WLEI - Lean Enterprise Institute’s Podcast
by Lean Enterprise Institute
You will hear stories from lean thought leaders, lean practitioners, and adjacent communities in various industries on many topics such as problem solving, coaching, leadership, meaningful work and more.
Episodes
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Better Thinking Faster: Toyota Problem-Solving Secrets
In the first half of their podcast Better Thinking Faster, Josh Howell, Mark Reich, and Art Smalley discussed solving problems just in time and how the speed of quality problem solving depends on the level of the organization and the types of problems to be found there. In this second half of the...
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Sebastian Fixson and Jim Morgan on Why Human Judgment will be Essential for Product Development in the Age of AI
In this episode of the WLEI Podcast, we speak with Jim Morgan and Sebastian Fixson about organizational implications for product development and what building your team’s product development capabilities looks like in the age of AI. Morgan is the author of Designing the Future and has spent over…
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Better Thinking Faster: A conversation about solving problems just in time
Time is relative, especially when it comes to lean problem solving. The LEI trio of Josh Howell, Mark Reich, and Art Smalley explored how the speed of quality problem solving really depends on the level of the organization in which the problem exists and the types of problems and thinking…
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Past, Present, and Future of Lean and AI
Gene Kim, DevOps leader and co-author of Wiring the Winning Organization, joins Tyson Heaton, LEI Executive Director of LeanTech/AI, and Art Smalley, Toyota veteran and LEI advisor, for a lively, enlightening, and wide-ranging conversation about artificial intelligence. They discuss how AI is...
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Coaching and Co-Learning — Coach as Mirror
This week The Management Brief presents the second installment in our series on coaching across the lean community and the benefits of mutual learning — senior leaders with external and/or internal lean coaches as well as peer-to-peer relationships. These connections can deliver more value and…
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Coaching and Co-Learning — Understanding that Lean Is a Journey
This week The Management Brief kicks off an extended series on the coaching and co-learning that is occurring throughout the lean community. We’ll be exploring the benefits of mutual learning in all its forms — senior leaders with their lean coaches, be they external or internal to the...
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20 Years Later: How Toyota's Product Development Principles Are Still Core to a Lean Enterprise
In this special edition of the WLEI Podcast, hosts Lex Schroeder and LEI President Josh Howell sit down with former product development executive Jim Morgan to explore the lasting impact of The Toyota Product Development System: Integrating People, Process, and Technology, the groundbreaking book...
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Cutting through the Noise in Tech: Sarah Milstein's Advice for Leaders Who Want to Keep People Focused on Value Creation
In this episode of the WLEI Podcast, we speak with executive coach and engineering leader Sarah Milstein about how to keep teams focused on value creation by putting people at the center of work design. My conversation with Sarah explores: How to create cultures of respect as a leader How…
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Keeping Our Humanity in Tech: Julia Austin on Why It Pays to Put People First in Product Development
In this episode of the WLEI Podcast, we speak with Julia Austin about what the lean product and process development principle “Put People First” looks like in practice. An executive fellow at Harvard Business School, Julia is an executive coach with experience leading successful product teams in...
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Designing Work to More Effectively Solve the Right Problems
In this week’s edition of The Management Brief, Josh Howell, LEI President, and Mark Reich, LEI Chief Engineer Strategy, speak with Nelson Repenning, School of Management Distinguished Professor of System Dynamics and Organization Studies at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Nelson also is the...
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Steven Spear Talks about Competing with TPS and Problem Solving
This month The Management Brief will explore prominent lean theories that have been guiding organizations in their lean transformations. This week, Josh Howell, LEI President, and Mark Reich, LEI Chief Engineer Strategy, are joined by Dr. Steven Spear, renown lean expert and senior lecturer at…
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The Management Brief | Leaning on TPS Learnings to Create a U.S. Manufacturer
Josh Howell, LEI President, and Mark Reich, LEI Chief Engineer Strategy, are joined by Jon Armstrong, Co-Founder and CEO of Do It American MFG Company, which produces goods for public utilities. Jon started the company in 2008 and is an advocate for U.S.-based manufacturing. Earlier in his career...
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The Management Brief | Transforming from GM Executive to Toyota Leader
Josh Howell, LEI President, and Mark Reich, LEI Chief Engineer Strategy, talk with Carl Klemm, former General Motors and Toyota executive (including six years as President and CEO of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Poland). After retiring from Toyota in 2015, Carl founded Carl Klemm Management…
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The Management Brief Bonus Edition | Two Lean Luminaries and Two Processes for Lean Transformation
In this special dual-release edition of The Design Brief and The Management Brief, Josh Howell, LEI President, is joined by LEI veterans Jim Morgan, Senior Advisor, and Mark Reich, Senior Coach and Chief Engineer Strategy. These two lean heavyweights discuss two fundamental lean processes that…
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The Design Brief | Eric Ethington and Matt Zayko on Why it Takes a Chief Engineer to Design Profitable Value Streams
In this episode of the WLEI Podcast, we speak with Eric Ethington and Matt Zayko about how to build strong teams and robust product and process development systems, and why doing so takes a skilled chief engineer. Eric Ethington is a senior coach and Chief Engineer, Lean Product and Process...
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Improving Patient and Caregiver Outcomes with Lean in Healthcare
Two leaders of the Cleveland Clinic’s lean improvement function — Dr. Lisa Yerian, Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical & Operational Improvement Officer, and Chad Cummings, Vice President of Lean Transformation & Continuous Improvement — speak with Josh Howell, LEI President, and Mark...
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The Management Brief | Lean Improvement Group Helps Appliance Maker Reshore Products
Josh Howell, LEI President, and Mark Reich, LEI Chief Engineer Strategy, talk with Rich Calvaruso, Senior Director of the Lean Management Office for GE Appliances. Rich — with GE for 36 years and the leader of GE Appliances’ continuous improvement (CI) group for 15 of those years — has been...
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TPS Taken to Companies across the UK
Simon Rowley and Julian Ball join Josh Howell, LEI President, and Mark Reich, LEI Chief Engineer Strategy, and continue this month’s discussion about the role of continuous improvement (CI) groups in lean management. Simon is Senior Manager at the Toyota Lean Management Centre (TLMC) in the UK…
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A Toyota Take on Taking TPS to Others
Josh Howell and Mark Reich, LEI President and Chief Engineer Strategy, respectively, speak with Jamie Bonini, President of the Toyota Production System Support Center (TSSC), a not-for-profit corporation affiliated with Toyota Motor North America. Since 1992, TSSC has shared Toyota know-how with...
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Innovation as a Core Capability: Sebastian Fixson on Why Leaders Need Lean Product and Process Development
In this episode of the WLEI Podcast, we speak with Sebastian Fixson, PhD, of Babson College, on mentoring the next generation of leaders in lean product and process development (LPPD). Sebastian is the founding faculty director of the doctor of business administration) program and professor of...
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Learnings of a Lean Pioneer
Jim Lancaster, Owner and CEO of Lantech, talks with Josh Howell, LEI President, and Mark Reich, LEI Chief Engineer Strategy, about his lean journey and the decades-long transformation at his packaging-solutions company. Lantech, a lean pioneer, was highlighted in Jim Womack’s and Daniel Jones’…
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Tech Founder Mari Zumbro on Building High Trust Online Communities and AI in Product Development
In this episode of the WLEI Podcast, we continue our series on AI in product development with an interview with Mari Zumbro, Co-Founder and COO of the tech startup Filament. An active participant in the open-source community, Filament describes itself as a new communication platform with the goal...
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Transforming as a Problem-Solver
Josh Howell and Mark Reich, LEI President and Chief Engineer Strategy, respectively, speak with Scott Heydon, former VP of Global Strategy at Starbucks, McKinsey & Co. consultant, and a Senior Lean Coach with LEI since 2014. They discuss Scott’s efforts to transform Starbucks with lean thinking,...
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AI to Empower People: Fabrice Bernhard on Using AI to Improve Product Development
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 Manifesto. Fabrice discusses what it takes to create great digital products, how high-performing...
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The 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 that make it more than just a production system, and the ability of TPS to foster…
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A 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 Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI), the GM/Toyota joint venture and Toyota’s first automotive footprint in the...
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Management System Surfaces Problems
Josh Howell, LEI President, talks about the relationship of problem-solving and daily management with Jill Miller, Manager for Global Learning and Development at MillerKnoll, a maker of office furniture, equipment, and home furnishings. Jill supports the development, use, and expansion of the...
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Problem-Solving Primer
Josh Howell, LEI President, Mark Reich, LEI Chief Engineer Strategy, and Art Smalley discuss the four basic types of problem-solving. Art is a well-known expert in leadership, management, and the Toyota Way. He worked at Toyota Motor Corp. in Japan; helped to transform Donnelly Corp. in Michigan;...
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Lean Product Development for Tech Entrepreneurs: A Conversation with Sandrine Olivencia on Building Smarter Startups
In this episode of the WLEI Podcast, we speak with Sandrine Olivencia, author of Build to Sell: The Lean Secret to Crafting Irresistible Products, co-founder of Taktique Academy, and partner at Lean Sensei Partners. This is the second time Sandrine has joined us on the WLEI podcast, and in this...
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Lean Improvements Lead to Improved Lean Planning and Management
Mark Reich, LEI Chief Engineer of Strategy, and Karen Gaudet, LEI Senior Coach, talk with Michael Duncan, President of Viwinco, about his efforts to establish a robust daily management system in the family-owned window and door company and connect it to the company’s hoshin kanri process. Michael...
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Go Fast, Learn a Lot: A Conversation with Phil Green on Product-Centered Entrepreneurship
In this episode of the WLEI Podcast, we speak with product leader and angel investor Phil Green about product-centered entrepreneurship and what it takes to truly create value for customers. Since 2020, Phil has been the senior advisor for B2B and technology at Harvard Innovation Labs. Before the...
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The Successful, Continuous Beat of Daily Management
Josh Howell, LEI president, explores the topic of daily management with Joe Seestadt, Director Lab Outreach for Bronson Healthcare and a faculty member and coach with LEI. Joe trained as an industrial engineer and worked in manufacturing, and has now spent some 18 years in healthcare. He was...
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Personal and Organizational Transformation: A Conversation with Dr. Sarah Womack
Josh Howell, LEI president, talks with Dr. Sarah Womack, an eight-year veteran of Toyota and author of Toyota’s Improvement Thinking from the Inside. Sarah discusses how her transformation and that of other individuals within Toyota collectively contributed to organizational improvements and high...
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What it Takes to Win at New Product Development: A Conversation with Steve Spear
In this episode of the WLEI Podcast, we speak with Steve Spear, a senior lecturer at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, senior fellow at the Institute of Healthcare Improvement, and associated faculty member at Adriane Labs of the Harvard School of Public Health. Spear is also author of The...
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Engineering for the Future: A Conversation with MIT D-Lab Founder Amy Smith
In this episode of WLEI Podcast, we welcome Amy Smith, Founding Director of MIT’s D-Lab, an innovative university-based program in international development and a senior lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at MIT.
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Socially Responsible Design Meets Lean Product and Process Development: A Conversation with Cynthia E. Smith
In this episode of WLEI Podcast, we welcome Cynthia E. Smith, Curator of Socially Responsible Design at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum and author of Design for the Other 90%. Cynthia speaks about design as a catalyst for change and what it means, as she says, to be in “the collective…
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30-Plus Years with Hoshin Kanri
This week The Management Brief presents a podcast with Josh Howell, LEI President, and Mark Reich, LEI Chief Engineer, Strategy. They discuss Mark’s 30-plus years working with hoshin kanri — two decades at Toyota and then coaching executives while with LEI — and the impact that the strategic...
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Isao Yoshino Reflects on 40 Years at Toyota
In this edition of The Management Brief, Mark Reich sits down with Isao Yoshino, a 40-year veteran of Toyota and a driving force behind the company’s success with hoshin kanri. Yoshino shares the impact that hoshin kanri and A3 problem-solving has had on him professionally and personally. Key...
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Driving Continuous Improvement through Frontline Supervisors: A Conversation with TRQSS President Mark Dolsen
In this episode of the WLEI podcast, we sit down with Mark Dolsen, President of TRQSS, a seat belt manufacturer that supplies Toyota and other automakers in North America. Mark shares insights into TRQSS's lean journey and the critical role of frontline supervisors in driving continuous...
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Building a Resilient Business with Hoshin Kanri and Problem Solving : A Conversation with Grand Rapids Chair CEO Geoff Miller
In this edition of The Management Brief, Mark Reich sits down with Geoff Miller, CEO of Grand Rapids Chair, to discuss his company's lean transformation journey. Geoff shares how the adoption of hoshin kanri and A3 problem-solving has helped the company maintain strategic focus and build...
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Achieving Unprecedented Safety at Turner Construction: a Conversation with Charlie Murphy
In this edition of The Management Brief, LEI President Josh Howell sat down with Charlie Murphy, Senior Vice President at Turner Construction, to discuss the company's remarkable lean transformation journey. Charlie shares how the organization leveraged core lean principles and practices to drive…
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Driving Healthcare Innovation: a Conversation with Jay Hill
In the latest edition of the Design Brief, we sit down with Jay Hill, the Vice President of Advanced Technology at GE Healthcare, to discuss the company's approach to product development in the complex healthcare technology space. Jay offers insights into: GE Healthcare's deep engagement with...
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Driving Strategic Alignment and Daily Improvement: a Conversation with GE Appliances Executive Marcia Brey
In the latest issue of The Management Brief, host Mark Reich sits down with Marcia Brey, the Vice President of Logistics at GE Appliances. Marcia shares her extensive career journey at GE Appliances, spanning roles in design, customer service, distribution, quality, and eventually leading the...
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Redesigning Patient Pathways: a Conversation with Dr. Carlos Frederico Pinto
In this episode of the WLEI Podcast, we're joined by Dr. Carlos Frederico Pinto (aka Dr. Fred), a medical oncologist with over 30 years of experience leading transformative changes in cancer care. Dr. Pinto shares insights on using lean thinking to dramatically improve patient outcomes and access...
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Daily Management to Execute Strategy: a Conversation with José Ferro
In this episode of the WLEI Podcast, we sit down with Jose Ferro, the founder of the Lean Institute Brasil and co-author of LEI's new book Daily Management to Execute Strategy: Solving problems and developing people every day. José shares his insights on how companies can effectively connect…
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Solving Loneliness in Hospitals with AI and Robotics: a Conversation with Karen Khachikyan and Mineh Badmagharian
In this episode of the WLEI podcast, we speak with Karen Khachikyan, CEO of Expper Technologies, and Mineh Badmagharian, the clinical and product development leader. They shared the remarkable story behind Robin, a robot designed to provide emotional support and comfort to pediatric and geriatric...
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Understand Before You Execute: a Conversation by AI
In this episode of the WLEI podcast, we explore the LPPD principle: Understand Before You Execute. Too often, companies commit to a product design before assessing their customers’ needs, leading to development churn and failed products. The conversation examines how to avoid that trap by…
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Moving from Agile to Lean: a Conversation with Sandrine Olivencia
In this episode of WLEI Podcast, we welcome Sandrine Olivencia, author of Build to Sell and expert in applying Lean principles to software development. Sandrine shares her journey from waterfall to Agile and eventually to Lean Product and Process Development (LPPD), which she sees as a more...
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Spreading Lean Thinking to Software and Startups: a Conversation with Regis Medina
In this episode of the WLEI podcast, we speak with Regis Megina, a software industry veteran who has undergone a journey from Agile to Lean. Regis shares insights on: How he transitioned from early frustrations with waterfall development to embracing Agile and Extreme Programming The challenges…
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40 Years of Lean Observation: a Conversation with Art Byrne
In this episode of the WLEI podcast, LEI speaks with prolific author and business leader Art Byrne. During the discussion, Art shares his decades-long journey leading lean transformation, from running kaizen events with the first wave of ex-Toyota consultants in the US to leading manufacturer...
About this show
You will hear stories from lean thought leaders, lean practitioners, and adjacent communities in various industries on many topics such as problem solving, coaching, leadership, meaningful work and more.
Hosted by
Lean Enterprise Institute
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