Culture SchmultureBeware of labels that let you off the hook
Fri, 06/21/2013 - 16:32
Some time ago, while giving a presentation titled “Organizational Obstacles to Lean,” I displayed a slide captioned “It’s not about culture.” My point was that “culture” is a bad analogy because it places the burden for change on the shoulders of… Good Witch or Bad Witch?Watch for these traits (and your little dog, too)
Mon, 06/17/2013 - 12:05
A recent comment from a business friend, call him Tom, who manages a small factory, reminded me of a scene from The Wizard of Oz. “Our president is an accountant by training,” Tom said. “But she’s a good accountant.”
“So, what is a good accountant… Toast GuyShigeo Shingo, one of the Toast Guy’s heroes
Mon, 06/03/2013 - 16:50
I’ve been doing a lot of speaking at conferences this spring, and I’m always warmly greeted as the “Toast Guy”: the person who produced and starred in the Toast Kaizen video.
Earlier this year, I spoke to a large gathering from a metropolitan… Lean TransformersLeaders who make people before making products
Wed, 04/24/2013 - 10:15
A few years ago, after I gave a speech about lean at a meeting of the Transformer Association (like the kind on the telephone poles providing electricity to your home), my then 6-year old son, Ben, asked me if I’d met Megatron. His question…
Lean AvoidanceLeveraging and hedging instead of improving
Tue, 04/02/2013 - 09:31
I went to the gym this morning, April 1, and the gym’s owner, sole employee, and pretty much everyone’s personal trainer, Howie, asked me the same question he asks me every time I see him: “What’s your weight?” “Stayed the same,” I said, but…
Valu N-gineeringTaking value away from the customer in the name of adding it
Wed, 03/06/2013 - 15:39
My son, Ben, asked me last week, “How come the bacon cooks better on Grandma’s pan?” I’d just fried up some bacon using a pan handed down from my mother, and the bacon was, as Ben noted, much more consistently cooked.
I answered my son’s question: “… Early BloomersAdherents for lean transformation develop at different rates, but all should be nurtured
Thu, 02/28/2013 - 09:53
This winter has presented folks in my clime with a perpetual blanket of snow that hides most of the welcome signs of an approaching spring. There is one early bloomer, however, that blossoms each February, even as temperatures fall to the single … Death by EfficiencyOverproduction, like overeating, kills you one piece at a time
Wed, 02/13/2013 - 11:32
I was reminded this week how problematic the conceptual blind spots in our management systems can be. An otherwise insightful and passionate-to-improve organization that I was visiting was caught in a vicious production cycle that I’ll refer to… Repetitive MadnessSometimes seemingly simple problems take years to remedy
Wed, 01/16/2013 - 13:45
My last column about superficial improvement may have implied that the condition is limited to organizations with deep enough pockets to buy pricey automation. There are also plenty of opportunities for superficial improvement in small shops. Here’s… Superficial Resolutions Many organizations <em>think</em> they are making improvements when they are actually just automating waste
Tue, 01/08/2013 - 09:31
As we begin another new year, here’s a post about resolutions. In most organizations there are plans for something new in 2013—maybe a new product or market, or a new machine or facility. For those of us in the lean world, new also means re-new, i.e…