Article

Deploying Improvement Habits: From Starter Kata to Meta-Habits

Learners using the Kata routine approach every problem with the “skeleton” of the Kata routine, and understand that they are not experimenting to the solution, says…

by Brandon Brown

Article

Avoiding the Pitfalls of Leader Standard Work

What are some problems a lean practitioner might run into when implementing leader standard work? Ken Abbs and Scott Ullman reflect on four they experienced…

by Ken Abbs and Scott Ullman

Lexicon Term

Value Stream Mapping

Value-stream mapping (VSM) is diagraming every step involved in the material and information flows needed to bring a product from order to delivery. It is…

Article

Leading Lean in Finance at Turner Construction

A finance leader from the largest general builder in the United States explains the benefits of involving the accounting and finance teams in your lean…

by Mike DeLuca

Article

How to Go to the Gemba: Go See, Ask Why, Show Respect

Here are some guidelines I use when doing a gemba walk as an outside advisor.

by John Shook

Case Study

Lean Management Case Studies Library

Learn how a variety of businesses and organizations used lean management principles to solve real business problems. We’ve arranged the examples in 16 categories to…

by Chet Marchwinski

Article

Standardized Work is a Goal To Work Toward, Not a Tool to Implement

Standardized work can be an ugly thing in the hands of control-oriented bureaucrats and a beautiful thing when it enables creativity and continuous improvement, says…

by Jeffrey Liker

Case Study

Lean + Circular Principals = a New True North for Manufacturer

SunPower's lean journey resembled most others until it defined a new mission, a new True North. The mission statement changed from the business-like “install 10…

by Doug Bartholomew

Article

You Are Not Different: Make universal lean principles work locally

Lean principles are universal, argues Orry Fiume, but the application of them is always local. Don't use this challenge as an excuse to avoid Lean.

by Orest (Orry) Fiume

Case Study

Canada Post Puts Its Stamp on a Lean Transformation

A  growing lean transformation at Canada Post's Calgary plant shows how lean principles can be implemented in environments other than manufacturing.

Article

Kanban As A Learning Strategy

Toyota’s Kanban legacy—and its underlying ideas—have far more direct lineage with today’s digital economy than most folks realize; and capture the core elements of the…

by Michael Ballé, Jacques Chaize, Dan Jones and Orest (Orry) Fiume

Article

Lean Transformational Leadership Webinar - Follow-up Q & A and Reading List

During the Transformational Leadership webinar, many of you asked for the list of related books and articles that presenter Jim Luckman cited. He has provided…

by Jim Luckman

Article

From Product Development to Enterprise Transformation: TechnipFMC’s Obeya Revolution

Be among the first to get the latest insights from LEI’s Lean Product and Process Development (LPPD) thought leaders and practitioners. This article was delivered to subscribers…

by , Paulo Couto, Jeffrey Liker and James Morgan, PhD

Article

Follow-up Webinar Q&A with Jim Lancaster, Lantech CEO and author of the Work of Management

"The Real Work of Management" webinar drew an engaged audience that wanted to know more about the daily management system that CEO Jim Lancaster installed…

by Jim Lancaster

Article

Accelerating Justice with Lean Forensics

One of our most popular subjects on The Lean Post is the use of lean in unorthodox places. But one gemba that we have yet…

Article

What is the worst mistake you’ve made on the gemba?

Dear Gemba Coach: What is the worst mistake you’ve made on the gemba?

by Michael Ballé

Article

What Finance Teams Can Learn from the Lean Practice of ‘Go See, Ask Why, Show Respect’ - Part 1

Join a "lean accounting" coach as he recounts several gemba walks with Finance and Accounting leaders and shares their "ah-ha" reaction.

Article

What can we do to instill some passion in leadership about our lean implementation?

Dear Gemba Coach: I’m in a company that is trying to implement lean but sees it simply as a series of rote steps to iterate…

by Michael Ballé

Article

Who's Responsible

In reviewing my calendar, I find that I have taken eight gemba walks in the last five weeks. These ranged from manufacturing value streams in…

by James (Jim) Womack, PhD

Article

Long Live Process Improvement?

For many beginner practitioners, Lean seems like just another "flavor of the month" program. If it isn't communicated and taught well, Lean can be exactly…

by Greg Lane