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.

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Interesting Comment on a Toyota Post

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, I guess, than linking to a reader comment, but I had a new comment from…

Lean Healthcare in Toyota’s Backyard?

Article Link: Lexington hospitals building to be the best This article talks about the lean efforts of some hospitals in Lexington, KY – about 30 minutes away from Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky (TMMK), the Georgetown plant. Is this an advantage…

Will Changing the CEO Help GM?

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 I didn’t even learn about it until Thursday, as I was under a proverbial rock,…

Is TPS the “Best” System?

In a LinkedIn Group discussion, a member posted this question: “In the book TPS Taiichi Ohno gives in chapter 5 praises to Henry Ford. He refers to Henry Ford his book Today and Tomorrow, written in 1926. Henry Ford was…