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.
TL;DR: Most organizations are running on a fraction of the intelligence they’re actually paying for. The people who know what’s going wrong often don’t say so. That’s not a personality problem — it’s a design problem. This post draws upon…
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…
TL;DR: Psychological safety doesn’t mean everyone agrees or gets their way. It means people can speak candidly, be challenged, and still feel respected–when leaders model, encourage, and reward candor. Psychological Safety means everybody gets their say, but it doesn’t mean…
This episode of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast explores psychological safety in Lean leadership through the lens of Toyota’s culture, with insights from Mike Hoseus, former Toyota leader and co-author of Toyota Culture. We discuss how respect for people, andon…
I was talking recently with a trusted friend in the Lean community. He told me a story. It’s certainly believable, even if it’s second or third-hand to me. He had no reason to make up a story like this. A…
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…
View the free live stream on LinkedIn — the recording is now available also via YouTube. Next Tuesday, join me as I host a panel discussion with Josh Howell (of the Lean Enterprise Institute), Bruce Hamilton (of GBMP Consulting Group…
Art Byrne returns to the podcast to share CEO-level lessons from decades of Lean transformations and his new book, The Lean Turnaround Answer Book. The conversation covers Lean strategy, cost accounting pitfalls, private equity turnarounds, and why Lean must be…
Research by Ethan Burris shows that the top two reasons employees choose to keep quiet in the workplace are: 1️⃣ Futility2️⃣ Fear Fear of getting in trouble is a big problem. But there are also many workplaces where people say,…
tl;dr: Steve Spear’s “See, Solve, Share” model assumes people will raise problems, but in most organizations, fear and futility keep them quiet — which is why the model works better as “See, Share, Solve, Share,” with psychological safety as the…
Professors Robert H. Hayes and William J. Abernathy have harsh words about a common, if not typical style of American management: “…an overdependence on analytical detachment – what they call ”managerial remote control.” They say it is an approach that…
tl;dr: Toyota’s culture treats problems as opportunities for learning–not failures to hide. Lessons from Toyota leaders show how kaizen, psychological safety, and trust enable frontline problem-solving, sustainable improvement, and long-term success. I have been really enjoying this book, released in…
