Content by Bruce Hamilton
Systems ‘Tinking’Don’t let the policy books gather dust
Thu, 08/03/2017 - 12:01
At GBMP’s launch of the Shingo Institute’s Build Excellence workshop, it occurred to me that perhaps systems thinking might be more aptly named systems rethinking. Workshop participants offered up current systems in their organizations that…
The Final FrontierSquare footage as a badge of success
Wed, 07/19/2017 - 12:02
On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard became the first U.S. astronaut to journey to the “final frontier.” Atop a Mercury rocket, Shepard launched into a 15-minute suborbital journey reaching an altitude of about 100 miles before returning to Earth. His…
Reflecting on WasteA corollary to the worst and most dangerous wastes
Mon, 06/05/2017 - 12:02
For me, Taiichi Ohno and Shigeo Shingo are a bit like the Lennon and McCartney of waste elimination. Together they frame the technical and social sciences of what we call lean today. Taiichi Ohno tells us there are seven wastes that account for 95…
BabelContinuous improvement needs a systems language to clarify key concepts
Mon, 04/10/2017 - 12:03
I grew up in a small manufacturing company where nine different languages were spoken. English was the language of managers, office workers, and some of our production employees. Additionally, these languages were spoken in our factory: Armenian,…
CartwheelsWe may think the wheel has increased our ability to work, but it really has increased the waste we create
Tue, 02/28/2017 - 12:02
Most often when we think of a wheel, it’s in the context of transportation, one of the more obvious and ever-present of the 7 wastes in lean. In fact, the first likely use of a wheel and axle was not for transport but for processing—actual work.…
Kaizen RevisitedOnly tacit learning can teach managers the real power of kaizen
Thu, 02/02/2017 - 12:02
Here is an article I wrote 10 years ago, recently resurrected from the lost letter file. I can’t remember why I wrote it or for whom. Originally titled, “What is Kaizen?” the article still resonates with me as I hope it will with you. My study of…
Caramel Corn Kaizen Visual flow on New Jersey’s boardwalk
Mon, 12/19/2016 - 12:59
While holiday shopping at one of my favorite food places, Johnson’s Popcorn, I came upon a scene reminiscent of our lean training video, Toast Kaizen. After I placed my order for 18 one-gallon buckets of caramel corn for friends and family, the…
DoormatsIn defense of engineers
Tue, 11/08/2016 - 15:15
One of Shigeo Shingo’s popular status quo targets was engineers, whom he placed in three categories: table engineers, those who just sit around a table and talk about problems; catalog engineers, those who think the solution to every problem can be…
First Summer JobFour lifelong lessons in three short months
Mon, 10/17/2016 - 17:07
I was lucky that the first boss I ever had (at age 13) had much to teach at a point when I had much to learn. Chris M. was a brilliant but illiterate Italian immigrant and fisherman who had built a landmark restaurant and marina on the bay in Ocean…
Peripheral Discoveries‘The best place to look for improvement is in an area where it is thought not to exist’
Wed, 09/21/2016 - 14:15
The following is inspired by The Teachings of Don Juan (Washington Square Press, reprint 1985), an anthropological novel from the 1960s written by Carlos Castaneda, chronicling his travels with Don Juan, a Yaqui shaman. To crudely paraphrase,…