TL;DR: At Toyota, the principle is closer to “respect for humanity” than “respect for people” — and that difference matters. It’s not a slogan or a soft value. It is one of two equally important pillars of the Toyota Production…
TL;DR: W. Edwards Deming and Toyota each landed on 14 core principles, independently. They overlap most around long-term thinking, leadership responsibility, respect for people, and continuous improvement. The shared lesson holds in 2026: real improvement comes from disciplined, connected management…
Toyota has produced a series of videos that show how their innovations, technology and otherwise, have benefitted people outside of automobiles. One video that caught my eye was their 80-second video about the use of Lean and the Toyota Production…
Episode #85 is a conversation with David Meier, a former Toyota Georgetown Group Leader and the co-author of the books The Toyota Way Fieldbook and Toyota Talent: Developing Your People the Toyota Way. With Toyota facing widespread attention during the 2010…
Ten Common Misconceptions About Toyota | Quality Digest I found this interesting column from Quality Digest, by Stewart Anderson, a guy who says he has first hand experience with Toyota people and suppliers. The website bio page requires registration to…
No. Toyota’s factories do not run a formal Six Sigma program, and they do not hand out belts. What Toyota does teach, broadly and without much ceremony, is basic quality control and statistical thinking, the kind of tools that predate…
Toyota’s plunge into big pickups veers into a Texas-size ravine – USATODAY.com I’ve already written about this before, but there was a new article in USA Today about Toyota’s commitment to its workers in San Antonio, even during a slow…
Norman Bodek is once again back for episode #47 of the LeanBlog Podcast. Today, he shares insights from his 68th study trip to Japan. Norman reflects on decades of visiting Toyota and contrasts what he saw there with Canon’s groundbreaking…
Listen: LeanBlog Podcast #35 is another discussion with David Meier, co-author of the book Toyota Talent, written with Dr. Jeffrey Liker. In this podcast, we follow up our previous discussion (Podcast #31) to talk about the upcoming Toyota books, as…
I’ve read the first chapter of Toyota Culture: The Heart and Soul of the Toyota Way. I’m obviously not going to get through the whole thing before my podcast interview with Jeff Liker tomorrow. If you have questions for the…
Listen: LeanBlog Podcast #34 is a discussion with Chris Harris, from Harris Lean Systems, and co-author of the book Developing a Lean Workforce: A Guide for Human Resources, Plant Managers and Lean Coordinators. If you enjoy this podcast, I hope…
Jeffrey Liker’s new book on Toyota Culture: The Heart and Soul of the Toyota Way is out. I’m getting a copy on Tuesday and hope to post a review ASAP. If anyone else is reading it, feel free to share…
