This post looks back at a podcast that I did a few years ago with Joe Swartz, talking about how he helped introduce Kaizen at Franciscan St. Francis Health and how they’ve built that culture.
It’s a fair question: would Lean be easier to implement if your workforce were Japanese — or if you were operating in Japan? After two study trips to Japan with Kaizen Institute, my honest answer is: not necessarily. And the…
I’ve recently updated the eBook Practicing Lean to include a new ninth chapter, submitted by Samuel Selay. Other new chapters are by David Haigh, from Canada, and Joe Swartz (my Healthcare Kaizen co-author) . I love the diversity of perspectives in the book, as it’s…
My two previous trips to Japan have been incredible experiences, both personally and professionally. I'm planning to go back in December with a tour group I'm helping organize with Kaizen Institute. When people go to Japan, I think they are expecting to see perfect Lean practices. But, no...
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I was reading The Birth of Lean, the Lean Enterprise Institute’s collection of interviews with the people who built the Toyota Production System, and one answer from Eiji Toyoda is worth quoting in full. This is Eiji Toyoda on mistakes,…
The Real Lesson from Japan Wasn’t Tools — It Was Trust and Listening TL;DR: When a group of Ford and UAW leaders traveled to Japan in 1981, they went looking for secrets — faster machines, tighter processes, smarter tools. What…
TL;DR: Medical mistakes are usually system failures–not individual failures. By asking “why did this happen?” instead of “who caused it?”, healthcare organizations can strengthen psychological safety, fix broken processes, and prevent harm before it happens again. Why Medical Mistakes Are…
When discussing mistakes, it’s common to hear terms like “stupid mistake” or “dumb mistake” thrown around, especially when reflecting on our own errors. However, labeling mistakes in this way is unproductive. In The Mistakes That Make Us, one of the…
tl;dr: Shingo renamed “foolproofing” to poka-yoke (mistake-proofing) after the old term made a worker cry. The lesson holds: blame doesn’t prevent defects, and respecting people is what makes zero defects possible. I’m currently working on a Mistake Proofing class for…
Jim Womack returns to the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast to reflect on how Lean thinking has evolved–and where it has gone off track. Drawing on decades of firsthand experience, he shares candid perspectives on leadership, daily management, and why tools…
This post is built around excerpts from the book The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation. Read more about Toyota, including stories and key lessons learned in the book. Download a free preview Today, we explore…
