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Leadership Q&A: Thomas Hartman, Senior Director, Autoliv Americas

From the LEI senior executive series on Lean Leadership: Autoliv’s Thomas Hartman describes the development of a lean problem solving culture, from early instruction by…

by Doug Bartholomew

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Taking a Value Stream Walk at Firm A

I was out walking through a company this past week, something I often do. The firm I visited had asked what I thought of their…

by James (Jim) Womack, PhD

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Lean Management’s Key Concepts

 The technical components and underlying philosophy of lean, based on the Toyota Production System (TPS), work together to create a lean enterprise. But companies embarking…

by Doug Bartholomew

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Why Leadership Needs to Drive the Bus

"Lean change can start from the bottom-up, I won’t say that it can’t, but the situation needs to flip quickly to leadership so that leadership…

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Towards a More Perfect (i.e. Lean) Union

"Over the past few years, we have seen an upward trend in the number of government agencies and states beginning to explore and practice the…

by Darlene Dumont

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From Victim to Partner: The Evolution of a Manufacturing Development System

"Excellence in product development is not 'an engineering thing'; it is an enterprise thing," writes Jim Morgan. And it's helpful to think about manufacturing’s role…

by James Morgan, PhD

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TPS 2.0?

Jim Morgan and Jeffrey Liker chime in on Toyota's announcement of their TNGA program (Toyota New Global Architecture). "The impetus for TNGA is not the…

by Jeffrey Liker and James Morgan, PhD

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Why reduce inventory further?

Dear Gemba Coach,We have a lot of machining operations in our process, and we carry inventory. What is the best way to show employees the…

by Michael Ballé

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How Does Asking Questions Create Change?

Lean is not a sum of processes to acquire and apply which then will make things magically work better. It’s a set of techniques to…

by Michael Ballé and Tracey Richardson

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The Time for Healthcare Leaders to Implement Lean Is Now – Stat!

Pioneering healthcare leaders have demonstrated that lean applied to healthcare can help solve the problems of quality, delivery of care, and cost. It’s time for…

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It's All About the Mindset on Gemba Walks

Darren Walsh believes that there are few things more critical to a successful gemba walk than the right mindset. Do you have the right one…

by Darren Walsh

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Lean Fitness: The Individual vs. the Organization

"For both the individual and the organization, the problem is the same," writes Dan Markovitz. "There may be a stated goal—lose 15 pounds, improve muscle…

by Dan Markovitz

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Ask Art: Do You Prefer a Handwritten or Computerized Process for Visual Management?

You can — and should — focus on more critical operational questions than how to set up your visual management systems. Here are the questions…

by Art Byrne

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Why We Believe People-Free Plants and Services Prevent Learning

We (Lean Sensei Women) are a group of women from different continents, horizons, and professions who share a commitment to the development of people. We…

by Lean Sensei Women

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Practicing Constructive Discontent At SBP

To become an organization of problem solvers, talking about problems couldn’t merely be something that we did, shares Zack Rosenburg of St. Bernard Project. It…

by Zack Rosenburg

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Doing Lean Versus Becoming Lean

"We know from experience that Lean is fundamentally driven by a change in company culture," writes Jim Luckman, "not a methodological 'application' of the Lean…

by Jim Luckman

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How to Lead with Respect

Showing respect to employees falls far short of leading with respect. Discover the seven core practices that true lean leaders use everyday to lead with…

by Doug Bartholomew

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Selling Water by the River

The most important challenge facing the lean community is that of sustaining both tangible and intangible improvements, says Dan Prock, who suggests that developing kaizen…

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Tools Are Not the Purpose

Coach Eric Ethington shares his experience about learning how A3 thinking must always be the guiding principle when using A3 (and related) tools

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Are You Ready for the Next Crisis?

The Cleveland Clinic's lean management and operating system helped it handle the challenges arising from the pandemic. Here are several key principles they learned that…

by John Shook and Lisa Yerian, MD