How Don Kieffer Applies Toyota Thinking to Modern Knowledge Work

Описание: My guest for Episode #540 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Don Kieffer—executive consultant, former Vice President of Operational Excellence at Harley-Davidson, founder of ShiftGear Work Design, senior lecturer at MIT Sloan, and co-creator of Dynamic Work Design. Don has spent more than five decades helping organizations understand, redesign, and improve the way real work gets done. He and Nelson Repenning recently co-authored the new book There’s Got to Be a Better Way.

Episode page with links, transcript, and more: http://leanblog.org/540

In this conversation, Don shares the arc of his career—from starting as a machinist and “factory rat” to becoming one of the leading voices on human-centered work design. He recounts how Toyota legend Hajime Oba challenged his thinking at Harley-Davidson and why he eventually diverged from the “copy the rituals” approach to Lean. That experience shaped his lifelong focus on understanding the thinking behind Toyota’s methods—not the artifacts.

We explore the core elements of Dynamic Work Design, including the five principles: solving the right problem, structuring for discovery, connecting the human chain, regulating flow, and making work visible. Don explains how these principles apply to factories, engineering teams, software organizations, finance groups, and healthcare. He draws sharp distinctions between work design and leadership style, arguing that good work design produces the behavior and culture leaders often try (and fail) to teach directly.

Don also tells vivid stories—from crisis management at Harley, to working with MIT researchers, to confronting executives who blame “morale problems” rather than looking at broken work systems. His reflections connect deeply with psychological safety, respect for people, and systems thinking. He makes a compelling case that the biggest gains—often 30% or more in weeks—come from redesigning intellectual work, which he calls “almost infinitely compressible.”

This episode is packed with insight on designing better workflows, creating real-time management systems, and restoring joy in human work. It’s a great follow-up to Episode #538 with Nelson Repenning and a must-listen for anyone responsible for improving performance in complex organizations.

Nelson Repenning episode:    • How to Cut Through Workplace Chaos: Nelson...