Episode #87 is a discussion with a returning guest, Steven J. Spear, DBA, author of the outstanding book Chasing the Rabbit: How Market Leaders Outdistance the Competition and How Great Companies Can Catch Up and Win. The book is due…
Steve Spear spent six months embedded with a Toyota team as a doctoral student, learning the Toyota Production System by teaching it to a supplier in Kentucky. In this episode, he explains what he calls “high velocity” organizations — companies…
I recorded an upcoming LeanBlog Podcast with Steven J. Spear yesterday. Here is that episode: He’s promoting his new book Chasing the Rabbit: How Market Leaders Outdistance the Competition and How Great Companies Can Catch Up and Win. Update: the…
Factory Physics is one of the most influential operations management frameworks ever written–and in this conversation, co-author Dr. Mark Spearman explains why it still matters. Listen to the Episode: For Episode #25, I’m pleased to have Dr. Mark Spearman, Founder…
Mike Stoecklein recalls a story secondhand. It was, he thinks, at one of the last four-day seminars W. Edwards Deming ever gave. Deming was frail by then. Someone later told Mike that when the seminar got to the Red Bead…
A Florida surgeon, Thomas Shaknovsky, was indicted on a second-degree manslaughter charge on April 13. The charge followed the death of William Bryan, a 70-year-old Alabama man, during what was supposed to be a laparoscopic splenectomy in August 2024. Instead…
TL;DR: Organizations invest in teaching people to see problems and solve problems — but skip the middle step: making it safe and worthwhile to speak up about them. I’ve seen blank huddle boards in hospitals. Cards and markers sitting untouched.…
This edition of Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape focuses on what real, sustainable improvement actually requires: leadership commitment, respect for people, and disciplined learning over time. From reframing “continuous improvement” as everyday improvement, to lessons from Larry Culp’s lived Lean…
Why do capable leaders spend their days firefighting instead of improving the system? In this episode, MIT professor Nelson Repenning explains how poorly designed work systems trap organizations in chaos–and how Lean thinking and Dynamic Work Design help leaders restore…
I wanted to share that one of my early experiments in e-book publishing is available for free on Amazon Kindle for a limited time — from now through May 25. About the Book Reflections from Lean Leaders: Transcripts from Podcast…
Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #524 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is John Willis, an accomplished IT management expert with over 45 years of experience. His extensive body of work includes…
Bruce Hamilton reflects on the legacy of Toast Kaizen, the evolution of the Northeast Lean Conference, and why Lean thinking–rooted in people development and problem solving–helps organizations thrive through uncertainty, not just survive it. Scroll down for how to subscribe,…
