As 2025 comes to an end and we look toward 2026 I wanted to revisit some tips. The Lean Tips published daily are meant to be advice, things I learned from experience, and some knowledgeable tidbits about Lean to help you along your journey. Here are the top 10 Lean tips from this past year:
1. Lean Tip
#3681 – Visualize Success to Achieve Your Goals
To achieve your
goals, you need to know what success looks like. Visualization is a practice
that helps you imagine the results you want to achieve as if you’ve already
accomplished them. It involves using all your senses to train your brain to get
familiar with the experience of reaching your goal.
One way you can
do this is by creating a personal vision statement, which is a statement that
describes your personal values and goals.
Visualizing
success in this way can help motivate you to clarify exactly what it is that
you’re after and continue progressing toward it. It can also help you build
confidence that your goal is within reach.
2. Lean Tip
#3682 – Outline Your Goal’s Action Plan
Because goals
are often long-term and abstract by nature, it can be helpful to break them
down into simpler steps that demonstrate ongoing progress. Continued effort
toward little goals can feel easier because you consistently reach milestones
and can celebrate small wins.
To make an
action plan, try creating a “goal ladder.” This life-planning process involves
writing your main goal at the top rung of the “ladder” and making each of your
smaller goals “rungs” that lead to your main goal.
It can also be
helpful to make a to-do list and actively check off each step you complete for
a greater sense of accomplishment. Adding due dates for each individual step
can also help you stay on track.
3. Lean Tip
#3696 – Clearly Define Roles and Responsibilities for Every Team Member
When team
members are unsure of their own tasks and responsibilities, it often creates
tension within a team. It is important for each team member to know exactly
what he or she is responsible for so that there is no overlap in projects. If
multiple employees are working on the same task due to confusion in
responsibility, invaluable time and team effort spent on the task are wasted.
Each individual should have responsibility in reaching the team goals as well
as the tools and mutual support to obtain good results. Setting clear goals for
each team member will help keep people aligned on their assigned tasks and
responsibilities.
4. Lean Tip
#3700 – Provide the Team with Learning Opportunities
How can we
expect everyone to be perfect team players if they’ve never actually learned
how to work on a team project? How to work on a team may sound obvious to some
people, but it does not come naturally for everyone. To maximize the benefits
of teamwork in the workplace, it is important to provide your team with proper
training and guidance.
Providing
learning opportunities will not only enhance teamwork skills, but will also
increase employees’ engagement and job satisfaction. Workshops and qualified
guest speakers from outside of the organization are a great way to ensure that
all team members understand the importance of teamwork in the workplace as well
as how to be an effective team member.
5. Lean Tip
#3798 – Gather Ideas from the People Doing the Work
In a Lean and
continuous improvement organization employees are your greatest asset and
should also be the source of generating new ideas for improvement. No one knows
the work better than the person who performs it everyday. No one has more “skin
in the game” about the working process than that person. As a result, the best
person to suggest ideas for improvement and to implement them is the line
worker.
6. Lean Tip
#3800 – Use Regular Feedback for Improvement
An effective
continuous improvement program needs continuous measurement and feedback.
Before you can start, you need to understand the baselines of your
organization’s performance. Only by understanding and establishing a baseline
can you evaluate new ideas for improving upon it.
One effective
way of gathering feedback on your continuous improvement efforts is to apply
the Plan-Do-Check-Check (PDCA) cycle. The PDCA cycle allows you to
scientifically test your experiments. The cycle ensures continuous improvement
by measuring the performance difference between the baseline and target
condition. This gives immediate feedback on the effectiveness of the change. If
the idea was effective, the next cycle of improvement will start with the new
baseline and your goal is to move towards a new target condition.
7. Lean Tip
#3862 – Respect for People is the Core of Lean
Respect is not
just a value—it’s a system of behaviors. In Lean, respecting people means
involving them in decisions, listening to their ideas, and equipping them with
the skills and tools to succeed. Without respect, Lean becomes a hollow set of
tools.
When employees
feel valued, they contribute ideas freely, take ownership of problems, and
support one another. Respect also means recognizing contributions, protecting
work-life balance, and ensuring improvements make jobs safer and more
satisfying. Continuous improvement and respect go hand-in-hand.
8. Lean Tip
#3863 – Uncover Root Causes with the 5 Whys
Surface-level
fixes rarely solve long-term problems. The “5 Whys” method helps teams dig
deeper to identify the root cause. By repeatedly asking “why” after each
answer, you often move past symptoms to the underlying issue.
For instance, a
late shipment might initially seem like a scheduling problem. But after asking
“why” several times, you may uncover an issue with inaccurate inventory counts.
Fixing the inventory system solves not only the late shipment but also prevents
future errors. Root cause thinking saves time and prevents frustration.
9. Lean Tip
#3878 – Create Clarity Through Visual Management
Confusion slows
teams down. Lean leaders reduce this by making information visible and easy to
understand. Visual boards, color coding, simple charts, and floor markings help
everyone know what’s happening, what the goals are, and where attention is needed.
This kind of
transparency empowers teams to act without waiting for instructions. It reduces
wasted time, improves alignment, and fosters accountability. When goals and
progress are clearly visible, conversations shift from “What’s going on?” to
“How can we improve this?”
10. Lean Tip
#3925 – Improve the System, Not the Individual
When
performance falters, it’s easy to point fingers. But most problems are
systemic, not personal. Lean thinking teaches us to focus on improving the
system rather than blaming the person.
Look for
patterns—unclear standards, insufficient training, or flawed handoffs. When you
fix systemic issues, performance improves across the board. Employees
appreciate when leaders seek to understand the process rather than assign
blame. Systemic improvement drives sustainable success.
These 10 Lean
tips can help you with your journey in 2026. What advice would you share for
the New Year?
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