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.
Seeing John Hunter’s post with data that says only 19% of companies are happy with their Lean results, here are my thoughts. Lean does not implement itself. Leaders implement Lean. Lean does not fail. Organizations fail. Rather than saying, “this…
SI.com – Writers – The Bonus: Bobby Valentine’s Super Terrific Happy Hour As a lifelong baseball fan (especially as a kid), I found the above article interesting when I saw it yesterday. It’s about former Rangers and Mets manager Bobby…
davidmaister.com > Passion, People and Principles > The War For Talent The linked blog post is about the war for consulting/professional services talent, but the framework reminds me of Lean and is something that could apply to any company. David…
Got this story during an email exchange, used with express permission: —————————– I saw my doctor yesterday and told him I was doing a lean publication, and he immediately started complaining about well-intended but impractical top-down measures being taken in…
USATODAY.com Former Chrysler chief Lee Iacocca has “failed” at retirement, he says. His latest project is a new book, Where Have All the Leaders Gone?. The book has made waves because of the political content (not the focus here), but…
NPR : American Airlines ‘Insources’ Maintenance Work Thanks to my friend Amber for passing this along. It’s too bad that management can’t empower the customer-facing staff at American the same way, which would undoubtedly improve their morale, as well. In…
GM Got Gamed (Or, How to Fudge Your Production Numbers to Keep the Boss Happy) TL;DR: At a GM engine plant, fear-based leadership pushed supervisors to falsify production data to avoid punishment. The numbers looked good, but real problems stayed…
In the Lead – WSJ.com The WSJ wrote Monday about the leadership styles of Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith, the Super Bowl coaches for the Colts and Bears. The Super Bowl should be required viewing for managers who think screaming…
Business Week: Out At Home Depot As more details about the former Home Depot “leader” and his “leadership” come out, it’s a sad case study of bad leadership (written about earlier, at risk of being accused of Shadenfreude). Why am…
Here is LeanBlog Podcast #10, again with Jamie Flinchbaugh, Founder of and Partner, co-author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Lean. In this Podcast, we respond to an audio question from blog listener Bruce from Akron OH. The topic is how to…
WSJ.com – The Culture of Winning This is a fantastic interview with the General Manager of the Atlanta Braves, John Schuerholz (requires WSJ subscription). Even if you’re not a baseball fan, it’s noteworthy that the Braves have won their division…
WSJ.com – Workers of Europe Innovate (subscription required) Great article in the WSJ today about a company in France that sounds like it’s doing many “lean” things without invoking Toyota. The leader of this company says, in part: Most businesses,…