Mark Graban’s newer Lean Blog Audio podcast series with “audiobook” style readings of selected blog posts. Learn how to subscribe.
Sean Dow was on the 22nd floor of a Manhattan high-rise last week, working on the building’s sprinkler system, when he noticed something wrong with the concrete slab: cracks where cracks don’t belong. The building is Pfizer’s former headquarters on…
An executive says, after hearing about a major quality defect: “You said we solved that. Why’d the problem come back???” That might sound like an attempt at accountability. But it’s not necessarily Lean thinking. The “Study” step of the Plan-Do-Study-Adjust…
Three years ago, The Mistakes That Make Us came out. Around the same time, Elisabeth Swan published Picture Yourself a Leader. Both books’ third birthdays felt like a decent reason to get together and talk together and bring in some…
Ford spends roughly $100,000 a year on each of its first-line production supervisors. The title on the job posting is “Process Coach” – language borrowed directly from Lean thinking. The role description talks about Sounds great, right? Online job board…
Tesla builds cars in what used to be the NUMMI factory, a joint venture between Toyota and GM (which meant it was run as a Toyota plant with "Lean" practices). Before that, it was a dysfunctional GM plant. Now that it's a Tesla plant, did they learn from Toyota or does it seem more like "the old GM?"
There are things about Lean you cannot learn from a book, a conference, or a consultant. I say that as someone who writes the books and gives the talks. You learn them by standing in a place where the work…
Here’s something I’ve learned over many years of consulting: giving people advice they haven’t asked for is a reliable way to get ignored, no matter how correct the advice is. This is also, unfortunately, exactly what every AI tool does.…
TL;DR: A sound check, live song requests, and a naming regret — what watching Brandi Carlile perform taught me about specific problem-solving, vulnerability, and continuous improvement. My wife and I got to see the amazing Brandi Carlile perform near Chicago…
TL;DR: Deming and Toyota’s Fujio Cho asked the same uncomfortable question: why do management systems destroy motivation in people who started out wanting to do good work? The answer points to practices leaders can actually change. When leaders talk about…
TL;DR: In a 1993 speech, Toyota leader Fujio Cho said organizations can create their own Lean systems, but success depends on three principles: leaders going to the gemba, asking “why” to learn from problems, and respecting and motivating people —…
TL;DR: I turned my Lean Hospitals book into an interactive coaching tool leaders can use during real work — exploring whether improvement knowledge can be delivered on demand instead of through workshops alone. Try the free demo This post is…
TL;DR: GE Aerospace’s annual report treats safety not as a compliance topic or a communications slogan, but as a core leadership responsibility. By putting safety first–literally first–in SQDC and embedding it into systems, structure, and incentives, the company offers a…
