Lean Leadership: Lean Management & Continuous Improvement

Cultivate a lean environment through gemba walks, daily management, A3 problem solving, Toyota Kata, value stream mapping, and Hoshin Kanri.

  • All Levels
  • 10 sections · 77 lessons · 6h 28m total
  • Online, self-paced

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Lean Leadership: Lean Management & Continuous Improvement

What you'll learn

  • Guide a long-lasting lean transformation by establishing daily practices and leader behaviors that maintain momentum after the initial effort.
  • Implement the five lean principles and the 8 wastes to any process across manufacturing, healthcare, service, office, and software sectors.
  • Conduct gemba walks that emphasize coaching rather than auditing, and ensure follow-ups translate observations into actionable steps.
  • Create a lean daily management framework that includes visual boards, tiered meetings, escalation processes, and standard leader tasks.
  • Address problems utilizing PDCA, A3 problem-solving, 5 Whys, and fishbone diagrams, while mentoring others through Toyota Kata.
  • Develop a value stream map, assess lead time and flow efficiency, and convert a future-state map into an actionable plan with designated owners.
  • Translate strategy to the front lines using Hoshin Kanri, the X-matrix, catchball, and bowling charts.
  • Manage the human side of lean transitions: handle resistance, engage stakeholders, ensure effective communication, and work with middle managers.
  • Assess lean maturity and culture, and preserve improvements through layered audits and consistent leadership practices.
  • Formulate a 90-day lean leadership strategy utilizing 16 templates, and prepare to present it to senior executives.

Course outline

10 sections · 77 lessons · 6h 28m total

Why Lean Leadership Matters 6 lessons · 32m
  1. Welcome: What You Will Be Able to Do Free Preview On Udemy 05:55
  2. Lean Terms You'll Want to Know 04:44
  3. How the Course Works and the Plan You Will Build 03:39
  4. Why Most Lean Transformations Stall 06:31
  5. Tools, System, Culture: The Lean Iceberg 05:21
  6. Baseline Lean Leadership Self-Assessment 05:50
Lean Thinking Essentials 7 lessons · 34m
  1. From Toyota to Every Industry: A Short History of Lean Free Preview On Udemy 04:43
  2. The Five Principles: Value, Value Stream, Flow, Pull, Perfection 05:39
  3. The Eight Wastes, with Examples Beyond the Factory 05:39
  4. Management Waste: Meetings, Approvals, Rework, Firefighting 03:35
  5. Flow and Pull: Batches, One-Piece Flow and Kanban 04:55
  6. Stability and Standard Work as the Base for Improvement 04:15
  7. Waste Walk on Your Own Process 05:30
The Lean Leader's Mindset 7 lessons · 32m
  1. Respect for People: What It Really Means Free Preview On Udemy 04:28
  2. From Command and Control to Challenge and Support 04:19
  3. Psychological Safety: Why Problems Must Be Visible 04:53
  4. Humble Inquiry: Asking Instead of Telling 04:43
  5. Coaching versus Fixing: The Leader as Teacher 04:13
  6. How You React to Bad News Defines Your Culture 04:15
  7. Leadership Behavior Audit 04:52
Go to Gemba 7 lessons · 31m
  1. Genchi Genbutsu: Why Leaders Go and See Free Preview On Udemy 03:52
  2. Planning a Walk: Purpose, Route and Frequency 04:49
  3. What to Look For: Flow, Standards, Visual Cues, People 05:18
  4. Questions That Coach Instead of Interrogate 04:20
  5. Following Up So Walks Lead to Action 03:19
  6. Gemba in Offices, Hospitals and Digital Work 04:35
  7. Conduct and Debrief Your First Gemba Walk 04:28
Building a Daily Management System 9 lessons · 42m
  1. What a Daily Management System Is and Why It Sustains Gains Free Preview On Udemy 04:31
  2. Visual Management: Making Normal and Abnormal Obvious 04:19
  3. Designing a Team Board: Metrics, Actions, Ideas 05:12
  4. Tiered Huddles: From Team to Leadership in Under an Hour a Day 05:05
  5. Escalation: Getting Problems to the Right Level Fast 04:30
  6. Leader Standard Work: What, How and How Often 04:46
  7. Accountability Without Blame 04:01
  8. Walkthrough of a Tier 1 Huddle 04:36
  9. Design Your Board and Huddle Agenda 04:32
Problem Solving and Coaching 11 lessons · 1h 5m
  1. Scientific Thinking and PDCA Free Preview On Udemy 05:48
  2. Defining the Problem as a Gap, Not a Solution 05:29
  3. Grasping the Current Condition 05:20
  4. Root Cause Tools: 5 Whys and Fishbone 06:50
  5. Countermeasures, Experiments and Checking Results 05:51
  6. A3 Thinking: Telling the Story on One Page 06:55
  7. An A3 Worked End to End 05:58
  8. Toyota Kata: The Improvement Kata 06:58
  9. The Coaching Kata and Its Five Questions 06:11
  10. Choosing the Right Method for the Size of the Problem 05:15
  11. Complete an A3 on a Real Problem 04:46
Value Stream Thinking for Leaders 7 lessons · 38m
  1. Seeing the Whole: Value Streams versus Departments Free Preview On Udemy 04:50
  2. Mapping the Current State: Steps, Data, Information Flow 06:19
  3. Lead Time, Process Time and Flow Efficiency 05:19
  4. Designing the Future State 05:59
  5. From Map to Plan: Kaizen Bursts and Owners 05:00
  6. Mapping a Service Process (Order-to-Cash or Patient Discharge) 06:19
  7. Map One Value Stream in Your Organization 04:03
Strategy Deployment with Hoshin Kanri 7 lessons · 35m
  1. Why Strategy Rarely Reaches the Front Line Free Preview On Udemy 04:09
  2. Hoshin Kanri Explained 05:30
  3. Breakthrough Objectives versus Daily Management 05:07
  4. The X-Matrix Step by Step 05:49
  5. Catchball: Building Alignment in Both Directions 04:45
  6. Bowling Charts and Monthly Reviews 05:26
  7. Build a One-Page Strategy Deployment 03:59
Leading the Change 9 lessons · 46m
  1. Why People Resist Change, and Why It Is Often Rational Free Preview On Udemy 05:22
  2. Change Models Compared: Kotter, ADKAR and Lean's Approach 05:22
  3. Building the Case for Change 05:33
  4. Stakeholder Mapping and Influence 05:33
  5. Communication Plan: Messages, Channels, Cadence 05:17
  6. Middle Managers: The Make-or-Break Layer 05:04
  7. Pilots, Model Lines and Spreading Success 05:14
  8. Handling Setbacks and Backsliding 04:15
  9. Build Your Stakeholder Map and Comms Plan 04:00
Designing the Lean Organization 7 lessons · 34m
  1. Systems Drive Behavior: Aligning Structure with Lean Free Preview On Udemy 04:41
  2. Team-Based Structures: Natural Work Teams and Value-Stream Teams 05:13
  3. Key Roles: Team Leader, Group Leader, Lean Coach, Sponsor 05:19
  4. Aligning Metrics, Rewards, Hiring and Promotion 05:15
  5. The Lean Promotion Office: Help or Hindrance? 04:36
  6. Developing Lean Leaders: A Capability Ladder 04:32
  7. Redesign One System That Undermines Lean 04:43

About this course

This course incorporates the use of artificial intelligence.

Many lean transformations falter, not due to ineffective tools, but because leaders implement boards, value stream maps, and kaizen events, then neglect the ongoing routines necessary for their sustainability. This lean leadership course focuses on an aspect of lean management that is often overlooked: the daily actions required by leaders to ensure continuous improvement continues long after the initial effort.

You will accompany Tecvia, a mid-sized equipment manufacturer with an order-to-cash office, through a complete lean transformation, facing real decisions, encountering setbacks, and observing results. At each phase, you will have the opportunity to make the decisions, then analyze the outcomes.

Who this course is for

  • Supervisors, team leaders, and managers driving improvement in their respective areas.
  • Senior leaders who are overseeing a lean or operational excellence initiative.
  • Continuous improvement, OpEx, and quality specialists who mentor leaders.
  • Human resources and organizational development personnel facilitating cultural transformations.
  • Individuals working in manufacturing, healthcare, services, government, office, or technology environments.

Lean Leadership: Lean Management & Continuous Improvement

Get On Udemy (opens in a new tab)