Monthly Archives: March 2009
Courage Quote
“Courage isn’t having the strength to go on-it’s going on when you don’t have the strength.” – Croft M. Pentz Change management can sometimes drain your strength. I hope this helps you press forth when times seem tough. My 2009 … Continue reading
Filed under Encouragement, Personal Development, Quotes
Connect Actions To Cost
Costs are out of control because the use of time, resources, and supplies are not always directly linked to money. I just worked on an improvement workshop where one of the targets was to reduce cost in after-clinic … Continue reading
Filed under Business, Reflection, Visual Communication, Visual Systems, Waste
Create Improvement Capacity
You will never succeed at Lean unless you create improvement capacity in the front lines. Lee Fried recently wrote a great article about Creating Time for Local Improvement that explores this. I want to add some of my thoughts as … Continue reading
Filed under Business, Improve With Lean, Kaizen
Why Don’t Old Processes Die?
Have you ever improved a process and were suprised that workers end up doing BOTH the new way and the old way? I have seen data that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that a new process has removed frustrating waste and … Continue reading
Slideshare: Learning from the Toyota way
I really enjoy seeing how others teach or have learned about the Toyota Production System and Lean. This slideshare from whatidiscover is a nice summation of the basic concepts ( *RSS readers will have to open this post to … Continue reading
Filed under Business, Improve With Lean
An Irish Blessing
“May you always have work for your hands to do. May your pockets hold always a coin or two. May the sun shine bright on your windowpane. May the rainbow be certain to follow each rain. May the … Continue reading
Filed under Encouragement
Beware Of Integrity Loss
Many organizations are facing difficult times due to the financial crisis. It is an easy temptation to get things out rather than get things right when the pressure is strong. The integrity of your Lean journey may be lost if … Continue reading
Filed under Business, Gemba, Health Care, Improve With Lean, Problem Solving, Root Cause
The Cult of Done Manifesto and Lean
I discovered the interesting The Cult of Done Manifesto via Dan Pink’s blog. I saw some things in this Pettis/Stark lifehack that made me think of how they can apply to Lean. Check out the link to see the great visuals … Continue reading
Filed under Improve With Lean
Visual Thinking Tips – Basic Drawing, Nodes, and Storytelling
An Introduction to Visual Thinking slideshare by Ryan Coleman offers great tips for communicating visually (RSS Readers will need to open post to view presentation). It shows how to identify and label nodes in your drawing to make simple … Continue reading
Filed under Basic Drawing, Nodes, Storytelling, Visual Language
Don’t Be A Firefighter
Like all kids, I used to want to be a firefighter when I grew up. The above picture is me in the 70′s all ready to take out an inferno. People may not be public-service firefighters, but we sure douse … Continue reading
Filed under Business, Communication, heijunka
One Is Never Enough
My 2009 Hansei: Scarcity inspires creativity and innovation. How can I help harness that inspiration? Subscribe to Improve With Me via: RSS | Google Reader | Twitter
Filed under Improve With Lean, Kaizen
Execs Need To Stop Solving Problems
Executives and managers are bottle-necking Lean growth when they solve problems. They claim they do not have time to go to Gemba to gain a deep understanding of the problem because they are too busy in problem solving meetings (don’t … Continue reading
Filed under Business, Gemba, Learn Leadership, Problem Solving, Waste
