Tag: Culture

Organizational Culture: Leadership, Behavior, and How Work Really Gets Done

Organizational culture isn’t what leaders say—it’s what people experience every day based on management behaviors, systems, and priorities. This archive brings together blog posts, podcasts, and reflections on culture through a Lean lens, exploring how leadership decisions shape trust, psychological safety, learning, and performance. Many of these posts draw on lessons from Deming, Toyota, healthcare, and real organizations to show that culture is not a program to roll out, but an outcome leaders create—intentionally or not.

From Cost Cutting to Real Continuous Improvement: A Lesson from My...

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TL;DR: I learned SQDC the hard way at GM--first under cost- and throughput-obsessed leadership, then from a NUMMI-trained plant manager who showed me why...

What Visiting Japan Taught Me About Lean Leadership and Healthcare Culture

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This October, I'll be returning to Japan for another Lean healthcare study trip--my seventh time overall and my fifth healthcare-focused visit. With each visit, I...

Culture Is the Key — Reflections on Leadership, Mistakes, and Building...

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I've always believed that culture isn't just one component of success--it's the foundation everything else is built upon. That belief is central to my...

Psychological Safety in Lean: What Toyota Gets Right–and Why It Matters

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tl;dr Lean doesn't work without psychological safety. Toyota understands that continuous improvement depends on people feeling safe to speak up about problems, mistakes, and...

Hoshin Kanri and Managing on Purpose: Lessons from Former Toyota Leader...

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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,...

Lean Isn’t About Cutting Heads–It’s About Growing People and Cultures of...

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One of the most important, and most misunderstood, principles in Lean thinking is this: Lean is not a cost-cutting strategy. Lean is a people-development strategy. If...

Lean in Japan Works–But Not Because They’re Japanese

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Why Lean Thinking Succeeds in Japan--Not Because of Culture, But Because of Intentional Leadership and Systems One of the most persistent myths I've encountered over...

How Safe Is It to Admit a Mistake at Work? New...

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TL;DR: A new poll shows that psychological safety at work is often fragile--nearly half of respondents say it "depends on the boss." Real improvement...

The Mistake-Smart Leader’s Checklist: 6 Behaviors to Build Trust, Safety, and...

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We all say mistakes are a part of learning. Or at least many of us do, as individuals. But how many organizations actually act that...

Psychological Safety at Work: Why You Get Your Say, Not Always...

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TL;DR: Psychological safety doesn't mean everyone gets their way--it means everyone gets a voice. When leaders listen, explain decisions, and show respect even in...

Driving a Culture of Patient Safety: Lessons for Healthcare and Beyond

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Recently, I had the pleasure of moderating a webinar titled "Driving a Culture of Transforming Patient Safety with KaiNexus" featuring leaders from Our Lady...

Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape: April 18, 2025

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Thanks, as always, to Ryan McCormack for this. He always shares so much good reading, listening, and viewing here! Subscribe to get these directly...
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