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Reflecting to Learn: Takeaways and Reflections on the A3 Process
In the wake of yesterday's interview with Mr. Isao Yoshino on the roots of the A3 process at Toyota, LEI Chairman and CEO John Shook…
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The Power of Personal Yokoten
Personal yokoten to teach new mindsets and attitudes is an activity all of us can perform out in the world every day with every manager,…
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From Staffs Conducting Programs to Line Managers Solving Problems
Jim Womack, founder and senior advisor of LEI, introduces the concept of 'touzen'—kaizen that should not have been necessary.
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10 Lean Steps for Surviving the Recession
Jim provides an action play for lean thinkers to think leaner to get through the recession and secure a strong position for the upturn.
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The End of an Era
When General Motors filed for bankruptcy yesterday it marked the end of an era. The first truly modern, manage-by-the-numbers corporation, created by Alfred Sloan in…
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The “Right Sequence” for Implementing Lean
One of the best things about leading the Lean Enterprise Institute is that I travel widely to learn how things are going across the Lean…
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The Problem with Creative Work and Creative Management
Categorizing the existing steps is a great way to start lean thinking, and it’s pretty easy in a factory environment when drawing a value-stream map.…
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An LEI New Year's Resolution: No Wallpaper!
I've resolved that in 2002 no one in the lean community will turn their value stream maps into corporate wallpaper by failing to actually implement…
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Getting Back to Basics
I recently had a request from a Detroit newspaper to write a brief piece for the Motor Show on how American car companies can get…
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Taking a Value Stream Walk at Firm A
I was out walking through a company this past week, something I often do. The firm I visited had asked what I thought of their…
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Becoming Horizontal in a Vertical World
One of my favorite value-stream walks is with the senior managers of several organizations who share and jointly manage a value-creating process that stretches all…
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The Tipping Point?
Early efforts to apply lean principles to healthcare faltered and for many years the challenge seemed to be too great. It took time and many…
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More Lean Leadership
In the nine years since its founding, LEI has acheived quite a lot. We've produced highly successful series of workbooks and workshops on lean methods…
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The Lean Way Forward at Ford
I’ve been reflecting on today’s remarkable headlines about the latest retreat by the Ford Motor Company as part of its “Way Forward” campaign. While reflecting,…
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Standards at workstations
Dear Gemba Coach: Our corporate production system asks us to post standard work at workstations, but we feel that the paperwork clutters the stations and operators…
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My management team feels tense and pressured about going to the gemba. Is this normal?
Dear Gemba Coach: I’ve decided to take my management team to the gemba to get them to solve real problems but this is creating a…
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How Do We Sustain A3 Thinking in our Organization?
Dear Gemba Coach: My firm has been investing a lot of time and energy this year in teaching A3 thinking to our staff. The workshops…
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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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Is "lean" now just an over-hyped word that is losing its value?
Dear Gemba Coach: I have spent the day with a group of people in the LeanIT, Agile, ITSM, IT4IT, DevOps, etc. worlds. We were all…
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TPS or the Toyota Way?
"Students of lean are often confused by the variety of ways Toyota explains the Toyota Production System," writes Michael Ballé. "For instance, 'what is the…
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