Gotta Go Lean Blog

One of the core tenets of continuous improvement is to work relentlessly to eliminate waste. But waste is a relative concept. Think about the accounting department in your company? Do you consider the credit checks they do to be value added? What about the IT department troubleshooting a systems problem? Value added, or waste? Now, think about an accounting services company that does those credit checks as a service for its customers. For that company, Read more…

There are two basic types of people. Those who are worried about trying an idea that won’t work, and those that are worried about not trying an idea that might work. The first type can go a whole career with some degree of success. Every time I play golf, I realize that at my skill level, a successful game is far more about avoiding errors than it is about making great shots. When I hit Read more…

I just read an interesting article that said the State of Indiana will no longer require their schools to teach cursive in class. My first response was more emotional than logical. I couldn’t believe that cursive writing is dying. It would be hard to imagine that my kids would not be able to read a note I wrote to them. But then I stepped back and thought about the last time I actually wrote in Read more…

I heard an interesting story the other day about baggage fees. Although the decision to charge for extra bags has alienated travelers, it hasn’t seemed to reduce the number of fliers significantly. But the fees did, however, alter passenger behavior. Travelers take fewer bags with them now when they catch a flight. Of course, anytime a customer gets less for more, they lose. But the airlines win regardless of what fliers do about their luggage. Read more…

At beginning of this year I decided to apply for the Shingo prize for my book Whaddaya Mean I Gotta Be Lean? Technically, the award is called “The Shingo Research and Professional Publication Award”, but most people just refer to the award as The Shingo Prize. Unfortunately, the steering committee decision came right down to the wire and ultimately my book came up just short of winning. At first I felt rather bad about it Read more…