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.
Ga. peanut plant has history of problems – Food safety – nbc.com NY Times article There was a lot of focus in the news yesterday about this peanut contamination being an “FDA problem”, with President Obama pointing at a lack…
Lean as a Cultural Transformation at Porsche A 2009 FORTUNE profile of Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking offers an instructive case study in what a serious Lean transformation can look like when it is led from the top and treated as…
by Dan Markovitz In a refreshing change of pace for the auto industry, Akio Toyoda, who was just named as the new president of Toyota, did not ask for government loans. Nor, in his first public statements, did he express…
My guest for LeanBlog Podcast #57 is Alfie Kohn, an author and lecturer in the fields of education, parenting, and human behavior. His books include Punished By Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A’s, Praise, and Other Bribes…
Rod Dreher: What it means to lead | Dallas Morning News | Opinion: Viewpoints “Authority is responsibility. Authority is accountability. It is not power.” That sounds like a good motto for leaders. Is this the latest from a Toyota leader,…
Eliminating He Said, She Said « Sharing thoughts, ideas and suggestions on hardwiring success I really like Quint Studer’s books, not just for healthcare, but as general leadership books (you can find his books on Amazon) In his most recent…
LeanBlog Podcast Episode #53 is a conversation with Patrick M. Anderson, the Executive Director of Chugachmiut, the Tribal consortium created to promote self-determination to the seven Native communities of the Chugach Region. I met Patrick at a Lean conference, where…
Singletary dropped pants at halftime – SF Gate Funny story here about new 49ers coach, Mike Singletary, during halftime of his first game. When his team hit the Candlestick Park locker room at halftime trailing the Seahawks 20-3, Singletary called…
The Weekend Interview – WSJ.com Good interview with the CEO of FedEx, Fred Smith. If you click on the link above, be warned there’s some political discussion (which I know many of you might be sick of at this point).…
Top Small Workplaces 2008 – WSJ.com Today’s WSJ was well worth the $2.00. Yes, I subscribe to the online Journal, but there’s something nice about reading the regular print version while traveling. Maybe I should just buy a Kindle as…
A friend of mine, Kurt Woolley at Intel, has written an article for Industry Week that is quite popular. I thought I would share it here. It’s title is: The Key to a Successful Lean Journey? Leadership! Kurt talks about…
I’m giving a talk this morning at the “Lab Quality Confab,” an event for hospital laboratory leaders. The title of my presentation is “Engaging Employees to Embrace Lean and Energize Their Creativity.” I think hospitals have a long way to…
