TL;DR: Toyota’s leadership philosophy isn’t about control — it’s about confirming processes, supporting people, and solving problems without blame. This quote from The Toyota Way 2001 shows how “thoughtful leaders” build quality and psychological safety into the system. A Powerful…
The Open Secret of Success: Financial Page: The New Yorker I’m not normally a reader of The New Yorker, but I thank Norman Bodek for pointing this out as we recorded a new podcast episode (to be released in a…
The OODA Loop & You I love examples of lean thinking that come from unexpected angles. Mike Gardner at the TPM Log recently brought up one of my favorite figures from the world of folks who embody lean without knowing…
Jeffrey Liker explains why Toyota’s success is rooted in culture, leadership, and deep respect for people–not Lean tools. This episode explores the human systems behind the Toyota Way and why real Lean transformation takes years, not days. Here is LeanBlog…
I’ve read the first chapter of Toyota Culture: The Heart and Soul of the Toyota Way. I’m obviously not going to get through the whole thing before my podcast interview with Jeff Liker tomorrow. If you have questions for the…
Click here for Part 1 and Part 2 of the series of posts about my visit to Dr. Sami Bahri, the “World’s First Lean Dentist.” In Part 2, I talked about how the Lean “tool heads” might be disappointed, and…
By Bryan Lund, guest contributor to the Lean Blog: I posted the following question on LinkedIn.com as Mark noted in a previous blog entry: “How important is the past in learning about how to handle the future? Specifically…I think that…
Listen: LeanBlog Podcast #30 is an interview with Bob Emiliani, author of the books Better Thinking, Better Results, and Real Lean: Understanding the Lean Management System (Volume One) (and Volume Two). Bob had a long career at United Technologies, Pratt &…
The reason Andy Carlino and I named our book The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Lean: Lessons from the Road is that we felt that not only was a company to go on a lean journey that never ends, but also the…
In this Lean Blog Podcast episode, Jim Womack reflects on GM, Ford, and Toyota through the lens of Lean thinking–past, present, and future. He explains how Lean was coined at MIT, why it became misunderstood, and what leaders still get…
Sponsored by American-LEDgible, Inc. It’s time for another LeanBlog Contest! Update: Deadline is May 18 Submit your Visual Management stories and get a chance to win a Black 8 Gig Apple iPod Nano, a $249 value, courtesy of our sponsor…
Toyota: A Carmaker Wired to Win: Dan Markovitz beat me to the punch, but I also wanted to comment on some things in the article: The article says: “Visit any Toyota plant in Japan, and it’s easy to grin at…
