Bringing agility to Toyota
INTERVIEW – The Chief of Agile at Toyota Connected tells us about the agility journey of Toyota and explains why the divide between lean thinking and Agile has no reason to exist.
lean strategy
The depth of lean thinking
FEATURE – To really embrace lean thinking means to ensure the bureaucratic structures in our organizations enable our people to excel, rather than constrain their creativity.
Nick Katko explains the benefits of lean accounting
FEATURE - Without a solid accounting function no transformation can ever succeed. The author explains why lean accounting should be part of your strategy.
How this SME made lean its strategy for sustainable growth
NOTES FROM THE GEMBA – The author visits an SME specializing in the instalment of electrical equipment. Its CEO has learned that integrating lean in their strategy can lead to sustainable growth.
Orry Fiume on the two realities of lean that scare most CEOs
FEATURE – CEOs need to see people as assets and transform their companies’ product development systems if they are to tap into the full potential of a lean strategy.
Dave Brunt on how the UK Lean Summit is designed
INTERVIEW – This year’s UK Lean Summit promises to be the greatest yet. The icing on the cake? A gemba walk with Dan Jones and Jim Womack. Here we learn how the event is organized.
Mainstream management after decades of lean
FEATURE – Lean has now been around for quite some time, and its impact on business world is hard to dispute. But what does it tell us about traditional management practices?
Michael Ballé on how to ensure lean leads to real advantages
FEATURE – Using the Japanese tradition of daruma dolls as an example, the author explains how to turn continuous improvement into concrete challenges – and, from that, real competitive advantage.
A CEO shows us the Obeya room in his hospital
VIDEO - The CEO of a cancer center in Brazil gives us a tour of the their obeya room, taking us through their strategy deployment and explaining how it supports their mission of reducing the burden of cancer.
How to be multi-dimensional in your lean transformation
FEATURE – Because each lean transformation is unique, we can't expect an off-the-shelf solution to work. The author discusses multi-dimensional transformations and how we can be flexible but also structured.
Helping CEOs to see lean thinking as their strategy
FEATURE – Do CEOs see lean as a strategy? The author – himself a CEO for many years – debunks the misconceptions often preventing senior leaders from doing so.
Boaz Tamir on why success does not come down to chance
OPINION – The rise and fall of organizations does not depend on chance or bad luck. It generally stems from a fundamentally flawed strategic approach that fails to define a purpose, alienates workers and ignores customers.
Lean as the management strategy of the future
FEATURE – Lean is a people-centric system for learning that acts as an alternative to traditional management and financial capitalism. It represents the best strategy a company can adopt to meet the needs of the future.
Michael Ballé reflects on how lean really works
FEATURE – Continuously studying the challenges we meet and the responses we devise, lean gives us endless opportunities to learn. The author goes back to basics, reflecting on some core lean premises.
Identify objectives and issues before starting a new venture
COLUMN – With many of us about to leave for our summer vacations, the importance of planning (a holiday just like a business venture) could not be clearer. But objectives and potential problems should be identified before setting off.
Understanding what really happens on a gemba walk
FEATURE – Lean encourages us to go to the gemba as much as we can, but what should we actually do when walking the workspace? It turns out it’s not so much about doing as it is about thinking.
Learning about environmental concerns and strategy at Toyota
INTERVIEW – It might seem a paradox that the world’s largest automaker is setting the pace for corporate social responsibility. Then again, Toyota never really followed the status quo. Kelly Singer interviews Toyota's Steve Hope.
How Tokheim uses 5s to boost its environmental performance
FEATURE – The many benefits of 5S are well known, but few people realize the positive impact the technique can have on our environmental performance, says our lean and green correspondent after visiting Tokheim Italia.