I recently got an email from Tim McMahon of “A Lean Journey” asking me a set of questions that he was sending out to a bunch of Lean voices. I had worked with him on a handful of webinars over the years, so I was more than happy to respond. Read more…
There’s an old expression about ‘pulling out all the stops’ to get something accomplished. It basically means doing everything within your power to make sure that a task is completed. Where Does This Expression Come From? Now, before I dive into why this is a bad thing in a Lean Read more…
Generally speaking, people view inspections as a good thing and a sign of good quality. The truth is that inspections are generally a sign of the opposite. Unless mandated by some legal requirement, inspections are an acceptance of poor quality. Think about why we inspect. We do it because we Read more…
In the latest episode of our “Ramblings of a Continuous Improvement Coach” video program, I talk about the 5 levels of teamwork. Now teamwork is a common buzzword in most organizations, but there is often a disconnect between what the parties involved thinks that means. So, this video clarifies the Read more…
The term ‘Natural Born Leader’ is a myth. You aren’t born with leadership skills. You may be born attractive, tall, muscular. You may be gifted by your parents with a brain that fires a lot more neurons than the typical person. Of course, you also may be born to end Read more…
Spend more than 5 minutes with a Lean consultant, and you will hear about building a “continuous improvement culture.” That’s because it is one of the bedrocks of any philosophy about improving an organization. You’ve got to have people committed to change, that believe in the tools to make change Read more…
One of the things I teach people when doing data collection and analysis is to be suspicious whenever anything unexpected happens. If you suddenly see a major uptick in your productivity numbers or a monumental drop in your defect rate, make sure you understand why, or it WILL come back Read more…
There’s a common question among people new to Lean. As they become familiar with what this continuous improvement philosophy has to offer, they realize that it will also come at a steep cost in terms on the investment of time. They realize that there is a lot of learning and Read more…
I was taking a break recently and was perusing my FaceBook feed. One post in particular caught my attention. “Anyone know how to blog successfully?” Without stating the obvious, since you are reading this on what I like to think is a blog with at least a shred of success, Read more…
One of the great things about Lean is that it is chock full of tools. Unfortunately, this can also create a problem for some people. Because there are so many great tools, they immediately reach for one of those tools before really thinking about the problem they are facing. In Read more…
There’s a general feeling that compromise is a good thing. In most cases, in the real world where relationships is the ‘product’, it is. Compromising on how you pick movies, or who does what chores, or selecting meals is pretty important in relationships. But at work, compromise is generally a Read more…
I just saw a rather interesting article on Elon Musk’s rules for meetings on Business Insider.