tl;dr: The "two consecutive reds" rule persists because reacting feels like leadership -- but it generates wasted investigations, false success stories, and eroded trust. Process Behavior Charts tell you when variation actually means something changed.
I'm writing about something that...
Thanks, as always, to Ryan McCormack for this. He always shares so much good reading, listening, and viewing here! Subscribe to get these directly from Ryan via email.
News, articles, books, podcasts, and videos about how to make the workplace...
Karen Martin is one of those people I've been lucky to know and learn from for a long time. She's been a guest on the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast five times now -- which puts her in a very...
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: Leaders unintentionally create fear by overreacting to variation, waste, and mistakes. That fear quietly kills improvement. This post connects the threads across my four books to show why leadership reaction -- not tools -- shapes the system.
You review...
TL;DR: Three stories from a single day highlight a familiar pattern in healthcare technology: a pharmacy text message with the wrong hours that nobody has fixed, medical imaging that has to be mailed on a physical CD in 2026,...
TL;DR: Generic AI gives you a confident list of best practices. A Lean AI coach asks questions first, helps you understand your specific situation, and lets the advice follow from there. Same question, completely different orientation.
Ask ChatGPT a question...
People keep asking me a reasonable question:
"Why not just use ChatGPT?"
After all, ChatGPT "knows" a lot about Lean. You can ask it about value stream mapping, PDSA cycles, or the Toyota Production System and get a decent answer....
TL;DR: I asked ChatGPT how to use Lean to reduce hospital headcount. It gave me a detailed plan to do exactly that. My custom Lean AI refused and explained why. Generic AI will confidently help you damage your culture.
I...
TL;DR: Fujio Cho explained that standardized work is not about control or compliance--it's the foundation for learning, quality, and continuous improvement. When used as Toyota intended, standardized work creates stability, makes problems visible, and helps leaders improve systems rather...
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...
