Article

How to Make Your Planning Process More Effective

Learn why Toyota's planning process is much more effective than traditional approaches used by North American companies. David Verble shares what he learned working at…

by David Verble

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A3: Tool or Process? Both....

Coach Tracey Richardson explains why an A3 is both a useful tool that captures and shares the results of an investigation--and is also a thinking…

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After improving processes with help from a consultant, how do I sustain kaizen in my department? My teams are hard to motivate.

Dear Gemba Coach: How do I sustain kaizen in my department? We’ve had a consultant help us with workshops, and we did improve our processes,…

by Michael Ballé

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Kata Konfusion

Author and LEI faculty member Drew Locher explains why it is important when using the kata improvement methodology to not focus solely on key performance…

by Chet Marchwinski

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Lean Practitioners Gather to Share Ideas that Grow the Bottom Line by Growing People’s Knowledge

We were among the nearly 2,000 lean thinkers attending the 2014 AME conference, organized around six value streams: Engaged People, Daily Improvement, Innovation, Extended Enterprise,…

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Four Moments from the 2026 Lean Summit that Stayed with Me 

Art Smalley shares four pivotal moments from the 2026 Lean Summit — on LPPD, leadership purpose, coaching, and the future of AI-augmented cognitive work.

by Art Smalley

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Continuous Improvement is Good, But Is It Lean?

Take a look at your organization. Is Lean clearly directed and connected to strategy? Are senior leaders directly involved in specifying the process improvements needed?…

by Dave LaHote

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How Come Toyota Veterans Don’t Use a Roadmap?

Dear Gemba Coach: Recently I spent a few months working with Toyota veterans at an automotive supplier. I was surprised at their approach. I expected…

by Michael Ballé

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Lean Transformation: A Long and Winding Road

In the latest edition of The Management Brief, discover how turning points shaped a years-long lean transformation at Turner Construction. Learn practical strategies to navigate the…

by Josh Howell

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Launching a Lean Transformation: An Aerospace Manufacturer’s Journey with Purpose, Process, and People 

Lean transformation at Re:Build Cutting Dynamics demonstrates the effectiveness of purpose, process, people and foreshadows a revival of U.S. manufacturing.

by Matthew Savas

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Focus on Process, Set Free Great Minds

What happens when organizations buy into this "focus on the process" concept? Read on to learn more.

by Tim Kane

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When a Passion for Caring Becomes a Commitment to Process Improvement: Judy Worth and Karl Ohaus on Lean Thinking for Healthcare Organizations

LEI interviews lean practitioners and co-authors of Perfecting Patient Journeys Judy Worth and Karl Ohaus about the potential for lean thinking in healthcare, the value…

by Lex Schroeder

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Using A3 Problem Solving to Make the Thinking Process Visible

In this excerpt from The Toyota Way to Lean Leadership, authors Jeff Liker and Gary Convis share a story of how Gary learned the value…

by Jeffrey Liker

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Emergency Departments Use Lean Principles in an Effort to Perfect Patient Journeys

Sixty hospital emergency departments in Michigan formed a collaborative to apply the value-stream improvement methodology to cut the length of stay for patients.

by Chet Marchwinski

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Effective Leaders Tackle Challenges Systematically

"It's not enough to simply set a challenge," writes Dario Spinola. "We need effective ways of working toward challenges." Read Spinola's suggestions for using The…

by Dario Spinola

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Structured Experiments Into the Unknown

"For years we tried to find situations where we could apply lean tools," writes Linus Brodén of HP Tronic, an electronics manufacturer in Sweden. "Our…

by Linus Broden

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America’s $4.5 Trillion Healthcare Problem: A Call for Radical Lean Redesign

In this issue of The Design Brief, LEI explores how to resolve the exorbitant cost of America's healthcare system through lean product and process development.

by James Morgan, PhD

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How to Test Your A3 Thinking

Are you pretty sure you've completed the A3 process correctly but want to test the logic of your thinking? Or could you use some advice…

by Tracey Richardson

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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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How an NGO developed a management system that looks a lot like Lean 

Love Justice International never studied lean. Its drive to stop more human trafficking per dollar still produced standard work, scored audits, and a yearly hunt…

by John Molineux