Lean Roundup #197 – October 2025

A selection of highlighted blog posts from Lean bloggers from the month of October 2025.  You can also view the previous monthly Lean Roundups here.  

 

From Know-It-All to Learn-It-All: Leadership Lessons from Mistakes – Mark Graban shares that shift–from know-it-all to learn-it-all–doesn't weaken leaders, it makes them stronger, more resilient, and more effective.

 

Transforming Together – Bruce Hamilton focuses on creating a work environment favorable to personal and organizational growth.

 

How UMass Memorial Health Built a Culture of Continuous Improvement - Danielle Yoon summarizes key insights from a comprehensive whitepaper detailing UMass Memorial Health's remarkable transformation journey.

 

From MBO to Hoshin Kanri – Michel Baudin explains why Hoshin Kanri has surpassed management by objectives (MBO) approach to performance.

 

Ambidexterity – the Leadership Challenge – Pascal Dennis says senior leaders & the Board need to learn & practice two different mindsets and ways of working.

 

What Is Hitozukuri? – Christoph Roser explains what Hitozukuri is, and that it’s indeed a spin-off of monozukuri, and the idea is to grow your people.

 

Prediction Machines: Why We Might Be More Like AI Than We Think – Kevin Meyers says that our brains might be nothing more than sophisticated prediction machines, and what we've long cherished as "free will" could simply be the emergent property of complex pattern recognition.

 

Developing People into Problem Solvers – Alen Ganic shares five key steps organizations can do is to develop its people with the best chance of success.

 

Micromanagement Is Not Respect for People – John Knotts explains that micromanagement is not a successful leadership style and how leaders can demonstrate true respect.

 

Do Hard Things – Ron Pereira says continuous improvement gives us opportunity to do hard things, build strong teams, and create better systems that last.

 

Continuous Improvement Eliminates Excess Overtime – Ricky Banks shares five CI strategies that you can employ to immediately address overtime in your company.

 

Coaching Others to Achieve Breakthrough Performance – Josh Howell and Mark Reich explore how CI groups engage leaders, balance problem-solving with capability building, and drive lasting cultural change—featuring insights from Toyota, GE Appliances, and Cleveland Clinic.

 

The Chief Engineer Advantage: Turning Tension Into Breakthroughs – James Morgan shows how conflict isn’t something chief engineers avoid—it’s what they harness.

 

Why the Toyota Production System Remains Elusive for Most Companies – Bruce Watkins explores why the Toyota Production System remains elusive despite decades of proven success—most companies misunderstand it as a set of manufacturing tools rather than a complete economic system built on philosophy, technical methods, and human development.

 

The Deadly Cost of Ignoring Lockout/Tagout: What Lean Leaders Must Learn – Mark Graban explains there is no such thing as Lean without safety.