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In the Arena: Grit, Teams, and Value Streams in Lean Entrepreneurship
When our editorial team and I discussed product centric entrepreneurship as a potential Design Brief theme, my first thought was, Is there another kind? If you define “product” as the value you create...
View ArticleA Personal Pursuit of Problem-Solving
Josh Howell and Mark Reich, LEI President and Chief Engineer Strategy, respectively, talk with Sal Sanchez, a Toyota veteran and TPS coach with LEI. Sal’s Toyota career began at New United Motor...
View ArticleLean Without Daily Management? Here’s What Happened at Starbucks
My first experience with lean came as an employee of the Starbucks Coffee Company. In 2007, I was managing a café for Starbucks in Portland, Oregon. I had been hired as a barista a few years earlier...
View ArticleThe Power of Problem-Solving
In June, The Management Brief began a two-month focus on problem-solving, examining this necessary element of continuous improvement from three perspectives: a lean expert and well-known author on the...
View ArticleThe Limits of Process Improvement: A Lesson from Kroger, a Major Grocer
My second lean transformation experience came shortly after joining LEI in 2013, but before I was introduced to the Lean Transformation Framework. I was assigned as a lean coach at The Kroger Company,...
View ArticleThe Toyota Triangle and Problem-Solving
Josh Howell, LEI President, and Mark Reich, LEI Chief Engineer Strategy, join Olivier Larue, President of Ydatum, and discuss the Toyota Production System (TPS), the three elements embedded within TPS...
View ArticleFinally, a Lean Transformation for the Entire Enterprise
I was more experienced with lean transformation by the time I started working for Legal Sea Foods in Boston, Massachusetts. I had seen what was possible when value-creating teams on the frontline...
View ArticleShow Respect by Exploring Problems with Your Workers
Nearly two decades ago, Jim Womack, LEI Founder and Senior Advisor, told the lean community about the dual benefits of a shared problem-solving workplace: operational outcomes that far exceed those...
View ArticleTwo Big Takeaways from Three Lean Transformations
A couple of key reflections stand out from my experiences at Starbucks, Kroger, and Legal Sea Foods. I’ve also seen the possibilities of a complete lean management system on a recent trip to Toyota....
View ArticleAI to Empower People: Fabrice Bernhard on Using AI to Improve Product...
In this episode of The Design Brief, we speak with Fabrice Bernhard. Fabrice is cofounder and chief technology officer of Theodo, a leading tech consultancy in Europe, and coauthor of The Lean Tech...
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