Why Improvements Don't Stick: It's Not Backsliding, It's a Failed Handoff
June 5, 2026Every continuous improvement professional has heard some version of the same complaint.
"We ran a great kaizen event. We came back ninety...
Talent Gets You in the Room. A Growth Mindset Decides the Rest.
June 3, 2026Last season, my team missed the NBA playoffs. Again. The San Antonio Spurs landed in the lottery. And going into this year, most people had...
When Local Improvement Wasn't Enough: How St. Clair Hospital Scaled a Lean Culture
May 29, 2026CASE STUDY
How St. Clair Hospital scaled a Lean culture across 2,400 employees with a two-person improvement team
At a glance
- 328-bed...
Trust Doesn't Come First: A Lesson From the Shop Floor
May 21, 2026The standard story about psychological safety runs through the relationship between a worker and their boss. Can the worker speak up? Will...
A KaiNexus Panel Discussion About Mistakes, Safety, and Getting Better
May 14, 2026A few years ago, I hosted a panel discussion with four colleagues from KaiNexus -- Greg Jacobson, Maggie Millard, Linda Vicaro, and Kym...
"We're the Kind of Organization That...": Why Identity Beats KPI Targets for Sustaining Improvement
May 12, 2026There's a phrase that Greg Jacobson, CEO of KaiNexus, uses that sounds like a minor word choice but functions as a completely different...
How Habit Science Can Build a Culture of Continuous Improvement
April 29, 2026Most CI coaches have experienced this frustration: you train a team on A3 thinking, they do one or two, and then... nothing. You launch a...
Why Your Lean Transformation Stalled After Year 5 (And What to Do About It)
April 29, 2026Here's a pattern that plays out in organizations around the world. Year one: excitement. A consulting engagement, a wave of kaizen...
Why Lean Fails: It's Not the Methodology -- It's the Management
April 21, 2026Lean has a decades-long track record of producing real results across industries. Hospitals have used it to reduce patient harm and...
.svg)
