Article

Lean Roundup: Lean in the News

"While few business leaders seem to be discussing lean explicitly these days, there are certainly a great deal of tangentially lean conversations happening wherever you…

by Tom Ehrenfeld

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Pi-Day, Robots, and the Joy of Making Things

To mark Engineers Week, Feb. 18-23, we’re reprising a story about celebrating Pi Day by Jim and Mary Morgan, a self-described “geek couple.” And we’re…

by James Morgan, PhD

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Small Batch: Hand-Picked Articles from the Global Lean Community (Vol. 4)

Our picks for the best high-impact learning stories and columns from Planet Lean.

by Lean Leaper

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Developing Awareness On the Gemba (part 2)

In this followup to her article on ways to develop awareness on the gemba, Lean Coach Sandrine Olivencia argues that it is important to have…

Article

And the Best Articles from 2014 Are...

Two weeks ago we asked for your favorite Lean Post articles of 2014 and the results are in!

by Lean Leaper

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Book Value: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Is clutter at work or at home getting you down? LEI Senior Editor Tom Ehrenfeld reviews Marie Kondo's new book, "The Life Changing Magic of…

by Tom Ehrenfeld

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Lean Writing Has a Gemba

What makes for good (lean) writing? What kind of writing are we looking for on The Lean Post? LEI senior editor Tom Ehrenfeld chimes in.

by Tom Ehrenfeld

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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

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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

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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

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Learn by Doing: Overcoming Inertia and Triggering Engagement Through Kaizen

Practicing daily kaizen powerfully drives the heart of any serious lean effort to learn and improve, a topic that will be addressed in the Virtual…

by Lean Leaper

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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

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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

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What's your challenge?

Toyota can’t exist -- Toyota can’t be Toyota -- without a challenge. That’s true for each individual or work group and for the company as…

by John Shook

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Make Using Lean Thinking to Help Solve Societal Problems Your New Year’s Resolution

The nation needs lean thinkers and practitioners to apply their problem-solving prowess to address issues of national concern.

by Christopher D. Chapman

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Improve Continuously by Mastering the Lean Kata

Lean is about learning, say Rose Heathcote and Daryl Powell. Learning to find real problems, learning to face the limits of our current knowledge in…

by Rose Heathcote and Daryl Powell

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Lean Enterprise Institute Calls for Ending the “Madness” in Supply Chain Strategies

Shook made his recommendations on lean supply chains to authorities on Japan, leading investors, economists, policymakers, and business executives at Bloomberg’s Rebuilding Japan Conference.

Article

Translating Collaborative Learning Into Practice

What does collaborative learning mean for lean thinkers in practice, on a day-to-day basis? In his final talk at the 2012 Lean Transformation Summit, John…

by Lex Schroeder

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Who Owns Your A3? (Part Two)

In this second of two columns, Mark Reich explains why people must own their A3 reports as a means of developing their ability to properly…