Toyota is often cited as the inspiration for Lean, but its success is rooted in leadership behaviors, management systems, and a deep commitment to learning—not tools or slogans. This archive brings together blog posts, podcasts, and reflections on Toyota’s approach to quality, continuous improvement, psychological safety, and respect for people. Many of these posts explore what leaders outside Toyota often misunderstand—and what truly matters if they hope to learn from Toyota rather than copy it.
I enjoy “gemba visits” (of sorts) to wineries and vacations often focus on this walking, tasting, and learning. I usually read the wine column that’s in the Wall St. Journal each Saturday, and this one stood out to me: “Do…
On Thursday, August 10, I hosted our latest KaiNexus webinar. It’s being presented by Warren Stokes, Director of Process Improvement at HonorHealth, a health system in Arizona. The title of the webinar is: How to Leverage Lean for Long-Term Success (Under…
Update: See the end of the post with some photos I took at the game yesterday where Beltre got his 3000th career hit – quite a milestone! Those who study and practice Lean often know about Taiichi Ohno, one of…
I’m at the 8th annual Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit in Palm Springs, California. Follow on Twitter using the hashtag #HCSummit2017. If you’re here at the event, please say hello! I love meeting blog readers and podcast listeners. I’ll be adding…
There are many helpful videos on YouTube with great illustrations of Kaizen and continuous improvement mindsets and principles. In this post, I’m going to share three videos: Kaizen Upon Kaizen in a Team In this video, Ashley explains how a Kaizen…
What if "easier" is less safe? Great question. It begs the question of why Safer isn't first in Shingo's list? Is it because safety is assumed to be such a fundamental pre-condition in the Toyota culture or the Lean approach? Safety is such a non-negotiable point that it doesn't need to be said?
Thanks to Lean Frontiers for sharing a story from Mike Hoseus on LinkedIn. Mike is, of course, co-author of the excellent book Toyota Culture: The Heart and Soul of the Toyota Way (written with Jeff Liker, who I just learned is retiring from the University of Michigan... more on that soon).
Back in 2012, I did a podcast interview (Episode 153) with a psychologist and family therapist, Robert Maurer, PhD. It's been almost five years since the discussion, but I'm often reminded of what I learned from his books and his advice about small change.
A few of you sent me this article... and you were correct to think I would be interested: "Inside Alabama's Auto Jobs Boom: Cheap Wages, Little Training, Crushed Limbs." What are the parallels and lessons for hospitals?
Why did "The Rock" and his movie make me think about Lean? Are many individuals (or organization's) willing to put time into continuous improvement every day for 20 years? If so, the results and "after" picture seem astonishing, right?
Here are some recorded keynote talks and video presentations from the "Results Washington" annual conference, as part of the state's Lean government efforts. See this post for talks from LEI's Jim Womack and John Shook, Toyota's Jamie Bonini, and many healthcare improvement leaders.
Lean sometimes gets, I think, an unfair rap that it’s only a method for incremental improvement. See this article, for example: “Limits of Lean — Transformative Care Redesign Must Go Beyond Typical Lean-Based Improvements.”
