Books shape how we think about leadership, improvement, and learning—but only if we reflect on them and apply their lessons thoughtfully. This archive includes blog posts and podcast episodes about Lean, healthcare, leadership, mistakes, psychological safety, and continuous improvement, including reflections on my own books and conversations with authors whose work has influenced how organizations build better systems and cultures.
The cover story this week in Business Week is called Smashing the Clock. It is the story of Best Buy’s removal of all expectations of when and where you work. The only thing that matters are the results. I’m not…
Dr. Monica Tracey of Oakland University’s Pawley Institute and I have published another article on our original research on lean and HR. This one is published in World of Work Journal and a link can be found here for a…
Here is LeanBlog Podcast #10, again with Jamie Flinchbaugh, Founder of and Partner, co-author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Lean. In this Podcast, we respond to an audio question from blog listener Bruce from Akron OH. The topic is how to…
There is a new book on TQM available. I have not bought the book yet but my assumption is that it builds on TQM. To me, the link between TQM and lean is pretty clear. I would suggest that lean…
LeanBlog Podcast Episode #9 is a discussion with David Mann, the author of the excellent book Creating A Lean Culture: Tools To Sustain Lean Conversions. In this episode, we will talk about Steelcase’s experience with their lean efforts and the…
Another month has rolled by whch means Assembly Magazine has released another excellent issue of their magazine, of which I am very pleased to contribute. This month, in my Leading Lean column, I tackle the issue of “convincing” those around…
There is a topic that I have found myself talking about more and more lately. Perhaps the reason is that many of my speeches and seminars recently have focused on the lean STRATEGY. I don’t mean how lean affects your…
First, if you’ve read The Hitchhiker ‘s Guide to Lean, you will know that we believe the entire concept of deeply understanding our current state is a vital skill and principle to drive performance improvement. I recently penned an article…
I have something else to add to my earlier post on the state of lean through the eyes of an Industry Week survey. My point is this: we don’t know what to call this stuff, and at the same time,…
Along with the profiles of this year’s Industry Week’s Best Plants Award, the latest issue includes the latest census data on continuous improvement. Of course, a survey question being checked on a website is far from direct observation (or gemba),…
The Lean Library Here is a long overdue review of the book, The Toyota Way Fieldbook. I wrote the review following the format of The Lean Library and have also gotten the review published over there. The Fieldbook is an…
Here is LeanBlog Podcast #6, the second part of my discussion with Jamie Flinchbaugh, co-author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Lean. You can find the first part of the podcast here. In this Podcast, we talk about how leadership needs…
