In this episode, Mark revisits a 2007 conversation with James P. (Jim) Womack, founder of the Lean Enterprise Institute and co-author of The Machine That Changed the World. Nearly two decades later, Jim’s reflections on the origins of the word “Lean” remain just as relevant.

The blog post

The discussion takes us back to MIT in 1987, when Womack and his colleagues were analyzing data from auto plants around the world. Toyota and Honda were clearly operating in a fundamentally different way—faster design cycles, fewer errors, less capital, less space, and more value. But they needed a name for this system. That’s when researcher John Krafcik suggested a term that captured the essence of “less”: Lean.

Womack reflects on how the word solved one problem—it shifted attention away from “Japanese manufacturing” or “the Toyota Production System” to something more universal. But the name also created challenges: because Lean rhymes with “mean,” too many managers misused it as shorthand for cutting jobs rather than creating more value while respecting people.

Mark reads Womack’s timeless warnings and lessons: Lean was never about headcount reduction; it was always about eliminating waste, improving flow, and engaging people in problem-solving. And while the term has traveled in many directions since that 1987 “naming moment,” its underlying principles—value for customers, respect for people, and continuous improvement—remain as important in 2025 as ever.

Listen in to hear Jim’s words from that original 2007 interview, plus Mark’s reflections on why this conversation still matters today.

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In this episode, I share a reading of my recent blog post, based on a Catalysis webinar where I explored what we can learn from Lean in Japan. Since 2012, I’ve been fortunate to travel to Japan six times with study groups, including those led by the Kaizen Institute, Honsha, and Katie Anderson. Each trip has reinforced the paradox that Lean is both easier and harder in Japan—and that the deepest lessons are not about tools, but about mindsets, culture, and leadership.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why Lean in Japan isn’t about “being Japanese,” but about cultivating long-term thinking and respect for people.

• How Ina Food practices “tree-ring management” and why profit is seen as a byproduct, not the goal.

• How Toyota reinforces its role as a “people development company” through problem-solving and Kaizen.

• The double-edged role of Japanese culture: precision and standardization on one hand, but reluctance to speak up on the other.

• How mechanisms like the andon cord create safer ways to surface problems.

• What Japanese hospitals are learning from American health systems—and vice versa.

• Why Kaizen isn’t about cost savings alone, but about making work easier and building capability.

• Memorable lessons from leaders like Dr. Shuhei Iida of Nerima General Hospital: “If you keep doing Kaizen, you will get innovation.”

Key Quotes from the Episode

• “Profit is like excrement produced by a healthy body. Nobody’s goal is to wake up and produce excrement — it’s just the natural result of living and doing things well.” — Chairman of Ina Food

• “The role of the leader is to set the vision — that cannot be delegated.” — Japanese executive

• “If you keep doing Kaizen, you will get innovation.” — Dr. Shuhei Iida, Nerima General Hospital

Why It Matters
Lean is not a set of tools to copy, but a system of beliefs and practices rooted in respect, learning, and long-term thinking. Speaking up about problems isn’t easy—whether in Japan or elsewhere—which is why leaders must create psychological safety and model improvement themselves.

Resources & Links

• Catalysis webinar recording (available soon)

• Learn more about upcoming Lean Healthcare Accelerator Experience in Japan

Work With Me
If you’re a leader aiming for lasting cultural change—not just more projects—I help organizations:

• Engage people at all levels in sustainable improvement

• Shift from fear of mistakes to learning from them

• Apply Lean thinking in practical, people-centered ways

📩 Let’s talk: mark@leanblog.org

The blog post

When Mark applied for a burglar alarm permit, he accidentally sent the form to the wrong Newport — Rhode Island instead of Kentucky. The voicemail he got back was kind, clear, and even funny: pointing out that an 845-mile police response probably wasn’t going to work.

In this story, Mark reflects on:

• Why small mistakes are easier to handle with humility and humor

• How Toyota’s “expected vs. actual” lens helps frame errors

• Why psychological safety and kindness matter more than blame

• How to turn a minor error into a “favorite mistake” — one you can laugh about and learn from

It’s a reminder that even harmless slip-ups can reinforce bigger lessons about improvement, culture, and how we respond to mistakes.

The blog post

In this episode, Mark explores how the Dunning-Kruger effect shows up in Lean—especially after a first belt course, workshop, or book. Early enthusiasm can turn into overconfidence, creating blind spots and stalling growth.

Drawing from his book Practicing Lean, Mark shares stories (his own and from contributors like Paul Akers and Jamie Flinchbaugh) about mistakes made early on, what they taught us, and why Lean should be treated as a practice, not a project.

Key themes:

• Why certifications are a starting point, not the finish line

• How psychological safety helps keep overconfidence in check

• Lessons learned from early Lean missteps

• Practical tips for avoiding common training pitfalls

All royalties from Practicing Lean benefit the Louise H. Batz Patient Safety Foundation, supporting safer care for patients and families.

The blog post

Sometimes an “improvement” makes things worse. The Germans even have a word for it: verschlimmbesserung.

In this episode, Mark Graban shares the story of how a well-intentioned fix to Europe’s vineyard fungus problem in the 19th century nearly wiped out the continent’s wine industry. The introduction of American grapevines solved one issue but unleashed a far bigger one: phylloxera, a microscopic pest that devastated vineyards, economies, and cultures across Europe — including Mallorca, where wine production lay dormant for nearly a century.

This historical case offers powerful lessons for today’s leaders:

• Why most of the time small, contained tests are best

• When risks are irreversible, testing may not be safe at all

• How to balance experimentation with rigorous risk assessment

• Why good intentions aren’t enough if you create tomorrow’s crisis while solving today’s problem

From vineyards to hospitals, factories, and offices, the challenge is the same: how do we solve problems without making things worse?

The blog post

Too often, leaders think that if they simply “get everyone doing Kaizen,” performance will automatically improve. While daily improvement is essential, some problems are too deeply rooted in the system for frontline staff to fix on their own.

In this episode, Mark Graban explores why Kaizen is necessary but not sufficient — and why leaders must take responsibility for changing the systems that shape performance. Drawing on Dr. W. Edwards Deming’s reminder that “a bad system will beat a good person every time,” Mark shares real-world examples, including a hospital laboratory redesign that transformed results once leadership tackled systemic constraints.

You’ll learn:

• Why leaders can’t delegate away system-level change

• The difference between local improvements and structural redesigns

• How system fixes and daily Kaizen reinforce one another

• Practical lessons for avoiding frustration and building real, sustainable improvement

The message is clear: frontline staff can’t Kaizen their way out of a broken system. Leaders must create the conditions where Kaizen can truly flourish.

The blog post

Albert Einstein once called the “cosmological constant” the biggest blunder of his life. But what if that so-called mistake actually holds timeless lessons for leaders today?

In this episode, Mark Graban explores Einstein’s “favorite mistake” — why he altered his equations to fit prevailing beliefs, what he missed in the process, and how the story connects directly to Lean thinking, Toyota Kata, and continuous improvement.

You’ll hear how Einstein’s cautionary tale mirrors what happens in organizations when:

• Data contradicts long-held assumptions

• Teams run pilots that outperform the old way, but leaders resist change

• People hesitate to speak up because it feels unsafe to challenge the consensus

The conversation highlights the importance of scientific thinking, experimentation, and psychological safety — and why the real mistake isn’t being wrong, but failing to learn.

Whether you’re leading change in healthcare, manufacturing, software, or beyond, you’ll come away with practical insights to help you trust the data, encourage dissent, and model learning from mistakes.

the blog post

In this episode, Mark Graban previews his upcoming half-day workshop at the AME St. Louis 2025 International Conference: The Deming Red Bead Game and Process Behavior Charts: Practical Applications for Lean Management.

If you’ve ever felt stuck in the exhausting cycle of reacting to every up and down in your performance metrics—or frustrated by red/green scorecards that drive pressure and finger-pointing more than improvement—this session is for you.

Mark explains why Process Behavior Charts provide a more thoughtful, statistically sound alternative to arbitrary targets and binary dashboards. He also shares how the famous Deming Red Bead Game makes visible the ways that systems set people up to fail—and how leaders can do better.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• How to distinguish between signal and noise in performance data

• Why Process Behavior Charts help leaders react less and improve more

• The pitfalls of red/green scorecards and arbitrary targets

• How to connect better data interpretation to Lean management and strategy deployment

Whether you’re a leader, manager, or improvement professional in any industry, you’ll come away with practical takeaways to reduce firefighting and improve decision-making.