Article

Maintaining Emotional Heijunka During a Pandemic

In this timely reflection, Jim Womack calls for "emotional heijunka": taking a deep breath, identifying the most important problems that must be addressed in a…

by James (Jim) Womack, PhD

Article

Problem Solving Fast and Slow

"There are many paradoxes about the Toyota Production System," writes Ben Root. "Speed is certainly one of them. 'Do it slowly, but quickly.'" Read more.

by Ben Root

Article

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…

by Tracey Richardson

Video

Art of Lean on Work & Waste, Part 4: Excess Conveyance

Hi everyone. This is Art Smalley, president of Art of Lean, Incorporated. Today, on behalf of the Lean Enterprise Institute, we’re going to do a…

by Art Smalley

Article

After improving processes with help from a consultant, how do I sustain kaizen in my department? My teams are hard to motivate.

Dear Gemba Coach: How do I sustain kaizen in my department? We’ve had a consultant help us with workshops, and we did improve our processes,…

by Michael Ballé

Article

Same Foundation, New Message: LEI Aims to Make Things Better

Same Foundation, New Message: LEI Aims to Make Things Better At the Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI), our mission for 15 years has been to advance…

by Lex Schroeder

Article

Seeking Radical Quality in the Tech Industry

The CTO of a website design firm explains how a recent book on radical quality improvement in manufacturing inspired him to initiate similar experiments in…

by Woody Rousseau

Article

How big should my lean promotion office be?

Dear Gemba Coach: How large should my lean promotion office be if I want to achieve quickly a lean culture change?

by Michael Ballé

Article

Is there a lean strategy?

Dear Gemba Coach: My team demonstrated the benefits of kaizen to the CEO who then asked us what our strategy was. Is there a lean…

by Michael Ballé

Article

3 Go-To Ways for Creating a Culture of Continuous Improvement Anywhere

To reach a state of endless continuous improvement, executives must lead the company in making a critical leap from management-driven improvements to employee-driven improvements, says…

by Kiyoshi "Nate" Furuta

Article

Using the Logic of Lean Thinking to Combat Racism, Part 1 of 2

To create new anti-racist organizations, leaders need to fully embrace the five principles of lean: value vs. waste, value stream, flow, pull, and perfection. But…

by Christopher D. Chapman

Article

Lean Roundup: Respect for People

Respect for People is one of the most abstract and yet most concrete tenets of lean, a guiding principle that informs how people work, coach,…

by Tom Ehrenfeld

Article

The Value Stream Manager

Objectives of This Paper:The Lean Enterprise Institute receives many questions about how to select the right person to be the value-stream manager. In some cases we are getting…

by Lean Enterprise Institute

Article

How do we solicit feedback from the shop floor without being overwhelmed by the enormous amount of ideas?

Dear Gemba Coach: I think we all know that the "suggestion box" has gone by the wayside.  How do we solicit feedback from the shop…

by Michael Ballé

Article

What “Co-Learning” Across Industries Looks Like in Practice

"In April, as part of a 2-day capstone learning event for Cardinal Health, we brought the newest wave of Lean Leader graduates together to visit…

by Danielle McGuiness

Article

Leadership Q&A: Thomas Hartman, Senior Director, Autoliv Americas

From the LEI senior executive series on Lean Leadership: Autoliv’s Thomas Hartman describes the development of a lean problem solving culture, from early instruction by…

by Doug Bartholomew

Article

"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…

by Darril Wilburn

Article

Are You Creating the Right Environment?

Turner Construction is working hard to develop the "right environment" in which productive lean inquiry is baked into the working space of each situation their…

by Josh Howell

Article

Lean Roundup: How Hoshin Kanri Creates a "Line of Sight"

Like anything that is essential to lean, one must understand how hoshin kanri works from the very detailed, elemental levels of the work of the…

Article

Purpose, Process, People

When evaluating your lean efforts, Jim Womack suggests that you examine your purpose first of all, and then your process and then your people.

by James (Jim) Womack, PhD