For fifteen years, Central Coast Lean has gathered improvement practitioners every April on the Central Coast of California. Meaningful conversations, real learning, and a community that keeps showing up. This year, we are trying something a little different. We are not holding an April summit in 2026. Instead, we are launching something new: the California Improvement Summit , scheduled for Sunday, August 30 through Tuesday, September 1, 2026 , on the Central Coast. Here is what we are...

What we're learning — and where CCL is headed next A few years back, we started asking a question that felt a little uncomfortable: are we teaching lean to the right people? Employees, yes. Leaders, absolutely. But what about customers — the people whose participation, cooperation, and behavior are often woven directly into the processes we're trying to improve? That question became the seed of what we've been calling Customer Lean. What We Mean by Customer Lean We're still refining the...

February's Central Coast Virtual Lean Coffee session opened with a question that resonates across every organization attempting lean transformation: "How do you lay the foundation for a culture of A3 thinking?" Central Coast Lean Virtual Lean Coffee With four votes from our diverse group of practitioners spanning manufacturing, government, and consulting sectors, this topic reflected a shared struggle. We're not short on A3 templates. We're not lacking training materials. What we're...