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Developing PDSA Capabilities

Improvement kata and A3 management have become popular ways for developing and practicing plan-do-study (or check)-act capabilities. What’s the connection between them? When do you…

by Karen Martin

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A Humble Conversation

For the past two years, John Shook and Edgar Schein have enjoyed the honor of engaging in an on-stage dialogue. The occasion? The Lean Healthcare…

by John Shook

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Toyota the Disrupter

Toyota may not be the first company you think of for disruptive product and process development, but perhaps they should be, argues Jim Morgan. The…

by James Morgan, PhD

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Why Social Entrepreneurship is Dead

Despite all the hype, entrepreneur Nathan Rothstein (of Project Repat) believes social entrepreneurship is dead. Read what he recommends for those of us looking to…

by Nathan Rothstein

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We meet daily to examine a new customer complaint. What do we do next?

Dear Gemba Coach: We’re a start-up and have taken your advice: we now have a customer wall and we meet daily to look into a…

by Michael Ballé

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Is my new boss right that applying standardized work is the foundation of lean?

Dear Gemba Coach: My new boss is a lean fanatic crazy about standards. He’s created a new team to audit standards and is telling us…

by Michael Ballé

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What it Takes to Share One's Wisdom: A Q&A with Tracey Richardson

"When you make a decision to change the way you do business, it should hold you accountable for certain leadership actions – new [behaviors that…

by Lex Schroeder

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Can lean management help with toxic managers?

Dear Gemba Coach: Can lean management help with toxic managers?

by Michael Ballé

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How Teaming Produces Execution-as-Learning

Amy C. Edmonson, Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School, shares a concept she calls "teaming", a way of working that brings…

by Amy C. Edmondson

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Bridging Two Lean Communities

Two very different lean communities came together when Eric Ries and LEI's John Shook participated in the Lean Startup pre-conference webcast, "Putting the Lean in…

by Lex Schroeder

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Transforming Your Organization with Lean Thinking and Practices

This brief animation offers a guide to the five fundamental equations that help lean practitioners understand — and execute — a lean transformation.

by John Shook

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Catchball Helps Us Get Past We Versus They

When employees dread going to work every day, your company loses. Read what Tracey Richardson has to say about boosting workplace morale.

by Tracey Richardson

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Change Your “Pet” Problem Solving Method

Got problems with your problem-solving method? This interview by LEI's Chet Marchwinski with Four Types of Problems author Art Smalley shares advice on how you…

by Art Smalley

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The Problem of Partial Participation: Why Failing to Fully Commit to Lean Is Not An Option. An Interview with Chris Vogel

It's surprising how many lean implementations fail due to an organization's employees not fully embracing the idea. There are many root causes of this common…

by Chris Vogel

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Don't you use kamishibai cards; you've never written about them?

Dear Gemba Coach: We use a kamishibai board along with standardized work and visual management to sustain our lean efforts on the factory floor. It…

by Michael Ballé

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Connecting Lean Thinkers With Nonprofits in Portland, Oregon

Matthew Horvat tells the story of Lean Portland, a lean community of practice connecting lean thinkers with nonprofit professionals in Portland, Oregon.

by Matthew Horvat

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Tips for Proving the Financial Value of Lean to Leadership

Of the many aspects of lean accounting, one that has proven especially useful is the principle of “cost avoidance.” Today on the Lean Post, lean…

Article

5S - The Way to Start Your Lean Journey…or Is It?

Many people think that a 5S implementation is the perfect way to kickstart a full lean transformation. It can be - IF you do it…

by Dale Savage

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Creating New Value and a Lesson in Fundamentals

After a recent trip to Toyota's headquarters in Japan, Jim Morgan made an epiphany about the Toyota Production System and the fundamentals at its core.…

by James Morgan, PhD

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Lean Without Limits

We come up with many different types of answers that sort Lean conveniently into categories for easy understanding and storage, says Renee Smith; but what…

by Renée Smith