Each day you are exposed to an unimaginable number of viruses and bacteria. Any one of them has the potential to overwhelm your body and kill you. But your immune system detects the foreign body, responds, swarms the source of infection, defeats it, and learns so that your immunity is actually strengthened in the process. [...]
Greg Eisenbach, in his Grassroots Innovation blog, cites a article that gets to the very root of organizational learning, respect for people, and a myriad of other issues. The article, Teaching Smart people How To Learn was written by Chris Argyris back in 1991. What struck me about it is that it packs a double-whammy [...]
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 [...]
This little gem is buried on page 54 of John Shook’s new book Managing to Learn, recently published by the Lean Enterprise Institute. Although it is almost just a passing thought in the overall context, it really gets to the core of a people-supporting culture. To me, the concept of “No blame requires no excuses” [...]
In honor of October being Fire Prevention Month (at least here in the USA), I’d like to talk about firefighting. “We have a firefighting culture.” “We spend all of our time fighting fires.” We have all heard (and sometimes made) these statements. But I would like to take a couple of minutes and look at [...]
Bloodletting: Why Controlled Experiments are Important I want to start this post with the last paragraph of this article: Next time someone tells you that they are sure their idea will work, consider running a prototype in a controlled experiment, and make a data driven decision! Now – the article itself is in the context [...]
One of the questions that comes up frequently in “lean” discussions is the issue of non-repetitive work. This is especially an issue with complex information processes such as bid proposals, estimates, etc. While it is true that breaking down and understanding truly repetitive work is easier, the same principles apply to more complex tasks. But [...]
Why can’t we get a more accurate forecast from sales? Manufacturing managers the world over have the same complaint. Maybe the word “forecast” is tripping everyone up. A forecast is a prediction. Maybe it is based on some kind of market analysis, maybe even asking the dealers what they think they will sell. It could [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]