In this episode of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast, John Rizzo explains how organizations create lasting value by empowering people instead of relying on command-and-control leadership. The conversation explores continuous improvement, people development, and leadership behaviors that drive sustainable results…
Summary: Today’s “mixtape” post brings together timely ideas on continuous improvement, leadership, productivity, and workplace culture. From avoiding “blank slate” metrics and rethinking PDCA/PDSA debates to learning from small, human-centered improvements like the Moylan Arrow, this edition highlights practical ways…
TL;DR: These were the 10 most-read LeanBlog.org posts from July-December 2025, based on Google Analytics. Each year, I take a year-end look at what readers are finding most helpful, most shareable, and most interesting across LeanBlog.org. It’s a chance to…
tl;dr: Headlines comparing two years of measles cases can be misleading. Looking at the full CDC time series with Process Behavior Charts shows that not every increase is meaningful. From 2000-2013, U.S. measles cases fluctuated as noise within a stable…
Why do so many Lean efforts stall after early wins? In this episode, Darren Walsh explains why firefighting feels productive but prevents real progress–and how leaders can build daily routines and standards that sustain improvement over time. Scroll down for…
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…
TL;DR: This look back at Allina Health shows how continuous improvement at the bedside actually works: frontline staff identifying real problems, leaders acting as coaches, and Kaizen routines supported by psychological safety. The result wasn’t abstract “culture change,” but measurable…
In this episode of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast, Carlos Scholz discusses Lean healthcare leadership, psychological safety, and humility–why improvement depends on leadership behaviors, not just tools or events. Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest…
Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #535 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Gregg Stocker, a seasoned Lean practitioner, consultant, and author. Over the past 30+ years, Gregg has worked across industries,…
The most dangerous moment in Lean is often right after your first belt class–when you think you’ve mastered it all. You may have seen the joke image that I posted on LinkedIn–it sparked some good discussion: “I’m an expert in…
This edition of Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape explores how organizations build improvement capability through goals, learning, and culture–not gimmicks or shortcuts. From designing effective team goals and learning from the long history of suggestion systems, to insights on change…
Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #531 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Dr. Melisa Buie, a seasoned operations and engineering leader with decades of experience in high-tech manufacturing. Melisa has held…
