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.
Episode #109 is a discussion with Jim Morgan, Director, Global Body Exterior and Stamping Business Unit Engineering, Ford Motor Company. We will be talking about Lean product development methods in this show. James will be a plenary speaker at the…
Here is a new reader question from Steve Palmreuter in Michigan. He raises a topic that I’ve been thinking about lately, so I’m happy to share it with you (with his permission). You might remember Steve as I blogged about…
Dan Pink joins me to discuss his book Drive and the science behind what actually motivates people — ideas deeply aligned with Lean thinking and Deming. We explore why “if-then” rewards backfire for complex work, the dysfunctions of incentive schemes…
I’ll apologize if today’s post seems off-topic to my healthcare readers, but I have to share a link to a Sunday New York Times article about General Electric (“G.E. Goes With What It Knows: Making Stuff“). After being seduced by…
I received a question from a reader, a retiree from a manufacturing company who is now a volunteer for a healthcare organization. We have exchanged messages before about opportunities to apply Lean thinking in a faith-based mission-driven organization like this,…
This is just my second time attending the annual Institute for Healthcare Improvement annual forum – one of about 6,000 medical professionals, leaders, and patient advocates in attendance. For those of you on Twitter, I’ve seen familiar faces here, including…
Short post today, but a simple message, I think. One of the best lessons I’ve learned about Lean management is about the need to ask “why?” Don’t assume, don’t blame – ask why. It’s a very common situation in a…
The full article requires a subscription, but John Toussaint and I were each quoted in this article from last Friday: “Toyota techniques drive profit, efficiency gains at Moffitt.” As with many of these articles, the full story tells a picture…
This headline jumped out at me: “Local hospital receives $500,000 to train workers.” What also jumped out at me, in the article, is that the money comes from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (commonly referred to as the…
I may have shared this video before, but it’s worth taking a quick video peek into one of my favorite companies – VIBCO. When I was living in Boston, I had the pleasure of visiting the gemba a few times…
Yesterday, I tweeted a quote about patient safety that I’ve seen posted on the wall or bulletin board in many hospitals: “To err is human, to cover up is unforgivable, and to fail to learn is inexcusable.” – Sir Liam…
When I was traveling last week, a magazine caught my eye, one I don’t normally read: Scientific American Mind and the article “Cubicle, Sweet Cubicle: The Best Ways to Make Office Spaces Not So Bad ( Preview )“. The whole…
