Visiting Japan to study Lean is not about copying tools, rituals, or cultural stereotypes—it’s about seeing how leadership behaviors, management systems, and daily problem-solving come together in practice. These posts reflect lessons learned from multiple Japan study tours, hospital visits, factory gemba walks, and conversations with Toyota leaders and practitioners.
Rather than portraying Japan as “different” or “mysterious,” this archive focuses on what leaders everywhere can learn about respect for people, psychological safety, humility, and continuous improvement. The emphasis is on intent and system design—not nationality—and on translating insights from Japan into practical leadership lessons in healthcare, manufacturing, and beyond.
Come to Japan with Mark Graban
Again, there's still time to sign up for the next Lean and Kaizen study trip to Japan that I'm facilitating with Kaizen Institute, from February 26 to March 2, 2018. There's still room in the tour if you'd like to join us.
In this post, I share some of my thoughts - answers to questions posed by Kaizen Institute. And, I share some thoughts from Risa Cox, from Kaizen Institute.
Come join me and Kaizen Institute in the last week of February as we lead a study trip to Japan. This will be my third trip to Japan and I'm very excited... we still have space in the group if you can join us.
For today's Throwback Thursday, I'd like to look back at some blog posts about the trips I took to Japan in 2012 and 2014 to study Lean healthcare and Kaizen with healthcare practitioners from around the world.
I'm again partnering with Kaizen Institute to plan and help lead a trip that will be held in the last week of February, as I wrote about here...
In the past year or two, it seems like I have heard more about people and organizations leading Lean study trips to Japan. This has gone on for decades, but there seems to be a resurgence. I first partnered with…
My two previous trips to Japan have been incredible experiences, both personally and professionally. I'm planning to go back in December with a tour group I'm helping organize with Kaizen Institute. When people go to Japan, I think they are expecting to see perfect Lean practices. But, no...
I’ve gone to Japan twice now with Kaizen Institute to study Lean with healthcare professionals from around the world. I first went in 2012, as a paid attendee, and I went back in 2014 as a partner and co-facilitator to…
My guest for podcast episode #223 is Christian Wolcott, a senior advisor and director of Kaizen Institute North America and their director for Japan tours. Christian was an integral part of the team for the Japan Lean Healthcare Tour that…
Hi – I’d let to let you know about or remind you about a few upcoming events that I’ll be a part of. I hope you can join me for one or more of them. One of them is a…
Last week, I wrote a post (part 1) looking back at our visit to the Toyota Tsutsumi factory that was part of our Japan tour that took place two months ago now. See previous posts in this series. I’m going to try to…
I’ve been overdue in writing more posts about our Japan tour that took place two months ago now. See previous posts in this series. I’m going to try to do one post a week on this topic. It’s always fascinating…
The ideas, principles, and methods that we’d recognize as “Lean” aren’t exclusively of Japanese origin. Many of us, myself included, draw inspiration from Toyota, reading books about them and visiting their factories. For me, I’ve had a chance to visit…
This tweet and photo made me chuckle the other day… If it’s “your right” or “your left” as you’re going up or down the stairs, collisions are going to happen if everybody followed these instructions: In Japan, during our…
