10 lean leadership lessons from our authors
FEATURE – What does it mean to be a lean leader? Our editor tries to answer this question by searching the Planet Lean archives for the best nuggets of wisdom from our authors.
lean coaching
Leading the change
FEATURE – Our editor recently caught up with the director of the largest hospital in the Netherlands and asked him about the lean transformation he’s leading there.
Seeing problems, four types of them
FEATURE – Using data from a recent piece of research on logistics, the author discusses how Lean Thinking contributes to a more efficient and effective way of dealing with problems.
Lean ain’t fishy
CASE STUDY – This Norwegian firm learned that allowing every person and area to move up their own lean learning curve can steer the business away from fire-fighting and towards more strategic thinking.
Control or cooperate?
FEATURE – Lean Thinking is about voluntary participation, not audits that are meant to ensure compliance. The authors explore the advantages of pursuing cooperation rather than control.
Cultivating CI in a digital work environment
FEATURE – This global designer and manufacturer has leveraged a remote kaizen initiative to keep the flame of continuous improvement burning during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Building lean into our strategy
CASE STUDY – Brazil-based construction company Andrade Gutierrez has been able to sustain its transformation by consistently developing internal capabilities and making Lean Thinking its strategy.
A chat with Nomura-san
INTERVIEW – Following his 10 years at Toyota Industries Corporation (TICO) teaching his Dantotsu method for radical quality improvement, Sadao Nomura spoke to Japanese magazine Kojo Kanri (Factory Management).
Improving the front-line work in construction
FEATURE – What is the key to improving the front-line construction work? Our lean construction coaches pull their experience together to shed a light on the subject.
Troublesome problems and threshold concepts
FEATURE – Looking back on the lean journeys he's seen firsthand, the author concludes that a true lean transformation occurs when you establish lines of mentoring to the Thinking People System.
Why is it so hard to do lean without a sensei?
FEATURE – Why do lean transformations benefit from the support of a sensei? Michael Ballé discusses how we typically need help to take the emotions out of the work and go down uncomfortable paths.
Kamishibai for better conversations at the gemba
FEATURE – How do kamishibai boards work and what sort of benefits can they bring to a lean transformation? The author discusses what he saw on a recent gemba walk.
The role of coaching in hoshin kanri
FEATURE – The author discusses how the hoshin kanri process, coupled with effective coaching, helps us to tackle the challenges inherent to implementing change.
Enabling change with a value stream Jishuken
FEATURE – In March 2019, this hospital partnered with the Lean Global Network on a two-day Jishuken event. Nearly two years later, the authors reflect on the legacy of that initiative.
The lean candidate
CASE STUDY – Have you ever considered how Lean Thinking could apply to politics? The author explains how the result of a mayoral race in southern Italy was ultimately determined by the lean approach adopted by one of the candidates.
A better way to learn lean
INTERVIEW – The Lean Enterprise Academy just launched the Lean Learning Journey, an online platform from which practitioners can pull the practical knowledge they need in their lean transformation.
Better processes for better care
CASE STUDY – This Barcelona hospital began its journey with ambitious projects and is starting to see the fruits of its labor, with the pandemic acting as an unexpected but powerful catalyst for change.
Jishuken at a Coloplast distribution center
VIDEO - In February, a group of Lean Global Network coaches visited Coloplast's Parts Distribution Center in Hungary to help the local team improve the internal lead-time across the facility.