“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.
My first job out of college was at the GM Livonia Engine Plant, starting in 1995. It was not where I wanted to be. I had become a fan of W. Edwards Deming’s work, and GM was famous for being…
“Shadowing” is a very powerful method. In a healthcare setting, we can shadow patients or staff to better understand the “current state” of how healthcare is delivered. This allows us to identify waste and opportunities for improvement. We want to…
Today I’m linking to a guest post that I wrote for my friend Marc Rouppe van der Voort who works at St. Elisabeth Hospital (Tilburg, Netherlands) and has a blog in Dutch (with auto Google translation). Marc used to maintain a…
TL;DR: At Toyota, the principle is closer to “respect for humanity” than “respect for people” — and that difference matters. It’s not a slogan or a soft value. It is one of two equally important pillars of the Toyota Production…
tl;dr: A simple coffee mishap–placing a mug upside down under a Keurig–illustrates a core Lean lesson: human error is inevitable, so blaming people doesn’t help. Instead, good systems are designed to anticipate mistakes and prevent harm, reflecting Lean’s principle of…
Today’s guest post is by author Natalie Sayer, who was my guest for Podcast #145. While doing research for another project, I had the opportunity to watch the move Happy, a documentary looking at the science of happiness around…
Today’s guest post is by Natalie Sayer, who was my guest for Podcast #145. Most of the literature I read about “respect for people” has an inference that it is uni-directional or bidirectional, tied to the organizational hierarchy. I…
Mark’s note: I’m back from vacation, but I have a few more great guest posts today and tomorrow as I get back into working mode. I’ll be back on Monday. Liz Guthridge is a returning guest blogger — “The Lean…
As the creator of the admittedly awkward L.A.M.E. acronym (meaning Lean As Mistakenly Explained or Lean As Misguidedly Executed), one burden is that I often get emails tipping me off to L.A.M.E. sightings. In a nutshell, it’s L.A.M.E. when a…
Dr. Robert Wachter has a great column in today’s USA Today: “Column: Gregory House M.D.: RIP” and it’s republished on his blog, with its own comment section. I wrote a comment, which is awaiting moderation, and I’ll repost it here….…
Thanks to blog reader Justin Lewis for sending me a link to a post on his hospital’s blog — from Memorial Health System in Colorado Springs: “Lean Effort Pays Big.” Justin leads Memorial’s “Lean Team” and shared their success story.…
You might also have seen the first video animation that I did last week about the waste of getting new recycling bins. I've created a new video that shows what a "bad office 5S" scene might look like... something that's "L.A.M.E." not Lean.
