Problem Solving Articles
Revolutionizing Logistics: DHL eCommerce’s Journey Applying Lean Thinking to Automation
In this podcast episode, LEI chats with Mehmet Gur from DHL eCommerce on how to realize the full potential of…
Listen to podcastTransforming Corporate Culture: Bestbath’s Approach to Scaling Problem-Solving Capability
In this podcast episode, LEI chats with Jay Multanen and Jared Raggozine from Bestbath on how to build a culture…
Listen to podcastBuilding a Problem-Solving Culture: Insights from Barton Malow’s Lean University
LEI chats with Jill Katic and Grace Eovaldi from the construction firm Barton Malow about how to methodically build a…
Listen to podcastThe Future of Lean Learning: Introducing LEI’s Innovative Online Education
Dive into the Future of Lean Learning with our on-demand webinar. Enhance your capabilities and transform your organization with our…
Watch webinarHow Technology and Data Can Enhance Your Company’s Problem-Solving Capability
In this enhanced presentation, you'll hear how the leaders of Le Chef, a leading commercial bakery, combined the power of…
Read articleStrategies for Tackling Complex Problems: a Conversation with Paolo Savaget
LEI chats with author Paolo Savaget about how clever workarounds can aid companies solving challenging problems.
Listen to podcastLearning to Solve Problems By… Wait for It… Solving Problems
A team learns what matters when it comes to problem-solving using lean thinking and practices.
Read articleGetting Started with Lean Thinking and Practice
This brief animation answers the novice lean thinkers’ most common question.
Watch videoLean in One Drawing
An LEI faculty member explains in a brief video why it’s vital to view lean thinking and practice as a…
Watch videoKeep It Simple: Value-Stream Mapping at the Gemba
A veteran lean coach shares a story showing that even simple and quick value-stream mapping can be hugely helpful when…
Read article10 Tips for Getting the Most Value from Value-Stream Mapping
Before you map your value stream, review and keep in mind these tips for ensuring your organization reaps the performance…
Read articleWhy You Should Share, Not Present, Your A3 Report
A veteran A3 coach explains how a seemingly minor word change can help foster more productive teamwork and learning.
Read articleHow 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…
Read articleWhy the A3 Process Involves More than Filling in Boxes
As she details how to problem-solve using the A3 methodology, a veteran lean coach explains why it's essential to understand…
Read articleHow to Start the A3 Problem-Solving Process
Why the best, most productive way to “start an A3” is by recognizing that the A3 problem-solving methodology is a…
Read articleDiscovering the True Value of the A3 Process
The challenge with the A3 process isn’t in learning to write an A3 report; it’s in understanding how to use…
Read articleHow Organizations Can Increase Profitability While Improving the Work Environment
A restaurant’s management team discovers that enabling cooks to stay focused on value creation improves business performance and makes them…
View case study8 Steps to Radical Quality Improvement
An uncompromising quality improvement zealot shares a favorite method for radical quality advances, gleaned from decades of experience improving facilities…
Read articleThinking About Introducing A3 Problem-Solving? Think Twice if Leadership Isn’t Engaged
Your organization’s leadership doesn’t support introducing the A3 problem-solving process, but why not introduce it into your unit or area…
Read articleArt of Lean on Problem-Solving, Part 8: Toyota Coaching Practices
Art describes some of the fundamental principles of Toyota coaching practices.
Watch videoArt of Lean on Problem-Solving, Part 6: Team-Building Tools and Practices
The storming phase of the Tuckman model of team formation can be tough to get out of, with Art Smalley…
Watch videoArt of Lean on Problem-Solving, Part 5: Tuckman’s Model of Team Formation
Coaching teams is the topic of this fifth part of an ongoing series on coaching problem-solving by Art Smalley. He…
Watch videoArt of Lean on Problem-Solving, Part 4: Military Science and Leadership
Art takes a look at the military and their methods of teaching to see what lean can borrow, giving the…
Watch videoCan You Assess Your Way to Lean?
Using assessments to gauge process is both a flawed approach and potential trap, argues Jeff Liker. He suggests a broader…
Read articleArt of Lean on Problem-Solving, Part 3: Lessons From Martial Arts
In part three of his problem-solving series, Art takes on the techniques (kata) and ways (waza) behind martial arts, revealing…
Watch videoSeeking the Right Problems to Solve: Catch the WLEI Podcast with Author Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg
Learning how to frame your problem will help you solve it, suggests author Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg. He describes how in this…
Listen to podcastWhat’s Your Problem? Framing for Success with Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg on the WLEI Podcast
Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg makes a bold promise in his new book, What’s Your Problem? (Harvard Business Review Press, 2020.) He seeks…
Listen to podcastArt of Lean on Problem-Solving, Part 1: Coaching Problem-Solving
Art Smalley is back and ready to teach all about problem-solving, this time with an emphasis on coaching. He starts…
Watch videoHow Wiremold Reinvented Itself Through Kaizen
Art Byrne shares a seminal 25-year-old article recounting how Wiremold tapped Kaizen to support a complete lean turnaround that continues…
Read articleBoost the Power of PDCA By Tackling the Challenge of Self-Awareness
While PDCA is the engine of lean discovery, argues Mike Orzen, building self-awareness into this scientific method truly unlocks the…
Read articleAdopt a 5S Mindset to Sustain Your Lean Work
Focusing everyone on “housekeeping” is one of the most powerful mechanisms for empowering team members and driving sustainment of any…
Read articleHow to Breakdown a Complex Challenge for A3 Problem-solving
At some point, every lean practitioner struggles with a problem that seems too complex to put the problem statement, analysis,…
Read articleWhy A3 Thinking is the Ideal Problem-Solving Method
How A3 Thinking helps you overcome the most challenging yet vital part of problem-solving, according to Lean Coach David Verble.
Read articleMake 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.
Read articleTips for Following Through on Improvement Plan Execution
There is a critical difference between follow-through and follow-up during the A3 problem-solving process as David Verble, a veteran lean…
Read articleLooking at 5 Easy Steps to Simplify the A3 Process
Taking on an A3 can be daunting, and Eric Ethington is here to remind you that this is normal but…
Read articleHow Cascading A3s Deploy Responsibility to Think as Well as Assign KPIs
During a recent virtual workshop on how to use the A3 problem-solving methodology, a CEO asked how to cascade A3s…
Read articleLean-n-Food: Reimagining an Industry in Crisis
What is a restaurant in the post-pandemic world? LEI's Karen Gaudet and Josh Howell are exploring this and other questions…
Read articleThe Lives of Your Grandchildren Depend on Innovating New Healthcare Models
Renowned healthcare transformation experts examine what it will take to reinvent healthcare models through innovation and propose a new process…
Read articleHow 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…
Read articleAre You Deploying Lean Mechanistically–or Organically?
Toyota operates on a complete system based on organic rather than mechanistic principles, argues Jeff Liker, who delineates the advantages…
Read articleAvoiding Lean ‘Flatlining’: A Podcast with Mark Deluzio, Art Byrne, and Jim Womack
Mark Deluzio, lean consultant, practitioner, and author of Flatlined, discusses enduring challenges with Art Byrne and Jim Womack on this…
Listen to podcastAsk Art: The Benefits of Kaizen Learning vs. Traditional Problem-Solving
Kaizen is for learning and doing, says Art Byrne, who points out the benefits of this "learn-by-doing" approach over traditional…
Read articleLean WX – An Rx for Making Things Better
As someone whose understanding of lean/TPS grew exponentially by working on the line, Josh Howell encourages every would-be lean enterprise…
Read articleHow Lean is Amazon?
Amazon has tapped lean principles and practices in its inexorable rise to becoming the world's largest retailer, notes Tom Ehrenfeld.…
Read articleThe Deeper Purpose of Problem-Solving
Why problem-solving in a lean setting is a unique opportunity to think about how we think and develop expertise where…
Read articleArt of Lean on Work & Waste, Part 3: Excess Inventory
Take a closer look at the various types of inventory, with an eye toward identifying waste, with your guide, Art…
Watch videoUsing Lean Thinking to Accelerate Decision-Making
Learn how flattening the decision tree enabled The Boldt Company to pivot quickly to keep essential job sites functioning and…
Read articleTurn to Lean To Tackle the Problems You Want to Solve Right Now
Lean thinking and practice is hard, says LEI President Josh Howell; noting that it's well worth the effort for those…
Read articleAvoid the Costly Work of Rework
Customers care only for the product or service they receive, says Rose Heathcote. They're not interested in how much effort…
Read articleArt of Lean on Work & Waste, Part 2: Overproduction
Take a closer look at and gain an in-depth understanding of the waste overproduction with Art of Lean, Incorporated President…
Watch videoBoosting Organizational Resilience Through Jidoka
Jidoka enables operators to build in quality into the production process--and forms a foundation of stability helping a company respond…
Read articleThe Power of Yokoten
I’ve written a lot about yokoten in recent years – the practice of spreading good (lean) ideas horizontally between and…
Read articleBuilding People-Focused Problem-Solving Capacity
While Lean promises robust solutions to the most pressing of problems, it’s core promise offers something even more enduring: the…
Read articleNo Standard, No Problem? Not Really. It’s a Big Problem
Learn why the A3 is more than a problem-solving tool, and why it's critical to leading change.
Read articleHow to Build Resilience Through Sustained Lean Practice
As the upcoming virtual lean learning experience shows, lean thrives when the individuals using this learning and improvement method leverage…
Read articleEnduring Lessons from The Birth of Lean
Lean was never conceived as a new and comprehensive system designed to replace conventional enterprise. Rather, as shown in The…
Read articleThe Art of Lean: Use These Tools to Help You Improve a Process, Part 1
Learn about this four-step approach that will help you “pinpoint the tricky parts” of a process as you work to…
Watch videoWhy You Should Link Your Hoshin Kanri and A3 Management Processes
An organization that integrates a robust long-term-oriented strategy deployment process with a daily management process achieves greater performance gains than…
Watch webinarDueling Methods: 8D and A3
One of the scores of questions sent in by attendees at our recent webinar on the A3 problem-solving process was…
Read articleBeware the Comforts of Waste
After a major move, lean thinker Rose Heathcote reflected that with lean thinking comes the responsibility to look inward at…
Read articleHow the A3 Process Developed to Help Build Better Managers, Part Two
In this second of two articles, Isao Yoshino and John Shook explore how A3 emerged as powerful practice at Toyota…
Read articlePDCA Is Really CA-PDCA — and It’s the CA that Makes the PD Work
Why Grasping the Actual Conditions (firsthand as an automatic practice) at the beginning, during, and after a problem-solving effort is…
Read articleOur Burning Platform and Using the 5 Whys to Think More Deeply about Corrective Action
A call to action: As lean thinkers, we should join with our diversity, equity, and inclusion experts to help transform…
Read articleLearn 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…
Read articleBeyond Problem-Solving: Other Facets of the A3 Process You Should Know and Practice
If you or your team think the A3 process is only a problem-solving tool, think again. “There is a lot…
Watch webinarThe Real Secret to Success with the A3 Process: It is as Much a Social Process as a Technical Problem-solving One
Part one of a seven-part series. Learn how the A3 process is about more than problem-solving, along with the other…
Read articleThe Art of Lean: Must-Knows for Coaching the Corrective-Action Phase of Problem-Solving, Part 2
Part 2 of 2. Building from part 1, Art further explains the A.D.P. methodology by exploring how it applies to…
Watch videoThe Art of Lean: Must-Knows for Coaching the Corrective-Action Phase of Problem-Solving, Part 1
Art Smalley, president of Art of Lean, Inc., shares a problem-solving coaching tip that he developed and likes to use…
Watch videoLearning to Face Challenges with Agility and Resilience
In this excerpt from his book The High-Velocity Edge, Steven Spear explains how Toyota managed to adapt quickly to a…
Read articleHow to A3: Resources for Developing Structured Problem-Solving and Leadership Skills
As LEI prepares its next course on Managing to Learn, here's a popular article rounding up a wealth of resources…
Read articleHow to Conduct a Virtual Kaizen Event: Some Ideas from the #LeanCommunity
Over 800 lean practitioners have joined and are sharing best practices and ideas on the LEI #LeanCommunity on Slack.
Read articleBook Review: Learning to Scale, a “Practical Field Guide” to Lean Growth
In his new book Learning to Scale, author Regis Medina has "successfully translated each concept of the TPS and lean…
Read articleWhy Good Lean Detectives Visit the Crime Scene
You can't solve a problem with data alone, says Dan Markovitz. He urges you to go to the "crime scene,"…
Read articleAsk Art: Does Lean Really Work Beyond Manufacturing?
Lean certainly applies beyond manufacturing, explains Art Byrne, who shares the dramatic gains at a life insurance company as a…
Read articleHow Short, Structured Communication Cycles Help Hospitals Solve Problems, Offer Support to Staff
The Global Lean Healthcare Initiative shares the seven key lean practices -- each with a set of actionable tips --…
Read articleCombat Isolation with Productivity by Using HoRenSo – A Communication Structure that Engages People, part one of two
How to make your meetings more productive, the Toyota Way.
Read articleCreating Standardized Work to Ensure Safety, Quality, and Efficiency
A Lean Global Network team of lean practitioners and coaches shares a set of lean healthcare tips hospitals can use…
Read articleReimagining restaurants after Covid-19
The future has never looked more uncertain for restaurants and cafes. The authors share a set of practical lean tips…
Read articleThe Sanity of Just-in-Time
Path dependence is the worst enemy of smart resolution, argue the authors, who suggest greater "frame control" with enabling tools…
Read articleHow Hospitals are Leveraging Visual Management in the Battle Against Covid-19
A Lean Global Network team of lean practitioners and coaches shares a set of lean healthcare tips hospitals can use…
Read articleSingle Week Exchange of Business
You’ve no doubt heard of a single-minute exchange of dies in manufacturing, but what happens when you need to changeover…
Read articleAddressing Production Challenges that Arise from the Pandemic
How two companies with deep lean experience – General Electric Appliances (GEA) and Herman Miller – have responded quickly and…
Read article5S, Hygiene, and Healthy Habits
5S-like practice can uncover hidden beliefs and misconceptions, and pave the way to adopting new hygiene practices – as opposed…
Read articleWhat the Covid-Virus Can Teach Us About the Toyota Way
This is a time where people are coming together with a passion and common focus, says Jeff Liker. He shares…
Read articleThe Lab is Open
Why it's important to create a way to challenge assumptions and develop know-how, solve problems, and continuously improve--even during a…
Read articleLean 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…
Read articleHow One Company is Using Lean Fundamentals When Facing Disruption
Companies that have been built using lean principles are turning to these core ideals when confronting the unique challenges caused…
Read articleCoping with COVID-19: Lessons from The Plague
In this time of pandemic, John Shook shares some ways this novel coronavirus is impacting him personally, noting "For Camus,…
Read articlePreventing Problems by Thinking Upstream: A Talk with Author Dan Heath
“We should shift more of our energies upstream personally, organizationally, nationally, and globally. We can and we should stop dealing…
Listen to podcastIn Lean We Trust; Especially in a Crisis
When phone calls and cancellations started coming in, the COVID-19 crisis became more than a news report about somewhere else. We knew we had our own situation to deal with.
Read articleHow Can Lean Help Respond to Crises?
Although lean might seem fragile to crises, because of low inventories, it’s quite the opposite, says Michael Balle: Lean thinking…
Read articleLean in the Time of Coronavirus
While lean offers no direct countermeasure to tackling the current coronavirus health challenge, Jim Womack points out in this podcast…
Read articleA Consciousness of Reality
There are countless cases of lean thinking being applied masterfully with the word lean (or the Toyota Production System) nowhere…
Read articleMy managers are focused on monthly sales and quarterly profits – how can a lean guy like me interest them in quality?
Dear Gemba Coach: My managers are focused on monthly sales and quarterly profits – how can a lean guy like…
Read articleIsn’t the obsession with problem solving unnecessarily negative and depressing?
Dear Gemba Coach: Isn’t the obsession with problem solving unnecessarily negative and depressing?
Read articleFrom 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…
Read articleThe Challenges of Coaching
I’ve stepped into a new role recently, assuming responsibility for a variety of new-to-me jobs. One of my new jobs…
Read article22. What’s the Problem: An interview with medical oncologist and CEO of Instituto de Oncologia do Vale (IOV), Dr. Fred, on reducing the cancer burden
Dr. Carlos Frederico Pinto (aka ‘Dr. Fred’) is a medical oncologist and CEO of Instituto de Oncologia do Vale (IOV),…
Listen to podcastOvercoming a Fear Of Failure Culture
Managers and teams can overcome the elements of a fear of failure culture, argues Andrew Quibell. His piece illustrates steps…
Read article5S Is a Way of Thinking and Practice
It would be impossible to find a valid description of lean that does not include the importance of 5S for…
Read article20. Coachable: Two Conversations Built on Trust, Inspiration, Experimentation and Transformation.
Meet two influential voices in my own coaching practice: Paul Serafino who first engaged me in a coaching way in…
Listen to podcastWhere can I find information about visual management?
Dear Gemba Coach: I can’t find much written about visual management although it seems an important part of lean –…
Read articleAsk Art: At What Pace Should A Lean Turnaround Be Implemented?”
Changing from a traditional batch, make-the-month culture to a lean value driven culture takes a lot of time and effort,…
Read articleWhy implement lean when it fails so often?
Dear Gemba Coach: Is it true that lean often fails? What’s the point then?
Read articleIsn’t PDCA enough? Why do we always need to complicate things?
Dear Gemba Coach: Isn’t PDCA enough? Why do we always need to complicate things?
Read articleKnow someone who needs a compact introduction to Toyota Kata? This Summer’s 40-minute Kata video is exactly that.
Good introduction to what Toyota Kata is about, to share with anyone who needs it. Captured at the 5th annual…
Watch videoShould A3s be used for solving organizational or technical problems?
Dear Gemba Coach: Should A3s be used for solving organizational or technical problems?
Read articleQuestions and Coaching on A3 Thinking
In this Q&A, LEI's Deborah McGee shares insights into A3 thinking and problem-solving: "The A3 Management process is really a…
Read articleGetting Home: Jacob and Claude Stoller Appreciate the Lean Lessons of this New Book
"Getting Home is a terrific book that puts lean to work on a problem that’s really significant. Let’s hope it’s…
Read articlePracticing Constructive Discontent At SBP
To become an organization of problem solvers, talking about problems couldn’t merely be something that we did, shares Zack Rosenburg…
Read articleChange Your “Pet” Problem Solving Method
Got problems with your problem-solving method? This interview by LEI's Chet Marchwinski with Four Types of Problems author Art Smalley…
Read articleHow to Scale Up Positive Social Change
Far more households globally have access to a mobile phone than a toilet, notes Ann Mei Chang, a tech executive…
Read articleSometimes Less Lean is Mo’ Lean
After seeing a great concert by blues legend Keb' Mo', Brent Wahba reflected on some lean principles embodied in the…
Read articleCan Smart Manufacturing Replace the Art of Go and See?
Continuous improvement in a manufacturing environment has to happen at the spot where the work took place, shares Dave Westphal,…
Read articleAsk Art: Aren’t You a Little “Old School” in Your Kaizen Approach To Implementing Lean Thinking?
When you say “kaizen is old school” you may be seriously off track, argues Art Byrne. Focusing on tools like…
Read articleShowing Respect: Here’s How Emmanuel Proposed A More Reliable Shipping Rack
As I reflect on Emmanuel's proposed countermeasures to a key problem, I am encouraged with every new discovery, says General…
Read articleIs Your Strategy a Plan–or a Hypothesis?
Success in a VUCA world requires senior executives to engage thoughtfully and frequently with company operations across all levels and…
Read articleLearning to Help Anna Elevate Her Game
Anna was trained by NUMMI to identify and solve challenges via experiments with her team, notes Jeff Smith, sharing a…
Read articleFlaatnes 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…
Read articleStandardize Your Problem-Solving Approach? Why One Size Does Not Fit All
Lean management practitioners know what a powerful tool standardization is for continuously improving processes. Without standards, there can be no…
Read articleCultivating Intuition at the Gemba
Our trainers conditioned us to water the seed of experience and use it not just to fire-fight but rather be…
Read article4 Types of Problems: The Keys to Better Organizational Problem Solving
Join Art Smalley for this important, eye-opening webinar and learn why settling on a favorite problem-solving technique or two is…
Watch webinarPeople Are Not Cars
Tyson Ortiz's challenge in helping his son through a heart transplant clarified to him what a healthcare provider said: "People…
Read articleTake Baby Steps Towards Improvement
As you think about your 2019 resolutions, ask yourself if you’re making the change too big and, therefore, too scary,…
Read articleFour Types of Problems, author Art Smalley digs in on problem solving
Author Art Smalley joins Chet Marchwinski to discuss problem solving and his new book Four Types of Problems from reactive…
Listen to podcastHow can I make sure my teams do kaizen the right way?
Dear Gemba Coach: How can I make sure my teams do kaizen the right way?
Read articleSeafood Restaurant Fishes for Problems Customers Really Care About
The executive chef at Legal Sea Foods explains how the restaurants are cutting lead times from fishing boat to your…
Watch videoWhat Problems Do You See?
Take a minute or two think about the problems you see everyday at your work. It can be quite daunting…
Read article“We Are Unique”
While many people see Lean as applicable only in limited industries and situations and therefore can’t work in their unique…
Read articleI Got 99 Problems and This Is How I’ll Tackle Type One
After an unintentional sending a mass email with an error from LEI, Lory Moniz reflects on the source of the…
Read articleThinking 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…
Read articleWhat’s your problem
You learn through solving problems, failing, reflecting on failure, and adjusting course. That quote sounds like something from Deming or…
Read articleBook Review: Four Types of Problems
If you are developing a problem solver in your personal life or on your team, or if you’re continuously developing…
Read articleThere are so many lean management principles to know and tools to master at the start – is there an easier way to begin?
Dear Gemba Coach: Isn’t there an easier way to start lean? For a beginner, it seems like such a mountain…
Read articleJishuken, Part Two: The Power of Self-Learning
Consider Jishuken to be an intensive effort to drive individuals and the organization to a higher level, says Mark Reich,…
Read articleThe Value of Sharpening Skills Through ‘Jishuken’
Jishuken, or self-learning, is a wet stone that grinds a worker's brain down to a start point, says Matt Savas--and…
Read articleFour Types of Problems (Introduction)
An excerpt from Four Types of Problems IntroductionThe four types of problems are:Type 1: Troubleshooting: Reactive problem solving that hinges upon quick…
Read articleNot Every Problem Is a “Nail” But Companies Typically Reach for the Same Old “Hammer”
Learn how you can avoid the frustrating, ineffective, but widespread “hammer-and-nail” problem-solving pitfall by recognizing four main problem types so…
Read articleLean Transformation? Not Buying It
Companies often describe their transformation efforts in terms of an end-state: focusing on targeted results. They see transformation as a…
Read articleWe’re working hard on problem solving so why don’t I see any improvement in our problem-solving capability?
Dear Gemba Coach: We're working hard on problem solving, asking "why" repeatedly, and looking for root causes, but I'm afraid…
Read articleHow Does Asking Questions Create Change?
Lean is not a sum of processes to acquire and apply which then will make things magically work better. It’s…
Read articleWe mapped a process, improved it, but six months later, performance is as bad as it was before – what are we missing?
Dear Gemba Coach: We’ve drawn the value-stream map of one of our complex production processes (17 steps), identified the key…
Read articleReact Less and Improve More by Using SPC More Effectively
When we stop reacting to “noise” in a metric, we can better focus our improvement efforts, waste less time, and…
Read articleFresh Eyes Bring Lean Problems into Clarity
“Fresh eyes” reviews are an indispensible part of developing new value. It’s amazing what you can learn from the input…
Read articlePD C+ A+ In the Classroom
Looking back on her time as a teacher through a lean lens, the author suggests how the process of education…
Read articleClarifying the ‘5 Whys’ Problem-Solving Method
This brief animation offers a detailed explanation of one way to discover a problem's root cause.
Watch videoAsk Art: Why Should I Be Able to Make Every Product Every Day?
Working on the goal of "every product every day" helps all companies realize the benefits of lean as a strategy,…
Read articleIs lean problem solving different from regular problem solving?
Dear Gemba Coach: How is lean problem solving any different from regular problem-solving?
Read articleBuild Awareness Through Seeing How Eliminating Waste Reduces Costs
As we grow our people we must continue to add new dimensions of thinking to engage them in their work…
Read articleLesson From Japan: Day Five
On this final set of shared lessons from Japan, our lean learners reflect on the spirit of kaizen and the…
Read articleLessons From Japan: Day Three
Is Toyota improving productivity or developing people? What we saw today suggests not just that the answer is both but…
Read articleWhat is your psychology of change?
Dear Gemba Coach: Do you have a psychology of change? And if so, what is it? Where should we start?
Read articlePractical, Actionable Tips for Re-Engaging People with a Suggestion System, Part 2
Companies, responding to surveys showing that a troubling number of people are disengaged at work, respond with perks like nap…
Read articleJoePa and Other Biases to Avoid
A recent viewing of the biographical film Paterno led LEI Senior Coach Mark Reich to reflect on the way many…
Read articleMapping a Reading List to Lean
We humans want to see what is happening, understand how we and our colleagues best collaborate, solve problems, make good…
Read articleFighting Poverty with Lean Product & Process Design at MIT D-Lab
D-Lab at MIT is using lean product and process design to help solve problems in the developing world, and are…
Watch videoEp. 5: The Lean Farm and Sharing Your Gift Live from the 2018 Lean Transformation Summit
Live from the 2018 Lean Transformation Summit in Nashville, Jim Womack interviews Ben Hartman, author of the Lean Farm, Joel…
Listen to podcastHow do I know people are displaying the right visual information in an office?
Dear Gemba Coach: We’ve been quite successful with lean in our operations, and I’ve been tasked to bring it to…
Read articleEp. 4: Tracey and Ernie Richardson with John Shook Live at the Lean Transformation Summit
Tracey and Ernie Richardson, authors of the Toyota Engagement Equation join John Shook on the main stage at the Lean…
Listen to podcastEric Buehrens Keynote at the 2018 Lean Transformation Summit
LEI CEO Eric Buehrens looks at ways that lean thinkers can help contribute to the future of work.
Watch videoBecoming My Own Gemba
Like me, thousands of people suffer from undiagnosed or more complex medical conditions that mimic other conditions. And my TPS…
Read articleEp. 3: Amazon and Buffet Tackle the Healthcare Tapeworm with Eric Buehrens and Chet Marchwinski
A few weeks ago Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffet, and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon announced…
Listen to podcastHow do I love thee? Let me count the ways – on a Valentine’s Day A3
The question lean practitioners Tracy and Ernie Richardson get more than any other isn’t about problem-solving, takt time, standardization, or…
Watch videoIs there a crack in the model of continuous improvement?
Is this a case of déjà vu all over again? The Wall Street Journal says the sterling reputation of “Japanese…
Read articleAre Design Thinking and Lean Thinking the Same?
Dear Gemba Coach: As a practitioner and advocate of design thinking, I’ve been curious about lean, but it seems to…
Read articleYour Favorite Lean Posts of 2017: A Lean Post Holiday Special
2017 has seen another terrific year of content on the Lean Post. Over the past 12 months we've released dozens…
Read articleShook Addresses Current State of Lean Thinking After U.S-Turkey Tiff Compels Keynote Countermeasure
Indefatigable presenter John Shook quickly made this video as a countermeasure to being denied entry to Turkey, where he was…
Read articleIf lean really is about innovation, why does so much of it seem to be about logistics?
Dear Gemba Coach: If lean really is about innovation, why does so much of it seem to be about logistics,…
Read articleThe Time for Healthcare Leaders to Implement Lean Is Now – Stat!
Pioneering healthcare leaders have demonstrated that lean applied to healthcare can help solve the problems of quality, delivery of care,…
Read articleOrganization Follows a Lean-like Vision for Eradicating Poverty
Meet the anti-poverty movement's Taiichi Ohno.
Read articleWhen should we do an A3 or use a different problem-solving tool?
Dear Gemba Coach: I would really appreciate your perspective on the following: (1) When should we do an A3 for…
Read articleThe Future of Lean Healthcare: A Faster Type of Transformation?
We all know that lean transformations take a long time to occur, and in some senses, they never end. But…
Watch videoThe (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…
Read articleDon’t Start with Tools!
Starting off your lean transformation with one of the various tools at your disposal is certainly tempting. But according to…
Read articleThe “Playbook” of Sustaining Change
In a world where most lean transformations fail, what can we do to learn from others' mistakes and help our…
Read articleAdvice from the Gemba: The Most Frustrating Types of Waste (and How to Eliminate Them!) II
If you've ever lost sleep over a particularly frustrating source of waste in your organization, you're not alone. Today we…
Read articleWhen A3s Get Personal
Think A3s are just for organizational problems? Think again. Katie Anderson discusses how to adapt A3 thinking to guide our…
Read articleIs lean different from creating a culture of problem-solving?
Dear Gemba Coach: I’m an OD coach interested in lean, and wonder how lean is different from creating a culture…
Read articleBetter Design Reviews, Better Products
"Design reviews are a common process in product and process development," writes Katrina Appell. And they're common for good reason.…
Read articleDo You Practice Routine Personal Development?
Once we learn lean we often start seeing it everywhere, even in places we might least expect it. In this…
Read articleThe Art of Silent Observation
Silent observation is not as intuitive as it may sound. Andrew Quibell often meets people who think it's as simple…
Read articleLean Transformation: “Shock and Awe” vs. “Slow and Grow”
When leading a lean transformation, is it better to use the "shock and awe" method or the "low and slow"…
Read articleThe “Dimensions” of Lean
In this exclusive interview from the 2017 Lean Transformation Summit, LEI Director of Education Karen Gaudet shares her own take…
Watch videoGetting Religious About Problem Solving
Have you ever heard of a lean transformation guided by scriptures? The people at LifeWayChristian Resources' distribution center in Tennessee…
Read articleUncovering Lean’s Soul
Dr. John Ehrenfeld argues that lean as a different way of being is still woefully undervalued in lean transformations today.…
Read articleBook Value: The Mental ABC’s of Pitching
"With both the All-Star Game and our Lean Coaching Summit approaching, I got to thinking about ways that non-lean books…
Read articleYour Gemba Isn’t the Only Gemba to Walk
We all know the critical importance of gemba walks in our organization. But what many of us forget is that…
Read articleShouldn’t lean focus on solutions, rather than problems?
Dear Gemba Coach: Why is lean so focused on problem solving? Isn’t seeing everything as a problem negative? Shouldn’t we…
Read articleAsk Art: Why do so few companies that implement lean do it successfully?
We've all heard the stories of failed lean implementations, as well as the hotly debated question of "Why did it…
Read articleWhat’s your opinion on setting specific criteria before brainstorming countermeasures?
Dear Gemba Coach: What’s your opinion on setting specific criteria before brainstorming countermeasures?
Read articleDeveloping Better Habits Using A3 Thinking
Think A3 thinking is only for solving organizational problems? Think again! LEI faculty Katie Anderson shares her secrets for using…
Read articlePDCA thinking and the NCAA March Madness tournament
"There is so much thinking that goes into this thing called 'Bracketology,' which gives sports fans a way to 'grasp…
Read articleWhat do you think are the pros and cons of merging lean and TOC?
Dear Gemba Coach: In the DevOps movement, the amalgamation of agile, lean, and IT service management practices, there is a…
Read articleLooking for split seconds, it can mean a NASCAR race WIN!
Tracey and Ernie Richardson explore how NASCAR pit crews use visuals for safety and speed.
Read articleWe meet daily to examine a new customer complaint. What do we do next?
Dear Gemba Coach: We’re a start-up and have taken your advice: we now have a customer wall and we meet…
Read articleA Thriving Community of Practice – Book Report
I am often asked why the “lean movement” has outlasted so many business improvement movements that have come and gone.…
Read articleResearch, Reflections, and Challenges: John Shook’s Closing Keynote of 2016
At the end of every Lean Transformation Summit, Lean Enterprise Institute Chairman and CEO John Shook gives his traditional closing…
Watch videoLean Roundup: Continuous Problem-Solving
Continuing his popular Lean Roundup series, LEI Senior Editor Tom Ehrenfeld covers a key topic in lean circles that also…
Read articleAsk Art: How high is up with lean?
Art Byrne explains that continuous improvement really is continuous and that there is no limit to the “up” in lean.
Read articleGetting to Sustainability
Sustaining gains from kaizen thinking is one of the hardest, and certainly most misunderstood, aspects of this work. It’s misunderstood…
Read articleAn A3 Antidote to the Opiate Epidemic
Opiate use in America has been spiking at an alarming rate. Many healthcare organizations, such as the University of Michigan…
Read articleLean Books Roundup
"Several years back, LEI CEO John Shook discussed the need to explore the “frontiers and fundamentals” of lean..." writes Tom…
Read articleThinking About Thinking
Don't believe everything you think. Practice scientific thinking and test your assumptions, because every step is an experiment!
Watch videoAdvice from the Gemba: The Most Frustrating Types of Waste (and How to Eliminate Them!)
If you've ever lost sleep over a particularly frustrating source of waste in your organization, you're not alone. Some forms…
Read articleWhy We’re Thankful For Lean
Thanksgiving is a time of year when Americans take a day to step back and appreciate everything they have to…
Read articleDoes lean have an ethical perspective other than goal-oriented efficiency?
Dear Gemba Coach: As a follow-up to your previous column on the question of whether lean has a spiritual dimension,…
Read articleScientific Thinking for Everyone
Scientific thinking is not difficult, it's just not our default mode. Anyone can learn to think more scientifically, by practicing…
Watch videoBig Problems? Start Small
"In problem solving, we’re taught to ask a simple question, “Is this problem within my scope of control?” If yes,…
Read articleLean Roundup: Jidoka
"Jidoka captures the principle of building quality into the production process—of designing work so that the people making the product…
Read articleMaking Things Better – Lean Streets: Improving Road Maintenance in Washington State
Ever feel like your home city or town needs to step up its game in maintaining road conditions? People in…
Read articleProblem-Solving: One Size Does Not Fit All, Part 1
Problem solving is at the core of any lean transformation. But both beginners and experts will tell you that it…
Watch video3 Common Problems in Government that A3 Thinking Can Help Solve
I’m always surprised at how little the public sector uses A3 thinking to tackle their toughest challenges. It’s the same…
Read articleWhy Yoda Was Wrong
Aspects of lean can be found almost anywhere - even in a galaxy far, far away. Inspired by a new…
Read articleJust Trying “Stuff” Is Not A Real Experiment
"Today it seems like you can’t throw a stick of butter without hitting someone who is “running a lean experiment”…
Read article“What Do I Need to Know?”
"What do I need to know?" A simple, but powerful, question to ask at the gemba and beyond. Kelly Moore…
Read articleA3 Thinking Roundup
Following last week's immensely popular Posts on the origins of A3 thinking, LEI Senior Editor Tom Ehrenfeld compiles a collection…
Read articleReflecting to Learn: Takeaways and Reflections on the A3 Process
In the wake of yesterday's interview with Mr. Isao Yoshino on the roots of the A3 process at Toyota, LEI…
Read articleHow the A3 Came to Be Toyota’s Go-To Management Process for Knowledge Work (intro by John Shook)
A3 thinking is synonymous with Toyota. Yet many often wonder how exactly this happened. Even if we know A3 thinking…
Watch videoCLean and Green: How SunPower Used Lean to Address Sustainability
After years of lean practice, solar-device manufacturer SunPower wanted something more. They wanted to continue their journey of continuous improvement…
Read articleLean Transformation: Have You Hit the “Lean Plateau?”
After realizing that that their five-year track record of continuous improvement was leveling out, Craig Stritar and his team knew…
Read articleRaised by Toyota: A Question and Answer with Tracey and Ernie Richardson
In this extended interview, Toyota veterans Tracey and Ernie Richardson share how they learned at the source, explain how they…
Read articleWhy does kaizen feel like chaos?
Dear Gemba Coach: Why does kaizen always feel so destabilizing?
Read articleWhy Value-Stream Mapping is So Difficult in the Public Sector
Identifying value in an organization isn't the easiest task to accomplish. If you happen to work in the public sector,…
Read articleYou Are Not Different: Make universal lean principles work locally
Lean principles are universal, argues Orry Fiume, but the application of them is always local. Don't use this challenge as…
Read articleSmall Batch: Hand-Picked Articles from the Global Lean Community (Vol. 10)
Our editor's picks for the best recent articles from our sister publication, Planet Lean. This time we're sharing stories from…
Read articleAre You Fixing the System or Just a Person?
"How often do our solutions fix a person (or single event) rather than a system?" wonders Kelly Moore. Hopefully not…
Read articleHow to Avoid Team Disinterest and Management Disappointment with Huddles
Team huddles are rapidly becoming a day-to-day staple in the lean organization. But too often the problem-solving aspect of huddles…
Watch videoAny step forward in a lean transformation is a good step — right?
Dear Gemba Coach: Surely a step forward in a lean transformation is a good thing, even if it’s not completely…
Read article5 Common Signs of a Novice Kata Practice
An example of an Improvement and Coaching Kata practice illustrates five common themes found in novice-level practice.
Watch videoYour 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…
Read articleWhat do you think about a new boss who wants us to use A3s to solve problems rigorously?
Dear Gemba Coach: My new boss wants us to use A3s to “teach us how to solve problems rigorously” –…
Read articleJust-in-Time Roundup: Great Lean Reads from Across the Web (Vol. 17)
Our latest compilation of the best lean reads from around the web, this time featuring content from Forbes, Manufacturing.net, and…
Read articleRather than narrow problem solving, shouldn’t we look for disruptive breakthroughs?
Dear Gemba Coach: How can a narrow focus on problem solving help us to find innovative solutions? Shouldn’t we be…
Read articleKata Classics: The Improvement Kata in 10 Minutes
Bill Costantino's classic explanation of the Improvement Kata is back, now as a video.
Watch videoHow do I introduce kaizen to IT?
Dear Gemba Coach: Based on your experience, what is the best strategy to introduce kaizen as social, ongoing events without…
Read articleJust-in-Time Roundup: Great Lean Reads from Across the Web (Vol. 16)
Our editor's picks for the best lean news from around the web, this month from Harvard Business Review, FedScoop, and…
Read articleWhat Too Many Value Stream Maps Completely Miss
Believe it or not, up to half of all the value-stream maps that cross Drew Locher's desk are missing something…
Read articleSmall Batch: Hand-Picked Articles from the Global Lean Community (Vol. 7)
Our picks for the best high-impact learning stories and columns from Planet Lean.
Read articleTo A3 or Not to A3
"Not every tool is a hammer, and not every problem is a nail," writes Norbert Majerus of The Goodyear Tire…
Read articleSmall Chart, Big Impact: How a Simple Spaghetti Chart Led to Huge Wins at Thrustmaster of Texas
Sometimes the simplest lean concepts can make all the difference in ensuring a successful transformation. Marine-propulsion manufacturer Thrustmaster of Texas…
Read articleJust-in-Time Roundup: Great Lean Reads from Across the Web (Vol. 14)
Our editor's latest pics for great lean reads from across the web, this month from Forbes, IndustryWeek, and The New…
Read articleThe Problem of Partial Participation: Why Failing to Fully Commit to Lean Is Not An Option. An Interview with Chris Vogel
It's surprising how many lean implementations fail due to an organization's employees not fully embracing the idea. There are many…
Read articleA Principles-Based Approach to Changing Healthcare Management
"This year alone over 250,000 Americans will die due to medical error," writes Dr. John Toussaint. "How can so many…
Read articleKaizen Learning vs. Traditional Problem-Solving
"Lean offers a fundamentally different approach to problem-solving than most traditional companies practice," writes Art Byrne. "Most [traditional] companies delegate…
Read articleJust-in-Time Roundup: Great Lean Reads from Across the Web (Vol. 13)
Our latest collection of lean reads from around the web, this time featuring articles from The Wall Street Journal, the…
Read articleSmall 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.
Read articleGemba Walking on Mars
Lean is all around us in our daily lives - including at the movies, as Lean Institute Brasil president Jose…
Read articleSmall Batch: Hand-Picked Articles from the Global Lean Community (Vol. 3)
A roundup of the best recent articles and interviews from our friends at Planet Lean, this time from Spain, Israel…
Read articleNarrowing the Scope of Kaizen Activities
Are you having trouble implementing kaizen activities? If so, the solution could be as simple as narrowing down your targets…
Read articleLean Fitness: The Individual vs. the Organization
"For both the individual and the organization, the problem is the same," writes Dan Markovitz. "There may be a stated…
Read articlePeople Don’t Fail, Processes Do
Terry Smith, a lean web developer, shares two examples of real-life companies who used the "5 Whys" to drill down…
Read articleSmall Batch: Hand-Picked Articles from the Global Lean Community (Vol. 1)
A roundup of the best recent articles and case studies from our friends at Planet Lean - this time from…
Read articleJust-in-Time Roundup: Great Lean Reads Across the Web (Vol.10)
Our latest picks for great lean reads across the web, this time from 99u, strategy + business, a hotel app…
Read articleThe Lean Genie Problem
"For leaders and CI professionals, it’s not practical to rely on the team you’re working with to institute every change…
Read articleTHE ROLE OF ‘CHALLENGE’ IN THE IMPROVEMENT KATA
The first step of the Improvement Kata, "Understand the Direction or Challenge," is often overlooked, yet it is the important context…
Watch videoLEI’s Lean Transformation Model Animated
Need a simple way of explaining lean thinking to your team? LEI has released a new animated video of how…
Watch videoIs Your Improvement Project Headed Down the Road to Nowhere?
"The scientific method applied consistently [can mean] beginning a continuous improvement journey that lasts, well... forever," writes Tim Kane. Read…
Read articleAm I doing lean right? How can I tell?
Dear Gemba Coach: I’m spending a lot of time at the gemba, but how do I know if I’m doing…
Read articleJust-in-Time Roundup: Great Lean Reads Across the Web (Vol.9)
Our picks for interesting lean reads, this time from Modern Healthcare, Harvard Business Review, Bloomberg View, and Nikkel Blaase.
Read articleUsing Cynefin to Solve Problems While Navigating Uncertainty
Kim Ballestrin, an agile coach, explains how her team at Telstra (an Australian telecommunications and IT company) uses a problem…
Read articleWant to Instill A3 Thinking? Teach A3 Behaviors
A3 thinking is all about A3 behaviors, says auto-manufacturing veteran Andrew Quibell. "Only by applying a step by step mentality,…
Read articleJust-in-Time Roundup: Great Lean Reads from Across the Web (Vol. 8)
Check out our picks for high value lean reads you may have missed - this time from Inc., Harvard Business…
Read articleLean is About Building Organizations that Learn to Learn
In April, LEI's John Shook spoke at the LeanUX NYC conference about how the lean movement has changed (and not…
Watch videoConnecting Lean Thinkers With Nonprofits in Portland, Oregon
Matthew Horvat tells the story of Lean Portland, a lean community of practice connecting lean thinkers with nonprofit professionals in…
Read articleMy management team feels tense and pressured about going to the gemba. Is this normal?
Dear Gemba Coach: I’ve decided to take my management team to the gemba to get them to solve real problems…
Read articleTransforming Healthcare: What Matters Most? How the Cleveland Clinic Is Cultivating a Problem-Solving Mindset and Building a Culture of Improvement
Imagine if you could create a culture of excellence and improvement in a large healthcare organization. That’s the challenge that…
View case studyThe Chief Cause of Problems is Solutions
"In complex organizations, we [oversimplify] problems, try to fix them as painlessly as possible, cross our fingers, and move on…
Read articleJust-in-Time Roundup: Great Lean Reads From Across the Web (Vol. 7)
Five recent articles from across the web to help you reflect on your organization's approach to lean transformation or your…
Read articleContinuous 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…
Read article5 Barriers to Lean in Government
"There are many challenges for lean in government... The structure of the workforce, disincentives for risk-taking at all levels, complex…
Read articleImproving a Complex Process that Saves Lives: Lean Transformation at LifeShare Donor Services of Oklahoma
"This is a model, like a lot of good leadership models, where you teach people the thinking and then need…
Read articleJust-in-Time Roundup: Great Lean Reads from Across the Web (Vol. 6)
Check out five recently published articles we think may help you improve your work or think about your work differently…
Read articleThe Secrets of Lean
"The key to Lean is that it creates understanding, not knowledge," write John Ehrenfeld (Executive Director of the International Society…
Read articleTraining as a Crutch
Your organization has a problem. Something has gone wrong. A process that was previously working fine is no longer working.…
Read articleLook Around You, Find Your Lean Inspiration
After an awful experience with an online travel agency and way too much time spent trying to fix an error…
Read articleHow can I estimate the savings from using visual management boards?
Dear Gemba Coach: I work on a lean team and I was asked to estimate the savings from using visual…
Read articleKATA AT HOME
Start 'em Early! Create Scientific Thinkers. The Improvement Kata & Coaching Kata's practice routines for scientific thinking can be applied…
Watch videoMake the Shift: From “Churn and Burn” to Learn
Already practicing PDCA? Not so familiar with it? "If you’re not squarely in the PDCA camp, please accept this invitation…
Read articleEveryday Kaizen
"With the right teaching and guidance, a good process, and a target of one kaizen activity per day, team leaders…
Read articleIn IT, can we do virtual gemba walks?
Dear Gemba Coach: I am part of an IT creation and support organization. How do you do a gemba walk,…
Read articleThree Lean Healthcare Success Stories From Across the Globe
Read a summary of 3 lean healthcare stories from the Lean Global Network, including reflections on what seems to make…
Read articleWhy Effective Problem Solving Begins With a Good Problem Statement
"Let’s solve world peace" or "let’s state our predetermined solution as a problem" aren't real problem statements, says Dave LaHote.…
Read articleAnd the Best Articles from 2014 Are…
Two weeks ago we asked for your favorite Lean Post articles of 2014 and the results are in!
Read articleI’m not sure I understand solving problems one by one.
Dear Gemba Coach: I’m not sure I understand solving problems one by one. I thought listing problems and pushing hard…
Read articleHow do we solicit feedback from the shop floor without being overwhelmed by the enormous amount of ideas?
Dear Gemba Coach: I think we all know that the "suggestion box" has gone by the wayside. How do we…
Read articleJust-In-Time Roundup: Great Lean Reads from Across the Web (Vol. 2)
Check out our editors' picks for great lean reads you may have missed, featuring stories from The Atlantic, The New…
Read articleJust-In-Time Roundup: Great Lean Reads From Across the Web
We're trying something new on the Post rounding up some of the best or more interesting lean-themed articles from around…
Read articleWhat Does “Waste” in Government Processes Mean Anyway?
"It is commonplace in the US Federal Government to see placards and signs admonishing us to be on guard for…
Read articleWould you have a fresh perspective on 5S to make it more motivating?
Dear Gemba Coach: I’m the manager of a plant that has changed hands (again). The new corporate team finds my…
Read articleStill Faithful to Lean Thinking
"We wrote Lead With Respect to show just how central engagement and involvement is to lean success," says Michael Ballé.…
Read articleProblem Framing at the Fuzzy Front-End of Lean Product Design
Lean emphasizes problem solving, but many individuals and teams just have trouble coming up with an accurate problem statement. In…
Read articleLean Talks: Are You Making Excuses or Solving Problems?
In his "lean talk" at the Lean Transformation Summit this past March, lean coach and author Mark Graban shared his…
Watch videoCommunicating With Respect
Effective communication is key when it comes to lean learning. Give people too much information, too soon and you lose…
Read articlePDCA, BML, TMC: Learning Lean From Lean
"Lean, Lean UX, and Lean Startup – there' a lot of 'lean' out there," writes Matthew Savas. "Is this good…
Read articleWhy Skill-Based Learning is Harder Than You Think
Lean practitioner Joel Gross explains why skill-based learning (like learning how to problem solve using PDSA) requires active, hands-on practice…
Read articleStandardization is a Countermeasure, Never the Goal
"If you're excited about standardized work and standardization, especially if you're new to Lean, please stop and think about the…
Read articleDoing Lean Versus Becoming Lean
"We know from experience that Lean is fundamentally driven by a change in company culture," writes Jim Luckman, "not a…
Read articleProblem Solving Fast and Slow
"There are many paradoxes about the Toyota Production System," writes Ben Root. "Speed is certainly one of them. 'Do it…
Read articleLean Talks: Lean Thinking at a Knitting Factory in Bali
Mark Donovan, co-founder of the knitwear company Wooden Ships, shares how he's worked to build the problem solving capabilities of…
Watch videoAm I doing PDCA correctly?
Dear Gemba Coach: How do I know if I’m doing PDCA correctly?
Read articleA Body Needs Skeleton and Muscle to Work
How do you create alignment across the organization when you have separate departments, value streams, and executives with conflicting priorities?…
Read articleThe Best Lean Healthcare Stories You May Have Missed
Looking ahead to the Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit June 5-6, Lex Schroeder rounds up some of the best lean healthcare…
Read articleAutoliv: Giving Power to the People
A case study looks at how Autoliv developed and sustained a lean-problem solving culture and how this global company shares…
Read articleLeadership Q&A: Thomas Hartman, Senior Director, Autoliv Americas
From the LEI senior executive series on Lean Leadership: Autoliv’s Thomas Hartman describes the development of a lean problem solving…
Read articleCould you clarify the difference between cause and root cause?
Dear Gemba Coach: Could you clarify the difference between cause and root cause?
Read articleWhy One Startup Will Never “Change the World”
Nathan Rothstein, co-founder of Project Repat, calls for founders to stop pitching their companies as "world-changing" charitable organizations. Businesses should…
Read articleOpportunity Lost?
President of Lean Institute Brasil, José Ferro, gives us the background situation on the World Cup and tells us about…
Read articleLean Talks: Problem Solving with ThoughtWorks
Kevin Kriner, an agile project manager at ThoughtWorks, gives a short "Lean Talk" on what he's learned about root cause…
Watch videoHanging Up My Cape
"Managers and front line workers hustle to work around problems resulting from poorly designed work systems... and with such pride!"…
Read articleMAY THE KATA BE WITH YOU
This month's IK/CK SlideShare takes a Star Wars perspective and describes key errors that IK Coaches should watch for and…
Watch videoThink Like Judoka
"Resistance in an organization can be a daunting foe to even the most highly skilled Lean practitioners," writes Joel Gross.…
Read articleLive Blogging the Lean Transformation Summit, Day 2
LEI Senior Editor Tom Ehrenfeld continues his live blog of the Lean Transformation Summit, happening now in Orlando!
Read articleI’ve heard you say the quality department is the worst enemy of quality. I find this offensive.
Dear Gemba Coach: I’m in the quality department of a large company and I’ve heard you say quality is the…
Read articleFood Bank For New York City and Toyota: Unlikely Partners in Innovation
Margarette Purvis, President and CEO of Food Bank For New York City, will tell the story about Food Bank's partnership…
Read articleManaging By Not Wandering Around
“We’re still very early in our journey,” says Dan McDonnell, VP of Operational Excellence at Ingersoll Rand. “But we’re following…
Read articleLearn from the Error, Every Time
It's an awful feeling when you think everything is going just fine and then discover you've made an error. But…
Read articleOvercoming the Challenges of Lean in Public Health
"Continuous improvement in public health has potential for optimizing quality gains in disease surveillance, public health emergency response, health promotion,…
Read articleA Lean Transformation Model Everyone Can Use
John Shook explains LEI's Lean Transformation Model, offering 5 questions you'll want to think about and share with your team…
Read articleCultivating a Lean Problem-Solving Culture at O.C. Tanner
O.C. Tanner is in the appreciation business. It develops employee reward and recognition programs and manufactures a wide variety of…
View case studyTransforming Transformation
We are all trying to transform. That's what lean thinking and practice are all about: challenging us to reflect deeply…
Read articleThe Best Article Articles 2013: Editors’ Picks
A roundup of high value-added stories you may have missed from The Article in 2013, but should bookmark for a…
Read articleThe Best Lean Post Articles 2013: Editors’ Picks
A roundup of high value-added stories you may have missed from The Lean Post in 2013, but should bookmark for…
Read articleStandardized Work for Kaizen: Define, Achieve, Maintain, Improve
We can all agree that kaizen (continuous improvement to create more value with less waste) is important, but do you…
Read articleProblem Solving the Airlines
Rarely are process problems so clear as during the holidays! Have ideas for how to improve your air travel experience?…
Read articleBuilding Problem Solving Muscle at University of Michigan Health System
"We are beginning to realize the wisdom of Henry Ford’s adage: 'There are no big problems, there are just a…
Read articleIn Lean and On the Green, Adaptability is Key
What parallels can be drawn between lean learning and achievement on the golf course? The concept of continuous improvement is…
Read articleOn Lean Production’s 25th Anniversary: Candid Reflections
At the 2013 AME (Association for Manufacturing Excellence) conference three management thought leaders (Jim Womack, Dan Jones, and John Shook)…
Watch videoIs Lean Getting Lost in Translation?
As we struggle to learn together as a global lean community, what’s more important, lean “orthodoxy” (pure TPS) or lean…
Read articleWhat’s Your Lean Elevator Pitch?
How do you describe Lean to others? To beginners, your team members, your boss? What's your quick definition or elevator…
Read articleFighting fires vs. problem solving: what’s the difference?
Dear Gemba Coach: I hear that lean is about less fighting fires and more problem solving but I am unsure…
Read articleThe Problem with the US Open
What do Roger Federer, ESPN, and the US Open have to do with problem solving?
Read articleTalking Lean with a Neuroscientist
How do we turn large, complicated, risky projects into catalysts for learning and innovation? Lean IT expert Steve Bell reflects…
Read articleWhat problem are you trying to solve?
As human beings, are we basically “programmed” to produce blanket solutions that typically only address symptoms of problems, never to…
Read articlePDCA: The Scientific Method or the Artistic Process?
What does lean have to do with art? Lean practitioner and sculptor Karyn Ross says the two really aren't so…
Read articleHow do you define respect for people?
Dear Gemba Coach: Can you be more specific about “respect” in lean? The term is being used in our company…
Read articleShould I use an A3 report to kick off a problem-solving effort?
Dear Gemba Coach: Should I use an A3 report to kick off a problem? I encourage my managers to tell…
Read articleThe Virtue of Small Data
"Small Data can be found everywhere, with every customer transaction and interaction," writes LEI faculty member and Lean IT expert…
Read articleEngaging Physicians to Solve Real Problems in Healthcare
Trained in the scientific method, practical to the core, focused on the patient--one would think physicians would be the first…
Read articleSuch a Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever
Lean thinking, principles, and experiments show up everywhere and make a real difference, sometimes in places you'd least expect.
Read articleWhy don’t middle managers practice A3 thinking? (Part 2)
Dear Gemba Coach: I’m a lean consultant, and have been hired by a large service organization to develop an A3…
Read articlePatients First (Part II)
Writing in the Huffington Post, Karl Ohaus, a co-author of Perfecting Patient Journeys, poses 7 questions to ask at the…
Read articleJim Womack discusses the state of the lean movement, and compares the A3 management process with traditional modern management
Addressing workshop attendees during a lunch break, Jim Womack, management expert and Lean Enterprise Institute founder, discusses the state of…
Watch videoFollow-up Q & A to the Webinar “Getting to Everyday Improvement: How to Connect the Science and Culture of Problem Solving”
A follow-up Q&A with presenters Judy Worth and Beau Keyte for the Lean Enterprise Institute's webinar on Getting to Everyday Improvement.
Watch videoPart 1: What is the best lean way to understand VALUE (in terms of what our customers want)?
Dear Gemba Coach: What is the best lean way to understand VALUE (in terms of what our customers want)?
Read articlePRACTICAL APPROACH FOR STRATEGY DEPLOYMENT
This SlideShare is almost equivalent to a workbook. Download it, study it, and discover how your organization can (finally) achieve…
Watch videoA Quick Guide to Running Experiments
The value-stream improvement method described in Perfecting Patient Journeys differs from the traditional committee approach to making organizational changes. Both…
Read articleMy CEO has asked me to take a hard look at the lean program at our hospital – where should I start?
Dear Gemba Coach: I am ops director of a large hospital. We have been doing lean for several years now,…
Read articleWould you have a few tips about coaching on the gemba?
Dear Gemba Coach: Would you have a few tips about coaching on the gemba?
Read articleWhat Exactly Is The Problem You Are Trying To Address?
A3 coach David Verble asks a key question about getting started: do you know exactly what problem you are trying…
Read articleDeveloping PDSA Capabilities
Improvement kata and A3 management have become popular ways for developing and practicing plan-do-study (or check)-act capabilities. What’s the connection…
Read articleThink Before You Leap
In this second of a series on getting started with your A3, coach David Verble shares why clarifing what you…
Read articleVisual Management – the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Visualization is a good thing. We all know that. And many of us in the Lean Community practice it, to…
Read articleTK UNIFIED FIELD THEORY
This 11-minute audio SlideCast provides a terrific explanation of the Improvement Kata. It's almost like having Bill come to your…
Watch videoWhy Do Problem-Solving Projects Fail?
You've probably participated in problem-solving projects that have fallen short of expectations. Why did they fail? Eric Ethington, a fellow…
Read articleRETIRE THE PDCA WEDGE?
Thank you LEI for letting us share ideas & findings. Some things we in the Lean community have learned to…
Watch videoAre You Having Problems with Your Problem-Solving?
Here are some useful questions to ask about how you approach problems. Following them may help you avoid some common…
Read articleWhy Is It So Hard To Sustain Lean Gains?
Dear Gemba Coach: Why is it so hard to sustain lean gains?
Read articleLet Your A3s Lead
Coach Eric Ethington shares how simply getting started with A3s as a means of engaging others in this process is…
Read articleTaiichi Ohno’s Birthday and 100 Years of Lean
Today is Taiichi Ohno's birthday. Were he alive, the primary developer of the Toyota Production System would be turning 100…
Read articleFind One Second of Waste
Coach Tracey Richardson shows you how she learned the importance of looking for waste everywhere, and how you can start…
Read articleUsing 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…
Read articleHow Do We Sustain A3 Thinking in our Organization?
Dear Gemba Coach: My firm has been investing a lot of time and energy this year in teaching A3 thinking…
Read articleIs There a Right Way to Teach A3?
Dear Gemba Coach: We’ve been teaching A3 problem solving to all our managers, but so far I fail to see…
Read articleWas Steve Lean?
I don’t know that much about Apple. The only gemba I've visited are lots of Apple stores (I don't know…
Read articleA3: Tool or Process? Both….
Coach Tracey Richardson explains why an A3 is both a useful tool that captures and shares the results of an…
Read articleWhy Create Poka-yokes—and Why Disconnect Them?
I’m a manufacturing engineer and since I have started participating in kaizen workshops, I have noticed that production supervisors tend…
Read articlePDCA 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…
Read articleWhat Are the Different Types of A3s?
What are the different types of A3s and what are they used for?
Read articleWhat Level of a Problem Requires an A3?
Here are some thoughts to help you determine what type of problem you have, and how to apply A3 thinking…
Read articleProblems First and Positive Thinking
Dear Gemba Coach: Isn’t always focusing on problems discouraging? My people feel that they’d like to be recognized for their successes…
Read articleProblem Solving For Lean Continuous Improvement
What does real lean problem-solving look like? In this column, David Verble shares his experience at Toyota, revealing how the…
Read articleToyota and Sudden Acceleration: Facts from the NASA Report
NASA just released its highly anticipated report about the Sudden Unintended Acceleration (SUA) charge in Toyota vehicles. The verdict is…
Read articleHow Does Pull Relate to Problem-Solving?
Dear Gemba Coach: I’ve been following the exchanges on The Lean Edge with great interest, and all the lean authors…
Read articleExample A3: Acme Stamping – Project Status Review (from Managing to Learn)
An example of an A3 from the book Understanding A3 Thinking by Durward K. Sobek II and Art Smalley, included…
Read articleExample A3: Lean Institute Brasil – Summit Sessions (from Managing to Learn)
An example of an A3 from Lean Institute Brasil, developed during attendance at the Managing to Learn workshop, included as…
Read articleWhere to Start in Engineering
Dear Gemba Coach: I’m in charge of the engineering department in our company and the CEO has asked me to start…
Read articleHow can we remain positive?
Dear Gemba Coach: I am a kaizen coach in a large company, and it never seems to get any easier. We’ve…
Read articleHow lean should a lean line design be?
Dear Gemba Coach: I’m in manufacturing engineering and have been asked to design a lean line. I’ve participated to several kaizen…
Read articleHow Do You Find – or Develop – the Right Sensei to Lead Lean?
Dear Gemba Coach: We have become skilled at indicating what goes wrong, but solving the problems is not our strength.…
Read articleThe End of the Beginning
NUMMI closes today. The GM-Toyota joint venture assembling motor vehicles in California lasted 25 years - a very long time…
Read articleToyota Trouble: A Dialogue with Jeff Liker (AKA the Coffee Shop Talks)
With the appearance of Toyota's various quality and recall problems, Jeff Liker and I have been meeting in coffee shops…
Read articleDon’t Gloat Too Quickly – If This Could Happen to Toyota, It Could Happen to You …
Okay, so how do you respond to a "crisis"? My recent encouragement to Toyota President Akio Toyoda that "It isn't the…
Read articleThe Business Case for Kaizen
Dear Gemba Coach: I can see the benefits kaizen has brought our company, but find it hard to formulate the…
Read articleIs Lean Scientific?
Dear Gemba Coach: I often hear that lean is like the scientific method. As a lean consultant, I facilitate kaizen events,…
Read articleWhat Role Should a Quality Department Play in a Lean Organization?
Dear Gemba Coach: How can you improve quality overall while reducing the number of people who are developing policies, supporting…
Read articleWhat Does Problem-Solving Look Like? Part 2 of 2
Dear Gemba Coach: Thank you for explaining the different types of problem-solving that distinguishes lean. But how can I tell…
Read articleThe U.S. Versus the World Healthcare Cost Gap
Lean thinking dictates that we try to turn any "problem" (or need, however big, however vague) into an actionable problem that can…
Read articleWhat Problems Are Lean Practices? Part 1 of 2
Dear Gemba Coach: I keep reading that lean is about solving problems. But that's exactly what I already do in my…
Read articleMaking Everyone Whole
I've had a big smile on my face for much of the last month because I've had the opportunity to…
Read articleA Trip to the Dentist That You’ll Enjoy
At AME's annual conference in Covington, KY, two weeks ago, Sami Bahri used his book, Follow the Learner, to base…
Read articleA3 Example from “Making Hospitals Work”
This is an example high-level planning A3 from the fictitious hospital in the book Making Hospitals Work. Click on the "read…
Read articleToyota’s Secret: The A3 Report
The A3 report, with its logical series of boxes and graphics, looks simple in layout but the underlying thought process…
Read articleManaging to Pitch with PDCA (Pitch-Defend-Catch-Adjust)
John Shook discusses lean thinking in baseball.
Read articleRecruiting Creative Ideas
Comparing GM's and Toyota's approach to suggestion systems reveals significant differences — and may help explain GM's recent poor performance.
Read articleThinking About Buffers and Production Systems (Birth of Lean Chapter IV – “The Evolution of Buffers at Toyota” – Kaneyoshi Kusunoki )
John Shook: "This week I continue my indulgence in exploring the Birth of Lean with a look at another chapter…
Read articleThedaCare Improved Outcomes with Lean Management
This article provides a summary of ThedaCare's lean journey, including improvements in their radiation oncology department. From the article:"The results…
Read articleRespect Science, Particularly in a Crisis
The current recession is the fifth in my working career. And it is beginning to feel like the worst. I…
Read articleLearning from Managing to Learn
It has been about four months since the release of Managing to Learn, now already in its second printing. I’ve…
Read articleNew Year 2009
During one of my final company visits last year, I was asked by a young engineer in South America, “Why…
Read article2008 in Summary: A Large Enough Wave Swamps All Boats
We all know the phrase, "a rising tide lifts all boats", and this was true during the world economic bubble…
Read articleThe Most Frustrated Person in Your Company
No, it’s not you. Earlier in my career I spent most of my time down in the front lines of…
Read articleIt Takes 2 (or more) to A3
No one can create a useful A3 in isolation. It takes at least two individuals and often many more. Developing…
Read articleFighting Cancer with Linear Accelerators and Accelerated Processes
A series of cross-functional lean improvement teams in the Radiation Oncology Department at the University of Michigan Health System (UMHS)…
View case studyJumping to Solutions
We are all guilty of one of the greatest sins with lean – not having the patience to really understand…
Read articleThe Missing Link
There is a missing link between the world’s brilliant objects – now cheaper and better in many cases because of…
Read articleAsking Questions
It is always refreshing going to the gemba – actually walking a value stream all the way through an organisation.…
Read articleGross Domestic Product Verses Gross Domestic Waste
I’ve always been fascinated by how humans count, especially the way we always seem to count the wrong things. Recently…
Read articleExample A3: Textron – Lean Boot Camp (from Managing to Learn)
An example of an A3, included as a sample in some printings of Managing to Learn.
Read articleCanada Post Puts Its Stamp on a Lean Transformation
A growing lean transformation at Canada Post's Calgary plant shows how lean principles can be implemented in environments other than…
View case studyThe A3 as a PDCA Storyboard
Thanks to Dave LaHote for sharing this PowerPoint that explains what an A3 is and how it can be used.…
Read articleLinking Lean Thinking to the Classroom
As team members sat down to discuss hiring a new production employee, the conversation gradually centered on the need to…
View case studyLean Leadership
On my gemba walks I often get comments and questions about leadership. “We can’t seem to get anywhere because we…
Read articleCreating Basic Stability
The lean movement's founder explains why you must achieve consistent operational availability before introducing continuous flow.
Read articleJim 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,…
Read articleLean Thinking for Air Travel
Recently I got a call from an aide to Don Carty at American Airlines (their Chairman who resigned this past…
Read articleLEI’s new tool for seeing the big picture
We introduce the latest LEI workbook, Seeing the Whole, which provides a simple tool for mapping the extended value stream…
Read article10 Lean Steps for Surviving the Recession
Jim provides an action play for lean thinkers to think leaner to get through the recession and secure a strong…
Read articleCoaching to the Challenge
With coaching there is no black and white answer – everything depends on the criticality of the business situation, the…
Read articleAre You Ready for the Next Crisis?
The Cleveland Clinic's lean management and operating system helped it handle the challenges arising from the pandemic. Here are several…
Read articleRespect for People: Making the Job Easier for Workers
How a lean mindset and practices are reining in workplace disruptions, minimizing workers’ physical aches and pains, and improving flow…
View case studyBuilding a Learning Organization with Kata
Baptist Memorial Hospital uses kata to build an "army of problem solvers." Here's the "meta-routine" they follow and a few…
Watch videoA Postcard — with Leadership Insights — from Nashville
A look back at LEI’s Lean Transformation Summit in 2018 shares a few tips from CEO keynoters on how to…
Read articleApples & Oranges: Value-Stream Mapping in a Low-Volume/High-Mix Environment
Here's how one LVHM company mapped its complex value streams — and discovered the path to next-level productivity that enabled…
Read articleUnderstanding the Many Facets of ‘the A3’
A review of the many ways lean practitioners refer to this core lean practice reveals its versatility — and why…
Read articleHow Lean Practitioners ‘See the Work’ — and Why It Matters
In under three minutes, LEI's Instructional Designer Masia Goodman demonstrates how lean practitioners "see the work" so they can improve…
Watch videoHandling the Heat of the Kitchen: A WLEI Podcast
Hear how LEI coaches helped a flagship restaurant's kitchen staff find and eliminate waste in their work processes, which led…
Listen to podcastA Video Primer on Improvement Kata as a Funnel
A veteran kata instructor uses a visual model to explain the four routines of the Improvement Kata practice.
Watch videoA Video Primer on Improvement and Coaching Kata
A veteran kata instructor offers a brief explanation of two vital problem-solving and innovation-driving practices.
Watch videoEnsuring Success of Hoshin Kanri – a Better Way to Plan and Execute Your Strategy
Logoplaste's global vice president of lean and strategy shares a few vital lessons, learned through experience, about a proven way…
View case studyBringing Together People and Invention to Achieve Radically Great Quality
The latest book published by the Lean Global Network details the principles and practices that will help you radically improve…
Read articleFront-Load Your Design Process By Using Set-Based Design
Jeffrey Liker highlights the benefits of set-based design in this in-depth reflection of his time working in product development at…
Read articleWhat are the Three A’s of the A3?
John Shook explains the three A's of the A3 in this video clip from the presentation that he and Lisa…
Watch videoLean ‘n Food: Rethinking the Retail Food Industry
In this clip from a recent LEI Webinar, Haven Hot Chicken co-founder Etkin Tekin explains the process of working through…
Read articleLet’s Celebrate Work
Is your work meaningful or menial? LEI Senior Advisor John Shook challenges us to aim to make all work meaningful…
Read articleHow to Engage Everyone to Create a “Continuous Innovation Machine”
In a presentation to hundreds of engineers at a Fortune 100 manufacturer, Jim Morgan, an engineering PhD and former product…
Read articleStandardized Work is a Goal To Work Toward, Not a Tool to Implement
Standardized work can be an ugly thing in the hands of control-oriented bureaucrats and a beautiful thing when it enables…
Read articleTaking Time for a Year-End Reflection with the Most Popular Lean Articles, Podcasts, and Videos of 2020
This year's content featured plenty of guests, returns from lean legends, and handfuls of ways that lean has been applicable…
Read articleFundamentals Redux–An Appreciation of Kaizen Express
Kaizen Express is the expression of an approach to kaizen that is at once a return to basics while at…
Read articleDebunking the ‘Time Drives Costs’ Myth with Lean Financial Thinking
Learn why you must stop allocating costs based on time--and how lean financial thinking and practice gives you a more…
Read articleArt of Lean on Work & Waste, Part 5: Motion
Watch this quick tutorial about how to see the waste of motion in your work, from Art Smalley, president of…
Watch video“It’s Only A Failure If You Don’t Learn”
"It's only a failure if you don't learn" says Toyota veteran Isao Yoshino, whose experience developing an ultimately failed water-ski…
Read articleEncountering Problems and Resistance
The doctor entered with a comforting bedside manner. We small talked. She asked about my work and I answered, in short. “Lean? You mean that Toyota thing?” In spite…
Read articleThe Second P in LPPD: Why the Future is About Lean Product and Process Development
Jim Womack, speaking at the Designing the Future summit in 2019, describes the thinking behind lean product and process development…
Read articleHow the Coloplast Parts Distribution Center Reduced its Process Lead Time
How the Coloplast Parts Distribution Center in Tatabanya, Hungary, reduced its process lead time from 3 to 14 days to…
Watch videoJim Womack Shares a Future-Focused Reflection on ‘Machine’
Jim Womack shares a future-focused, humble reflection of the groundbreaking book he co-authored with Daniel T. Jones and Daniel Roos,…
Read articleA Radical Redesign of Making Crudito — and All Restaurant Kitchens
Using animations of a few basic continuous improvement tools, Matt Savas, a team leader at the Lean Enterprise Institute and…
Watch videoHow 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…
Read articleWhy You Should Link Hoshin Kanri with A3 Problem-Solving
With A3 tightly linked to hoshin, an organization will not only solve problems but also will have the opportunity to…
Read article5 Guiding Principles for Tailoring a Path to Lean Transformation
Learn from top healthcare leaders who are transforming their organizations through lean thinking and practice.
Listen to podcastBeing ‘Right’ is Not Enough
All of us have problem-solving experiences to reflect on and learn from. And what better time to draw out that…
Read articleLean Roundup: Hoshin Kanri
Hoshin Kanri, described as "a management system that allows the organization to quickly and effectively adjust its priorities while engaging…
Read articleThe Post-COVID-19 Reboot: Safe, Smart Steps for Restarting Production
GE Appliances and Herman Miller share lessons learned on opening manufacturing operations during the Covid-19 crisis. They share how their companies with…
Watch webinarHow to Ensure the Safety of Hospital Staff During the Pandemic
In the seventh and final post of a seven-part series, the Global Lean Healthcare Initiative focuses on keeping staff safe.
Read articlePivoting Just-In-Time with Hoshin Kanri at Toyota
Learn about the power of hoshin kanri, a systematic approach to defining a strategy and, more importantly, a management system…
Read articleSolutions 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…
Read articleAn Accountant’s Guide to Understanding Lean Accounting
I think one of the difficulties accountants face in understanding Lean Accounting is that we are trained to be “doers”…
Read articleEmerging Stronger
Learn how GE Appliances and Herman Miller leverage lean practice to design new standardized work for assembly to ensure a…
Read articleDesigning the Patient Flow to Fight Covid-19
A Lean Global Network team of lean practitioners and coaches shares a set of lean healthcare tips hospitals can use…
Read articleThe Post COVID Crisis Supply Chain: a Time to Rise (Part 2)
In a two-part call to action, LeanCor Supply Chain Group CEO Robert Martichenko says that now is the time for…
Read articleThe Post COVID Crisis Supply Chain: a Time to Rise (Part 1)
In a two-part call to action, LeanCor Supply Chain Group CEO Robert Martichenko says that now is the time for…
Read articleActive Caring
Caring about others, caring about quality, caring about professionalism. When you care, continuous improvement and action come naturally. Turner Construction…
Read articleBe 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…
Read articleHow A Virtual Obeya Can Enable Effective Teamwork
As we are working socially distanced apart we need to create systems that enable us to effectively enable people to…
Read articleDeveloping Awareness on the Gemba
Lean Sensei Sandrine Olivencia shares practical advice on ways to be present and to coach in the moment at the…
Read articleNew Book Explains How to Create “Steady Work” in Unsteady Times with Standardized Work Cadences
In Steady Work, the new book from the Lean Enterprise Institute, author and former Starbucks’ Regional Manager Karen Gaudet offers…
Read articleWorking During an Outbreak; What We Can Learn for Later
During this pandemic, Trader Joe’s is demonstrating several hallmarks of lean thinking that help keep employees and customers safe--and creates…
Read articleReimagining the Restaurant Industry in a Post-COVID-19 World
The impact of COVID-19 has proven how ill-prepared we are to deal with crises. It’s time for hospitality businesses like…
Read articleWhat do I do when key logistics employees are afraid to come to work?
Dear Gemba Coach: What do I do when key logistics employees are afraid to come to work?
Read articleAsk Art: How Does Lean Bring the Customer Directly Onto the Shop Floor?
The lean approach reduces setup times, creates flow, improves quality, lowers cost and drastically shortens lead times, says Art Byrne,…
Read articleWhat should I expect as a lean manager?
Dear Gemba Coach: I’m currently a team leader, and I’ve been offered a job as a lean manager – what…
Read articleShould I be worried that management is buying software for virtual gemba walks?
Dear Gemba Coach: A consultant is selling us “virtual gemba walks” software to schedule gemba visits with a “leader standardized…
Read articleThe Courage to be Lean
A meaningful purpose is not what you are doing or how you are doing it, argue Joanna McGuffey and Tom…
Read articleAsk Art: What Are the Most Important Management Changes Needed to Implement A Lean Turnaround?
Lean thinking requires a totally different mindset than traditional management, argues lean veteran Art Byrne. This is probably the most…
Read articleThe Value of A Visual Schedule is Developing Shared Understanding
People closest to the work should understand it best, so they are in the best position to share what the…
Read articleShare Best Thinking Rather than Best Practices
Lean Coach Karen Gaudet argues that Best Practices don't always align with Best Thinking, and suggests that "the next time…
Read articleHow Ron Kelner Helped Build A System of Improvement at Deublin
In this podcast, Deublin COO Ron Kelner shares with Josh Howell the long learning journey of his company as it…
Read articleWhy We Believe that Pull Flows Are Too Often Overlooked
In this incisive series of articles on the essential value of pulled flow, the lean sensei women argue, in the…
Read articleWorking Hard…For One Minute
Anyone who doubts the ability of their people to work hard in enacting change--or who blames problems on their "people"…
Read articleAsk Art: What Happens When Standard Cost Accounting Meets Takt Time?
Trying to become a lean enterprise while retaining traditional standard cost accounting is an exercise in futility. It was developed…
Read articleHow can kanban be useful in software since we never produce the same part twice?
Dear Gemba Coach: How can kanban be useful in software since we never produce the same part twice?
Read article29. What’s the problem: A conversation with Pat Greco on transforming education through rapid problem solving
Pat Greco In 2011, Dr. Pat Greco began as the superintendent of the Menomonee Falls School District in Wisconsin. She faced no shortage…
Listen to podcastCan a manufacturer use lean management to advance its environmental and social sustainability strategy?
Dear Gemba Coach: Can a manufacturer use lean to advance its environmental and social sustainability strategy?
Read article28. Coachable: Creating the Environment for Effective Coaching
December 23, 2019Featuring: Deborah McGee and Jeff SmithAs this series continues to explore the implications and dynamic of “coaching” in a…
Listen to podcastThe Hard Work of Making Hard Work Easier
We persevere by struggling to overcome the challenges of hard work, argues Mark Reich. And, he says it is also…
Read articleGrit, PDCA, Lean and other four-letter words
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the nature of what author Angela Duckworth calls Grit. She defines grit as a…
Read article26. On the Job: A conversation with Dr. Lynn Kelley about sustaining change at Union Pacific
Dr. Lynn Kelley was hired by Union Pacific to lead the introduction of the “UP Way” company-wide. The UP Way…
Listen to podcastWhat Ever Happened to Mura?
If we really want to dig down into the root causes of waste, we need to bring the two lost…
Read article25. What’s the Problem: A conversation with Matt Lovejoy on how LEI is trying to create more lean thinkers coming out of university
How do we create more Lean Thinkers? That is the problem we address in today’s podcast with Matt Lovejoy, Chairman…
Listen to podcastOU ISE students use ‘Lean Thinking’ to improve operations, optimize space at Humble Design warehouse
The first grant from a new scholarship fund established by the Boston-based nonprofit Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI) is helping Midwest…
Read article21. On the Job: Discovering Strategy by Doing the WORK, a conversation with Dave Brunt, CEO of the Lean Enterprise Academy in the UK
In a conversation across the Atlantic LEI’s president, Josh Howell, talks to the Lean Enterprise Academy’s CEO, Dave Brunt, about…
Listen to podcastLean at Heart: Kanban
The underlying principles of lean can be found everywhere in daily life. In this article Masia Goodman identifies examples of…
Read articleWhy We Believe that Lean is More Than A Manufacturing Approach
Is Lean thinking a thing of the past from glorious manufacturing times in the late twentieth century? Or, on the…
Read article18. What’s the Problem: An Interview with GE Appliance’s Rich Calvaruso on Solving Problems through Improving the Work
An Interview with GE Appliance’s Rich Calvaruso on Solving Problems through Improving the Work
Listen to podcastIs my new boss right that applying standardized work is the foundation of lean?
Dear Gemba Coach: My new boss is a lean fanatic crazy about standards. He’s created a new team to audit…
Read articleThe Dark Side of Concurrent Engineering
One of the fastest ways to reduce development lead time from concept to market is to work concurrently. But as…
Read articleHow Are You Supporting Your Own Lean Transformation?
When someone in our organization complains about something we hand them a Kaizen card, shares Lisa Yerian of the Cleveland…
Read articleFeeling the Gemba Magic
After months of work at the gemba with his factory manager helping line workers grapple with problems, CEO Nicolas Chartier…
Read articleCalling a Time-Out for Coaches
What's the most effective approach to coaching? Lean coaches Mark Reich and Laura Mottola share practical approaches that include methods…
Read articleAny advice for a team with a new boss who doesn’t know lean but wants us to switch to agile instead?
Dear Gemba Coach: We have a new boss who doesn’t know lean and is asking our lean team to switch…
Read articleTales Of Lean, Chapter One: Facing the Problem
What is the best way for a lean coach to support and guide her team? In this fictional tale of…
Read articleTalking About Lean: How Leaders Support Improvement With Words and Actions
In this comprehensive series of reflections, Lean Coach David Verble examines how the way managers and leaders talk to employees…
Read articleCost Saving is Tired–Value Creation is Hot!
Lean affects financial outcomes--dramatically so in firms that incorporate widespread lean thinking over the long term, says LEI Chair Jean…
Read articleCutting Carbon Emissions and Product Costs Through Lean Product and Process Development
As the need to reduce carbon emissions becomes clearer, the need to understand the impact and consciously consider it during…
Read articleNot So Simple: Pioneering Lean Product Development
Jean Cunningham, LEI’s executive chair, offers lessons from her time as CFO of lean management pioneer Lantech when it successfully…
Read articleVSM and Toyota Kata
Give us 20 years and we'll learn a lot! This month's Kata SlideShare features perspectives from Mike Rother and Jeff…
Watch videoWhat Do Managers Do?
After walking the gemba with sensei Hideshi Yokoi, Matt Savas learned three basic agreements between workers and management, and shared…
Read articleWhat’s different about implementing lean in a low-volume, high-variety environment?
Dear Gemba Coach: I manage a plant that makes highly engineered, low-volume products. What do I have to do differently…
Read articleHow Accounting “Squirrels” Can Ferret Out Waste
While other functions are busy as beavers looking for waste during a lean transformation, your accounting staff is like a…
Read articleIs value engineering just about cutting costs?
Dear Gemba Coach: My boss has hired a consultant to do value engineering, who has us looking for design opportunities…
Read articleNo Mani Pedi, But Keepers Improve Elephant Foot Washing
Supporting process owners includes stepping in for zoo keepers when their better idea for washing an elephant’s foot gets rejected…
Watch videoLean Without Limits
We come up with many different types of answers that sort Lean conveniently into categories for easy understanding and storage,…
Read articleDo standards make any sense in a creative industry?
Dear Gemba Coach,Do standards make any sense in a creative industry, such as code development?
Read articleS2. Ep. 3 What Cannot Be Grown Must be Mined – What is Lean in Mining with Laura Mottola and Mark Reich
"If it cannot be grown, then it must be mined." Practically everything around you exists because of mining. From phones, to…
Listen to podcastLearning a New Skill II – The Learning Curve
This 10-minute Toyota Kata video (by Mike Boyd and his wife) is a clever visual description of the typical learning…
Watch videoShould producing products with zero defects be my top goal?
Dear Gemba Coach: Is zero defects really the first goal? The number of defects doesn’t necessarily relate to the user’s experience…
Read articleLean Production Begins with LPPD
To create a "turbo-charged product-creating machine, start by designing clear processes with useful tools and a “people first” culture--which form…
Read articleWhy We Believe People-Free Plants and Services Prevent Learning
We (Lean Sensei Women) are a group of women from different continents, horizons, and professions who share a commitment to…
Read articleSoliciting Suggestions in Ways That Don’t Backfire
Sometimes well-intentioned lean activities like asking for suggestions can backfire; Cheryl Jekiel shares specific ways to prevent mishandling ideas from…
Read articleWe get good results with kaizen, but why don’t they stick?
Dear Gemba Coach: Our teams have good results with kaizen, but nothing seems to stick for long – any advice?
Read articleStandardized Work or Kaizen? Yes
Some lean folks LOVE to quote the Taiichi Ohno observation that “there is no kaizen without standards," notes John Shook,…
Read article“What Did I Transform Today?”
A lean approach to coaching is incomplete if nothing has changed for the better, says Josh Howell, who shares how…
Read article“Roll”-ing Out Lean at Kura Sushi
Self-professed "lean geek" Katie Anderson has eaten several meals at Kura Sushi restaurants and shares her observations on what she…
Read articleDeveloping Meta-Habits at Baptist Memorial Memphis Hospital Emergency Department
After teeing up a problem in the Baptist Memorial Memphis Hospital ED using a Kata routine, Nursing Manager Melanie Mays…
Read articleAsk Art: What’s Wrong with Organizing By Function?
While you might be able to survive and be profitable using a traditional functional structure the fact is that you…
Read articleCardboard, Duct Tape, and String: The Do-First Mindset & Meaning of Kaizen
Whatever field you work in, if you are responsible for kaizen in your company, strive for making quick changes in…
Read articleAs Toast Kaizen Turns 20, Bruce Hamilton Shares How This Famous Video Came About
Watch this "director's cut" video by Bruce Hamilton sharing the backstory behind what has become a classic lean resource: Toast…
Read articleLeadership and Having an Effective Plan
You wouldn’t want to be known as a source of “fake news” but are you practicing
Read articleYes, Lean is About Cost Reduction
Why focus on cost reduction? Because many of the cost-saving kaizens of are simpler and require less engineering resources, and…
Read articleTending the Roots of Lean with Lean Farmer Ben Hartman
Matt Savas shares the Lean roots found at Ben Hartman's Clay Bottom Farm in Goshen, Indiana, illustrating the many ways…
Read articleLessons from Japan: Day Four
On day four of the Lean Learning tour in Japan, the participants share their lessons, which are tied to this…
Read articleLessons from Japan: Day Two
A group of lean learners are touring world-class enterprises in Japan; here are postcards capturing their daily lessons gleaned from…
Read articleValue Stream Walk, Management Walk or….Just Walking Around?
Gemba Walks can raise consciousness about problems and the possibilities for dramatic improvements, says Jim Womack. Or they can serve…
Read articlePractical Tips for Re-Engaging People with a Suggestion System
Companies, responding to surveys showing that a troubling number of people are disengaged at work, respond with perks like nap…
Read articleAre You Managing By The Right Numbers?
Knowing the key metrics to track will help you and your team start your learning journey, says Tracey Richardson. She…
Read articleWhy don’t I see any significant performance improvement from obeya rooms?
Dear Gemba Coach: We’ve deployed obeyas all across our organization, but I can’t see any significant improvement in our results.…
Read articleLean Roundup: Respect for People
Respect for People is one of the most abstract and yet most concrete tenets of lean, a guiding principle that…
Read articleWhy does no one ask about production flow anymore?
Dear Gemba Coach: As I read lean posts and papers, no one seems to have problems like this anymore, but…
Read articleEP. 6 Fighting Poverty with Lean Product/Process Development at MIT D-Lab
D-Lab at MIT is using LPPD thinking to help solve problems in the developing world, and are truly making the…
Listen to podcastValuing The Tradition of Learning and Sharing Lean: a new WLEI Podcast
This new WLEI podcast, recorded live at the 2018 summit, features a panel discussion with Jim Womack and three lean…
Watch videoWhy do you keep referring to Toyota; does it still matter?
Dear Gemba Coach: I’m very interested in lean, but fail to see why you guys keep referring to Toyota. What does…
Read articleIs kanban relevant to office work?
Dear Gemba Coach: I understand that kanban is an important part of lean, but I work in an office environment,…
Read articleAndon Cues Service Center to Respond to Customer Queue
An Ohio Mutual service center has no andon cord to stop a production line but the principal is the same…
Read articleHow do I fix our main delivery processes — again?
Dear Gemba Coach: I’m part of a large logistics organization and our on-time-delivery is simply disastrous. We’ve done a first…
Read articleUnique Industries Continue to Share and Learn from their Common Challenges: Fall 2017 LPPD Learning Group Activity
The Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI) organized the second Lean Product and Process Development (LPPD) Learning Group event of 2017, which…
Read articleThe Lean Farm: Better Food, Productivity, and Profits — with Less Work
Farming may be the next industry ripe for disruption. For example, Ben Hartman grew up on a 500-acre corn and…
Read articleBe a Better Coach: Learn to “Force” Your Team to Reflect, Part 1
Sustaining a lean thinking culture requires consistent leadership and coaching that reinforces expected behaviors and practices. Here’s an example of…
Read articleThe 5 Diseases of Prioritization
Prioritization is rarely a problem by itself. Instead, it’s a symptom of a set of illnesses: Swervy, Thickets, Costeoporosis, Planemia,…
Read articleLean 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…
Watch videoHow Do I Tell Good Obeya Rooms From Bad?
Dear Gemba Coach: Obeyas are popping up everywhere in our organization, and I don’t know what to look for to…
Read article7 Elements of Quality on the Shop Floor
"How do you lean out a quality approach that can work on the shop floor (maybe even compatible in a…
Read articleThe Lean Bakery: A Q&A with 365’s Staff
In their first interview with The Lean Post, Leo and Agus Tena, children of the authors of the new LEI…
Read articleWhat Too Many Leaders Get Wrong with Coaching Kata
Think you can dive headfirst into Coaching Kata with your direct reports? Think again.
Read articleIt Starts Within: The Lean Journey of CI&T
The lean transformation of Brazilian tech company CI&T was unique in that it began with an implementation of hoshin kanri.…
Read articleIs There a Tradeoff Between Employee Morale and Productivity?
"Is there a tradeoff between employee morale and productivity?" is a question oft-discussed in lean circles. Ken Eakin has his…
Read articleWhy Bother Making It Visual?
What to do when you need to make the work visible, but your people aren't behind it? Leslie Barker has…
Read articleAsk Art: “Do lean conversions actually go smoothly, like in the books?”
Art Byrne receives many inquiries from people wondering whether lean transformations really are as smooth as they seem in books,…
Read articleBack to Basics: Jim Womack on Why You Should Never Create an A3 Alone
In this eletter from 2008, Jim Womack (in honor of the then-recent publication of "Managing to Learn") shares invaluable advice…
Read articleWhat lean concepts are most difficult to teach?
Dear Gemba Coach: In your experience of teaching lean, what do you find most difficult to teach?
Read articleFollow-up Webinar Q&A with Jim Lancaster, Lantech CEO and author of the Work of Management
"The Real Work of Management" webinar drew an engaged audience that wanted to know more about the daily management system…
Read articleWhy do lean management experts differ on how to apply lean principles?
Dear Gemba Coach: I’ve worked with several managers who worked at Toyota or Toyota suppliers who were considered experts in…
Read articleThe 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…
Read articleYou can do a lot by doing a few things
"Developing a good strategy and actually executing it is really hard," writes Leslie Barker. "What I didn’t fully realize was…
Read articleWant to Be a Better Leader and Coach? Listen to Yourself
Conduct this simple two-step analysis to learn whether you’re practicing the communication behavior that encourages a culture of engagement and…
Read articleLeaders’ Actions Speak, but Their Talk Matters Too
How leaders talk to employees can either help or hurt efforts to create and sustain a culture of engagement and…
Read articleI’ll Follow You into the Dark…
We all know that lean transformations can happen in any industry or environment. But have you ever thought about a…
Read articleHow a Retailer’s Distribution Center Exemplifies the Lean Precept “Respect for People,” and Reaps the Benefits
To make sure training engaged and resonated with people after previous attempts at a lean transformation faltered, LifeWay matched lean…
View case studyWhen Do You Stop Learning?
Lean is about learning continuously and asking the right questions, not just providing answers. But, Orry Fiume wonders, does the…
Read articleToyota Kata Practice – Run Charts
Tony Webster provides an excellent 15-minute video guide for creating and using run charts, which are an essential practice in…
Watch videoHow Lean Changed My Work: Lean Without Knowing It
Last month LEI sent out an email asking the lean community how lean changed their work. For Jeremy Venable of…
Read articleTechnology-Driven Improvement Initiatives (and Other Amazing Magic Tricks)
"In my experience, projects based on the scientific method are more likely to succeed than projects focused primarily on Information…
Read articleWhat Too Many Lean Leaders Forget about Gemba Walks
Lean Coach Darren Walsh of the UK's Lean Enterprise Academy has seen many lean leaders make a troubling, yet highly…
Read articleDo You Own Your Lean Learning?
LEI COO and Toyota veteran Mark Reich is back with a new series on the role of consultants and OpEx…
Read articleAsk Art: Is there a formula to predict or evaluate the success of a lean implementation?
Art Byrne is often asked how to best measure the success of a lean transformation -- but does such a…
Read articleLive Updates from the 2017 Lean Transformation Summit: Day One
Another Summit is here! This year we're in beautiful, sunny Carlsbad, Cali. reporting the latest. Tune in today to learn…
Read articleWhat’s a good “small step” to start off my LPPD transformation? A Q&A with Katrina Appell
A lean product and process development transformation may seem daunting, but all you really need to get started is a…
Read articleA Sweeter Type of Lean
In one memorable lean project, Carlos Moretti found himself assisting a Brazilian sugar-cane supplier for the ethanol industry with a…
Read articleAdvice from the Gemba: TPS Mythbusting
Despite its fundamental role in a lean transformation, the Toyota Production System is not an easy thing for many to…
Read articleAdvice from the Gemba: Best Tips for Designing a Work Experience
When designing a work experience, the benefits of having an experienced coach to guide you cannot be overstated. In this…
Read articleFrom Chaos to Kaizen: The Visual Way
In another of his visual depictions of the fundamentals of lean, Andrew Quibell illustrates the process of transforming a chaos-plagued…
Read articleExperiential Change: Using PDCA to craft a new department structure
"In January 2016 the Human Resources department at the University of Michigan Health System (UMHS) was restructured into a High-Impact…
Read articleWhat 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…
Read articleThrustmaster Comes Around
The following Lean Enterprise Institute case study reveals how Thrustmaster of Texas successfully adopted lean thinking and practices to make…
View case studyFresh Baked Lean: The Story of 365 Café’s Lean Transformation
When you think of environments for a lean transformation, does a bakery come to mind? Probably not, but growing pains-plagued…
Watch videoFresh Baked Lean: The Story of Cafe365’s Lean Transformation
When you think of environments for a lean transformation, does a bakery come to mind? Probably not, but growing pains-plagued…
Watch video“Simple Ain’t Easy”
The essence of lean is simplicity, argues Orry Fiume, a theme that applies not only to great organizations, but great…
Read articleAsk Art: How is lean the opposite of everything people have been trained to do?
Art Byrne explains why, and how, lean practice is the opposite of what most people have learned about work in…
Read articleHow We A3 at Goodyear
Just as lean is situational, A3s are situational too - companies like Goodyear have a variety of types of A3s…
Read articleMaking Things Better – Visual Value in Health Information Management
Have you ever struggled to make "invisible work" visual for your leadership? Laura Shue of the University of Michigan Health…
Read articleMaking Things Better – 5S-ing the Community
Do you use any lean tools to make your community a better place? Tony Heath has, ever since he was…
Read articleMaking Things Better – Engineering Isn’t Always Right
"Have you noticed a tendency at your company to automatically take Engineering's advice?" writes Gary Stewart of Fiat-Chrysler. "If you…
Read articleDoes respect for humanity mean the same as respect for people?
Dear Gemba Coach: Does respect for humanity mean the same as respect for people? I hear that the literal translation…
Read articleWhat Do I Tell My Leaders When Experiments Fail?
When experiments fail, it's natural for a leadership team to get nervous. But in the context of lean, they shouldn't…
Read articleAsk Art: People are Nervous about Too Much Change, Can I Lead Lean Incrementally?
Resistance to change is a classic part of lean transformation, and it's not uncommon to see efforts to skirt around…
Read articleWhat is leader standard work?
Dear Gemba Coach: Is there such thing as a leader standard work, and, if so, what is it?
Read articleDo we need more research to understand what works and what doesn’t when implementing lean healthcare?
Dear Gemba Coach: There are controversies over whether lean/TPS works in healthcare or not. Authorities in lean practice suggest conducting…
Read articleThe Crucible of Innovation
Innovation is key to a successful successful development project, we always read. But innovation is a fickle term that gets…
Read articleWaste in Process: Squeeze Before You Lean
"It seems intuitive to start applying lean to our processes, right?" writes Andrew Quibell. "Maybe so, but all that says…
Read articleAsk Art: Is There More to Becoming Lean than Conducting Kaizen Events?
Kaizen events may be a key part of lean transformation, but they're certainly not the only aspect of it. They're…
Read articleWe’re installing an andon system – what should we expect?
Dear Gemba Coach: We’re installing an andon system – what should we expect?
Read articleMining Gold and Improvement Ideas at Kinross
Unless it changed how it did business, the fluctuating price of gold would determine the fate of Kinross, a Nevada…
Read articleThe Hidden Waste in Inspection
When looking for areas of muda, your inspection department probably isn't the first place that comes to mind. But you…
Read articleLean + Circular Principals = a New True North for Manufacturer
SunPower's lean journey resembled most others until it defined a new mission, a new True North. The mission statement changed…
View case studyI’m struggling to understand exactly what people mean by a “lean system”?
Dear Gemba Coach: I’m struggling to understand exactly what people mean by a “lean system”?
Read articleIt’s Not All About the Data on Value-Stream Maps: An Interview with Judy Worth
Data is a critical component of value-stream mapping. But it's not the only component you should be concerned about. All…
Read articleDo You Have a Capacity Problem or Flow Problem?
"Sometimes it’s hard to pinpoint the exact root cause of a problem," writes Adam Hillsamer of Arnett Hospital in Indiana,…
Read articleKaizen Means You Care
"Lean leaders, and lean consultants (like me), often talk about the organizational benefits of kaizen: lower costs, bigger profits, shorter…
Read articleValue Stream Mapping in a Product Development Context: A Q&A with John Drogosz
Lean Product and Process Development Senior Coach John Drogosz answers countless questions about LPPD every day. Now, in his first…
Read articleSmall Batch: Hand-Picked Articles from the Global Lean Community (Vol. 8)
Our picks for the best high-impact learning stories and columns from Planet Lean.
Read articleCarrington on Kata
This video explains how practicing the Improvement and Coaching Kata creates a culture where everyone feels part of a team…
Watch videoChange Management: Is it Necessary?
"There are varying views on the role of change management in a lean transformation," writes Katrina Appell. In her latest…
Read articleCreating New Value and a Lesson in Fundamentals
After a recent trip to Toyota's headquarters in Japan, Jim Morgan made an epiphany about the Toyota Production System and…
Read articleProblem? What Problem?
"Whether using A3s, the 5 Whys, DMAIC, Value Stream Mapping, or any other problem-solving methodology, many organizations don’t spend the…
Read articleThe Value of Key Performance Indicators in a Lean Transformation
We all know to watch out for key performance indicators (KPIs) in the workplace - but are you tracking the…
Read articleWhy and How to Engage Finance in a Lean Transformation. An Interview with Jean Cunningham
There's often a disconnect between an organization's lean and finance departments, especially when a lean transformation is underway. In her…
Read articleKata Puts the “Continuous” in Continuous Improvement
In this 6-minute video, Drew Locher of Change Management Associates makes the 'Case for Kata’ by explaining what it takes…
Watch videoLet’s Stop Being Hypocrites: Work is Work
"We often talk about knowledge workers as though they need to be treated differently from shop floor workers," writes Dan…
Read articleHabits for Continuous Learning and Improvement
What routines can you practice to develop a culture -- a habit -- of continuous improvement? The Improvement Kata and…
Watch videoSmall Batch: Hand-Picked Articles from the Global Lean Community (Vol. 5)
Our picks for the best high-impact learning stories and columns from Planet Lean.
Read articleUsing A3 Thinking to Solve Recruiting Problems: An interview with Gavin Martin
It's a shame that A3s are often thought of as being meant to solve manufacturing problems. The reality is they…
Read articlePractical Guidance for Using Humble Inquiry in PDCA Problem Solving and Coaching
David Verble, a Toyota veteran and LEI faculty member, explains to lean coaches and continuous improvement professionals why "Humble Inquiry"…
Read articleHow and Where Should I Start Using Andons?
Dear Gemba Coach: I understand the andon is an essential part of a lean system, but it seems very far…
Watch videoIs your obeya room used for real learning or as a glorified action plan?
Dear Gemba Coach: How can I use an obeya for learning rather than for project management?
Read articleGemba, workplace, genchi genbutsu, go-and-see … What’s the difference?
Dear Gemba Coach: Is there a difference between “gemba” as used in lean texts and “genchi genbutsu” as they appear…
Read articleStart Up By Diving Deep
"The important thing is answering some fairly core questions about your business before spending time and money developing solutions," write…
Read articleToyota Partners with Nonprofit to Rebuild Homes and Lives
When the flood waters of Hurricane Katrina receded, they uncovered tens of thousands of ruined homes in devastated areas like…
View case studySafety Through Gemba
"When I do a gemba walk, I don’t necessarily ask questions about safety," writes Brian Fitzpatrick (a director of Health…
Read articleLeadership Stories From One of Lean’s Fastest Growing Communities of Practice
On the heels of the Lean Healthcare Summit earlier this month in Dallas, Texas, we've gathered three stories in which…
Read articleSerious Games
Boaz Tamir (President of Lean Institute Israel) and lean coach Smadar Cohen Isvoranu share their reflections on a recent lean…
Read articleRedefining Work
We need to think about redefining work. Until we – anyone who wishes to bring about organizational change – redefine…
Read articleWhy Lean Fails in Job Shops… and What to Do to Succeed
Like many job shop owners, LEI faculty member Greg Lane struggled with implementing lean principles early on. The experiences and…
Read articleLet the Work Define the Process
We’re all short on time, but think for a moment with your team about the real work to be done…
Read articleWhat it Takes to Share One’s Wisdom: A Q&A with Tracey Richardson
"When you make a decision to change the way you do business, it should hold you accountable for certain leadership…
Read articleWhy Coaching is the Hardest Job I’ve Ever Had
"In 2011 a new term entered my company... we went 'lean'," writes Kasey Corbishley. "The office buzzed with anxiety as…
Read articleEnabling Change Through the Power of Story
Roberto Priolo, editor of Planet Lean, shares why not just reflection, but writing (and storytelling) is so helpful for the…
Read articleKaizen Event “Malpractice” and What to Do About It
Performed properly, kaizen events create the technical and cultural foundation for daily continuous improvement. Performed improperly, they can get you…
Watch videoThe Hidden Benefit to A3 Thinking
"A3 thinking helps us think, solve problems, and strategize," writes José Ferro. "But it also helps us calm down, concentrate,…
Read articleGetting a Jump on Unplanned Changes
Andrew Quibbell, veteran of the auto industry, uses graphic recording to share lean concepts. Here's a visual of how Quibbell…
Read articleTPS 2.0?
Jim Morgan and Jeffrey Liker chime in on Toyota's announcement of their TNGA program (Toyota New Global Architecture). "The impetus…
Read articleFrom Victim to Partner: The Evolution of a Manufacturing Development System
"Excellence in product development is not 'an engineering thing'; it is an enterprise thing," writes Jim Morgan. And it's helpful…
Read articleLeadership Without Giving Solutions (from a Fire Fighter’s Perspective)
LEI faculty member Greg Lane shares a lean coaching story from his own life, in which he finds himself advising…
Read articleBuilding as Product
"A building project, although it has many different moving parts and players, is a product. It’s a uniquely different product…
Read articleWhy Leadership Needs to Drive the Bus
"Lean change can start from the bottom-up, I won’t say that it can’t, but the situation needs to flip quickly…
Read articleSam MacPherson on the Green Beret Way to Develop Leaders
Training leaders to perform at high levels during a lean transformation or in the Army’s vaunted Green Berets has more…
Read articleThe Obstacle is the Path
Deborah McGee, LEI's Learning Activities Manager, reflects on the most common obstacles she sees people facing when they first try…
Read articleLessons Learned from My Lean Sensei about “Customer Service”
"To 'get' Lean we have to change our specs, and no longer see processes as sequences of dependent tasks, but…
Read articleHow do I set up an obeya room?
Dear Gemba Coach: I’d like to set up an obeya room – where should I start? What’s the simplest way…
Read articleToo Busy to Improve
"The number of people I meet who tell me, 'I don’t have time to make improvements to my work,' amazes…
Read articleYou Can’t Kaizen Chaos
LEI coach Danielle Blais shares why she believes lean thinking means little without practice, explains the importance of stable work…
Read articleThe Angry Team Member and the Changing Organization
Toyota veteran and lean coach Lesa Nichols reflects on one of the most challenging and ultimately rewarding conversations she had…
Read articleGTS6 + E3 = DNA (Break the Code for Standardization, Sustainability, and Kaizen)
There's no "formula" for doing Lean well, but there are principles and practices that keep you on track. Read Tracey…
Read articleInnovation at Smartphone Speed
Ever wonder what it takes to make those smartphone chips? Learn how IBM continuously improves smartphone technology using lean thinking…
Read articleWhat Experience Tells Me About How Change Happens
Dave LaHote reflects on his earliest experiences learning lean thinking and practice. "We all became increasingly better at making improvements…
Read articleJim Morgan on What It Takes to Transform An Organization’s Product Development System
Jim Morgan, Senior Advisor for Product and Process Development at LEI, shares his view of what's required for organizations to…
Read articleHow To Get Out of the Habit of Telling
How do we get out of the habit of just “fixing” the immediate problem at hand ourselves (or telling others…
Read articleHow can I train technical experts who know more about the work than I do?
Dear Gemba Coach: I understand I have to train people, but I work in a very technical area and they…
Read articleFront-loading Product Development
Anyone in product development is familiar with the agony of late-stage changes, sometimes called loopbacks. The common advice to head…
Read articleI’m a six sigma black belt and have now been ask to do lean. I’m not sure where to start with my team. Any advice?
Dear Gemba Coach,I’m a six sigma black belt and have now been ask to do lean. I’m reading the literature…
Read articlePDCA is the Breath of Lean
"PDCA is to Lean what breathing is to human beings," writes Mark Donovan. This is why it's important to practice…
Read articleAccidental Soccer Coach
When she's not working on graphic design projects, LEI's own Lory Moniz now coaches her son's soccer team. The assignment…
Read articleRemembering Jim Harbour
"We in the Lean Community stand on a lot of shoulders. One broad pair belonged to Jim Harbour, who passed…
Read articleAre We “Doing Lean” All Wrong?
"Somewhere in Ohio is a small healthcare management company that is the best Lean company, EVER," says Brent Wahba. Why?…
Read articleWhat? My Pull System Is Supposed to Fail?
Dear Gemba Coach: We’ve given up on installing a pull system – every time we try, our on time delivery…
Read articleThe 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…
Read articlePut Your Strategy on a Diet
"When it comes to goal setting in most organizations, 'Just one more…' seems to be the compulsion," writes Pascal Dennis.…
Read articleOn Coaching
I'm a long-time fan of Brasilian futbol (or as some of us call it, soccer). This World Cup, I've been…
Read articleTHE JEFF LIKER KATA INTERVIEW
This month's post is an inspiring 20-minute video that anyone involved in Lean will find beneficial. On the 10th anniversary…
Watch videoIt’s About Best Practicing
"Just like practicing to learn to play an instrument, practicing the Improvement Kata helps us learn to view uncertainty more…
Read articleOne Idea for Improving Hospital Emergency Room Care
Sami Bahri, dentist and author of "Follow the Learner: The Role of a Leader in Creating a Lean Culture," suggests…
Read articleWe found your visit rather challenging … does “real” lean have to be such a struggle?
Dear Gemba Coach: The question I’m facing internally is whether “real” lean needs to be that challenging or is there…
Read article“How ThedaCare Created Its Own Management System”, Follow-Up Q&A
Kim Barnas, author of Beyond Heroes: A Lean Management System for Healthcare, answers questions that we couldn't get to during…
Read articleChallenge: Understand and Adapt for Sales Pace Growth
It's our first Lean Challenge post! Come up with a plan to help a machining business deal with the technical…
Read articleWhat’s the main quality I should look out for in hiring a lean coach?
Dear Gemba Coach: I’m in the process of hiring a Lean Coach for my team and I wondered if there…
Read articleLong-term Organizational Health or Sugar High?
"We know 'flavor-of-the-month' initiatives can't be the focus of a lean leader," writes Bob Miller of the Shingo Institute. So…
Read articleThe Difference a Visual Cue Makes
At work and off the clock, visual cues and andons keep us safe and aware of what's going on at…
Read articleReal Concurrent Engineering: Developing Engineers and Products Simultaneously
Jim Morgan and Durward Sobek compare and contrast Lean with traditional product and process development.
Watch videoAre You Making Enough Mistakes?
How comfortable are you making mistakes? Do you make it safe for your team members to make mistakes? Boaz Tamir,…
Read articleImprovement for the Sake of Improvement Means Nothing
"We need to dig deep to understand why we do what we do and question whether it really provides value…
Read articleUsing Lean To Fundamentally Rethink How We Develop Products and Services
Jim Morgan (former Global Engineering Director at Ford Motor Company) and Durward Sobek (Professor of Industrial Engineering at Montana State…
Watch videoLearning Through Struggle
LEI coach Danielle Blais reflects on one of the most frustrating (and ultimately, most rewarding) coaching moments she's experienced so…
Read articleUsing Lean to Take Farming to the Next Level in Denmark
"When you start to think and work systematically with Lean (rather than just off the cuff), looking for waste becomes…
Read articleHow to Handle Fire Fighting, Process Averse Cultures, Naysayers, and More
Summit attendees hosted their own conversations on lean thinking and practice last week, identifying challenges and opportunities for Lean within…
Read articleHow a Problem-Solving Culture Takes Root
Changing one's own leadership behaviors is no easy task, but it can be done. Leaders can shift away from giving…
Read articleStarting Up, Growing Up, and Starting Over
In an essay first published in Gemba Walks (2nd Ed) and adapted for the Post, LEI founder and thought leader…
Read articleIf I turn off MRP in favor of kanban, will the factory collapse around us?
Dear Gemba Coach: Our sensei wants us to turn off MRP and work with kanban cards. I’m really nervous about…
Read articleLean Transformation Starts with a Learning Culture
After attending a Lean Applied to Sales seminar, Tina Roach and Pete Mangan of ProMed Molded Products knew they needed…
Read articleWhy do you lean experts still revere the Toyota Production System? Hasn’t any one come up with something better?
Dear Gemba Coach,Since Toyota formulated TPS 50 years ago, many other companies have come up with their own business systems…
Read articleHow to Develop Lean Leaders and Still Get Work Done
Three years ago the leadership team at Cardinal Health asked LEI to help them create a program specifically designed to…
Read articleThe Question All Healthcare Leaders Should be Asking Themselves
Lean healthcare expert Mark Graban takes a common problem he sees again and again in hospitals (errors with hourly rounds…
Read articleWhat To Do When Executives Think Continuous Improvement Smells Fishy
Top executives are smart, but they don't always see the value of continuous improvement efforts. And continuous improvement professionals don't…
Read articleGetting the Most Out of the 5 Whys
Are your 5 Whys leading you to dead ends? Emmanuel Jallas has some advice on how to really get to…
Read articleAsk Art: Will Lean Work for a Distributor?
Pairing distribution companies with Lean may seem counterintuitive to some. However author of The Lean Turnaround, Art Byrne, says this…
Read articleOne Year Later, How Toyota Has Helped Hurricane Sandy Relief Efforts
There are few processes that are more critical to get right than those involved in disaster relief. Check out how…
Read articleAre You Playing Today’s Game or Yesterday’s?
Are your coaching sessions with your staff inspiring 3-pointers or are they all air? LEI coach Josh Howell has some…
Read articleA Lean Leap of Faith
Michael Ballé reflects on a core assumption of Lean that is often disregarded and explains why it is worth taking…
Read articleThe Hunt for Alligator Eggs
"Like alligator eggs, problems often start small. If you wait a while and ignore them, those eggs hatch," writes Ellis…
Read articleLean Starts With the Need to Achieve
"The first step in a lean implementation is to identify employees with an intense desire to achieve," writes lean practitioner…
Read articleThe Faster We Go, the Behind-er We Get
Speed to market is not just about doing things faster. It’s about taking the time to do things more intentionally.…
Read articleAlice Lee on the Challenges and Rewards of Applying Lean to Healthcare
Alice Lee, VP of Business Transformation at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, discusses BIDMC's unique application of lean…
Watch videoA Good Night’s Sleep
How often do you find yourself jumping to a solution without understanding the problem? If we're really interested in solving…
Read articleStarting Points for Different Value Streams
No lean transformation story is the same. Read Dan Jones's take on gaining traction for lean learning within your organization…
Read articleWhy aren’t the laws of lean articulated?
Dear Gemba Coach: Aren’t there laws of lean, just as there are laws of physics? And why aren’t these clearly…
Read articleWhy don’t middle managers practice A3 thinking?
Dear Gemba Coach: I’m a lean consultant, and have been hired by a large service organization to develop an A3…
Read articlePart 2: What is the best lean way to understand VALUE (in terms of what our customers want)?
Dear Gemba Coach, What is the best lean way to understand VALUE (in terms of what our customers want)
Read articleDeveloping a Problem-Solving Culture at Herman Miller: An Interview with Lean Practitioners George Mason and Dan Bos
In this interview from the Lean Coaching Summit in December 2012, George Mason, a Herman Miller Performance System (HMPS) manager,…
Read articleWho 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…
Read articleHow do I convince senior management to visit the shop floor?
Dear Gemba Coach: How do I convince my senior management to get interested in our kaizen projects? In fact, how…
Read articleHelpful Coaching? Part One: Who Says What’s Helpful?
David Verble, a lean practitioner and Lean Enterprise Institute faculty member, offers advice for what kind of coaching is helpful…
Read articleWho Owns Your A3? (Part One)
LEI Director of Strategy and Operations Mark Reich shares how he learned a key lesson from his time at Toyota:…
Read articleAsking Effective Questions: The Foundation of Coaching with Margie Hagene
Lean Enterprise Institute faculty member Margie Hagene offers tips for using the four types of questions -- humble, diagnostic, prompting,…
Watch videoCoaches coaching coaches
The Olympics are always great fun. It is inspiring to see human performance taken to such astounding levels. Watching the…
Read articleWhat Is Your Purpose? Who Is Your Audience?
In this article, the third in a series of starting your A3, sensei David Verble suggest that you reflect more…
Read articleHow Can Our Back Office Sustain Lean?
Dear Gemba Coach: The improvement program at the back office of the bank where I am a lean facilitator is…
Read articleTHE FIVE COACHING KATA QUESTIONS
The Five Questions are a pattern and routine that's central to coaching the Improvement Kata.
Watch videoIt seems that lean these days is all about learning and coaching. What about the good ol’-fashioned just-in-time stuff of the earlier days?
Dear Gemba Coach: It seems that lean these days is all about learning and coaching. What about the good ol'-fashioned…
Read articleShould I Use Lean for Headcount Reduction?
Dear Gemba Coach: My company wants to reduce its fixed costs. And as part of this my management has asked…
Read articleHow are Assumptions Framing the Way You Do Business?
Coach Tracey Richardson shares a productive way to examine whether you are dealing with facts or assumptions at the gemba.
Read articleHow Do I Reduce Buffers To Zero?
Dear Gemba CoachI run an assembly line for service station equipment. Our product is customized for each customer so we…
Read articleCan Hospitals Reap the Deeper Benefits of Lean?
Dear Gemba Coach: As Health Systems globally wrestle with skyrocketing healthcare costs, many hospitals are jumping on the lean bandwagon,…
Read articleLean Thinking Helps City of Chula Vista with Budget Crunch
After laying off 350 employees and still facing a continuing budget shortfall, the City of Chula Vista, CA, faced a…
View case studyDenver Health Becomes Profitable After Using Toyota as a Template
In a story about the lean healthcare success at Denver Health, Governing cites five lean principles championed by the Lean…
Read articleWhy A3s Won’t Work in My Organization (Part One)
Coach Eric Ethington shares obstacles you may be encountering as you implement A3 thinking--and suggests ways to proceed.
Read articleTools Are Not the Purpose
Coach Eric Ethington shares his experience about learning how A3 thinking must always be the guiding principle when using A3…
Read articleTop athletes and singers have coaches. Should you?
Surgeon Atul Gawande explains why he got a coach and why everyone’s work would benefit from having one.
Read articleHow to Change a Culture: Lessons From NUMMI
The editors of MIT Sloan Management Review honored LEI CEO John Shook with the 2011 Beckhard Memorial Award for the…
Read articleHow 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…
Read articleMethod vs. Tool
Dear Gemba Coach: I think that TPM, JIT, SMED, Heijunka are methods and the 5S, VSM Kaizen are tools. Perhaps…
Read articleFor Lean Thinkers, “Clutch” Offers Lessons in Planning and Leading
Read an excerpt from Paul Sullivan's new book Clutch: Why Some People Excel Under Pressure and Others Don't, discussing what…
Read articleLean management case study series: Pediatric Hospital in Tough Market Pegs Growth to Lean Process Improvement
Lean improvement projects at Akron Children’s Hospital have saved millions of dollars, increased utilization of expensive assets, and reduced wait…
View case studyHow Do I Change the Culture?
Dear Gemba Coach: I come from a company quite advanced in lean and I’ve joined a new firm as technical director.…
Read articleWhy is Flow Easy, and Quality Hard?
Dear Gemba Coach: My lean team has become proficient at teaching flow but it's not gaining traction when it comes…
Read articleThe Trouble with Lean Experts
Dear Gemba Coach: I run a Lean Promotion Office (LPO) and my team mostly conducts kaizen events across the company. We…
Read articleA Fundamental Question
As I continue to visit your gemba and receive emails (over 500 and counting since I started in September), I…
Read articleLEAN = TPS {KAIZEN + RESPECT}
Dear Gemba Coach: In the webinar, you’ve defined LEAN = KAIZEN + RESPECT. Isn’t it simplistic? Is that all there is…
Read articleHow to Use Red Bins
Dear Gemba Coach: We’re having an internal debate about how to involve the quality department and how to use “red…
Read articleThe Joy of a Greenfield
Last spring on a trip to Central America, I encountered that wonderful sight for process improvers, a “greenfield”. And I…
Read articleWhat Should I Be Looking For?
Dear Gemba Coach: I’ve just started working with lean with my team, and we’re doing a value-stream mapping project with a…
Read articleStandards at workstations
Dear Gemba Coach: Our corporate production system asks us to post standard work at workstations, but we feel that the paperwork…
Read articleValue-Stream Mapping at FAA Office Improves Information Flow
Lean management principles and tools originated on the shop floor to improve manufacturing processes but in its first value-stream mapping…
Read articleShould I pursue waste elimination or lead-time reduction?
Dear Gemba Coach: We’re having a heated debate in our company over whether to pursue cost reduction through waste elimination by…
Read articleToyota Troubles: Fighting the Demons of Complexity
An interview with Professor Takahiro Fujimoto, Manufacturing Management Research Center, University of Tokyo
Read articleBack to Work
Only a month ago I wrote about going beyond Toyota. And in light of the last month's events, I suppose…
Read articleIt’s Not the Crisis; It’s How You Respond to It
He probably didn't ask for a problem of quite this magnitude, but like it or not, Akio Toyoda has his…
Read articleBeyond Toyota
Weíve won the battle of ideas on how to operate and improve processes. But creating management systems and organizations that…
Read articleSo Long 2009 – Hello 2010!
Whew, what a year! Most everyone I know is eager to escort the hard times of 2009 out the door…
Read articleHow 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…
Read articleOn Our Watch
A few weeks ago I walked through the Arsenale in Venice, which has been in continuous use for building and…
Read articleDo Managers “Get” Lean?
Dear Gemba Coach: You mentioned during the webinar that plant tours reveal how well managers 'get' lean. Can you be…
Read articleFive Missing Pieces in Your Standardized Work (Part 2 of 3)
John Shook delves more deeply into two of the five most often neglected elements, demonstrating the importance of practice and…
Read articleKaizen is Fun? Really?
Dear Gemba Coach: I have been learning lean for three years now. My question to you: How is Kaizen 'fun'? Doing…
Read articleWas NUMMI a Success?
By now you know that Toyota made its much-anticipated decision to close NUMMI. Many of my friends are saddened by…
Read articleHerman Miller’s Experiment in Excellence
With initial support from the Toyota Supplier Support Center, Herman Miller cultivates experimental thinkers who make process improvements every day.…
View case studyHow Much Control Do I Need (and Need to Give Up) to Lead?
Dear Gemba Coach: I am interested in setting up a team for implementing lean. So far I have been trying…
Read articleThe Virginia Mason Production System: So Much Waste, So Little Time
In this 53-minute video, Marnee Iseman from Virginia Mason talks about the Virginia Mason Production System to a group at…
Watch videoThe Mind of the Lean Manager
Several years ago I started to talk about the need to move beyond lean tools - including the very powerful…
Read articleThe Lean Manager (Chapter 1)
The Lean ManagerChapter OneCUSTOMERS FIRST“He’s closing the plant!”Closing the plant meant losing his job. Losing his job meant losing Malancourt.…
Read articleManaging To Learn in Sloan Management Review
John Shook discusses Managing to Learn in two Sloan Management Review articles
Read articleIs Your Technical Person a Technical Problem or a People Problem …?
John Shook discusses the need for both technical and social skills
Read articleLean Thinking in Aircraft Repair and Maintenance Takes Wing at FedEx Express
The FedEx Express lean initiative at its repair and maintenance facility at Los Angeles International Airport just began in December…
View case studyToyota, Too, Is Looking to Cut Costs
Toyota employees meet in a large "war room" at a plant in Woodstock, Ontario -- called an obeya in Japanese -- to find nearly $100…
Read articleMichikazu Tanaka of Daihatsu on “What I Learned from Taiichi Ohno”
This week (and in some future columns as well, no doubt) I’ll indulge my deep interest in the history of…
Read articleWe’re all connected and nobody is in charge
Everyone hates the “matrix”. Not the movie series, of course, but the cross-functional matrix organization. Yet, having searched for the…
Read articleLeadership Q&A: Dan Ariens, CEO of Ariens Co.
From the LEI senior executive series on lean leadership:In the late 1990s, Ariens Co.faced a blizzard of problems. The iconic…
Read articlePodcast with John S. Toussaint, MD, about Lean at ThedaCare
Mark Graban welcomes John Toussaint, MD, CEO emeritus of ThedaCare, and CEO of the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value, to…
Listen to podcastA Lean Dream…
…wouldn’t it be great to see some lean Practical Problem Solving brought to the Detroit 3 “bailout” debate in Washington?…
Read articleNo Excuses
There has been much drive-by observation of lean operations over the years. A drive-by will unveil a fair amount of…
Read articleChange in Implementation Approach Opens the Door at EMCO to Greater Gains in Less Time
Many lean thinkers ask how they can accelerate the pace of a transformation or spread it to other facilities. EMCO…
View case studyDeveloping Problem Solvers
We traditionally see an organisation as a collection of departments or activities, each managed separately and each separated from the…
Read articleA Tale of Two Business Systems
In the fall of 1990, The Machine That Changed the World forecast that 1991 or 1992 would be the moment…
Read articleMassachusetts General Looks to Lean
Northeast Proton Therapy Center uses lean principles to increase capacity to treat life-threatening diseases.
View case studyLean Consumption, Lean Provision, and Lean Solutions
Here’s some good news for the Lean Community. I was recently in Spain where I toured a facility belonging to…
Read articleThe Dramatic Spread of Lean Thinking
Without question, lean thinking was born in the factory. Then lean thinking spread to logistics, to tie supplier production tightly…
Read articleThe Anatomy of Innovation
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Shadyside enjoys a reputation for innovation, due, in part, to its recognition that finding…
Read articleCreating the Course and Tools for a Lean Accounting System
A unit of Parker Hannifin used a financial kaizen and other lean accounting techniques to bridge the gaps between shop-floor…
View case studyHere’s to Toyota
More than twenty years ago Dan Jones and I made an important discovery. On a trip to Japan we concluded…
Read articleDecoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System
Steven Spear and H. Kent Bowen explain in the Harvard Business Review how the Toyota Production System can be tightly choreographed and supple. The key…
Read articleThe Healing Power of Lean Product and Process Development in Healthcare
Can Lean Product and Process Development or LPPD, which evolved in the automotive industry, work in healthcare? Paul Paliani, who…
Watch videoWhat’s the Problem?: Andrew Lingel Discusses Transforming a Family Business through Knowledge, Grit, and Outrage
In this What's the Problem? podcast with Matt Savas, President Andrew Lingel of United Plastic Fabricating shares how he helped…
Listen to podcastReaching Your Organization’s Full Potential
A visit to Turner Construction's New York Business Unit reveals how its leaders use the A3 process to build their…
Read articleAddressing a Critical Problem in Strategic Planning and Execution
Logoplaste's global vice president of lean and strategy deployment describes the experience -- and benefits -- six months into its…
View case studyHow Ford Built an Aligned Team Using ‘Matched Pairs’
Inside a winning strategy for Ford Motor Company's new product development process.
Read articleAsk Art: What Role does Human Resources Play in a Lean Turnaround?
Although you shouldn’t expect HR to lead the kaizen effort or set up extensive training programs, there is still plenty…
Read articleThe Power of Personal Yokoten
Personal yokoten to teach new mindsets and attitudes is an activity all of us can perform out in the world…
Read articleMining the Lessons From Designing the Future
Designing the Future shares a wealth of insights that transcend product development minutiae; this articles shares the broader argument presented…
Read articleExploring the Advantages of Online Learning
Learn how LEI is tapping into lean ways of learning and leveraging the latest learning technologies in the design of…
Read articleExploring the Technical and Nontechnical Challenges of Being a Chief Engineer, a Candid Conversation with Two CEs (Part 2)
Chief engineers typically have strong technical skills to effectively lead and manage the work of engineers, designers, and other developers.…
Watch videoHow to Build Skills Fast with a People-Development Plan
A Lean Global Network team of lean practitioners and coaches shares a set of lean healthcare tips hospitals can use…
Read articleNine Lessons from Steady Work
In her book Steady Work, Karen Gaudet discusses nine key lessons for practicing lean. Here she discusses these key principles.
Read articlePracticing Steady Work for Lean Value with Karen Gaudet
"What is the role of a lean leader, and what is the humbling daily work that goes into this task?…
Listen to podcastWhy You Need a Product Focus for an Enterprise Transformation: A Talk By Jim Morgan
In this talk from the 2018 Designing the Future summit, former Rivian COO and LEI Senior Advisor Jim Morgan discusses…
Read articleOn the Job with Tom Root, Managing Partner of Zingerman’s Mail Order
Spoiler alert! The food you just ate is not fresh. It was "sourced" longer ago than you'd imagine. And since…
Listen to podcastWhat is the value to be created here and now?
Karen Gaudet has written Steady Work (!), a wonderful new book about her experience as a regional director of operations…
Read articleIs it really necessary for a sensei to act obnoxiously?
Dear Gemba Coach: Is it really necessary for a sensei to act obnoxiously?
Read articleHow Working In Oncology Has Reframed Failure and Success
Doctor Carlos "Fred" Pinto and his colleagues at IOV in Brazil have learned that resilience emerges when applying lean thinking…
Read article33. On the Job with Ron Kelner, President and COO of the Deublin Company
Ron describes the Deublin Company's business system built with lean thinking that puts human development at the center.
Listen to podcastHow Do Lean CEOs Learn To Improve?
What, and how, do I have to learn? This key question confronts all CEOs who are practicing lean seriously, argues…
Read articleI’ve been improving process efficiency for years with value-stream mapping, why did you write that it is misleading?
Dear Gemba Coach: In your previous column you stated that value-stream mapping can be misleading. I’ve been using VSM for…
Read articleHow Hoshin Kanri Aligns Your Key Organizational Systems
To build the culture and develop the complementary systems that connect your company's strategic and operational plans, consider how they…
Read article17. On the Job Podcast: One Pathologist’s Path an interview with Dr. Lisa Yerian of Cleveland Clinic
Dr. Lisa Yerian of the Cleveland Clinic sits down with Josh Howell, LEI President & Executive Team Leader, to talk…
Listen to podcastThe Mythical Value Stream Manager
If you want to make a serious impact in your improvements, consider shifting your focus outward to a value-stream level…
Read articleBook Review: The Toyota Engagement Equation by Tracey and Ernie Richardson
In their book The Toyota Engagement Equation, authors Tracey and Ernie Richardson don’t hit you over the head telling you…
Read articleLean Thinkers Are Systems Thinkers
Lean thinkers are systems thinkers, argues Rich Sheridan: "Intentional cultures thrive when the simple systems put in place reinforce every…
Read articleThoughts on the Birth of Lean
There is much to be learned from the history of Lean that applies powerfully today in every aspect of the…
Read articleProfit and Cost At Toyota
Fresh off a tour of Japan where she observed how Toyota talks about costs and profit on the shop floor,…
Read articleKAIZEN CHALLENGE: Lean Technical and Social Quiz
In this kaizen challenge, lean coach Jeff Smith invites you to help determine the optimal lot size to run through…
Read articleAsk Art: How Can I Engage All Our Leaders to Learn and Teach Lean?
What's the best way to teach lean to your internal leaders? By forming teams who will learn by doing, shares…
Read articleWhat are the key factors within an obeya room?
Dear Gemba Coach: On YouTube and in books there is a lot about A3 storyboards. Did you ever see them…
Read articleGot any recommendations for applying lean in the tool and die shop to stop our dies from crashing like crazy?
Dear Gemba Coach: We applied SMED to increase the flexibility in our production cells. Now our dies are crashing like…
Read articleHow can I help middle managers handle contradictory instructions from top management?
Dear Gemba Coach: As a lean coach, how can I help middle-managers who are faced with contradictory instructions from top…
Read articleAsk Art: Why Focus on Why When Doing A Lean Turnaround?
In switching to lean, understanding the WHY is the most important thing, argues Art Byrne. It helps people overcome their…
Read articleWhy We Believe that Lean is About Changing Our Own Behaviors, and Not Just Accumulating New Knowledge
Lean repeatedly pushes us to develop new competences (or recover lost know-hows) through kaizen and problem solving. This collection of…
Read article4 Actions that Solved My Lean Management Identity Crisis
Mike Orzen had lean management down cold – or so he thought. After all, he makes a living teaching it…
Read articleImproving Engagement One Kaizen at a Time
Engaging the employees at all levels with a clear and realistic understanding of how they inspire, drive and support getting…
Read articleLPPD Under the Sea: Efficient Product Design with Subsea 2.0
In this excerpt from the new book Designing the Future, authors Jim Morgan and Jeff Liker share the case study…
Read articleLean Digital Transformation
Discover how the application of lean principles can improve entire corporate ecosystems to deliver digital services and products that customers…
Watch webinarSeason 2 Ep. 1 Leadership at the Gemba with Scott Heydon and John Shook
Former Starbucks Executive and Senior Coach at LEI Scott Heydon, joined author and LEI Chairman John Shook for a last…
Listen to podcastDoes it matter if we call lean “lean”?
Dear Gemba Coach: If it works, why worry if it’s called lean, operational excellence, or the company’s excellence system? As…
Read articleAsk Art: Why Does Boosting Inventory Turns Matter So Much?
If you want to deliver more value to our customers such that you can grow and gain market share then…
Read articleThe Escalator of Issues
A daily management system with daily performance metrics gives caregivers the sense that managers are really paying attention, that problems…
Read articleAvoiding Dashboard Wallpaper
Build a system of dashboards up and down the organization, says Leslie Barker. Connect them so ideas flow upward and…
Read articleEp. 11 Closing the Learning Gap with Steven Spear
Today's podcast features a conversation about closing learning gaps between LEI's CEO Eric Beuhrens and Steve Spear. Steve is author…
Listen to podcastSensing the Gemba
The next time you show up at the gemba to do a “go and see,” take a personal assessment of…
Read articleI’m thinking about outsourcing some administrative activities to be more flexible, but what does lean say about outsourcing?
Dear Gemba Coach: Financial results do not allow me to have excess people. After two years of struggling, I'm thinking…
Read articleUgly Babies, Silent Enemies and Other Short Stories from a Continuous Improvement Conference
Besides the lessons, challenges, and results that belong to a company’s lean transformation, there are personal journeys as well. Here’s…
Read articleCan I change a company’s attitude that people can’t be trusted to do their jobs unless they are scared into complying?
Dear Gemba Coach: A major assumption in lean thinking is that people genuinely want to do a good job, and…
Read articleWhy ‘Yes Chef!’ Is No Longer the Answer
In order to meet the changing demands of today's restaurants, chefs must learn to evolve from old-school methods of the…
Read articleFinding a Lean Cure that Respects the Health of Healthcare Workers
In his prognosis of the health care system, LEI CEO Eric Buehrens says we need to improve the work to…
Read articleEp. 7 Is Lean Thinking Japanese Culture? Jim Womack and Matt Savas Discuss What They Saw While Touring Toyota in Japan
Jim Womack interviews Matt Savas about a recent trip to Toyota Motor Kyushu, Japan.Matt and Jim share their observations on…
Listen to podcastExpanding Our Perspective on Lean Management, Part 2: Lean has its Roots in Spirituality
To explore the idea that there may be other angles for understanding lean management than business or analytical perspectives, a…
Read articleRespect the Customer By Respecting Your Worker
Lean provides us with a different approach to this vicious cycle. Build a management system in your company that allows…
Read articleThe Quiet Factory
Could noise be considered another waste to be reduced in the system? Matt Savas ponders the implications of a Toyota…
Read articleRethinking the Model Line
The model line, once seen as the key to helping organizations learn and share lean thinking, has served a critical…
Read articleEp. 2: Shook & Womack discuss the creation of the books Learning to See and Managing to Learn
20 years ago the book Learning to See was published, bringing with it the concept of Value Stream Mapping. Now…
Listen to podcastIf lean is all about people, why are the discussions impersonally cold and rational?
Dear Gemba Coach: Lean thinkers say it’s all about people, but the debates are then all so cold and rational. Where…
Read articleTesla vs. TPS: Seeking the Soul in the New Machine
While Tesla has excited customers and drawn praise for innovative design and bold thinking, author Jeff Liker believes that it…
Read articleTips for Proving the Financial Value of Lean to Leadership
Of the many aspects of lean accounting, one that has proven especially useful is the principle of “cost avoidance.” Today…
Read articleFollow-up Q&A for Jim Lancaster’s Work of Management Webinar
“The Real Work of Management” webinar drew very engaged attendees who submitted hundreds of questions. We now present some of…
Read articleThe Art of Productive Inquiry
Last month Andrew Quibell released a sketch outlining a process for effective silent observation. His new sketch shares what to…
Read articleAsk Art: Is there a balance between lean and full automation?
As a followup to his piece last month dealing with another aspect of lean and automation, Art Byrne now explores…
Read article“Do I have to be a team leader for the rest of my life?”
In this reprint of his latest e-letter, LEI Chairman and CEO John Shook reflects on the powerful lessons in the…
Read articleHow can I tell good lean consultants from bad?
If lean’s not a scam – but there are scammers -- how can I distinguish good lean consultants from bad?
Read articleDaily Management, Daily Sustainment: The Remarkable Story of Lean Transformation at Lantech
Jim Lancaster attended the 2017 Lean Transformation Summit in Carlsbad, California to speak about Lantech's journey to create a daily…
Read article“Too Busy to Walk the Gemba”
Chris Weisbrod of Catalysis explains why healthcare leaders often claim they're too busy to walk the gemba and shares a…
Read articleAdvice from the Gemba: How Do People Accidentally Make Change Unsustainable?
The only thing tougher than change is SUSTAINING change, we often hear. But does sustaining change need to be SO…
Read articleEnabling Fast and Innovative Product Development at Bose
Bringing products to market as quickly as possible is a key cornerstone of lean product and process development. With this…
Read articleWorking on the Management
Effective daily management is still hard to achieve for most organizations, says Jim Womack. But until line managers start tackling…
Read articleA Week of Kaizen in Just One Day
"Often when I hear people talk about kaizen, they are under the impression that this is some huge event with…
Read articleIs there a lean way of delegating?
Dear Gemba Coach: I’m an entrepreneur and I used to micromanage everything, quite successfully. Now the firm has grown and…
Read articleDoes lean change how you think about business?
Dear Gemba Coach: I can see that lean changes how one thinks about business, but can’t quite put my finger…
Read articlePlanning Meetings Around A3s
"How many times have you sat in a meeting to discuss solving a pressing, urgent or serious problem – and…
Read articleLean 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…
Read articleWhat are your three most important problems?
Dear Gemba Coacg: What should I look for during a gemba walk?
Read articleOur new boss doesn’t ‘get’ lean; what can I do to convince him?
Dear Gemba Coach: We’ve had spectacular lean results with our old boss, but our new boss doesn’t get it. He’s…
Read articleHow can kanban or lean possibly apply in an office?
Dear Gemba Coach: You often say that one can’t do lean without kanban, and that continuous improvement without kanban is…
Read articleYou Can’t Know If You Don’t Know
Recently LEI Chairman and CEO John Shook found an interesting blog by Dr. Helen Kales of the University of Michigan,…
Read articleDoes a lean transformation boost a company’s stock price?
Dear Gemba Coach: You’ve worked with a lot of different companies in the public and private sectors. How have the…
Read articleAsk Art: What Lean Books Should I Start With?
Art Byrne shares with us his book recommendations to newcomers on insights into the philosophy and general approach behind lean.
Read articleWhy won’t operators use andons?
Dear Gemba Coach: We’re struggling with andons. We’ve set up a button for operators to press and call for help,…
Read articleInventory Waste: The “Hidden Killer” in Manufacturing
Andrew Quibell is back with the next sketch in his series on the four main areas of waste in manufacturing.…
Read articleThe Snowstorm on Your Server
When looking for a place to implement 5S, your company's server or shared drive might not be the first to…
Read articleEven Visual Management Starts from Need
Have you ever implement a visual management tool at your gemba after seeing it used successfully somewhere else? If so,…
Read articleCI Sustainment: A Hiding Place for Complexity
"How many times has your continuous improvement solution wound up being more complex than the original problem?" muses Lynn Kelley.…
Read articleThe Problems Inherent in Change – and What You Can Do about Them
Anyone who's been involved in an organizational transformation knows that its challenges go well beyond resistance. Katrina Appell sheds some…
Read articleNo Shortcuts: Creating a Lean Environment the Right Way
As much as we may wish there was a way to pull off a lean transformation with only a basic…
Read articleIt’s the Productivity, Not the People
In one memorable lean project, Craig Stritar found himself on a large fish-processing vessel in the Bering Sea that was…
Read articleFord’s Focus: Lean Lessons from the Recession’s Greatest Success Story
After listening to Jim Morgan talk about Ford Motor Company's lean turnaround strategy during the Great Recession, Cam Ford (no…
Read articleLean in Japan: The Benefit of an Outsider’s View
"Sometimes when we know a process, culture, or organization too deeply, we struggle to view things as they actually are..."…
Read article5 Ways My Thinking Changed With the Help of a Lean Coach
"Coaching for development is different than being managed," writes Deborah McGee. "Lean coaching in our case was not directing an…
Read articleThree Core Capabilities in Any Lean Product and Process Development System
"Good development leaders work in earnest to create a 'safe culture' for people to share issues. Working to [drive out…
Read articleHazards at the Huddle Board: How to Coach a Team Away from “Fast Thinking” to Disciplined PDCA
Lean practitioner David Verble, an LEI faculty member and former HR manager at Toyota, is noticing that problem-solving at huddle…
Read articlePersonal PDCA and How I Learned It
"In 23 years at Toyota, I had many assignments and different bosses, I managed many people," writes Mark Reich, "but…
Read articleLeadership Q&A: Lisa Yerian, MD, Medical Director of Continuous Improvement, Cleveland Clinic Foundation
From the LEI senior executive series on lean leadership: Lisa Yerian, MD, director of Hepatobiliary Pathology and medical director of…
Read articleUnderstanding the True Cost of Care
"Today, frontline clinicians are being asked to provide even more cost-efficient care to patients yet few understand how to do…
Read articleAfter 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…
Read articleJust-in-Time Roundup: Great Lean Reads from Across the Web (Vol. 3)
LEI editors have gathered another five articles that either teach us something new about lean practice or show us where…
Read articleOne COO’s View on Learning, Leading, and Teaching
Dominic Paccapaniccia, COO of a regional healthcare center, reflects on why he and his organization chose to begin using a…
Read articleStructured Experiments Into the Unknown
"For years we tried to find situations where we could apply lean tools," writes Linus Brodén of HP Tronic, an…
Read articleNo Do, No Learn
Developing new skills and capabilities at work requires regular, ongoing practice. But despite our good intentions, many of us struggle…
Read articleCost Reduction, Waste, and Purpose
"Eliminating waste makes it easier to see and find problems, which is the first step to solving them," writes Katrina…
Read articleCoaching Effectively Within Takt Time
When time is of the essence and work just needs to be done, how do you help someone improve their…
Read articleLean Change Is Organizational and Personal
"Lean management is less about providing the right answers than asking the right questions and exploring those questions by engaging…
Read articleValue at the Imperial Grill
"The Imperial Grill was a lean enterprise, and my folks, lean thinkers, though they would simply call it common sense,"…
Read articleAre computer screens okay for visual management?
Dear Gemba Coach: Can I use computer screens for visual management or is that a big no-no?
Read articleI want to apply lean to engineering. Any thoughts?
Dear Gemba Coach: I am the regional manufacturing VP of a large industrial company. After the latest reorganization, engineering now…
Read articleSustain Your Lean Business System with a “Golden Triangle”
When medical device maker Phase 2 fought off an overseas challenge by meeting the global price, margins took a big…
View case studyReading the Signs
How often does your organization settle for an inferior process design or process fix, bandaged together with labels and signs?…
Read articleLeadership Q&A: Gary Peterson, executive vice president, supply chain and operations, O.C. Tanner
From the LEI senior executive series on lean leadership:Gary Peterson, executive vice president, supply chain and production at O.C. Tanner, describes…
Read articleManaging to Reboot Leadership
"Despite sweeping changes to the business environment and real threats to organizational sustainability, too many managers remain stuck in traditional…
Read articleHow do I re-size supermarkets when demand changes or to keep pace with seasonality?
Dear Gemba Coach: How do I calculate re-sizing supermarkets when demand changes or to keep pace with seasonality?
Read articleWhat do effective leaders actually do every day? GTS4
So many of us know the value of lean thinking and practice, but what do lean leaders actually do every…
Read articleWhy Are There So Many Points of View About What Lean Is?
Dear Gemba Coach: I’ve been interested in lean for over two years now, and can’t quite understand why after 20…
Read articleLead from the Front, Lead from Behind
In my last letter I alluded to a common view in the Lean Community – shared by the broader business…
Read articleWhy won’t senseis ever give a straight answer?
Dear Gemba Coach: Why won’t senseis ever give a straight answer?
Read articleTHE IMPROVEMENT KATA AT AEROJET
Aerojet explains how they're using VSM + the Improvement Kata to connect daily process improvement with the organization's strategy.
Watch videoHow can we reconcile the lean principle of respect for people with our disrespectful atmosphere?
Dear Gemba Coach: My company's lean program stigmatizes competent people as “concrete heads” for disagreeing with the lean coaches, even…
Read articleHow Do the Problems of Continuous Improvement Professionals Differ from Those of Line Managers
Dear Gemba Coach: How do the lean-related problems or responsibilities of ci professionals differ from those of line managers or business…
Read articleGemba and Quality
Dear Gemba Coach: We’ve made good progress on quality with Six Sigma, but we’ve reached a plateau. I’ve met a…
Read articleShould we plan according to what we can do, or the other way around?
Dear Gemba Coach: Should we plan according to what we can do, or the other way around?
Read articleAre lean principles universal?
Dear Gemba Coach: Can we really consider Lean principles as Universal? I am currently working on a case study about…
Read articleTakt Time Thinking for a Low-Volume High-Mix Company
Dear Gemba Coach: Our company produces custom products that cannot be easily forecast in terms of when they will be…
Read articleFulfillment-Stream Measurement Systems: Driving Action in Real Time
Derek Browning, a lean supply chain executive at LeanCor, takes time out from a lean logistics conference to answer questions…
Read articleLeadership Q&A: Bill Hopkins, Akron Children’s Hospital board member and former vice president, technology/strategic initiatives, at Goodyear
From the LEI senior executive series on lean leadership:Hopkins on why Akron Children’s Hospital leadership decided to implement lean process…
Read articleStandards vs. Standardization
Dear Gemba Coach: We’re often told that “there can be no kaizen without standards.” But when do you start when there…
Read articleStandardized Work in Machine-Intensive Processes
Dear Gemba Coach,Most lean literature and case studies to date focus on assembly type manufacturing which utilizes very people-intensive operations.…
Read articleFive Missing Pieces in Your Standardized Work (Part 3 of 3)
John Shook circles back to offer an outline of how standardized work serves your Purpose, Process, and People, which can…
Read articleWhere do I start?
Dear Gemba Coach: I'm the operations manager of a healthcare training company. We conduct technical training to nurses in hospitals. We've…
Read articleIn Search of Value Stream Architects
Recently I've been spending most of my gemba time walking through value-creating processes in organizations far away from manufacturing. And…
Read articleHow Do We Reduce Costs with Lean?
Dear Gemba Coach: I have been asked to reduce the cost of a product by a significant amount. I believe…
Read articleGemba-Based Leadership – Not Just for Chief Engineers
John Shook on gemba-based leadership
Read articleCreating Value or Shifting Wealth?
How do we judge the progress of the Lean Movement? One critical indicator is our success in extending lean thinking…
Read articleThe Big Opportunity
I started studying manufacturing performance††26 years ago this fall. We set out at MIT to perform the most exhaustive and…
Read articleCompeting with China
There are two sea changes going on in the world economy. The first is the rise of the “low cost”…
Read articleStandardized Worrying
Years ago when Dan Jones and I first visited Toyota in Japan, we were struck by something that seemed out…
Read articleLEI’s indicator that can’t lie: Doing the math
Jim elaborates on the idea of using inventory turns as a measure of lean transformation
Read article5 Missing Pieces in Your Standardized Work (Part 1 of 3)
John Shook offers an overview of the five most frequent misunderstandings about this fundamental lean practice and expands on three…
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