--- title: Lean Tech & AI Journal | Art Smalley description: "Art Smalley is one of the first Americans to work inside Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan, where he learned structured problem-solving from mentors who trained directly under Taiichi Ohno -- a lineage that is genuinely rare. He spent the decades since translating that experience into frameworks practitioners could actually use, authoring Four Types of Problems and co-authoring Understanding A3 Thinking, works that earned him two Shingo Publication Awards and lifetime membership in the Shingo Prize Academy. He is now turning his attention to a different kind of reach: embedding those same frameworks into conversational AI, creating tools that put a structured problem-solving coach in the hands of anyone willing to practice. For Art, the goal isn't to automate the thinking -- it's to make the discipline of good thinking more accessible." --- [![LEI LeanTech Logo](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/raw_assets/public/tech-lean-org/images/lean_AI_logo_wht.png) LeanTech](https://tech.lean.org/) [Lean Practice](https://tech.lean.org/lean-practice) [Lean AI smart\_toy](https://tech.lean.org/lean-ai) [Journal](https://tech.lean.org/journal) [lean.org arrow\_outward](https://lean.org) [Start a Conversation](https://tech.lean.org/book) menu [Lean Practice](https://tech.lean.org/lean-practice) [Lean AI](https://tech.lean.org/lean-ai) [Journal](https://tech.lean.org/journal) [lean.org](https://lean.org) [Start a Conversation](https://tech.lean.org/book) ![Background](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/raw_assets/public/tech-lean-org/images/backgrounds/bg2.png) # Lean Tech & AI Journal Weekly insights on lean thinking applied to technology transformation. Practical guidance from practitioners who've been there. No hype. mail ### Get Weekly Insights Join 30,000+ practitioners receiving weekly insights. No spam. ## [![](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/Toyota%E2%80%99s%20Investment%20in%20AI%20Capability-1-LinkedIn.png) Editor's Pick Aug 6, 2026, 9:54:42 AM Toyota’s Investment in AI Capability Toyota's AI strategy isn't a platform purchase. It's a bet on its own people. Inside the training, certification, and shop-floor communities building capability. Read Article arrow\_forward](https://tech.lean.org/journal/toyotas-investment-in-ai-capability) ### [![](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/Prompting%20for%20Problem%20Solving-1-LinkedIn.png) Prompting for Problem Solving Jul 22, 2026, 8:35:43 AM](https://tech.lean.org/journal/prompting-for-problem-solving) ### [![](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/lean%20tech%20gene%20art%20tyson%20podcast-1-LinkedIn.png) Past, Present, and Future of Lean and AI Jul 8, 2026, 5:00:01 AM](https://tech.lean.org/journal/past-present-and-future-of-lean-and-ai) ### [![](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/Lean-tech-whos-thriving-1-LinkedIn-1.png) Who Thrives in the AI Workforce? Jun 24, 2026, 5:00:01 AM](https://tech.lean.org/journal/who-thrives-in-the-ai-workforce) ## Browse the Archive search search Search ### [![](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/Toyota%E2%80%99s%20Investment%20in%20AI%20Capability-1-LinkedIn.png) article Article Aug 6, 2026, 9:54:42 AM Toyota’s Investment in AI Capability Toyota's AI strategy isn't a platform purchase. It's a bet on its own people. Inside the training, certification, and shop-floor communities building capability. Read Article arrow\_right\_alt](https://tech.lean.org/journal/toyotas-investment-in-ai-capability) [![](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/Prompting%20for%20Problem%20Solving-1-LinkedIn.png) article Article](https://tech.lean.org/journal/prompting-for-problem-solving) ### [Jul 22, 2026, 8:35:43 AM Prompting for Problem Solving](https://tech.lean.org/journal/prompting-for-problem-solving) [The PDCA loop that every lean person already knows also applies to working with a large language model (LLM), but with Prompt replacing Plan. The model does the Do. Check and Act stay mainly with you. Our previous article (“](https://tech.lean.org/journal/prompting-for-problem-solving)[Prompt, Do, Check, Act](https://www.lean.org/the-lean-post/articles/prompt-do-check-act-the-new-pdca/)”) covered this loop at a higher level; today we go deeper into the most important part of it, the initial prompting and discussion with the model for best results. We will use problem solving as an example throughout, as anyone can relate to the topic. Read Article arrow\_right\_alt [![](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/lean%20tech%20gene%20art%20tyson%20podcast-1-LinkedIn.png) article Article](https://tech.lean.org/journal/past-present-and-future-of-lean-and-ai) ### [Jul 8, 2026, 5:00:01 AM Past, Present, and Future of Lean and AI](https://tech.lean.org/journal/past-present-and-future-of-lean-and-ai) [Gene Kim, DevOps leader and co-author of ](https://tech.lean.org/journal/past-present-and-future-of-lean-and-ai)[*Wiring the Winning Organization*](https://itrevolution.com/product/wiring-the-winning-organization/), joins Tyson Heaton, LEI Executive Director of LeanTech/AI, and Art Smalley, Toyota veteran and LEI advisor, for a lively, enlightening, and wide-ranging conversation about artificial intelligence. They discuss how AI is forever changing the work of individuals and organizations, and explore the good, bad, and ugly of AI today and tomorrow. Read Article arrow\_right\_alt ### [![](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/Lean-tech-whos-thriving-1-LinkedIn-1.png) article Article Jun 24, 2026, 5:00:01 AM Who Thrives in the AI Workforce? Anthropic and OpenAI are following SpaceX and moving toward massive IPOs in the coming months. Meanwhile, college graduates are booing commencement speakers who even mention AI. At the University of Arizona this spring, Eric Schmidt faced backlash for talking about AI and the future of work. A recent Gallup poll found that a third of Gen Z Americans describe their feelings toward AI as anger.1 This May, viral videos of graduates booing AI-focused speeches became their own genre. Read Article arrow\_right\_alt](https://tech.lean.org/journal/who-thrives-in-the-ai-workforce) ### [![](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/Lean-Tech-PDCA-1-LinkedIn.png) article Article May 27, 2026, 5:00:00 AM Prompt, Do, Check, Act: The New PDCA  Every lean person knows PDCA. Plan, Do, Check, Act. It is one of the most familiar disciplines in our field. Read Article arrow\_right\_alt](https://tech.lean.org/journal/prompt-do-check-act-the-new-pdca) ### [![](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/Art-smalley-second-brain-1-LinkedIn.png) article Article Apr 29, 2026, 9:57:24 AM The Strange New World of AI: My Second Brain Setup This article went from concept to published webpage on an afternoon walk. I gave my AI assistant the task from my phone, walked, stopped once on a park bench to review the draft and approve it, and pushed it live. Concept to published page, on a walk. I was not texting with my head down in the middle of the street — mostly I was just walking and thinking while the AI handled the administrative and technical work of getting it online. For me at least that is the waste part I don’t enjoy. The actual thinking came from pieces I previously authored on my computer in various forms and two conversations I had audio recorded with colleagues. What follows is what the AI assembled, formatted, and published to my website — with my direction and editing.  This is not science fiction. This is a random Tuesday afternoon in 2026.  Read Article arrow\_right\_alt](https://tech.lean.org/journal/the-strange-new-world-of-ai-my-second-brain-setup) ### [![Audience and speakers at Lean Summit](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/Lean%20AI%20Tech%20Four%20Moments%20from%20the%202026%20Lean%20Summit%20that%20Stayed%20with%20Me-2-LinkedIn.png) article Article Mar 18, 2026, 4:59:29 PM Four Moments from the 2026 Lean Summit that Stayed with Me I hadn’t attended one of LEI’s lean conferences in over five years. The last one was right before the COVID outbreak shut everything down, and I was honestly curious about what I would find when I walked into the 2026 Lean Summit in Houston on March 11–13 this past week. Would the community feel the same? Would the conversations have moved forward? Would there be energy, or just nostalgia? Read Article arrow\_right\_alt](https://tech.lean.org/journal/four-moments-from-the-2026-lean-summit-that-stayed-with-me) ### [![](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/designing.png) article Article Feb 11, 2026, 9:00:00 AM Management: Designing the System Where People and AI Work Together Read Article arrow\_right\_alt](https://tech.lean.org/journal/management-designing-the-system-where-people-and-ai-work-together) ### [![](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/build.png) article Article Insider Jan 14, 2026, 5:00:00 PM Behavior: The Variable You Have to Build   Read Article arrow\_right\_alt](https://tech.lean.org/journal/behavior-the-variable-you-have-to-build-1) ### [![Technology Is the Easy Piece of the Equation](https://tech.lean.org/hubfs/raw_assets/public/tech-lean-org/images/articles/technology-is-the-easy-piece.png) article Article Nov 19, 2025, 12:00:00 PM Technology Is the Easy Piece of the Equation Read Article arrow\_right\_alt](https://tech.lean.org/journal/technology-is-the-easy-piece) Loading more articles... 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