Blog Articles
Redefining Excellence: From Maturity to Mastery
March 3, 2026 – Mike Martyn
For more than four decades, the Shingo community has played a critical role in shaping how organizations think about excellence. By grounding improvement in principles, systems, and behavior, the Shingo Model has elevated the conversation beyond tools and outcomes toward culture and leadership. Over the past twenty years, I have had the o...
Read Full ArticleImprovement as a Human Endeavor
January 29, 2026 – Cheryl Jekiel and Steve Gund
Over time, continuous improvement efforts have consistently demonstrated a fundamental truth: improvement is a human endeavor. We know that applying the right tools helps, systems matter, and operational discipline is essential. However, true improvement only occurs when people choose to participate. The Gund Company (TGC) embarked on ...
Read Full ArticleLeading Through Healthcare Disruption
January 7, 2026 – Carlos Scholz, CEO, Catalysis
As healthcare organizations prepare for what’s ahead, we find ourselves faced with the challenge of doing more with less. How does one continue to deliver high-value, safe care in the face of such disruption? It is important to recognize that this moment isn’t just about survival—it’s a test of leadership. In 2013, John Toussaint, exec...
Read Full ArticleLeading through Neuroscience: Developing Human Management Systems
December 3, 2025 – Rolando Vargas
I build human-centered management systems in messy, consequential places. Minutes matter, safety is non-negotiable, and culture shows up in every handoff. Over the years, one pattern has become impossible to ignore: systems perform at the speed of the human brain. When we design the rhythms, roles, and rituals of management to fit how the...
Read Full ArticleFrom Observing to Owning: A New Generation’s Perspective on Leading Huddles
November 7, 2025 – Mark McKenzie and Andrew Martyn, SISU Consulting Group
At SISU Consulting Group, we believe that systems exist not only to manage work but to develop people. This belief came to life when Andrew, a Gen Z worker with no previous knowledge of daily management systems, joined our team. Instead of asking him to quietly observe our daily huddles, we gave him the responsibility to lead them. What b...
Read Full ArticleHarmonizing Improvement Approaches
October 12, 2025 – Bruce Hamilton
My Improvement Journey During my long association with the Shingo Institute, I’ve been called a Shingo-file and a Toyota Production System (TPS) ideologue—and both are badges I wear with pride. I’ve read and studied every English translation of Shigeo Shingo’s works until the bindings frayed, and while self-study of Shingo’s book...
Read Full ArticleSeeing the Whole to Build Sustainable Organizations
September 8, 2025 – Ana Oliveira
Are we truly “thinking in systems” or merely “seeing systems”? Research and real-world evidence consistently demonstrate that Lean organizations often face challenges over time, in particular a decline in performance and engagement. While reasons for this are often attributed to culture, numerous factors contribute to an organization’s...
Read Full ArticleOvercoming Transformation Failures Through the Shingo Model: A Leadership Centered Approach
August 7, 2025 – Glasson Fonseca
Organizational transformation is often misunderstood as a linear process driven by top-down directives or isolated change initiatives. In reality, meaningful and sustainable transformation demands a deeper, systemic shift — one that aligns strategic intent with operational execution, leadership behavior, and cultural evolution. This te...
Read Full ArticleLeading Excellence- The 5 Hats of the Adaptive Leader
May 12, 2025 – Chris Butterworth, Stephen Dargan, and Brad Jeavons
As senior leaders working for many years all over the world, we came to realize we were often overwhelmed by the sheer size and complexity of what was expected of us. Today’s leaders face even greater challenges, with a continuing acceleration of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA). As then Canadian Prime Minister Ju...
Read Full ArticlePsychological Safety: The Foundation for Lean and Continuous Improvement
March 21, 2025 – Mark Graban
In a Gallup poll, only 3 in 10 employees strongly agreed that their opinions count at work. In my work with organizations across multiple industries, there’s a common pattern: companies that actively cultivate psychological safety are the ones that truly embrace continuous improvement and Lean thinking. Without psychological safety—the...
Read Full ArticleCompliance versus Commitment
March 13, 2025 – Douglas Dawson, Leg Up Solutions, LLC
Stephen Jay Gould, former Harvard University professor and leading evolutionary biologist, said, “I am somehow less concerned with the weight and convolution of Einstein's brain, than I am in the certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in the cotton fields and sweatshops.” That is a powerful statement, perhaps suggesting...
Read Full ArticleThe Relentless Pursuit of Mastery
March 10, 2025 – Michael Martyn
Over my 20+ years with the Shingo Institute, I have had the fortune to work with hundreds of organizations on the journey to excellence and coach thousands of leaders in the systems and behaviors that contribute to a sustainable culture of continuous improvement. But after years spent dedicated to designing and building amazing cult...
Read Full ArticleAvoiding Continuous Appearance
March 8, 2025 – Patrick Adams
There are many ways to start a fire, but there are only three ingredients necessary to build a fire: fuel, oxygen, and heat. When even one component is absent the fire goes out. There are also three types of fuel needed to ignite and keep a fire lit. The order in which you add these types of fuel is very important. The first typ...
Read Full ArticleThe Digital Model Factory: Improvement Sub-Systems Training Aligned to the Shingo Model
March 4, 2025 – Damla Akgül and Doğan Hasan
ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to research and evaluate the alignment and contribution of experiential Lean and digital transformation workshops in the Digital Model Factory in a virtual reality environment to the Continuous Improvement dimension of the Shingo Model and improvement sub-systems, as taught in the SYSTEMS DES...
Read Full ArticleThe Path for Every Team Member
February 5, 2025 – Robert Martichenko, Chair, TrailPath Workplace Solutions
The Cultural enablers dimension of the Shingo Model ™ emphasizes the foundational role of people and leadership in driving organizational excellence. As we have learned, without a strong principled culture, sustainable improvement and organizational alignment are not possible. Learning from the Shingo Model, we understand t...
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