Article
What's your problem
You learn through solving problems, failing, reflecting on failure, and adjusting course. That quote sounds like something from Deming or Toyota. But, no, that’s from…
View article![Article graphic image with repeating icons](https://www.lean.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/fallback-article-375x137.jpg)
Case Study
Standardized Work Hangs Ten with San Diego’s Surfing Culture -- Meeting the Challenges of Leadership, Culture, and Resistance
Instead of wiping out with a Southern California surfing school, the lean management principle of standardized had a positive impact, helping it boost surfing time…
View case study![Case study graphic image with repeating icons](https://www.lean.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/fallback-casestudy-375x137.jpg)
Article
How do I quantify kaizen's small improvements?
Dear Gemba Coach: How do I quantify kaizen's small improvements?
View article![Article graphic image with repeating icons](https://www.lean.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/fallback-article-375x137.jpg)
Article
Never Fail...To Create the Conditions for People to be Successful
In this excerpt from Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn, Katie Anderson shares the story of how Isao Yoshino learned first-hand the value that Toyota…
View article![](https://www.lean.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/1283_large-375x137.png)
Article
Show Respect by Exploring Problems With Your Workers
I trust that all of us want to show respect for people, writes Jim Womack, adding: The challenge for those of us in the Lean…
View article![](https://www.lean.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/1353_large-375x137.png)
Article
What Level of a Problem Requires an A3?
Here are some thoughts to help you determine what type of problem you have, and how to apply A3 thinking to it most productively. You…
View article![Article graphic image with repeating icons](https://www.lean.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/fallback-article-375x137.jpg)
Article
Is agile project management simply lean thinking applied to software development?
Dear Gemba Coach: You seem to distinguish between agile and lean, but to my understanding, agile is simply lean thinking applied to software development. Am…
View article![Article graphic image with repeating icons](https://www.lean.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/fallback-article-375x137.jpg)
Article
Experiential Change: Using PDCA to craft a new department structure
"In January 2016 the Human Resources department at the University of Michigan Health System (UMHS) was restructured into a High-Impact Model," writes Brian Cole, Manager…
View article![](https://www.lean.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/662_large-375x137.jpg)
Article
Selling Lean
Thousands of people have spent decades trying to disseminate lean management concepts. Many lean proponents can point to results showing lean’s advantages over traditional modern…
View article![Article graphic image with repeating icons](https://www.lean.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/fallback-article-375x137.jpg)
Article
The Hidden Value of Filling Out the Paperwork
Respect for people--and sustained continuous improvement--begins with something as simple as carefully filling out the paperwork for standardized work, says Josh Howell.
View article![calendar](https://www.lean.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/1263_large-375x137.png)
Article
The Chief Cause of Problems is Solutions
"In complex organizations, we [oversimplify] problems, try to fix them as painlessly as possible, cross our fingers, and move on to the next fire," writes…
View article![](https://www.lean.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/412_large-375x137.jpg)
Article
Leadership Q&A: Dan Ariens, CEO of Ariens Co.
From the LEI senior executive series on lean leadership:In the late 1990s, Ariens Co.faced a blizzard of problems. The iconic maker of snow blowers, mowers,…
View article![Article graphic image with repeating icons](https://www.lean.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/fallback-article-375x137.jpg)
Page
Problem-Solving
Explore the process that’s foundational to assuring every individual becomes engaged by arming them with methods they can use to overcome obstacles and improve their work process.…
Learn morePage
Custom Training
In our customized coaching and learning experiences, we guide you, your team, or your company through the practical application of lean principles and practices, so…
Learn moreArticle
Lean Business-IT Integration, Part Two: Obstacles to Value-Stream Transformation
In this, the second of a five part series, LEI faculty member Steve Bell offers a framework to help overcome the common obstacles to a…
View article![Article graphic image with repeating icons](https://www.lean.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/fallback-article-375x137.jpg)
Article
Standard Work Roundup
Several terrific articles have appeared recently, emphasizing the importance and complexity of a key lean practice: standard (or standardized) work, which we’ll call SW. So…
View article![](https://www.lean.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/592_large-375x137.jpg)
Article
It’s About the Tools, Not the Terms
"I’ve never been a big fan of lean lingo," says John McCullough of Crayola. "It may sound expert-like, but I’ve always found its use to…
View article![](https://www.lean.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/606_large-375x137.jpg)
Article
Developing a Problem-Solving Culture at Herman Miller: An Interview with Lean Practitioners George Mason and Dan Bos
In this interview from the Lean Coaching Summit in December 2012, George Mason, a Herman Miller Performance System (HMPS) manager, and Dan Bos, an operations…
View article![Article graphic image with repeating icons](https://www.lean.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/fallback-article-375x137.jpg)
Article
Making the World Better by Advancing Lean Thinking and Practice
When establishing a scholarship and philanthropy fund, the Lean Enterprise Institute practices what it preaches.
View article![JPW Fund A3](https://www.lean.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/jpw-fund-a3-375x137.jpg)
Article
Advice from the Gemba: Top Mistakes Lean Leaders Make I
Making mistakes is a natural part of lean thinking and practice. Here, three LEI faculty members share some common, yet easily avoidable mistakes made by…
View article![](https://www.lean.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/719_large-375x137.jpg)