Tag: Toyota

Toyota Thinking: Leadership, Systems, and Continuous Improvement

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.

The Role of Purpose and Your Role

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What is your role at work? Your purpose? Those questions might make you really stop and think. I sat in yesterday on a class, taught...

Revisiting and Re-reading Dr. Deming’s “Out of the Crisis” – Chapter...

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For a number of reasons, I've decided to re-read my copy of one of the most influential books I've ever read: Out of the...

The Impact of Toyota’s Quality Problems on “Lean Healthcare”?

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As I'm traveling back from Sweden today, I think I'll be catching up on the web reaction to Toyota's major quality problems and recalls....

Lean: Letting our human characteristics flourish…

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Yesterday, I was in the first day of two for John Shook's "Managing to Learn" class about A3 management here at the Lean Enterprise...

What You’re Searching For, January 2010 Edition

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It's been a while since I've done a "What You're Searching For" Post, where I pull out items from my blog's stats, the keyword...

Interesting Comment on a Toyota Post

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My blogging will be relatively light this week, given some holiday time off, family visiting, and a short trip for New Year's. There's nothing lazier,...

Lean Healthcare in Toyota’s Backyard?

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Article Link: Lexington hospitals building to be the best This article talks about the lean efforts of some hospitals in Lexington, KY - about 30...

Matthew May’s Encounter with Tiger & Goals of Perfection

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In Pursuit of Elegance | My Own Tiger's Tale What does Tiger Woods have to do with Lean Thinking and hospitals? Read on... Our good friend,...

Meeting Newt Gingrich, a Lean Champion

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I had a great opportunity a few weeks back, seeing former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich give a talk at the Ontario Hospital...

Will Changing the CEO Help GM?

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I don't mean to kick Fritz Henderson while he's down, after he resigned as CEO of Government Motors this week. He resigned on Tuesday and...

Lean as a Way to Save Manufacturing Featured on CNN

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Hat tip to blog reader Steven H. for sending this video my way. It's always nice to see Lean featured in the mainstream media, including...

Guest Post: Is TPS the “Best” System?

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In this LinkedIn Group discussion, a member posted this question: "In the book TPS Taiichi Ohno gives in chapter 5 praises to Henry Ford. He...
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