Article

Want to Be a Better Leader and Coach? Listen to Yourself

Conduct this simple two-step analysis to learn whether you’re practicing the communication behavior that encourages a culture of engagement and continuous improvement.

by Deborah McGee and David Verble

Article

How to Develop Lean Leaders and Still Get Work Done

Three years ago the leadership team at Cardinal Health asked LEI to help them create a program specifically designed to develop lean leaders within the…

by Eric Ethington

Article

Book Value: What Every Manager Should Know About Training

Jeff Morrow, lean coach and faculty at Bainbridge Graduate Institute, reviews and recommends Dr. Robert Mager's 1999 book, What Every Manager Should Know About Training.…

by Jeff Morrow

Article

Do Managers "Get" Lean?

Dear Gemba Coach: You mentioned during the webinar that plant tours reveal how well managers 'get' lean. Can you be more specific?

by Michael Ballé

Article

Why Is It So Hard To Sustain Lean Gains?

Dear Gemba Coach: Why is it so hard to sustain lean gains?

by Michael Ballé

Article

Is it really necessary for a sensei to act obnoxiously?

Dear Gemba Coach: Is it really necessary for a sensei to act obnoxiously?

by Michael Ballé

Article

Properly Applying Auto-Eject Isn’t Automatic

Dear Gemba Coach: I’m working on improving the design of our machines for lean manufacturing, and hear that an auto-eject feature can support this work.…

by Michael Ballé

Article

Competing with China

There are two sea changes going on in the world economy. The first is the rise of the “low cost” producers in China and the…

by Dan Jones

Article

3 Lessons Maersk Learned from Adopting Hoshin Kanri

Deploying hoshin kanri at Maersk was challenging, recounts Agne Nainyte, who shares the details of this work that helped the organization shift from firefighting to…

by Agne Nainyte

Article

Ask Art: Why Switch from Batch to Lean?

Switching from batch production to a complete lean enterprise produces benefits far beyond immediate financial results, argues Art Byrne. Read this for details on your…

by Art Byrne

Article

Dear Professor, Am I Ever Glad You Covered Lean in Class!

Since 2008, the Lean Enterprise Institute has sponsored the Excellence in Lean Accounting Award to fund scholarships helping pairs of students and professors attend the…

by Chet Marchwinski

Article

How to Make Your Supplier Your Lean Partner

Lean practitioner Randy Dobbs says working with suppliers to improve the extended value stream of his company has been one of the most rewarding aspects…

by Randy J. Dobbs

Faculty

David Graham

David’s lean knowledge came from 17 years with the North American Parts Operations Division of Toyota, where he applied lean concepts to the launch of…

Article

Surfer Culture Meets Standardized Work

Can surfing instructors and students really learn standardized work? Read the surprising story of how lean coach Sammy Obara worked with Pacific Surfing School to…

by Doug Bartholomew

Article

Book Review: The Toyota Engagement Equation by Tracey and Ernie Richardson

In their book The Toyota Engagement Equation, authors Tracey and Ernie Richardson don’t hit you over the head telling you what to do or how…

by Tom Ehrenfeld

Article

What personal qualities should I work on to improve my practice of lean?

Dear Gemba Coach: What personal qualities should I work on to improve how I practice lean?

by Michael Ballé

Article

What Do Managers Do?

After walking the gemba with sensei Hideshi Yokoi, Matt Savas learned three basic agreements between workers and management, and shared his discovery that a production…

by Matthew Savas

Article

Be a Better Coach: Learn to “Force” Your Team to Reflect, Part 1

Sustaining a lean thinking culture requires consistent leadership and coaching that reinforces expected behaviors and practices. Here’s an example of how to ensure your frontline…

by David Verble

Article

Opportunity Lost?

President of Lean Institute Brasil, José Ferro, gives us the background situation on the World Cup and tells us about the problems and opportunities it…

Article

Advice from the Gemba: How Do People Accidentally Make Change Unsustainable?

The only thing tougher than change is SUSTAINING change, we often hear. But does sustaining change need to be SO hard? Is it naturally and…

by Karen Gaudet, Lynn Kelley, David Verble and Brent Wahba