Each year, I take a mid-year look at what readers are finding most helpful, most shareable, and most interesting across LeanBlog.org. It’s a chance to reflect on the topics that resonated–whether Lean leadership, psychological safety, continuous improvement, or lessons from…
Many Lean transformations stall not because of poor execution, but because respect for people is treated as an attitude rather than a system. In this conversation, Scott Gauvin explains how the Respect for People Roadmap turns respect into a deliberate…
This edition of Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape explores why real improvement depends on disciplined thinking, leadership habits, and cultural integrity–not slogans or shortcuts. From reflections on problem solving, Leader Standard Work, and the limits of healthcare “systems,” to lessons…
Recently, I saw someone reference a chapter from Dr. W. Edwards Deming’s book Out of the Crisis on LinkedIn–Chapter 11, titled “Common Causes and Special Causes of Improvement. Stable System.” It was a good nudge for me to revisit a…
Today’s post is a longer and annotated version of my acceptance speech at last week’s Shingo Conference awards gala. It’s a great honor that The Mistakes That Make Us has received the 2025 Shingo Publication Award. I’d like to use…
This edition of Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape examines the shifting balance between people, systems, and strategy in the pursuit of better performance. From Toyota’s hospital and vineyard-to-glass winemaking to the limits of automation at Starbucks, the selections highlight how…
TL;DR: The Red Bead Game shows–everywhere in the world–that blaming people for random variation is ineffective. Only system change drives improvement. So far in 2025, I’ve had the opportunity to facilitate the Red Bead Game in a variety of settings–from…
Lately, I’ve been enjoying the creativity of those AI-generated “action figure career meme” images floating around social media. That got me thinking… what would my action figure evolution look like, over the last 30 years of working in manufacturing, healthcare,…
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…
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…
I’m excited to announce a special giveaway for Lean Blog readers! To celebrate the impact of learning from mistakes and the importance of psychological safety in continuous improvement, I’m giving away a signed copy of my latest book, The Mistakes…
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…
