In the
last post I brought up the advantage of having a long range plan vs. quarter-to-quarter thinking. I’d like to explore the concept a little more by way of an analogy.
Put yourself in the spring of 1961.
The USSR, by all demonstrative measures, is ahead of the USA in human space flight, and seems to [...]
In a few weeks, the best athletes in the world will assemble in Beijing for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Just being there means these individuals are performing at a level that the rest of us can only watch and appreciate.
Each of these world-class top performers has a coach.
Ironically, their coaches are not capable of performing [...]
Jim’s comment in the last post on “Lean Certification” rhetorically asks “…why are there Six Sigma Black Belts?”
Interesting question. It brings up one of the very fundamental differences between the Toyota Production System and a couple of other popular disciplines, notably Six Sigma and Theory of Constraints. Both of these other disciplines have certified practitioners. [...]
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There has been an uptick in chatter about “lean certifications” in various forums lately. For anyone considering getting some kind of certification, I’d like to pose some things to think about, especially before you pay a lot of money to someone to “certify you.”
There is no standard definition of what “lean” is. Anyone claiming to [...]
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More than a few organizations I know are starting to understand the importance of establishing a culture of problem solving. Hopefully they are shifting from a tools implementation model to one which emphasizes how people respond to the daily friction generators.
In an email on the topic to a friend today, I cited four things that [...]
A couple of interesting comments to the last post (as well as the original question) got me thinking some more. I’d like to go back to basics.
There are no specific practices and behaviors that are “lean principles.”
I believe the principles operate at a higher level. The principles have to do with creating a culture in [...]
On the backside of this site, I get information about things like the search terms that brought people here. One caught my eye today.. “lean refutation.”
Since this site comes up as the 121st item in the Google search, I think I am safe to conclude that the person intended “lean manufacturing” to be the topic. [...]
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At leanblog.org, Mark Graban
recently posted about the latest State of Lean survey from the
LEI. His observation is that the survey seems to be a search-for-blame (looking for the sources of resistance) rather than focused on root cause for the resistance itself. Following a couple of links in that post takes us back a [...]
When real effort is spent getting to the cause of problems (vs. a reflex to find someone to blame), ambiguity often enters into the picture.
Problem solving is a process of asking questions and clarification.
Is a “defect-free” outcome of the process specified? Does the Team Member know what “success” is?
Is there a way for the Team [...]
Get to the root cause by “Asking Why?” five times.
We have all heard it, read it. Our sensei’s have pounded it into us. It is a cliché, obviously, since getting to the root cause of a problem is (most of the time) a touch more complicated than just repeatedly asking “Why?”
Isn’t it?
Maybe not. Maybe [...]