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 [...]
How can some companies not only survive, but thrive when operating in “high cost labor” areas, while others are struggling even as they are busy chasing the lowest possible costs?
I would like to suggest that one key difference is the attitude toward people. On the one hand is the “people as cost” model. This model [...]
I have been in, or encountered, a number of organizations which had (or were working on) ISO-900x quality registrations. While I am fully aware of the intent of the ISO requirements, in the cases I have seen, the effect seems to fall well short of the goal.
On the surface, the types of processes mandated by [...]
Friday, November 16, 2007
If you are planning on attending (or sending people to) a
Shingijutsu Seminar, I have a word of wisdom: Prepare.
Just sending people cold and expecting great things from the experience will, at best, give you a fraction of the potential learning. At worst it can turn people off completely. Here is a little advice:
Read my [...]
Thursday, November 15, 2007
As we near the end of 2007, most of our respective organizations are looking at what we are going to do in 2008.
Part of that is usually to take a look at this year and look at where we are right now. There are a couple of ways to go about this, and I want [...]
“How do I get the leaders involved?” How often have we all heard, or even asked, that question? Of course the actual answer is “you can’t.” At least you can’t force them to. But there are things that might help the leader decide to get involved.
I think the biggest mistake people make is to assume [...]
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
I re-read my “What Nukes?” post and realized I was really rambling. I want to reiterate a key point more clearly because I think it is important.
In the “Bad Apple” theory there is an implied assumption that the cause of an accident or other problem was one person who, at that moment in time, was [...]
I guess four months into this, it kind of makes sense to talk about waste. But rather than repeat what everyone else says, maybe I can contribute to the dialog and toss out some things to think about.
Identifying / Seeing Waste.
Taiichi Ohno had 7 wastes, a few publications say 7+1. I have always disliked trying [...]
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
One very good idea-creation tool is “inverting the problem” - developing ideas on how to cause the effect you are trying to prevent. This is a common approach for developing mistake-proofing, but I just saw a great use of the idea for general teaching.
Ask “How could we make this operation take as long as possible?” [...]
Thursday, September 27, 2007
The other day I wrote about the situations where I felt a 5 day kaizen event was actually useful. I want to add one more.. sort of. Actually I want to elaborate on “education.”
Sometimes in the early stages of an implementation, there are influential people who need to be won over. Now for those who [...]