TL;DR: Toyota isn’t abandoning the Andon system–it’s evolving it. Switching from cords to buttons improves safety and usability, while keeping the core Lean principle intact: speak up, respond fast, and fix problems where they occur. Over the past decade, Toyota…
TL;DR: Lean thinking teaches us not to blame individuals for mistakes that are caused by broken systems. In healthcare, this mindset aligns closely with Just Culture and patient safety principles: human error is inevitable, fear makes performance worse, and real…
TL;DR: Deming argued that the role of a manager of people is not judging performance, ranking employees, or enforcing authority–but creating trust, understanding systems, coaching for learning, and improving conditions so people can succeed. Dr. W. Edwards Deming‘s last book…
One thing I have enjoyed in the past few years is meeting and working with more people with direct experience working at Toyota (including here in San Antonio, my new home). There are always gems and brilliant nuggets that come…
I’m in Las Vegas, speaking today to close the Lean Healthcare PowerDay event. There are many great speakers, including Dr. Richard Shannon, Dr. David Munch, and my good friend and fellow author, Naida Grunden. Click on their names to listen…
As I’m going through revisions of my book, Lean Hospitals, a theme jumps out at me in Chapter 2…. it’s all about trust. The first excerpt says: Gary Convis, a retired Toyota senior vice president who had been one of…
If you’ve searched for “Lean methodology,” you’ve probably seen definitions about waste reduction or efficiency. That’s part of it — but Lean is much more than that. It’s a leadership system for building better organizations. I’ve been studying and practicing…
No. Toyota’s factories do not run a formal Six Sigma program, and they do not hand out belts. What Toyota does teach, broadly and without much ceremony, is basic quality control and statistical thinking, the kind of tools that predate…
Not Jack Handey’s “Deep Thoughts” … more like Larry King’s old USA Today column… it’s Lean Thoughts for Feb 12, 2009… the byproduct of a three-hour drive and too much time listening to cable news on XM… Hello, caller from…
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…
Rod Dreher: What it means to lead | Dallas Morning News | Opinion: Viewpoints “Authority is responsibility. Authority is accountability. It is not power.” That sounds like a good motto for leaders. Is this the latest from a Toyota leader,…
One of the most fascinating trends out of there is the spread of Toyota folks into other old-line automakers or parts suppliers — Gary Convis, Jim Press, and Jim Farley, to name three. What impact can they have outside of…
