Should Improvement Be Mandatory? Reflections From 30+ Ask Us Anything Episodes

One of the most persistent questions across the Ask Us Anything series was deceptively simple:

Should continuous improvement be...

Why Experienced Leaders Resist Lean — and What Actually Works

When Greg Jacobson and I recorded the first Ask Us Anything webinar, we were just trying to clear a backlog of questions. We had no idea...

Ten Years of Questions: The Ask Us Anything Insights That Still Hold Up

Ten years of answering questions from CI practitioners taught us that the hardest problems aren't technical -- they're human. Leadership...

Respect for People in Lean: What It Really Means and Why It Drives Continuous Improvement

TL;DR: Respect for People is the foundation of Lean management. It means engaging employees as problem solvers, creating psychological...

What Is Leader Standard Work and How Can It Transform Your Organization

Leader Standard Work (LSW) is a documented set of actions, tools, and behaviors that leaders incorporate into their daily activities to...

How Do I Get Executive Buy-In for Improvement Initiatives?

You’ve identified inefficiencies. You have a clear roadmap. You know your improvement initiative can move the needle. What's next? You need

What Your C-Suite Wants From Your Improvement Program (But Hasn’t Said)

If you’re a CI leader, you’ve likely experienced the paradox: you’re driving improvements across the organization, but your executive team...

The 5 M’s of Kaizen: A Practical Framework for Continuous Improvement Leaders

We often describe Kaizen as a way of looking at the world rather than a prescription for achieving positive change. Kaizen thinkers seek to...

How Leader Standard Work at Every Level Builds an Improvement Culture

In some organizations, the leaders who are good at putting out fires are considered the best managers. But what if, instead of putting out...