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.

Lean Roundup #196 – September 2025

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

Fear and Futility: Two Barriers to Improvement (and How Leaders Can Remove Them) – Mark Graban explains how fear and futility undermine improvement and what leaders can do to eliminate these barriers.

What is your “OK Zone?” – Mark Rosenthal introduces the concept of the “OK Zone” to encourage learning and growth outside of one’s comfort zone.

Mendomi: The Well-Being of Japanese Employees – Christopher Roser explores Mendomi, the Japanese approach to employee well-being, and its importance in lean workplaces.

What Is the Lean Practitioner Program and Why It Matters – Alen Ganic outlines the Lean Practitioner Program and why it is essential for building capability and sustaining improvement.

The Battles We Have to Win: Fear – Pascal Dennis reflects on fear as a central battle leaders must win to create trust and enable continuous improvement.

Strategy Deployment for the 21st Century – Bruce Hamilton shares how strategy deployment must evolve in the 21st century to align organizations and engage employees.

Why Technical Solutions Fail Without People: Reflections from 30 Years in Operations – Mark Graban highlights why technical solutions often fail without addressing the human and cultural side of operations.

Lean Is about the Work: Enhance Value-Creating Work to Truly Transform End-to-End, Value-Stream Performance – Josh Howell and Mark Reich argue that Lean is fundamentally about enhancing value-creating work to transform value-stream performance.

How I’ve Aimed to Share the Uncommon Knowledge of Lean Product and Process Development – Larry Navarre describes his efforts to spread the uncommon knowledge of Lean product and process development.

Excellence Isn’t an Accident: Mentorship as the Engine of Mastery – James Morgan emphasizes that excellence is driven by mentorship, which serves as the engine for mastery.

The Design Brief | What Most Companies Miss about the Role of Chief Engineers – Lex Schroeder explains what many companies miss about the role of chief engineers in design.

Plan, Do, Check, Act… or Plan, Do, Cover Your A? Leadership Makes the Difference – Mark Graban contrasts genuine PDCA with superficial “Plan, Do, Cover Your A” behaviors, stressing leadership’s role in real learning.

Lean Roundup #195 – August, 2025

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

 

Daily Management Walks – a Primer – Pascal Dennis talks about Daily Management Walks keep leaders connected to reality by seeing the work directly rather than relying only on reports. 

 

Einstein’s Favorite Mistake — and What It Teaches Us About Lean Thinking – Mark Graban says Einstein’s “biggest blunder” illustrates the danger of ignoring evidence and the importance of humility in Lean learning. 

 

What Makes Employees Actually Participate in Continuous Improvement Programs? - Danielle Yoon shares white paper that discusses employee buy-in, more than tools or processes, is the deciding factor in whether continuous improvement efforts succeed or fail. 

 

How to Make Improvements Stick in Your Organization - Alen Ganic shares tips to why sustaining improvements is harder than making them, requiring leadership commitment, accountability, and culture change. 

 

Turning Conflict into Growth: 7 Steps Every Emotionally Intelligent Leader Should Know – Ron Pereira says if handled well, conflict can spark creativity and stronger relationships, making it a vital leadership skill in Lean. 

 

The Digital Dark Age: Why Electronic Records Could Leave Future Archaeologists Empty-Handed – Kevin Meyer discusses how our digital age—seemingly the most documented period in human history—may paradoxically become the most invisible to future archaeologists. 

 

Ambidexterity – the Battles We Have to Win – Pascal Dennis says to thrive in today’s volatile world requires balancing operational excellence with innovation to avoid obsolescence. 

 

15 Unmeasurable System Conditions – Christopher Chapman says there are things you can’t measure with a KPI, yet are vital for determining the output quality of your organization’s products and services. 

 

Celebrating our Frontline Scapegoats – Bruce Hamilton shares a lighthearted tribute to frontline workers who too often bear the blame for systemic quality issues. 

 

Efficiency? What efficiency? – Jacob Stoller explains how siloed “efficiency” misses the mark—and why leaders should focus on system-wide productivity instead. 

 

What Are We Really Teaching in Frontline Jobs?  - Josh Howell explains that frontline jobs are more than entry-level work — they’re powerful training grounds for future leaders. 

 

Data is Good; Facts that Tell You What’s Actually Happening in Your Business Are Better - Eric Ethington says in product and process development, leaders must see facts, engage stakeholders, and design processes that reveal problems. Tools matter only when they serve people and process. 

 

Kaizen Alone Isn’t Enough: Why Leaders Must Fix the System for Real Improvement – Mark Graban explains true improvement requires leaders to address systemic barriers, not just rely on frontline kaizen.