“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.
‘Lean Production’ May Also be a Lean Toward Injuries People getting hurt would be a good indicator of Lean As Misguidedly Executed. The above link is from the American Psychology Association of all places, and they are talking about physical…
Star-Telegram.com | 04/06/2007 | America’s Great Automotive Stuntmen Local car columnist Ed Wallace seems like a friendly curmudgeon. This week, he writes about Ford’s CEO Allan Mulally and his adventures at Village Ford (back in Dearborn). Wallace rightfully takes on…
Circuit City’s harsh layoffs give glimpse of a new world First off, Circuit City is not a “Lean” company. So when people ask “is Lean always good for employees?,” you can also ask “when is traditional management always good for…
The End of the Line as They Know It – New York Times The link above is an article about “Detroit Three” employees taking voluntary buyouts. There are some insights into the working world of the plants these employees leave…
Starbucks Gossip: I know Starbucks would never allow a sign like this to be posted… One blog I follow sometimes is one run primarily for the purposes of allowing Starbucks “baristas,” to bitch about customers. They are coming dangerously close…
By Dan Markovitz Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal ran an article explaining that employees are more likely to embrace changes when they’re fully informed of the rationale behind those changes. What?!?!?!? You mean that performance relates to worker involvement?!?!? Shocking!!! Foremost…
In the Lead – WSJ.com Maybe the whole Toyota notion of “respect for people” and developing employees is the real “secret” sauce that companies can’t copy (or refuse to). While not mentioning Toyota, this WSJ article caught my eye this…
Back to my original post about gaming the system, there are three ways people can respond to pressure to improve: I got an email from an old friend — I’ll keep his name, company, and industry confidential, but he said…
A few weeks back, the British media was having a field day with reports of and complaints about what sounds like a horribly misguided “office lean” effort at a British government office. Read more about it. The picture below is…
StuderGroup – Conversations with Quint Studer Another great discussion from Quint Studer’s management blog (I hate to call it a “healthcare blog” because that might keep you manufacturing leaders away). Here is a direct link to a post called “What…
Here is the actual ad that ran during the game, after seeing the preview here. If you’re reading this via RSS or a news reader, come visit the actual blog page to view the commercial video. So, the “joke”…
Kevin Meyer, over at Evolving Excellence, gets credit for finding this first — GM’s Super Bowl commercial: My comments, posted on Kevin’s site: Imagine if the billions GM spent on technology development had been put into people development and lean.…
