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.
Earlier leanblog.org post and comment Last week, I posted about Deming’s 14 points and I got an interesting question from a blog reader, Brian: I found # 10 confounding: “Eliminate slogans, exhortations and targets.” Slogans are sometimes used to communicate…
Chrysler matches Toyota in efficiency – Detroit News I didn’t mean for this to become “beat up on the Detroit Three” week… this comes in waves. If you don’t like these posts, my short-term focus on the auto industry will…
TL;DR: Toyota’s leadership philosophy isn’t about control — it’s about confirming processes, supporting people, and solving problems without blame. This quote from The Toyota Way 2001 shows how “thoughtful leaders” build quality and psychological safety into the system. A Powerful…
asahi.com article – ENGLISH Interesting article from Japan… Toyota’s 40,000 factory workers in Japan are all engaged in kaizen, or continuous improvement, as a core part of the quality control (QC) activities. No surprise there… Lean and kaizen are tightly…
The Open Secret of Success: Financial Page: The New Yorker I’m not normally a reader of The New Yorker, but I thank Norman Bodek for pointing this out as we recorded a new podcast episode (to be released in a…
Fixing East-West clash challenging Prof. Jeffrey Liker keynoted a Lean event in Oklahoma and is quoted as saying: Maybe the cowboy and the samurai best illustrate the chasm between Eastern and Western corporate cultures, author Jeffrey Liker offered Thursday during…
Medical Leave — Offshore Medicine — Fast Company Interesting read here in the latest issue of Fast Company about a hospital in Thailand and one of the visionaries, Ruben Toral, who wants to globalize healthcare. The idea of patients flying…
reportonbusiness.com: Asking ‘why’ again and again is harder than you think, but it works It’s kind of neat to see a column about the “5 whys” method in a general business publication (link above). The consultant and professor in the…
Why do so many Lean efforts fail at the leadership level? Jeffrey Liker explains how Toyota develops managers over time–through stability, daily coaching, and deep respect for people–rather than quick rotations or promotions. Here is LeanBlog Podcast #41 with Dr.…
One of the most fascinating trends out of there is the spread of Toyota folks into other old-line automakers or parts suppliers — Gary Convis, Jim Press, and Jim Farley, to name three. What impact can they have outside of…
IndustryWeek Article about the Book | Subscribe to IndustryWeek Amazon Link: Overcoming Inventoritis: The Silent Killer of Innovation When I first read this headline, I misread it, thinking it was about the “fear of inventory” (something that seems like a…
Jeffrey Liker explains why Lean culture is difficult to replicate and why most organizations never move beyond tools and events. Sustainable Lean requires long-term leadership commitment, stability, and deep people development–not quick fixes. Here is LeanBlog Podcast #39, once again…