Those of us who are fans of Toyota's management system (TMS) and Lean management (LM) are a curious bunch. We want to learn as much as we can as fast as possible. We want to know the details of TMS and LM and how to make them work in ways that fulfill our understanding and our expectations. We are … [Read more...] about Wanting to Know, Preferring to Ignore
The Yin and Yang of Management
Sometimes people ask me: "Do you assign books that you have written to students taking courses you teach?" The answer is no, until this past Fall semester. For the last several years the assigned reading for my graduate Lean Leadership course was The Lean Turnaround by Art Byrne and The Toyota … [Read more...] about The Yin and Yang of Management
Criticism of Triumph of Classical Management
My book, The Triumph of Classical Management Over Lean Management, analyzed the unusual phenomenon of why generations of leaders ignore, reject, or are indifferent to Lean management, and, consequently, why Lean transformation continues to be rare. Readers overwhelmingly agree that I succeeded … [Read more...] about Criticism of Triumph of Classical Management
The Back Story – Eliminating Waste in Teaching
This is the back story to the book Eliminating Waste in Teaching. For more than 15 years I have been a dedicated student of the history of management. The particular years of interest are 1890 to the early 1930s, a time known as the Progressive Era. It was during this era that a new system of … [Read more...] about The Back Story – Eliminating Waste in Teaching
Psychological Safety and Lean
Psychological safety has recently become a subject of interest in the Lean community. In her book The Fearless Organization, Professor Amy Edmondson defines psychological safety as: "...the belief that the work environment is safe for interpersonal risk taking. The concept refers to the experience … [Read more...] about Psychological Safety and Lean
Are You a Lean Expert?
A lot of people say they are Lean experts. But is there such a thing as a Lean expert? Let's assume there is. The next question is, what does "Lean expert" mean? Is a Lean expert someone who has comprehensive knowledge and skills in some Lean methods and tools? Or, is a Lean expert someone who is … [Read more...] about Are You a Lean Expert?
We Succeed When We All Agree
In my decades of analyzing Lean management and the Lean movement, I often discover important problems and, being a university professor, I share my findings with others. My findings are more warmly received by Lean practitioners than my peer group of Lean movement leaders. Why is that? It seems … [Read more...] about We Succeed When We All Agree
Toyota’s Free Riders
Sometimes this is how I think about things -- hitching one's derivative TPS product/service to Toyota. This is not necessarily a bad thing. The free riders shown in the image below can indeed be useful in certain circumstances. It is not as if they are without merit. You may agree or disagree with … [Read more...] about Toyota’s Free Riders
Lean, Agile, and Six Sigma
One of the ongoing arguments that people have is that Lean is a system, while other things which have borrowed from Lean or attached themselves to Lean are somehow the same as Lean (and thus, a system). The image at right is an imperfect conceptual model featuring a 1971 Toyota Corolla that … [Read more...] about Lean, Agile, and Six Sigma