Article

Ask Art: Is “We are customer-driven” a good lean strategy?

Art Byrne is often asked if "customer-driven" is a good lean strategy. The answer is yes - as long as it's done right. Read more.

by Art Byrne

Article

Ask Art: Can Lean and “Make-the-Month” Co-exist?

"Make-the-month" programs are not unusual in manufacturing organizations. But, many people have asked Art Byrne, are such programs compatible with lean? Isn't the intense focus…

by Art Byrne

Article

Ask Art: Why Focus on Why When Doing A Lean Turnaround?

In switching to lean, understanding the WHY is the most important thing, argues Art Byrne. It helps people overcome their traditional beliefs about how something…

by Art Byrne

Article

The 5 Diseases of Prioritization

Prioritization is rarely a problem by itself. Instead, it’s a symptom of a set of illnesses: Swervy, Thickets, Costeoporosis, Planemia, Politicitis. Here’s the cure from…

by Jim Benson

Article

Matched Pairs: To Improve Supplier Relationships, Start Inside Your Organization

Jim Morgan shares how adopting a Matched Pair strategy that teams supply chain and engineering leaders with a common plan, shared objectives and a powerful…

by James Morgan, PhD

Article

5 Missing Pieces in Your Standardized Work (Part 1 of 3)

John Shook offers an overview of the five most frequent misunderstandings about this fundamental lean practice and expands on three of them.

by John Shook

Article

More Evidence That ThedaCare Rocks

LEI coach Danielle Blais reflects on her recent gemba visit to the lean healthcare organization, Appleton Medical Center in Appleton, Wisconsin—a ThedaCare hospital widely known…

by Danielle McGuiness

Article

Personal Kanban: You Can’t Manage What You Can’t See

Think personal kanban can't be applied to knowledge work? Think again. Drawing on examples from Jim Benson and Tonianne DeMaria Berry's book "Personal Kanban: Mapping…

by David Drickhamer

Article

Everyday Kaizen

"With the right teaching and guidance, a good process, and a target of one kaizen activity per day, team leaders should develop [problem solving] skills…

by Emmanuel Jallas

Article

Developing Your Obeya, Stage-by-Stage

In his years as a LPPD coach, John Drogosz has seen that "most teams do go through several stages of evolution before obeya becomes an…

by John Drogosz, PhD

Article

The Case for Lean Thinking in Retail and Service Organizations

Josh Howell, senior coach at LEI, recently joined Ron Pereira at Gemba Academy for podcast conversation on coaching, lean thinking for retail and service organizations,…

by Josh Howell

Article

Why Coaching is the Hardest Job I've Ever Had

"In 2011 a new term entered my company... we went 'lean'," writes Kasey Corbishley. "The office buzzed with anxiety as whiteboards were erected, and the…

by Kasey Corbishley

Article

The Angry Team Member and the Changing Organization

Toyota veteran and lean coach Lesa Nichols reflects on one of the most challenging and ultimately rewarding conversations she had with a team member.

by Lesa Nichols

Article

Food Bank For New York City and Toyota: Unlikely Partners in Innovation

Margarette Purvis, President and CEO of Food Bank For New York City, will tell the story about Food Bank's partnership with TSSC at next week's…

by Lex Schroeder

Article

The Question All Healthcare Leaders Should be Asking Themselves

Lean healthcare expert Mark Graban takes a common problem he sees again and again in hospitals (errors with hourly rounds or inconsistent hourly rounds) and…

by Mark Graban

Article

The Hard Work of Making Hard Work Easier

We persevere by struggling to overcome the challenges of hard work, argues Mark Reich. And, he says it is also our responsibility, as coaches and…

by Mark Reich

Article

Lean Is A Product-Driven Strategy

What is at the core of lean? Michael Balle argues, in terms of our best known example: "Toyota is not an efficiency-driven company. It’s a…

by Michael Ballé

Article

Go and See: Where The Magic Is

To reconnect with the reality of your business, go to the gemba, advises CEO Nicolas Chartier of Aramisauto. But to really experience the magic that…

Article

The Human Element of TWI (Training Within Industry)

"When I’ve taught the TWI courses in countries all over the world, from India to Malaysia to Mexico to Germany, everyone understands and embraces these…

by Patrick Graupp

Article

Is Your Improvement Project Headed Down the Road to Nowhere?

"The scientific method applied consistently [can mean] beginning a continuous improvement journey that lasts, well... forever," writes Tim Kane. Read Kane's reflections on how to…