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.
Joining us for Episode #469 of the Lean Blog Interview Podcast are Matt May and Pablo Dominguez, the authors of the new book What a Unicorn Knows: How Leading Entrepreneurs Use Lean Principles to Drive Sustainable Growth. It’s available now! Matt has been before, in episodes 67 and 103……
Following up on my recent collaboration with ChatGPT (“Alternative History: GM Uses Lean to Remain #1 in the Auto Industry“), I also asked the AI bot to simulate what might have gone differently in healthcare. I gave an initial prompt…
TL;DR: GM had the chance to learn the Toyota Production System firsthand at NUMMI starting in 1984. They didn’t. I asked ChatGPT to imagine what might have happened if they had. Updated May 2024: I worked with ChatGPT 4 to…
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. Insights about improvement, innovation, and leadership… Operational Excellence, Improvement, and…
“I’ll have a half-caff no-whip soy-milk chestnut praline latte… to-go.” Listen: Here is the episode if you want to stream the audio: In Episode 37, we wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays with some new (to us) holiday…
When I visited the Toyota Museum in Nagoya, Japan (see my previous blog posts about it), they had a display that includes a video that gives an overview of the Toyota Production System. I’ve seen the video a few times…
There’s a new “AI copy writing tool” that I read about called copy.ai. I decided to play around with a free trial and, of course, I tested it by asking the service to write a blog post about Lean in…
A culture of learning makes the difference, not “low inventory” Last year, I wrote a post that criticized those, including the Wall St Journal, who claimed that Toyota was “abandoning” the Toyota Production System or that strategically adding some inventory…
Thanks as always to Ryan McCormack for this… there’s always so much good reading, listening, and viewing shared here by him! Get these directly from Ryan via email. Insights about improvement, innovation, and leadership… Operational Excellence, Improvement, and Innovation Deliberate…
TL;DR: Looking for powerful Toyota quotes? Here are verified quotes from The Toyota Way and Toyota leaders on mistakes, learning, psychological safety, and continuous improvement — plus context on what they really mean. Toyota Quotes on Learning, Mistakes, and Psychological…
Gerald Harris spent 25 years leading lean transformations in automotive manufacturing before shifting into healthcare consulting, and his origin story starts with a Toyota supplier in crisis that went from shipping 250 door sets per shift to 2,400. In this…
Podcast interview with Ken Pilone, author of Lean Leadership on a Napkin, discussing Toyota, TPS vs. Lean, leadership humility, and common misconceptions about Lean management. Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #455 of…
