Article

PDCA, Fitness Apps, and Using Social Media to Improve Our Health

"Health isn't about always being perfect," writes lean coach Tracey Richardson. "Just like in our organizations, we all have imperfect days. It’s how we change…

by Tracey Richardson

Article

Three Core Capabilities in Any Lean Product and Process Development System

"Good development leaders work in earnest to create a 'safe culture' for people to share issues. Working to [drive out fear] is both important and…

by James Morgan, PhD

Article

PD C+ A+ In the Classroom

Looking back on her time as a teacher through a lean lens, the author suggests how the process of education might be improved by examining…

by Allison O'Neill

Article

How To Get Out of the Habit of Telling

How do we get out of the habit of just “fixing” the immediate problem at hand ourselves (or telling others how we think they should…

by Katie Anderson

Article

How Do We Help Our Plant Managers Want to Do Lean?

Dear Gemba Coach: We've just changed our divisional general manager and the new boss wants our lean approach to be less directive and more participative. That…

by Michael Ballé

Article

Gemba and Quality

Dear Gemba Coach: We’ve made good progress on quality with Six Sigma, but we’ve reached a plateau. I’ve met a lean consultant who tells me…

by Michael Ballé

Article

My Lean Journey: The 5Ss

Do you remember the first time you realized the true potential of lean in improving work output? Lean newcomer Cam Ford does - here's his…

Article

ASK ART: “Why do you say lean is all about people?”

Lean is all about people, says author and former CEO Art Byrne, who has been successfully turning around companies for over 20 years. That means…

by Art Byrne

Article

Why We Believe Questions Accelerate Learning

The key to achieving better outcomes over time is to develop the vital skill of asking questions designed to spur critical thinking, argue the Lean…

by Lean Sensei Women

Video

Art of Lean on Problem-Solving, Part 1: Coaching Problem-Solving

Art Smalley is back and ready to teach all about problem-solving, this time with an emphasis on coaching. He starts broad and goes deep in…

by Art Smalley

Case Study

Landscape Forms Cultivates Lean to Fuel Growth Goals

With single-item orders 80% of the time, adopting single-piece flow and cellular production made sense to management at Landscape Forms, a low-volume, high-mix producer of…

Article

Delivering Effectively on a Noble Mission: Community Servings Gets High-Quality Meals to the People Who Need Them

At the Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI), our partner organizations usually come to us, or a learning relationship develops over time due to an interest in…

by Lex Schroeder

Podcast

Diving Deep to Discover the Value of Lean Companies with Cliff Ransom

The following conversation drills down into the lessons learned from looking at public companies through lean-colored glasses.

by Lean Enterprise Institute

Article

Why Lean Startup Experiments are Hard to Design

Grace Ng, co-founder of Javelin (a software and services company dedicated to implementing Lean Startup), reflects on what she's learned helping entrepreneurs launch products and…

by Grace Ng

Article

Practicing Lean Fundamentals in an Office Environment

Applying lean principles in service organizations and administrative processes within manufacturing companies often confounds companies. Lean faculty member and author Drew Locher offers four key…

by Drew Locher

Article

Isn’t the obsession with problem solving unnecessarily negative and depressing?

Dear Gemba Coach: Isn’t the obsession with problem solving unnecessarily negative and depressing?

by Michael Ballé

Article

I’m struggling to understand exactly what people mean by a “lean system”?

Dear Gemba Coach: I’m struggling to understand exactly what people mean by a “lean system”?

by Michael Ballé

Article

Anatomy of a Lean Leader (Introduction)

For 30 years, Jerry Bussell studied leadership while bringing lean practices to companies such as Medtronic and becoming a passionate, well-known advocate for lean. In this…

by Jerry Bussell

Article

Do andons apply to software development?

Dear Gemba Coach: I work in software development, and I really don’t see how andon applies – what am I missing?

by Michael Ballé

Article

The Value of Key Performance Indicators in a Lean Transformation

We all know to watch out for key performance indicators (KPIs) in the workplace - but are you tracking the RIGHT KPIs? Ernie and Tracey…

by Ernie Richardson and Tracey Richardson