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.
Detroit News Article In terms of initial vehicle quality, Ford Motor Co. is in a statistical dead-heat for second place with Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co., according to a new study the Dearborn automaker plans to release…
Chron.com – Houston Chronicle The question mark was my addition to the headline. I wonder if this what the motivation behind this comment from Toyota’s Jim Press was, saying “technology is key” or if he even said it at all.…
Car Keys Could Go the Way of Tail Fins – New York Times So I’ve finally become a Toyota driver, driving an employer-provided Prius for over a month now. Answer to the first question I usually get, 42.9 MPG is…
Press Named to Toyota Board – The Car Connection Toyota’s Gary Convis, a leader who I have admired greatly, is retiring in June: Toyota also announced that Gary Convis will retire in June from his positions as a managing officer…
asahi.com : Toyota to name first foreign director Congratulations to Jim Press: Toyota Motor Corp., seeking to add an international flavor to its management, will appoint a foreign national to its board of directors for the first time, sources said…
Lean opportunities coming to Central Texas I’ve been critical of folks who lump Dell into the “lean” world, since Dell hasn’t really done much according to the Toyota model (previous posts on Dell). Dell developed its own model, the Dell…
UAW, Toyota workers to talk We often talk about Toyota and “respect for people” as one of their main pillars. I’m sure most of us paint a pretty idealistic picture of Toyota when we talk to others: Safety and Quality…
With apologies to the band the Dead Milkmen and their song “Bitchin’ Camaro.” Note the comma in my title, though. It’s ironic that my first-ever customer experience with Toyota would have some hiccups along the way. About a month ago,…
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc. :: Toyota Honors Top Suppliers For 2006 Toyota Way Principle #11: Respect your extended network of partners and suppleirs by challenging them and helping them improve. I’m sure Toyota won’t be dumping…
Mlive.com Article Here’s an article with Toyota (and former Chrysler) exec Jamie Bonini talking about continuous improvement: “Our 2010 vision is to be the most admired automaker through continuous improvement and respect for people,” Bonini said. A New Jersey native,…
Goldman upgrades Dell on turnaround hopes Here’s another contrast between Toyota and Dell, particularly striking in context of my recent podcast with Norman Bodek: Dell shares rallied nearly 3 percent Monday after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to “buy” from…
Here is the YouTube video of a curious Toyota ad. You might know that the phrase “autonomation” comes from Toyota and means “automation with a human touch.” The Strategos website has a nice overview of autonomation This ad’s theme is…