Tag: Toyota

Toyota Thinking: Leadership, Systems, and Continuous Improvement

Toyota is often cited as the inspiration for Lean, but its success is rooted in leadership behaviors, management systems, and a deep commitment to learning—not tools or slogans. This archive brings together blog posts, podcasts, and reflections on Toyota’s approach to quality, continuous improvement, psychological safety, and respect for people. Many of these posts explore what leaders outside Toyota often misunderstand—and what truly matters if they hope to learn from Toyota rather than copy it.

The First Ever Instance of “Lean or TPS Doesn’t Apply to...

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Lean is, of course, not about a better way to build cars. It's a transferrable philosophy, management system, and methodology that is being applied in many different settings and industries, including healthcare. I'm often told (sometimes by somebody who is being sort of huffy): "Patients are not cars." [...]

It’s Not Lean to Have Dysfunctional Efficiency Targets

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Lean healthcare really is a global movement. Last year, when I went to Japan, we had people in the group from all across Asia,...

Confusion over Lean Manufacturing, Lean Healthcare, and Lean Startup

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I'm going to be attending the Lean Startup Conference in San Francisco next month, as a "faculty member," a moderator for a session, TBD,...

Another Conversation About L.A.M.E. and Lean in Manufacturing and Healthcare

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It's far too common to see somebody with just a little bit of understanding about Lean do things that really shouldn't be described as...

Throwback Thursday: Inc. Writes About Dr. Deming in 1987

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I stumbled across an article from the Inc. magazine archives from 1987, so it's today's "Throwback Thursday." In 1987, I was starting high school and...

Using Lean to Organize Hospital Closets… NPR Commenters Are Not Impressed

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I saw this story when it originally appeared online as part of a local public radio station in California. It was now picked up nationally...

Moving from “Visuals” to “Visual Management” and to Broader Lean Thinking

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I've been studying and working with Lean for 20 years now and I love Lean because I'm still learning and getting better at this...

The Power of Ideas to Transform Healthcare with Steve Hoeft &...

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My guests for episode #226 are Steve Hoeft and Dr. Robert (Bob) Pryor from Baylor Scott & White Health in Texas. Bob serves as President, Chief...

LinkedIn: Is Your Technology Solving a Problem or Causing New Ones?

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The title here doesn't refer to LinkedIn's technology, their website, solving or causing problems. I'm referring to a post I wrote there the other day...

Says Jack Dorsey: It’s an “Organizational Failure” if the CEO Has...

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Jack Dorsey is well known among tech circles, as a co-founder of Twitter (he's @Jack) and, now, as the CEO of Square. I'm a...

What’s Interesting About This Toyota Executive Rising from the Factory Floor

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I hope you might have access to this interesting article from the Wall St. Journal: "Toyota Veteran Rises to Corporate Office From Factory Floor."...

Lean Factories and Lean Hospitals Are Safer and They’re Better Listeners

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When we introduce the idea of Lean to healthcare organizations, it's very common for somebody (often a senior physician) to say something like, "But we...
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