Tag: Kaizen

Fear and Futility: Two Barriers to Improvement (and How Leaders Can...

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Have you ever seen a problem at work but decided not to say anything? Maybe you were worried about the reaction (fear). Or maybe...

Lean Lessons from Japan: Mindsets, Culture, and the Challenge of Speaking...

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This article is based on my recent Catalysis webinar, "Lean Lessons from Japan: Mindsets, Culture, and the Challenge of Speaking Up." The session was...

Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape: August 22, 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...

Kaizen Alone Isn’t Enough: Why Leaders Must Fix the System for...

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One of the most persistent misunderstandings I see about Lean is the belief that if you "just get everyone doing Kaizen," performance will steadily...

Einstein’s Favorite Mistake — and What It Teaches Us About Lean...

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Albert Einstein -- the mind who redefined physics -- once called something he did "the biggest blunder of my life." When he completed his general...

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...

Kaiteki: The Japanese Philosophy Behind Motivated Employees and Lean Success

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During my most recent visit to Japan (as part of a tour hosted by Katie Anderson), we spent time in several remarkable organizations where...

From Chaos to Clarity: How a Health System CEO Used Process...

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"Every month, we're buried in data--and yet somehow, we're still arguing over whether there's actually a problem." That was the problem statement shared with me...

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...

From Game Film to Gemba: How Chick-fil-A Studies the Work (and...

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If you've ever waited in a long Chick-fil-A drive-through line, chances are it was the most pleasant traffic jam you've experienced. Efficient, polite, and...

Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape: February 21, 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...

Commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. Day — Keep Moving Forward

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Let's commemorate today's national holiday for Dr. King with a look back at my post from 2012: A Lean Lesson from Dr. Martin Luther King,...
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