Yesterday, I saw this headline from the Associated Press:
"Tatsuro Toyoda, former head of Toyota, dies at 88"
He passed away on December 30, 2017. I offer my condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues.
In this post, I share some of his history and some reflections from two Americans who worked with him directly.
Cleaning out the backlog of stuff I wanted to blog about...
Not Being Lean Lemmings; Why Best Practices Don't Yokoten; Nissan Leaders Lead the Way, After the Problems
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…
Thanks to Lean Frontiers for sharing a story from Mike Hoseus on LinkedIn. Mike is, of course, co-author of the excellent book Toyota Culture: The Heart and Soul of the Toyota Way (written with Jeff Liker, who I just learned is retiring from the University of Michigan... more on that soon).
I continue sharing documents from the Don Ephlin library archive. What did Ford and the UAW learn when they visited Japan in 1981? Many of the things that made Japanese industry successful are the same things that make organizations successful with Lean today, including in healthcare.
My guest Katie Anderson, previously a guest for Episode #233, is back again talking about lessons learned and reflections from her 18 months living in Japan. And check out a contest to win a copy of my book, courtesy of Katie and her blog...
It’s a fair question: would Lean be easier to implement if your workforce were Japanese — or if you were operating in Japan? After two study trips to Japan with Kaizen Institute, my honest answer is: not necessarily. And the…
I watched the movie "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" for a second time. The film focuses mainly on Jiro Ono, a now 90-year old sushi chef in Tokyo who has received the rare and coveted Michelin 3-star rating for his restaurant. The film reminds me of Lean thinking, especially the drive for Kaizen, or continuous improvement.
Continuing from Part 1 of my post about my first day of my first China trip, I’d like to share more about the Lean healthcare conference and presentations that took place. In the next presentation from a Chinese hospital, the…
I’ve recently updated the eBook Practicing Lean to include a new ninth chapter, submitted by Samuel Selay. Other new chapters are by David Haigh, from Canada, and Joe Swartz (my Healthcare Kaizen co-author) . I love the diversity of perspectives in the book, as it’s…
Recently, I shared the famed 1980 NBC documentary, “If Japan Can, Why Can’t We?” that essentially introduced W. Edwards Deming to a mainstream Western business audience. Today, I’m going to share some highlights and thoughts from Part 1 the program…
The W. Edwards Deming Institute and Dr. Deming's grandson Kevin Cahill worked with NBC to make the 1980 program available, giving the institute perpetual rights to it (see their blog post). To the institute's credit, they've made this freely available on YouTube.