words matters even more," writes Cindy Priddy. "The word coach reaches much further back than the image of a…

by Cindy Priddy

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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

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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

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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

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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…

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Why Mass Training In Anything Doesn't Work

So you’re excited about Lean and want to show your commitment by training all of your people. LEI’s Director of Education Olga Flory says there…

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Board Responsibilities and the Lean Management System

"A board needs to go far beyond checking performance measurements and actually hold senior leaders accountable for management systems and behaviors," writes Steve Leuschel. "As…

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Thinking About the Why of the What of Problem-Solving

When we talk about problem-solving, what we’re really talking about here is creating adaptive capacity, the deep capability of an organization to tackle anything that…

by John Shook

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PDCA at the Plate

We know that "lean" is all about plan-do-check-act (PDCA). The challenge we all face in our everyday work is to answer the question, How do…

by John Shook

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Making Everyone Whole

While observing lean value streams across three continents, I encountered common resistance to process improvements, often attributed to "bad people." However, a deeper look reveals…

by James (Jim) Womack, PhD

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Jim Womack on how lean compares with Six Sigma, Re-engineering, TOC, TPM, etc., etc.

It amazes me, but I still get lots of questions about how “lean” compares with Six Sigma, Total Productive Maintenance, Business Process Re-engineering, Demand-Flow, the…

by James (Jim) Womack, PhD

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LEI's indicator that can't lie: Doing the math

Jim elaborates on the idea of using inventory turns as a measure of lean transformation

by James (Jim) Womack, PhD

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LEI Expands Global Network

When I founded the Lean Enterprise Institute in Boston in 1997, I wanted to create a global network of non-profit institutes working horizontally to advance…

by James (Jim) Womack, PhD

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The Mind of the Lean Manager

Moving beyond lean tools to embrace lean management techniques requires a shift in mindset—one that prioritizes problem-solving, experimentation, and continuous improvement at every level of…

by James (Jim) Womack, PhD

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Book Value: Jim Womack on Ford Methods and Ford Shops

Jim Womack, author of Lean Thinking and founder of The Lean Enterprise Institute, reflects on one of the books that greatly influenced his thinking.

by James (Jim) Womack, PhD