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The Age of Manipulating Customers is Over
In his latest column for the Post, Boaz Tamir explains how the business landscape has changed since consumers have become more and more conscious of…
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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…
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"We Are Unique"
While many people see Lean as applicable only in limited industries and situations and therefore can’t work in their unique situation, Darril Wilburn argues that…
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The Problem with the US Open
What do Roger Federer, ESPN, and the US Open have to do with problem solving?
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The Real Lean Challenge: Levelling Production
Most lean practitioners focus primarily on the waste elimination aspect of Lean and ignore levelled production. In his second piece for the Post, Ian Glenday…
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LPPD Under the Sea: Efficient Product Design with Subsea 2.0
In this excerpt from the new book Designing the Future, authors Jim Morgan and Jeff Liker share the case study of TechnipFMC's work on a…
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Using Value Stream Management to Better Care for Stroke Patients
"To make value stream management really work, the most significant cause for transformation lay simply in the shifting of team members’ mindsets," writes Lori Smith.…
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Lean at Heart: Kanban
The underlying principles of lean can be found everywhere in daily life. In this article Masia Goodman identifies examples of "Better" practices that overlap with…
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Leaning Up Baby
Olivia Talman, a former intern at The Lean Enterprise Institute, knew problem-solving was important, but wasn't sold on Lean at first. In her first piece…
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Developing Awareness on the Gemba
Lean Sensei Sandrine Olivencia shares practical advice on ways to be present and to coach in the moment at the gemba
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GTS6 + E3 = DNA (Break the Code for Standardization, Sustainability, and Kaizen)
There's no "formula" for doing Lean well, but there are principles and practices that keep you on track. Read Tracey Richardson's (memorable) advice for leading…
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How to Test Your A3 Thinking
Are you pretty sure you've completed the A3 process correctly but want to test the logic of your thinking? Or could you use some advice…
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Toyota the Bad Guy
Recently I am cornered frequently by beleaguered lean change agents eager to show me their scars inflicted by re-energized resistors. Lean naysayers have seized the…
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Lead from the Front, Lead from Behind
In my last letter I alluded to a common view in the Lean Community – shared by the broader business community at large – that…
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"Our people are our most important asset"…Really?
This well-intentioned phrase can carry a buried and profoundly disrespectful message, implying conventional capital asset thinking, treating the people in the organization as an asset…
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Constancy of Purpose
The first of Dr. W. Edwards Deming’s 14 Points is "create constancy of purpose for continual improvement of products and service to society." When I…
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Homicide by Example?
My LEI colleague Dave LaHote is fond of saying that managers - and especially senior managers - overestimate their effectiveness, particularly as they seek to…
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Why do you lean guys always focus on shop floor processes? The lack of clarity and focus at headquarters is far worse!
Dear Gemba Coach: Why do you lean guys always focus on shop floor processes? The lack of clarity and focus at headquarters is far worse!
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Why is Flow Easy, and Quality Hard?
Dear Gemba Coach: My lean team has become proficient at teaching flow but it's not gaining traction when it comes to quality issues. Do you…
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Lean thinkers tell me not to give answers but my sensei keeps telling me what to do; which is it?
Dear Gemba Coach: My experience is that if you want to get anything done you have to ask very specifically and follow up thoroughly. Now,…
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