Tag: Retail
Visual Management Gone Wrong: A Christmas Lesson from the Grocery Store
As Christmas approaches, I'm getting into the holiday spirit. So far, I've avoided hearing the Wham! song "Last Christmas," so I have not yet...
The Ironic Saga of the Broken “My Favorite Mistake” Coffee Mugs
TL;DR: Broken coffee mugs turned into a practical lesson about learning from mistakes, system design, kindness, and why fixing root causes matters more than...
When Companies Don’t Learn From “The Beer Game,” Inventory Stock-Outs Turn...
You're a retailing or manufacturing executive who hasn't heard of MIT's "Beer Game" management simulator?
Then you're probably swimming in a lot of excess inventory.
If...
Kaizens at the Grocery Store (and the Drug Store) [COVID-19]
I wrote a blog post for KaiNexus that's the first in a series that we're going to run about "Opportunities for Improvement" in everyday...
How Process Behavior Charts Improve the Way We Interpret Business Metrics
This content originally appeared in a post about my Halloween metrics webinar, but I decided to carve it out (not like a pumpkin) into its own post.
A reader asked: "Should we be using financial statements in that way or is there a better approach given our knowledge about different types of variation? Or am I completely off track?"
What’s Going on at Whole Foods? It Doesn’t Sound Like Lean
The chain Whole Foods is reportedly having inventory shortages and morale problems. It sounds like a real mess, but thankfully nobody is calling it Lean. Their "Order to Shelf" system reminds me of "Pull to Order" work that I was involved in at Dell about 20 years ago...
A Look Back at “The Good Jobs Strategy” – For Retail...
Today, I'm looking back at at podcast from two years ago, sharing this written summary that hopefully better reaches an audience that doesn't listen...
Information Deficits, Visual Indicators, Error Proofing, and Payment Terminals
Gwendolyn Galsworth is a leading thinker and author on Lean and various aspects of "visuality." One thing she talks about in the workplace is "information deficits."
J.C. Penney’s CEO on Listening to Front-Line Employees
After the previous CEO of JC Penney, Ron Johnson, was fired (see my post "Lack of PDSA made JCP CEO SOL?"), it seems that...
The Good Jobs Strategy: Zeynep Ton on Investing in People for...
This conversation with Zeynep Ton explores why treating labor as a cost creates operational failure -- and how the Good Jobs Strategy offers a...
Why “Just-in-Time” Retail Scheduling Is Not Lean
TL;DR (2026 update): So-called "just-in-time" retail scheduling that relies on on-call shifts, last-minute cutbacks, or sending people home early is not Lean--it's cost cutting...
Learning the Good Jobs Strategy at MIT: Why Retail and Healthcare...
Editor's note (2026): This post remains highly relevant as organizations increasingly rely on algorithmic scheduling, utilization targets, and AI-driven workforce planning.
TL;DR: Zeynep Ton's Good...
