"A real irony is that ‘respect for people’ requires that people feel the pain of critical feedback." — Akio Toyoda Yes, that's me; the Bad Boy of Lean. For those of you who don't already know, I have a bad reputation. I tend towards the negative (I'm an engineer, details matter) and I freely … [Read more...] about The Bad Boy of Lean
The Shingo Experiment
In early January 2019, I decided to conduct an experiment to test if a great advocate of human and technical progress is just that, or if it is more comfortable with the status quo. My new book, The Triumph of Classical Management Over Lean Management: How Tradition Prevails and What to Do About It, … [Read more...] about The Shingo Experiment
Where Scientific Thinking Lives and Dies
For many years now, there has been a great emphasis in the Lean movement on the development of problem-solving skills. Specifically, teaching people how to think scientifically through the use of PDCA, kata, coaching, etc. Typically, the target audience for training in scientific thinking is … [Read more...] about Where Scientific Thinking Lives and Dies
Profoundly Antagonistic Systems
One of W. Edwards Deming's great accomplishments was his creation of the "System of Profound Knowledge" (read more details here). The System of Profound Knowledge (SoPK) is described in Deming's book, The New Economics. In its most basic terms, SoPK is a framework designed to enable progress in the … [Read more...] about Profoundly Antagonistic Systems
Lean is an Intangible Asset
For the last 30 years, our eyes have told us this truth: There is a strong consensus of opinion among CEOs that if any of Lean is to be adopted, it is solely its tools. CEOs have expressed little interest in adopting Lean as a comprehensive system of management to replace Classical Management. This … [Read more...] about Lean is an Intangible Asset
Truth Has Consequences
A fundamental feature of Toyota’s management system (and its derivative, Lean management) is the search for the truth. Why? In order to make real improvement – versus merely the appearance of improvement – one must know what is actually happening. And herein lies a problem: People often do not want … [Read more...] about Truth Has Consequences
The Leader’s Prerogative
There is a continuing, decades-long, lamentation in the Lean community, that leaders do not understand Lean and that they misuse Lean for cost cutting which results in layoffs and other zero-sum outcomes. There is a belief that if only leaders understood the true intent of Lean, then they would … [Read more...] about The Leader’s Prerogative
Why Do CEOs Hate Operations?
Prior to around 1980, the leaders of large corporations had a strong affection for manufacturing operations -- the part of the business that makes money for the company by producing the goods that people want and pay for. Operations was widely seen as a noble part of the company that employees were … [Read more...] about Why Do CEOs Hate Operations?
Lean People Never Understood CEOs
Gaining the attention and commitment of CEOs for Lean management requires that we understand them. We think we do. In fact, we have long thought that we do. But in truth, Lean promoters, advocates, and practitioners never have. Even accomplished Lean CEOs don't understand their peer CEOs. The many … [Read more...] about Lean People Never Understood CEOs