Article

Transforming Healthcare is Complex, Start with a Model Cell

John Toussaint from the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value explains what he's learned about how meaningful organizational change happens from visiting and working with over…

by John Toussaint

Article

Don't Start with Tools!

Starting off your lean transformation with one of the various tools at your disposal is certainly tempting. But according to Craig Stritar and Mark Rosenthal,…

by Mark Rosenthal and Craig Stritar

Article

Are You Pulling?

Dear Gemba Coach:  We’ve made a substantial effort in training all our operators to standardized work (SW) by deploying Training Within Industry(TWI) principles across all our…

by Michael Ballé

Article

3 Interview Questions to Gauge Candidates’ Problem-Solving Capacity

It's always great to promote from within when trying to fill lean leadership roles. But what if you have to fill the positions using external…

by Derrick Redding

Article

The Lean Genie Problem

"For leaders and CI professionals, it’s not practical to rely on the team you’re working with to institute every change that’s needed each time you…

by Daniel Fisher

Article

Debunking the 'Time Drives Costs' Myth with Lean Financial Thinking

Learn why you must stop allocating costs based on time--and how lean financial thinking and practice gives you a more accurate way to understand and…

Article

How can I estimate the savings from using visual management boards?

Dear Gemba Coach: I work on a lean team and I was asked to estimate the savings from using visual management boards. The current estimate…

by Michael Ballé

Article

If lean is valid in all situations doesn't that make it an ideology?

Dear Gemba Coach: Is lean really valid in all situations? That sounds like ideology to me!

by Michael Ballé

Article

What Too Many Value Stream Maps Completely Miss

Believe it or not, up to half of all the value-stream maps that cross Drew Locher's desk are missing something extremely important. In his first…

by Drew Locher

Faculty

Eric Ethington

Eric has distilled his passion for and knowledge of lean thinking and practice in product and process development, nurtured over 30 years of work experience,…

Article

The Biggest Waste of All

"We can fix [problem symptoms] with basic lean thinking and tools, but unless our strategy is good, we will still create tremendous amounts of waste…

by Brent Wahba

Article

Does A Lack Of Physical Inventory Make Office Work “Different”?

While "waste" is easy to see and address in a factory setting, people working in an office environment have just as much to gain from…

by Ken Eakin

Video

Art of Lean on Work & Waste, Part 8: Processing

Understand the two aspects of the waste that requires a careful understanding of customer requirements. Watch the final part of an eight-part series focusing on…

by Art Smalley

Article

Just-in-Time Roundup: Great Lean Reads From Across the Web (Vol. 5)

Check out our editors' picks for 5 high value lean reads you may have missed, this time from Industry Week, the blog at ThedaCare Center…

by Lean Leaper

Article

Governance Matters

"The very term “governance” seems somewhat antithetical to lean," writes Mark Hamel. "Yet...over my 20-plus years of lean learning, I’ve witnessed a lot of implementation…

by Mark Hamel

Article

Practical Approaches for Making Innovation an Enterprise-Wide Activity

Jim Morgan tells an interviewer how to make innovation an enterprise-wide endeavor, based on his years of experience as a product development researcher, author, and…

by Chet Marchwinski

Article

Why Coaching is a Core Skill of a Lean Leader

If "learning by doing" at the gemba is the best way to learn lean thinking and practices (and it is), coaching is THE skill leaders…

by John Shook

Article

Just-in-Time Roundup: Great Lean Reads From Across the Web (Vol. 7)

Five recent articles from across the web to help you reflect on your organization's approach to lean transformation or your own approach to work. Which…

by Lean Leaper

Article

Want Better Employees? Be a Better Employer.

Every nation in the world is on a quest to create more jobs. As they should be. But, we don’t want just “jobs.” We want…

by John Shook

Article

What's wrong with taking a tools approach to lean management?

Dear Gemba Coach: I keep hearing that a tool approach to lean is wrong, but tools deliver results – how can that be wrong?

by Michael Ballé