Lean 911

Why do Lean transformations fail—and what separates genuine transformation from “Lean theatre”?

In this episode of Lean 911, Mark DeLuzio is joined by Mark Forkun, author of Genba Ikigai – Leading to Serve, for a practical discussion about Lean leadership, leadership habits, problem-solving, culture change, and sustainable business performance.

The conversation explores the 16 leadership habits of Genba Ikigai across four areas:

• Leading Self — understanding and managing your own behavior

Mark and Mark explore practical leadership concepts including Hansei (reflection), Mendoumi (caring for and developing others), problem-solving coaching, and Yokoten (sharing best practices).

They also discuss how the ideas in Genba Ikigai can move from theory into everyday leadership practice through case studies, self-assessment, personal PDCA, AI-enabled Sensei coaching, workshops, and Genba coaching.

If you are a CEO, plant leader, operations leader, Lean practitioner, continuous-improvement professional, or transformation leader, this episode explores an important question:

Are you implementing Lean tools—or developing the leadership habits necessary to make Lean sustainable?

Topics include:

Why have so many organizations copied Toyota's tools, yet so few have replicated Toyota's success?

In this episode of Lean911, we revisit Steven Spear and H. Kent Bowen's landmark article, Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System, and explore a fundamental lesson: TPS isn't primarily a collection of tools - it's a system for developing scientific problem-solvers.

We examine the four rules underlying TPS, how Toyota turns everyday problems into experiments, and why problem-solving should occur at the lowest possible level of the organization, with leaders acting as teachers and coaches.

The question isn't, "What Lean tools have we implemented?"

It's "Who solves problems in our organization - and how do they solve them?"

Stop copying Toyota's tools. Start copying how Toyota thinks.

What can Lean leaders learn from a NASCAR pit crew, where three-tenths of a second can mean five car lengths and elite performance depends on five people executing as one?

In this episode, we take the lessons from NASCAR’s pit road and translate them directly into Lean Operational Excellence. The surprising lesson is that world-class speed doesn’t come from telling people to work faster. Speed is the result of efficiency. As the pit-crew principle says, “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.”

We explore how NASCAR demonstrates many of the same principles that drive a high-performing Lean organization: standard work, 5S and workplace organization, visual measurement, deliberate practice, teamwork, communication, attention to detail, and relentless continuous improvement. A modern five-person pit crew accomplishing in roughly eight seconds what once took about a minute illustrates what becomes possible when organizations improve the system and method of work, rather than simply adding people or demanding more effort.

We also examine the critical balance of Safety, Quality, Delivery, and Cost (SQDC). Innovations such as the single lug nut may create speed, but NASCAR reminds us that performance cannot be optimized in isolation. Every improvement involves understanding the system, the trade-offs, and the non-negotiables.

From checklists and contingency drills to benchmarking competitors and learning outside the industry, NASCAR pit crews provide a powerful model of Kaizen in action. Competitive advantages disappear quickly when others copy your improvements, so improvement can never be a one-time initiative—it must become part of the operating system.

The ultimate Lean lesson from pit road is simple: elite performance is not about making people move faster. It is about designing better systems that allow people to perform better together.

If you want to build an organization that is safer, faster, more precise, and continuously improving, there may be no better place to look for inspiration than the few seconds when a NASCAR race is won—or lost—in the pits.

What if the Lean lessons that helped shape one of the world’s most respected business systems could be made available to everyone in your organization—anytime, anywhere, and in virtually any language?

In this episode of Lean911, we introduce Lean Horizons Academy, a new approach to building practical Lean capability across the enterprise.

Lean Horizons Academy is inspired by the original teachings of the Toyota Production System and shaped by the lessons and practices that helped build the Danaher Business System. It transforms decades of real-world Lean experience into an accessible e-learning platform designed not simply to teach Lean concepts, but to help people apply them where the work actually happens.

We explore how the Academy helps organizations move beyond traditional, consultant-dependent training by creating a common Lean language and giving employees ongoing access to practical knowledge, tools, and methods. The goal is speed to value—getting proven Lean thinking into the hands of more people, faster, so they can begin solving problems, improving processes, and delivering measurable results.

The episode also explores the role of live monthly sessions with Mark, where participants can ask questions, present their real-world challenges, and learn directly from four decades of successful Lean transformations across six continents and dozens of industries.

Most importantly, Lean Horizons Academy addresses one of the persistent challenges of Lean transformation: training that shouldn't end when the consultant leaves. The Academy is designed to create a sustainable internal capability that continues developing people long after a workshop, kaizen event, or consulting engagement is over.

In this episode, you'll discover:

Inspired by Toyota. Shaped by the lessons that built the Danaher Business System. Now available to your enterprise.

If you're responsible for Lean, Operational Excellence, Continuous Improvement, or enterprise transformation—and you're looking for a faster, more scalable way to develop problem solvers throughout your organization—this episode is for you.

When you build something that stands the test of time, it's tempting to believe you'd do it the same way all over again. But experience has a way of changing your perspective.

In this episode, I look back at the creation of the Danaher Business System and share 12 things I would do differently if I were building it today. From placing greater emphasis on management systems over individual tools, to developing stronger problem-solving leaders, eliminating performance reviews, focusing on upstream process improvement, and leading with leading indicators instead of lagging metrics, these are lessons earned through decades of applying and refining DBS.

This isn't about second-guessing a successful system—it's about recognizing that even the best operating systems can evolve. If you're building a business system, leading a transformation, or trying to create a culture of continuous improvement, these reflections may help you avoid mistakes I only recognized in hindsight.

In this episode, you'll learn:

Whether you're a CEO, operating executive, private equity leader, or continuous improvement practitioner, this episode offers a candid look at what experience teaches us after the work is done—and what I'd do differently if I had the opportunity to start over. 

What if the biggest transformation in your life begins with a simple shift in perspective—not from believing life is happening to you, but realizing it is happening through you?

As Lean Horizons celebrates its 25th anniversary, founder Mark DeLuzio reflects on a quarter century of transformation work across six continents and dozens of industries. In this special episode, Mark examines the evolution—and in some cases, the dilution—of Lean thinking since the early days of the Toyota Production System's global expansion.

The future of Lean doesn't require new tools. It requires rediscovering the principles that made Lean powerful in the first place.

A CNC machine crashed on the shop floor. Nathan Corliss walked out as a young supervisor, angry and ready to blame the operator.

What happened next became one of the most important leadership lessons of his career.

Mark DeLuzio and Nathan talk about the moment that forced Nathan to confront his own behavior as a leader, and how the scars on his knuckles became a permanent reminder to pause, reflect, and lead differently. The conversation centers on hansei, the Lean practice of honest self-reflection, and why it matters when pressure is high, mistakes are visible, and people are watching how leaders respond.

You'll hear how one shop floor incident connects to emotional intelligence, respect for people, Kaizen report-outs, after-action reviews, standard work, compliance, and the danger of fear-based leadership.

For Lean leaders, CI managers, plant managers, and executives, this episode is a practical reminder that culture is shaped in the moments when things go wrong. The real test is not whether leaders know the right Lean language. It is whether they can own their mistakes, protect trust, and help people improve without shutting them down.

This is an unedited replay of a previous Lean 911 episode, originally published on January 13, 2023. We're bringing it back because the issue still causes Lean transformations to stall, drift, or flatline.

One of the most misunderstood parts of Lean, Standard Work, is often dismissed as unnecessary. So many companies contend that they are "doing" Lean, but leave Standard Work by the wayside. In this episode, you'll learn the answers to the most perplexing questions, notions, and beliefs regarding Standard Work, which is a key component of the Toyota Production System.

In this episode, we dive into the rise, dominance, and controversy surrounding Six Sigma — the corporate improvement system that promised near-perfect quality and became a management obsession across America. From Motorola's statistical revolution to Jack Welch's aggressive rollout at General Electric, Six Sigma evolved from a useful quality tool into what some critics call a full-blown corporate ideology.

Drawing from Mark DeLuzio's provocative essay "The Six Sigma Hysteria," we explore why many Lean practitioners believed Six Sigma created more bureaucracy than breakthrough innovation. We unpack the clash between Lean thinking and Six Sigma methodology, the explosion of belt certifications and consulting culture, and the argument that companies became obsessed with measuring defects while ignoring waste, flow, and human creativity.

Along the way, we examine real-world stories from Toyota, Danaher, and GE, and from factory floors where frontline employees solved problems that data alone could not. We also ask a bigger question: Are modern businesses repeating the same mistake today with AI, Agile, and productivity frameworks?

This episode is about more than Six Sigma. It's about the danger of turning tools into religion — and what happens when companies mistake methodology for culture.