In the past year or two, it seems like I have heard more about people and organizations leading Lean study trips to Japan. This has gone on for decades, but there seems to be a resurgence. I first partnered with…
I continue sharing documents from the Don Ephlin library archive. What did Ford and the UAW learn when they visited Japan in 1981? Many of the things that made Japanese industry successful are the same things that make organizations successful with Lean today, including in healthcare.
My guest Katie Anderson, previously a guest for Episode #233, is back again talking about lessons learned and reflections from her 18 months living in Japan. And check out a contest to win a copy of my book, courtesy of Katie and her blog...
It’s a fair question: would Lean be easier to implement if your workforce were Japanese — or if you were operating in Japan? After two study trips to Japan with Kaizen Institute, my honest answer is: not necessarily. And the…
TL;DR: Archival GM and NUMMI documents reveal how deeply Toyota embedded kaizen, problem-solving, and respect for people into daily work–principles that contrasted sharply with old GM management practices and still offer timely lessons for Lean leadership today. These firsthand materials…
I’ve recently updated the eBook Practicing Lean to include a new ninth chapter, submitted by Samuel Selay. Other new chapters are by David Haigh, from Canada, and Joe Swartz (my Healthcare Kaizen co-author) . I love the diversity of perspectives in the book, as it’s…
I wrote a new piece for LinkedIn that I hope would be of interest to you even if you’re in healthcare. Why? It’s a story about what an organization does when you don’t have enough (or any) direct work for your front-line staff to do. Toyota would continue paying employees and would put them to...
Hopefully you've already seen the famed 1980 NBC documentary "If Japan Can, Why Can't We?" that featured Dr. W. Edwards Deming. I posted a link to the video and some notes on Part 1 of the broadcast. Today, I'd like to blog about Part 3 of the program...
Recently, I shared the famed 1980 NBC documentary, “If Japan Can, Why Can’t We?” that essentially introduced W. Edwards Deming to a mainstream Western business audience. Today, I’m going to share some highlights and thoughts from Part 1 the program…
The W. Edwards Deming Institute and Dr. Deming's grandson Kevin Cahill worked with NBC to make the 1980 program available, giving the institute perpetual rights to it (see their blog post). To the institute's credit, they've made this freely available on YouTube.
Today's guest is Katie Anderson, and we're talking about her experiences living in Tokyo for 18 months and what she's learning about Lean culture, Japanese culture, and how those aren't always one and the same...
My two previous trips to Japan have been incredible experiences, both personally and professionally. I'm planning to go back in December with a tour group I'm helping organize with Kaizen Institute. When people go to Japan, I think they are expecting to see perfect Lean practices. But, no...