TL;DR: Lean doesn’t fail because people resist change. It struggles when organizations ask for participation without earning belief. Don Ephlin saw this decades ago: behavior changes when people believe, not when they’re told to obey. That distinction still explains why…
Thanks, as always, to Ryan McCormack for this. He always shares so much good reading, listening, and viewing here! Subscribe to get these directly from Ryan via email. News, articles, books, podcasts, and videos about how to make the workplace…
This week’s Operational Excellence Mixtape tackles the challenge of sustaining improvement amidst turbulence and change fatigue. We explore why values must act as your “North Star” when markets shift, methods for building quality systems that fight entropy (with examples from…
When we think about how change happens in organizations, especially those practicing Lean, we often focus on tools, plans, and communication strategies. But what about the actual conversations we’re having? Too often, those conversations look like this: That’s not engagement…
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…
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…
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…
This edition of Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape examines how leadership choices, system design, and culture determine whether organizations improve–or drift toward failure. From lessons on AI and employability, Boeing’s systemic safety breakdowns, and operating processes on the brink of…
This edition of Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape explores the tension between short-term optimization and long-term improvement. The selections highlight why stability must come before automation, how over-optimization can erode resilience, and why improvement depends as much on social systems…
Thanks, as always, to Ryan McCormack for this. He always shares so much good reading, listening, and viewing here! Subscribe to get these directly from Ryan via email. News, articles, books, podcasts, and videos about how to make the workplace…
I’m happy to be hosting and moderating this webinar that will be presented by Melissa Sherman, a friend of mine from the Michigan Lean Consortium: Embedding Change Management into your Continuous Improvement Initiatives – click to view now! It’s free…
Think about the last time you made a major career decision. I’m thinking of one of mine, in particular. Was it about leaving a job for a new one? Changing directions in your career altogether? Was it a debate about…
