Leading authors and luminaries in the Agile community have, after only 19 years, begun to publicly question its de-evolution from something grand (Agile Manifesto, to improve software development) to something "misdirected, misattributed, ineffectual, and misshapen." They are calling Agile a failing … [Read more...] about What Happened to Lean?
Picking Winners
Sadly, most organizations plod along with the same chronic problems, year after year, decade after decade, from one CEO to another. Problems such as these generate daily misery for workers and trouble for all other stakeholders: Poor or slow decision-makingLow employee engagementOrganizational … [Read more...] about Picking Winners
Akio Toyoda’s View of TPS: A Critical Analysis
A recent article in Toyota Times described Akio Toyoda's view of Toyota Production System in the context of: "bring[ing] back what makes us Toyota" "completely redesigning Toyota for the future" and [a] "training program is for Toyota’s management leaders who don’t work at manufacturing … [Read more...] about Akio Toyoda’s View of TPS: A Critical Analysis
Lean Management Seen as Corruption
I sometimes joke with people and say: "Thirty years ago, 1 percent of CEOs were interested in Lean transformation. Thirty years later, 0.1 percent of CEOs are interested in Lean transformation." In humor there is truth -- declining demand for Lean transformation, despite our many and varied efforts … [Read more...] about Lean Management Seen as Corruption
The Enemy of Lean is Classical Management
This page summarizes the research that I have been engaged in since 2007 to unravel the most important question that we have all had for many years: Why do leaders resist or reject Lean management? Read the three books in the order shown, staring with The Triumph of Classical Management (US$40 … [Read more...] about The Enemy of Lean is Classical Management
Boeing 737 Max and Lean Transformation
You are most likely aware of the tragic Boeing 737 Max crashes that killed 346 people and the protracted grounding of the fleet to correct various defects before safely returning to passenger service. One of the most interesting facts about the investigation is Boeing's decades-old design assumption … [Read more...] about Boeing 737 Max and Lean Transformation
A Consistent Message
I sometimes wonder how my large body of work on Lean leadership, Lean management, Classical management, and Lean applied to higher education would have been received by the Lean community if it was written by any one of these people: Specifically, how influential my work might have been -- not … [Read more...] about A Consistent Message
Lean Must Learn From Black Lives Matter
In a recent blog post, "Dr. Emiliani’s No’s for Lean," I challenged people to solve the problem, in the words of Gregg Miner (Vice President Enterprise Excellence at Trane Technologies), of "how to make 100% of CEOs Lean zealots." This is next problem now that the prior problem, why CEO resist or … [Read more...] about Lean Must Learn From Black Lives Matter
The Case Against Lean
Everyone in the Lean community knows the case for Lean management. Most of my books and research papers strongly support the case for Lean, based on the facts. But, as Art Byrne says: "about 95 percent of all lean conversions fail." Why is that? And why aren't most CEOs interested in Lean? It's … [Read more...] about The Case Against Lean