While the dentist was looking over my x-rays, he saw something he would like checked out by a specialist. He used words like “sometimes they..” and “might be…” when describing the issue he saw. I get a referral. The information on the referral slip is the name of the referring dentist (which I can’t read), [...]
I will be the first to tell you that this is probably repetition of a fairly narrow theme you have seen here before. But I think of different ways to frame it, or get different thoughts, so I share them. “Problems first” is one of the mantras used by Phil Jenkinson, the CEO character in [...]
Many pundits out there think the economy has hit bottom. If the last couple of cycles are any indication, when things start picking up again, it is going to happen fast. As people scramble to retain or gain market share they are going to want more and want it now. And, if the last couple [...]
We were down on the shop floor watching an assembly operation. The takt time was on the order of three hours. The assembler was new to the task, and the team leader periodically came by and asked if he was “doing OK.” The reply was always in the affirmative. As the takt time wound down [...]
the very first thing to do if a machine starts producing scrap material is to shut it down. It is better to make nothing because that is a cheaper alternative than making stuff you can’t use.
Last week I posted a story of a failed freezer, ruined food, and a customer support experience that could be summed up as “That’s how we do it.” I invited comments and asked: “Is this a problem?” And when I say “problem” I mean, is this a “problem” from the standpoint of the company’s internal [...]
In his book Built to Last, Jim Collins explores the characteristics of companies with sustained performance, and introduced the term “BHAG” for “Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal.” (or something close to that ). Last week I had the honor and pleasure to spend a day at the Verbeeten Institute, a radiation oncology clinic in Tilburg, [...]
My main desktop computer runs Ubuntu Linux. The default email client is called Evolution. A recent upgrade introduced a very cool feature. When I hit “Send” it looks for language in the email that might indicate I meant to include an attachment. If there is no attachment, it pops up this handy reminder: Maybe Microsoft [...]
Remember when, a few short months ago, everyone was too busy taking orders and building up all of that inventory that you see out of your window now? Times have changed. Then again, very few can claim lack of a “burning platform” now. Platform? Today it is more about getting out of the building alive! [...]
As I promised, I want to expand on a couple of great points buried in John Shook’s new book Managing to Learn, published by LEI. A while back I commented on an article, Lean Dilemma: System Principles vs. Management Accounting Controls, in which H. Thomas Johnson points out that Perhaps what you measure is what [...]