Article

Book Value: The Mental ABC's of Pitching

"With both the All-Star Game and our Lean Coaching Summit approaching, I got to thinking about ways that non-lean books offer insights into coaching and…

by John Shook

Article

Why don't you use plain English instead of confusing Japanese terms such as “monozukuri” or “hitozukuri”?

Dear Gemba Coach: Why do you keep using confusing Japanese terms such as “monozukuri” or “hitozukuri” rather than plain English? Isn’t that what professionals do…

by Michael Ballé

Article

Want Your Organization to Survive Over the Long Haul? Value Process Over Results

"There are two ways to run your business," writes Doc Hall. "Focus on value, or focus on results... Interestingly, when you focus on value, good…

Article

Serious Games

Boaz Tamir (President of Lean Institute Israel) and lean coach Smadar Cohen Isvoranu share their reflections on a recent lean product and process development workshop…

by Boaz Tamir

Article

Using A3 Thinking to Solve Recruiting Problems: An interview with Gavin Martin

It's a shame that A3s are often thought of as being meant to solve manufacturing problems. The reality is they can be used to explore…

Article

Is Lean Getting "Fat?"

"Yes, lean has successfully spread around the world and gone from manufacturing to nearly every other type of value stream," writes Brent Wahba. But on…

by Brent Wahba

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

Article

Creating a System to Achieve Ambitious Goals: A WLEI Podcast

A lean veteran describes a system that can help leaders take their organizations to the next level.

by John Cotter and Tom Ehrenfeld

Article

View Crises as Manageable Challenges Through Steady Lean Leadership

If you are using lean to tackle a series of crises, you may not be using lean in the first place, say a range of…

by Lean Leaper

Video

Jim Womack and Dan Jones on the Evolution and Future of Lean

At the UK Lean Summit last month, Roberto Priolo caught up with Jim Womack and Dan Jones to talk about the current and future state…

by Roberto Priolo

Article

Will Artificial Intelligence Replace Shop Floor Thinking?

How does lean thinking help understand whether AI could replace shop floor thinking? Jacob Stoller argues that whether or not one attributes this to an…

by Lean Sensei Women

Article

Mura, Muri, Muda?

Twenty years ago this month, when my first daughter was born, the young men I supervised in MIT’s International Motor Vehicle Program went dashing out…

by James (Jim) Womack, PhD

Article

Looking Back and Ahead at The Lean Transformation Summit

Read the highlights from the 2014 Lean Transformation Summit in Orlando (featuring transformation stories from companies like GE, Cardinal Health, and Food Bank For New…

by Chet Marchwinski

Article

Lean Business-IT Integration, Part One: Who Wants to Go Talk to IT About This One?

In this, the first of a five part series, LEI faculty member Steve Bell begins with the importance of lean business-IT integration. Part Two offers…

Article

The Lives of Your Grandchildren Depend on Innovating New Healthcare Models

Renowned healthcare transformation experts examine what it will take to reinvent healthcare models through innovation and propose a new process for finding them.

Article

How Cascading A3s Deploy Responsibility to Think as Well as Assign KPIs

During a recent virtual workshop on how to use the A3 problem-solving methodology, a CEO asked how to cascade A3s down through every level of…

by David Verble

Article

Tips for Following Through on Improvement Plan Execution

There is a critical difference between follow-through and follow-up during the A3 problem-solving process as David Verble, a veteran lean management coach with 30+ years…

by David Verble

Article

Selling Water by the River

The most important challenge facing the lean community is that of sustaining both tangible and intangible improvements, says Dan Prock, who suggests that developing kaizen…

Article

Bad People or A Bad Process?

Standing in a nightmare of a line at the airport prompted Jim Womack to reflect on this problem, and conclude that this was indeed a…

by James (Jim) Womack, PhD

Article

Q & A with the Authors of Building a Lean Fulfillment Stream

A Conversation with Robert Martichenko and Kevin von Grabe, authors of Building a Lean Fulfillment Stream: rethinking your supply chain and logistics to create maximum value…

by Robert Martichenko