One Tape Dispenser at a Time: Lean Lessons from GE Aerospace’s CEO Letter
- In the News, Leadership
- March 4, 2026

In his 2025 letter to shareholders, the CEO of GE Aerospace tells a story about a tape dispenser. Yes — a tape dispenser. It wasn’t a billion-dollar contract or a breakthrough engine design. It was a simple improvement spotted on the shop floor. A frontline team member saw waste. Leadership empowered action. The fix
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Say “standardized work” in a room full of professionals and you’ll see it immediately: crossed arms, skeptical looks, maybe even a quiet eye roll. Too rigid. Too controlling. The enemy of creativity. At least, that’s the reputation. And yet—standardized work remains one of the most powerful foundations of Lean, quality, and continuous improvement. So
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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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A selection of highlighted blog posts from Lean bloggers from the month of February 2026. You can also view the previous monthly Lean Roundups here. Good Trouble – Bruce Hamilton describes how “good trouble” in a Lean context refers to employees who challenge the status quo of a Theory X management system—those so-called troublemakers
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In Go for Third, Derek Volk brings together two worlds that might at first seem unrelated—girls’ softball and running a successful manufacturing business—to offer leadership insights that are both accessible and actionable. According to the book’s description, the lessons Volk learned coaching softball and leading his company, Volk Packaging Corporation, translate into something much
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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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