TL;DR: Psychological safety in Lean organizations means people can surface problems, admit mistakes, and challenge assumptions without fear. It is not about comfort or lowering standards–it is the foundation that makes Respect for People, learning, and continuous improvement possible. In…
This edition of Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape explores how technology, leadership, and culture intersect in continuous improvement. Topics range from AI-driven quality engineering and jidoka in an AI era to healthcare process improvement, humility in leadership, and the importance…
I recently gave a virtual keynote for a global manufacturing company that’s a customer of KaiNexus. Their leaders wanted to explore how to strengthen a culture of improvement — not just by preventing mistakes, but by learning from the ones…
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…
This edition of Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape explores productivity, leadership, and change through a systems lens. From Canada’s long-standing productivity challenge and lessons from Toyota Racing Development, to breaking firefighting cultures, rethinking change management, and supporting leaders through the…
I’m excited to announce that I’ll be speaking at the 2025 Lean Solutions Summit, which will take place September 24-26 in Detroit, Michigan. This year’s theme, “Catalysts of Tomorrow: Shaping Future Leaders,” is a powerful call to action–and it aligns…
When I launched the My Favorite Mistake podcast in September 2020, I hoped to create space for leaders and innovators to share the moments they wished they could take back — and more importantly, what they learned from them. Five…
This article is based on my recent Catalysis webinar, “Lean Lessons from Japan: Mindsets, Culture, and the Challenge of Speaking Up.” The session was part of their ongoing learning series, and the recording will be available soon through Catalysis and…
Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #532 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Anne Frewin, a seasoned Lean leader with over 12 years of improvement experience in healthcare, laboratories, and manufacturing. Anne’s…
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…
This edition of Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape reflects on the systems, leadership, and mindsets required for lasting improvement. From honoring Dr. Lucian Leape’s foundational work on patient safety and system-based thinking, to lessons from GE Aerospace’s Lean transformation, productivity…
Former Toyota leader Mark Reich explains why Hoshin Kanri is not a top-down planning exercise, but a leadership system for aligning strategy, developing people, and managing on purpose through dialogue, PDCA, and shared ownership. Scroll down for how to subscribe,…
