Leadership isn’t about titles, charisma, or quick decisions—it’s about creating systems where people can do their best work and continuously improve. This archive brings together blog posts, podcasts, and reflections on leadership through a Lean lens, drawing on ideas from Deming, Toyota, healthcare, and real-world management practice. The common theme: leaders shape culture, influence behavior, and own the systems that produce results—for better or worse.
This edition of Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape emphasizes that real improvement depends more on mindset, leadership, and system design than on tools alone. From lessons on problem-solving behaviors and the persistent challenge of patient harm in healthcare to examples…
Caring cultures are not “soft” extras in Lean–they are foundational. Caroline Greenlee and Chris Butterworth explain how psychological safety, respect for people, and wellbeing enable sustainable continuous improvement. Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guests for…
TL;DR Leader Standard Work isn’t a calendar or a checklist. It’s the daily responsibility of leaders to show up with the right behaviors–listening, asking, following up, and creating psychological safety. How leaders act in everyday moments matters far more than…
Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking with a supply chain student (taking undergraduate courses) who reached out with thoughtful questions about Lean principles. We had a wide-ranging conversation–covering culture, communication, frontline engagement, and even organizing a water chemistry lab.…
This edition of Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape examines why true operational excellence remains elusive despite decades of tools, frameworks, and good intentions. From reflections on learning organizations at LEGO and leadership discipline at Costco, to the hidden costs of…
Lessons from my book The Mistakes That Make Us, plus conversations with Phillip Cantrell and Damon Lembi One of the central themes in my book, The Mistakes That Make Us, is the shift leaders must make from needing to be right to being willing…
This edition of Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape explores productivity, leadership, and change through a systems lens. From Canada’s long-standing productivity challenge and lessons from Toyota Racing Development, to breaking firefighting cultures, rethinking change management, and supporting leaders through the…
TL;DR: PDCA is meant to be a learning cycle, but in fear-based cultures it becomes PDCYA–Plan, Do, Cover Your A**. When leaders punish mistakes, people stop learning and start protecting themselves. Psychological safety turns PDCA back into real improvement. Lean…
“I wish moments like this didn’t seem so noteworthy. I wish focusing on safety and thanking people for speaking up was the norm in hospitals around the world.”— my comment on LinkedIn That was my response to a short yet…
This edition of Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape explores strategy, flow, and culture in environments where improvement is harder than it looks. From how organizations can “play to win” without direct competition, to learning through cardboard simulations in healthcare design,…
In this episode of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast, Dale Lucht reflects on the leadership habits that separate short-lived Lean gains from lasting cultural transformation–and the mistakes leaders must stop repeating. Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more…
Fear and futility are two of the biggest barriers to continuous improvement. When people are afraid to speak up–or believe nothing will change–problems stay hidden. Lean leaders can remove fear and futility by creating psychological safety, responding with curiosity, and…
