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Monthly Archives: October 2008
The Heart Of Improvement
Jon Miller from Gemba Panta Rei wrote an excellent post Act Small, Think Big. I have seen some “world peace” lean improvement requests lately. His post is a great reminder to get to the heart of Kaizen.
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Filed under Improve With Lean
Great Toyota In Japan Story
If you haven’t read it yet, go to Kevin Meyer’s post JKE Day 1: Toyota Kyushu – The Manufacturing Ballet. His reporting of what he sees at a Toyota plant in Japan is fascinating. I love the part about how problems are reported frequently and dealt with quickly. His story should inspire any lean improvement leader.
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Filed under Improve With Lean
Visual of Credit Crisis
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This SlideShare presentation from Johannes Bhakfi is fascinating. I love the use of visuals to communicate. RSS readers will need to open this post to be able to view the presentation.
more about “Creditcrisis 30slides Final“, posted with vodpod
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Filed under Business, Communication, Data & Charts, Visual Systems
Customer Service & Slow Economy
Delivering high quality customer service and measuring it is more important than ever in these tight economic times.
My wife and I had to buy a new fridge and stove this weekend. The sales clerk said their delivery drivers are from private companies. He told us they have had to reduce their deliveries from 25 trucks a day to 18. The private businesses that are getting the store’s delivery business are those with the highest customer service scores.
First and foremost, we should always provide high quality customer service. Secondly, we need to constantly measure our quality scores to allow us to be able to improve!
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Filed under Data & Charts
This will be a quiet week for posts
I have been asked to participate in an improvement event the remainder of this week so I probably won’t have time to post. Tune in next week!
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Filed under Other
Jonathan Drori on what we think we know | Video on TED.com
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This is a great talk from Jonathan Drori at TED which shows the importance of going to Gemba to test and trial our assumptions. RSS readers will need to open this post to view.
more about “Jonathan Drori on what we think we kn…“, posted with vodpod
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Poverty Is A Mind-Set .. As Is Prosperity
Today is Blog Action Day where many people will post about poverty. I am far from an expert, but here are some of my thoughts.
Poverty is a mind-set. Many people want to throw money (private or government) at people who are in poverty, but what we need to do as citizens is spend time and teach those with this mind-set.
The poverty mind-set believes there is no way out. It thinks current circumstances dictate the future and will never change. It reduces self-image because it is dependant on charity instead of individual earnings. Poverty thinking attracts others who think the same way.
A prosperity mind-set has hope for a better tomorrow. It learns from circumstances and adapts to face new challenges. An independent self-image fosters a resilience to challenges.
Have you ever hung out with people who are more successful than you? I have, and it challenges you to up your game and improve. Those with prosperity mind-sets need to seek out and connect with those with poverty mind-sets.
We need to support them as individuals and let them know they can break the poverty cycle. We can demonstrate and model for them a prosperity mind-set. Teach them communication and technical skills to succeed in the workplace.
When we change hearts and minds, we can change the future.
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Filed under Encouragement
Bring Back “That’s Not My Job”
One of the biggest lessons I learned from the Sensei during my shop-floor Kaizen was the importance of not fixing errors passed on to you without involving the team that made the mistake.
The paint team did not always clear the holes where parts were to connect. My sub-assembly team would just grab a grinder when they found the problem and fix it themselves. The Sensei had them pull the andon and bring someone from the paint team to correct the error with the sub-assembly team instead.
The timing took longer when the other team had to come into the sub-assembly area but it brought an awareness back to the paint team to ramp-up their quality control. During the three days I was watching the process, I did not see the paint error go away, but I do know they started a plan to prevent the problem in the future. They never would have made these plans if they were not alerted to the error. This also brought the paint team to gemba instead of just getting a report or email of the problems experienced.
The sub-assembly team was able to continue working on other areas of the product while the paint team fixed the mistake. By not spending their time fixing another department’s mistake, the sub-assembly team was able to continue their focus.
In a an organization with strong team values, it is easy for workers to quietly fix a mistake passed on to them. Errors become persistent and do not stop in that kind of environment. If we change our culture and bring back “That’s not my job”, we can make great strides in quality.
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The Power of the Spoken Word
Zig Ziglar has a great 11 minute podcast about the power of the spoken word. This will inspire and remind you the importance of the words we speak. Check it out!
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Filed under Communication, Learn Leadership
Factory Kaizen Learning Coming Soon
I have learned a ton at last week’s Kaizen event at a factory. I am catching up on email today but stick with me and I will share my learnings this week! Thanks for your patience.
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Filed under Other
Kaizen On The Shop-Floor
I probably won’t have time (or energy) to post next week. I get to go to a manufacturing floor for a Kaizen event. It will be exciting to see Lean in this setting since I have only seen it in a hospital so far!
I will make sure I share some relentless hansei about my experience when I get back!
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Filed under Kaizen
Muri vs Respect For People
It is easy for people to become overburdened (MURI). I think leadership and teams need to prioritize the removal of this dangerous waste because the “respect for people” principle dictates action, not just words or feelings. I drew this to practice the art of visual communication!
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Filed under Muri, Respect For People, Waste
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