Jeff Liker explains how Toyota leaders at every level are expected to respond when something goes wrong — and why most other companies default to blame instead. We also dig into the real story behind Ford’s failed andon cord rollout…
TODAY marks the 17th birthday (or is it an anniversary?) of my Lean Blog Interviews podcast (known in the early days as the LeanBlog Podcast). It’s an awkward name and part of me wishes I had chosen something with more…
It’s not surprising when a former Toyota employee responds positively to small improvement ideas–because kaizen is about noticing problems, welcoming feedback, and acting quickly. I’m glad that I have become friends with David Meier over the past… almost 20 years,…
Listen: What do you do when you are chosen as Jim Murray’s US Micro Whiskey of the Year? You pop in to join Mark and Jamie on Lean Whiskey to talk about it. At least that’s what our friend David…
“I’ll have a half-caff no-whip soy-milk chestnut praline latte… to-go.” Listen: Here is the episode if you want to stream the audio: In Episode 37, we wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays with some new (to us) holiday…
A culture of learning makes the difference, not “low inventory” Last year, I wrote a post that criticized those, including the Wall St Journal, who claimed that Toyota was “abandoning” the Toyota Production System or that strategically adding some inventory…
TL;DR: Looking for powerful Toyota quotes? Here are verified quotes from The Toyota Way and Toyota leaders on mistakes, learning, psychological safety, and continuous improvement — plus context on what they really mean. Toyota Quotes on Learning, Mistakes, and Psychological…
Updated to include a 5-minute audio preview and the recording. I presented free webinar on June 27th, as part of the KaiNexus Continuous Improvement Webinars series. You can access it via this page (registration required, but you’ll be updated about…
My guest for Episode #427 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is a returning guest, Karyn Ross. She was previously a guest in Episodes 266 and 411. She was also my guest for Episode #3 of My Favorite Mistake. Karyn has a new book called The Kind…
In Episode 29, it’s been a little while since Mark and Jamie got together for Lean Whiskey. We catch up on what’s new, which includes Mark’s new certification with distinction with the WSET Level 2 Spirits certification, and Jamie’s new…
In Episode 17, after not doing an episode of Lean Whiskey in almost two months, Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh try all sorts of firsts. We had three people, with Jim Huntzinger of Lean Frontiers joining us. We all drank…
After the last episode that had the first guest host (Chris Burnham), I’m once again joined by Jamie Flinchbaugh for another “Lean Whiskey” podcast. In Episode 4 of Lean Whiskey, Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh (and a cameo from his…
