Many people in the Lean and systems thinking communities wholeheartedly believe that today's leadership and management of organizations is based on Taylorism (also called "Super Taylorism" or "Neo-Taylorism"). They believe that Frederick Winslow Taylor's innovations in progressive management are … [Read more...] about The Machine Paradigm
Twenty-Four Books
What was the purpose of writing 24 books? It was equal parts an intense personal curiosity, a desire to share what I have learned with others, and to make it easier for leaders to understand and practice progressive management. It is the last of these -- to make it easier for leaders to understand … [Read more...] about Twenty-Four Books
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
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
What About the Past State?
In Lean management, we speak of the current state, the future state, and the ideal state. But what about the past state? Why isn't the past state also of interest? It should be, because the past informs the present -- the current state -- which in turn determines the probability of achieving desire … [Read more...] about What About the Past State?
Lean and the Burning Platform
Corporate financial distress -- the so-called "burning platform" -- has long been cited as the crisis necessary to propel a management team to adopt Lean management. Is it? In my book, Triumph of Classical Management Over Lean Management, I said: "Even Lean’s supposed savior, 'the burning … [Read more...] about Lean and the Burning Platform
Solving the Lean Transformation Problem
Throughout my work over the last 25 years, I have always sought to better understand Toyota's management system (TMS) and its derivative, Lean management (LM). From the beginning, the aspect that interested me most was leadership. Specifically, what leaders (CEOs, presidents) do or don't do to … [Read more...] about Solving the Lean Transformation Problem