John Shook is the chairman and CEO of the Lean Enterprise Institute, a nonprofit organization based in Cambridge, Mass., with a mission to advance lean thinking around the world. As a prolific author (“Learning to See” co-authored with Mike Rother and “Managing to Learn”) and thought leader in the lean industry, Shook brings a lifetime of experience to his role with the Institute. He honed his lean management techniques during his 11 years at Toyota, where he became the first American kacho (manager) in Japan. He brought the lessons he learned in Japan back to the American market, helping Toyota to transfer production, engineering and management systems from Japan to other operations around the world. In addition to penning publications and books about lean management, Shook is the former director of the University of Michigan Japan Technological Management Program, and served on the faculty of the university’s Department of Industrial and Operations Engineering. He has received numerous awards for his accomplishments and is a sought-after media commentator on the topic of lean manufacturing.
