Planet Lean: The Official online magazine of the Lean Global Network
What Toyota and the Green Berets have in common

What Toyota and the Green Berets have in common

Sam MacPherson
April 9, 2015

INTERVIEW - What do the United States Army’s Special Forces unit and Toyota have in common? To find out, we spoke to the Green Berets’ former Director of Training at the LEI summit in New Orleans.


Interviewee: Sam MacPherson, Lean Enterprise Transformation Leader at the Lean Leadership Academy and former Director of Training of the United States Army’s Special Forces unit.



THE INTERVIEWEE

Sam MacPherson photograph
Sam MacPherson is a lean enterprise transformation leader and has dedicated over 28 years to developing organizational leaders, senior leadership teams, and designing lean enterprise management systems

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The story of a lean transformation failure
June 8, 2016
The story of a lean transformation failure

FEATURE – Too often we tend to focus on trying to replicate success, rather than analyze failure. Yet, learning from mistakes is a fundamental principle in lean. This account of a transformation gone south offers an insightful critique of lean.

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Resilience through Lean at Alliance MIM
August 13, 2025
Resilience through Lean at Alliance MIM

NOTES FROM THE GEMBA - Alliance MIM navigates market crises leveraging Lean Thinking, emphasizing flow, maintenance, deep process knowledge, and visible learning to stay competitive in a complex, high-precision manufacturing environment.

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Transforming our business with Daily Management
May 30, 2023
Transforming our business with Daily Management

CASE STUDY – By leveraging Daily Management (DM), Supergasbras was able to change its trajectory and add more value to the customer in a critical sector for society.

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Why few people truly take the lean leap
October 28, 2022
Why few people truly take the lean leap

FEATURE – To wholeheartedly embrace lean means to accept changes in our hearts and minds. Understanding this means to finally grasp the reason why lean is only truly taken up by few.

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