Articles
Learn more about your selected topics.
2008 in Summary: A Large Enough Wave Swamps All Boats
We all know the phrase, "a rising tide lifts all boats", and this was true during the world economic bubble…
Read article What’s your challenge?
Toyota can’t exist -- Toyota can’t be Toyota -- without a challenge. That’s true for each individual or work group…
Read article
Making Lean Leaders — Ariens Internship Program Develops Lean Management and Leadership Skills in Everyone
Besides making snow-blowers, mowers, and string trimmers, Ariens Co., of Brillion, WI, makes lean leaders. An internal lean internship program…
View case study A Lean Dream…
…wouldn’t it be great to see some lean Practical Problem Solving brought to the Detroit 3 “bailout” debate in Washington?…
Read article Leaning Your Boss
What do top managers need to learn to be able to lead a lean transformation? I get asked this question…
Read article
Survive to Make Money or Make Money to Survive?
With GM’s demise becoming more real every day, many people have been asking me, “Why didn’t GM learn from Toyota…
Read article Eiji Toyoda and Management Muda
Enthusiasts know how tremendously influential Eiji Toyoda has been to the development of Toyota and its revolutionary management system. Perhaps…
Read article The Most Frustrated Person in Your Company
No, it’s not you. Earlier in my career I spent most of my time down in the front lines of…
Read article Mega Mura Bubble Trouble
I started writing my monthly e-letter in October of 2001 to speak to the worries of the Lean Community as…
Read article “Our people are our most important asset”…Really?
This well-intentioned phrase can carry a buried and profoundly disrespectful message, implying conventional capital asset thinking, treating the people in…
Read article A Recession Action Plan
A recession is a good time for lean. Organizations can either postpone lean and resort to traditional cost cutting, or…
Read article No Excuses
There has been much drive-by observation of lean operations over the years. A drive-by will unveil a fair amount of…
Read article