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Article

The Essence of Developing People and Yourself

Jane Delaney is the CEO of a medium sized software company in the UK. As her company faces crisis upon crisis she finds herself forced…

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Community Communication

Lean thinking and practice is all about tackling problems – little ones, big ones, wicked ones, sticky ones, concrete ones, fuzzy ones. We tackle problems…

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How do I know people are displaying the right visual information in an office?

Dear Gemba Coach: We’ve been quite successful with lean in our operations, and I’ve been tasked to bring it to headquarters. We’ve set up obeyas…

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Could hoshin kanri be too bureaucratic for my small tech company?

Dear Gemba Coach: I get frustrated with being the only one seriously concerned with experimenting and learning new systems, so I implemented hoshin kanri to…

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Why won’t senseis ever give a straight answer?

Dear Gemba Coach: Why won’t senseis ever give a straight answer?

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Why a Lean Transformation Requires a New Quoting Process, Part 1

How to ensure your lean transformation leads to improved profitability.

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Video

Lean in One Drawing

An LEI faculty member explains in a brief video why it’s vital to view lean thinking and practice as a system.

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Article

Advice from the Gemba: How Can I Change a Culture?

One of the most common questions asked by lean leaders is the question of culture change. How, they ask, can we change a firmly rooted…

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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…

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Video

A Radical Redesign of Making Crudito -- and All Restaurant Kitchens

Using animations of a few basic continuous improvement tools, Matt Savas, a team leader at the Lean Enterprise Institute and a fervent foodie, offers a…

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Article

Is Toyota No Longer a Guiding Light?

Dear Gemba Coach: I'm the lean manager of a mid-sized company, and have been getting teased by many folks about Toyota's troubles. It's mostly good-natured, but…

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Article

Lean Thinking: A Roundup

In honor of the 20th anniversary of the publishing of Lean Thinking, by Jim Womack and Dan Jones, Lean Post Senior Editor Tom Ehrenfeld presents…

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Article

The Beginner’s Guide To Lean

Toyota has just overtaken Ford as number two in the global motor industry, and at the Tokyo motor show confirmed its intentions to overtake General…

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How Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Teaching Embodies Lean Thinking

What can we learn about lean thinking from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? Christopher D. Chapman explains.

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Dr Martin Luther King Jr

Article

Adopt a 5S Mindset to Sustain Your Lean Work

Focusing everyone on “housekeeping” is one of the most powerful mechanisms for empowering team members and driving sustainment of any lean effort at the lowest…

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Article

Tools Are Not the Purpose

Coach Eric Ethington shares his experience about learning how A3 thinking must always be the guiding principle when using A3 (and related) tools

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Lean Business-IT Integration, Part Two: Obstacles to Value-Stream Transformation

In this, the second of a five part series, LEI faculty member Steve Bell offers a framework to help overcome the common obstacles to a…

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Lean Financial Planning – How well does your budget serve its purpose?

How well does your budget serve its purpose? Asking this question can lead to a rich and revealing discussion with operational and finance teams alike.…

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Continually Improving the Strategic Planning and Execution Process

Bill MacPherson, managing director of Mercer Celgar, a division of Mercer International, describes how adopting hoshin kanri catalyzes and ensures the achievement of breakthrough objectives.…

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Case Study

Becoming – and Developing -- More Effective Leaders

Bill MacPherson, managing director of Mercer Celgar, a division of Mercer International, shares how adopting hoshin kanri helps transform how leaders lead and develop their…

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