One of the trends I have seen recently is to knock taking a tools-based approach to continuous improvement. The driving thought is that you have to focus on the whole continuous improvement system in order to be successful. While this is true for an organization to reach top levels of Read more…
Recently, there have been a few companies making news about their stance on teleworking. Yahoo made a sweeping change to its policy, and said that all employees would have to show up at the office to work. Best Buy made changes as well, but did not go as far. They Read more…
I recently become fascinated by crows. Turns out they are one of the smartest animals around, and can do some things that most other animals are incapable of. It dawned on me that many of their behaviors would make them outstanding at Lean. Unity of Effort: During the winter months, Read more…
I have to start out by being honest with you. Some of you are not following directions. I suspect several below average performers are reading this. I’ll cut them some slack though, because they probably don’t even know it. Why? Most people are rather poor at self-assessment. This phenomenon starts Read more…
One of the challenges Lean philosophies have faced is the perception that they are applicable only on the shop floor. That view, though has been under assault for some time, most notably with the rise of the Lean Office and Lean Healthcare. Lean has not enjoyed the same inroads in Read more…
Sometime in the last few days, we passed the quarter million video views mark on YouTube. Far from the numbers the typical kitty playing with yarn gets, but for a small business, we think it is pretty respectable. And much appreciated. The funny thing is that nothing really changed between Read more…
A while back I read an article about the Florida Panthers. They are an NHL hockey team with the seventh largest arena in the league. In Florida, I am certain that hockey does not reign supreme. It is a state where most kids seldom see a dusting of snow growing Read more…
A few years ago when my daughter was in preschool, her teacher sent home a stack of materials to use for classroom decorations. Naturally, I pretended to have a pressing deadline to prepare for, so the work fell to my wife. The task was to use the accompanying box of Read more…
One of the challenges of being a big company lies in making sure one hand is talking to the other. I recently came across an instance in which this seemed not to happen. I was running McAfee security software at the time, and occasionally received emails from them. I was Read more…
Lean has been making tremendous strides in healthcare. Like all industries, there are some nuances that demand special attention, but the basic tools and concepts work well. But there is one monumental barrier that disrupts the effectiveness of Lean in the medical field. So what’s the problem? Whenever I talk Read more…
It comes as no revelation to us that we make more mistakes when we are tired. Drive late at night, and you will undoubtedly notice that you’ve got a slower reaction time and that your mind wanders more. Think of the silly errors you make when it is late at Read more…
A short while ago, Tim McMahon of the “A Lean Journey” blog and I hosted a webinar in which we talked about how to understand and evaluate the progress you are making as you reduce waste and increase value in your organization. (Note: the link above will take you to Read more…