“Respect for people” isn’t about being nice—it’s about how leaders design systems, make decisions, and respond to problems. In Lean organizations, respect shows up through listening, job security, psychological safety, clear communication, and a commitment to learning rather than blame. This archive brings together blog posts, podcasts, and examples that explore respect for people as a core Lean principle—one that enables trust, engagement, continuous improvement, and better outcomes for customers and employees alike.
A poignant story showed up in the Washington Post during the recent GM strike that hits at the heart of the principle of respect for people. It came from the Saturn plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee. Management, required to work…
‘I don’t want this to happen to anyone else’ This will happen again, unless the process is fixed. Lean can help. Please read on… I heard about this story this morning, this horrible tragedy where a 35-year old woman, Darrie…
by Dan Markovitz The latest issue of Strategy+Business, Booz Allen Hamilton’s business journal, features an article on cost cutting. Ordinarily, simple cost cutting flies in the face of real lean, but in this case, the authors’ recommendations incorporate an important…
Star-Telegram.com 09/03/2007 A closer look at four survey participants: There was a feature in the local paper a few weeks back about what different types of employees get paid, here is an example from UPS: “TIM DIXON, $125,000 Tim Dixon’s…
Monday is Labor Day, a holiday in the United States. Since one of the main pillars of the Toyota Production System is “respect for people,” let’s revisit previous Lean Blog posts that focus on that concept (click on the “Respect…
Road Commission under fire – mlive.com: One of the two pillars of the Toyota Production System is “respect for people.” It’s a shame that we have to work on something so basic and fundamental, as this, but respect is often…
Lean Insider – Toyota Shifting Production to Lower Labor Costs? It Could Happen The Lean Insider blog poses an interesting question…. is it keeping with the “respect for people” principle of the Toyota Production System if Toyota wants to move…
Irony is Beautiful – TrumpetMaster Why these stories are on a trumpet player message board is beyond me (thank you Google Alerts for finding the keywords for me). These both sound like instances of Lean As Misguidedly Executed (L.A.M.E.) as…
By Norman Bodek, PCS Press Note: This originally appeared recently on the NWLean email list. This is re-printed with Norman’s permission. Consider it a preview of an upcoming LeanBlog Podcast. I believe that Toyota has always wanted to make great…
Hundreds of CEOs top $8.3M pay mark – USATODAY.com: This isn’t exactly “news” or at least anything new. Excerpt from the article: “CEO pay isn’t set by markets, Finlay said in an e-mail interview. Instead, it is ‘determined by a…
Northwest Air, Out of Chapter 11, Aims to Mollify Customers, Labor – WSJ.com Mollify (v): to soften in feeling or temper, as a person; pacify; appease. I don’t understand airline management at all. Airlines, in general, seem to be one…
VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Toyota Production System –> Dead Link Here is a nice succinct definition of the Veteran’s Affairs hospital production system in Pittsburgh. It draws on the work of Spear and Bowen and their “Decoding the DNA” definition…
