Lean Lessons from St. Patrick: A Saintly Guide to Continuous Improvement
- Leadership
- March 16, 2026

A Visual Factory is the language of the Lean production system. Without it we can’t see the wastes in our factory, which are the greatest source of potential improvements in customer service and business performance. Visuals ensure that what is supposed to happen happens on time, every time by everyone involved. Visual Factory (or Visual
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On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on
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Employee empowerment has been described and defined in many ways but is generally accepted as: the process of enabling an employee to think, behave, act, react and control their work in more autonomous ways, as to be in control of one’s own destiny. Empowerment may not be a new concept to you, but many organizations
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ASQ’s annual World Conference for Quality and Improvement (WCQI) will be held May 4-6 in Nashville, Tennessee (and, yes, you can still register). Julia McIntosh of ASQ Communications asks the Influential Voices about the value of conferences. Sharing with like-minded people who have various experiences can create a support network for continuous improvement and learning.
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On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on
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The term “concrete head’ is the result of a Japanese translation. A concrete head is someone who is resistant to the changes that Lean brings. Obviously this is a derogatory term. I like the image for someone who doesn’t want to get it. But remember concrete takes a while to set-up. Don’t give up too
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