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’m very happy to be participating in Jared Thatcher‘s “Global Lean Summit” event this September in Indiana. I’ll be there to network and learn, which includes time visiting a Toyota Material Handling factory (an entire day!) I’ll be speaking and…
This episode of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast explores psychological safety in Lean leadership through the lens of Toyota’s culture, with insights from Mike Hoseus, former Toyota leader and co-author of Toyota Culture. We discuss how respect for people, andon…
Thanks, as always, to Ryan McCormack for this. He always shares so much good reading, listening, and viewing here! Subscribe to get these directly from Ryan via email. News, articles, books, podcasts, and videos about how to make the workplace…
Toyota culture and kaizen depend on what happens when people reveal a problem. In Welcome Problems, Find Success: Creating Toyota Cultures Around the World, Kiyoshi “Nate” Furuta describes both hidden inventory and the trust built at NUMMI. Those examples helped…
Thanks as always to Ryan McCormack for this… there’s always so much good reading, listening, and viewing shared here by him! Subscribe to get these directly from Ryan via email. News, articles, books, podcasts, and videos about how to make…
Jim Womack returns to the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast to reflect on how Lean thinking has evolved–and where it has gone off track. Drawing on decades of firsthand experience, he shares candid perspectives on leadership, daily management, and why tools…
Jeff Liker explains how Toyota leaders at every level are expected to respond when something goes wrong — and why most other companies default to blame instead. We also dig into the real story behind Ford’s failed andon cord rollout…
2024 Preface: I’m re-posting this blog post from 2012 about Lean at Boeing. The WSJ headline emphasizes “speed up,” but that could be the fault of their editors not realizing that Lean means quality and flow go hand in hand.…
TL;DR: Claims that workplaces can have “too much” psychological safety are based on a flawed definition. Psychological safety doesn’t eliminate accountability–it enables speaking up, learning, and better performance. Thanks to Timothy R. Clark and Junior Clark for this excellent episode…
TL;DR: A true culture of learning doesn’t fear mistakes–it learns from them. Drawing inspiration from Toyota’s mindset, this post explores how psychological safety and problem-solving discipline are essential to preventing repeated errors and building continuous improvement into the DNA of…
Thanks as always to Ryan McCormack for this… there’s always so much good reading, listening, and viewing shared here by him! Subscribe to get these directly from Ryan via email. News, articles, books, podcasts, and videos about how to make…
This post is built around excerpts from the book The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation. Read more about Toyota, including stories and key lessons learned in the book. Download a free preview of the book…
