I just saw an interesting gaffe from the Romney campaign. I try to stay apolitical in my views, but there are some great learning points here. Basically, in this age of new technology, candidates are trying out many new ways of reaching voters. In this case, the Romney campaign used Read more…
I am an avid Chicago fan, despite having left the area over twenty years ago. I still watch the teams whenever I can, and follow them religiously on the web. So, this year has been a huge letdown. The Bears were riding high when their star quarterback, Jay Cutler, was Read more…
Success comes in many different forms. However you define it, though, the formula remains the same. It starts with potential. Think of potential like the energy stored in something. A wound up spring and a gallon of gas both hold potential energy. A person is the same. Everyone has potential Read more…
Yesterday morning I had to go into the DMV (Department of Licensing here in Washington State) to renew my driver’s license. As I walked into the waiting room and saw the hundred and fifty or two hundred poor souls already lost in purgatory ahead of me, it reminded me of Read more…
Data collection is a big part of any problem solving effort, and problem solving is what Lean is all about. So, it follows that the people who make the most significant gains in their continuous improvement efforts are those that can effectively turn data into actionable information. Yep. That means Read more…
This is the final question in a series of five questions I use to do a quick assessment of a company’s progress in its Lean efforts, as well as its receptiveness to it. (Read the fourth question here.) The fifth and final question is Do people thoroughly understand problems before Read more…
This is the fourth question in a series of five questions I use to do a quick assessment of a company’s progress in its Lean efforts, as well as its receptiveness to it. (Read the third question here.) The fourth question is Can frontline leaders name their 3 biggest problems Read more…
This is the third question in a series of five questions I use to do a quick assessment of a company’s progress in its Lean efforts, as well as its receptiveness to it. (Read the second question here.) The third question is Can frontline leaders predict what they will accomplish Read more…
This is the second of a series of questions I posted a few days ago that I use to get an initial read on a company that wants help with continuous improvement. While the questions don’t give a complete picture, they certainly help me determine which rocks to kick over, Read more…
I recently posted a list of questions that I use as a litmus test when I start working to help an organization improve. The first of these questions was: If frontline leaders hit all their individual targets, would the company hit its goals? I ask this question to get a Read more…
One of the jobs of a Lean consultant is to assess organizations to see where they are in their continuous improvement journey. There are many techniques to get a precise read on a company, but a thorough assessment can take a significant amount of time. Fortunately, there is also a Read more…
Every morning, as I clean out the assortment of spam, scams, and general junk mail from my inbox, it strikes me that the senders seem to have a fairly strong understanding of Lean principles. Don’t mistake that comment for me saying that I approve in any way of what they Read more…