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Own-Process Completion as the Basis of Lean Quality

By Jon Miller - June 15th, 2015

JKK sounds like something that the young people of today might say. Perhaps a text in reaction to hurting another’s feelings, as in “Just kidding, OK?” In fact, it’s one of the lesser known Toyota concepts that

The Value of Uber and Airbnb

By Kevin Meyer - June 12th, 2015

By Kevin Meyer The following is not an advertisement, even if it sounds like it. I will admit I am a big fan of Uber and use the service pretty much anytime I travel. Now that they’re in my relatively small town, I might start us

Bootstrap Root Cause Analysis into Your Strategic Thinking

By Jon Miller - June 8th, 2015

I’ve had some interesting differences of opinion lately about if and how root cause analysis fits into an organization’s strategic planning. Both hoshin planning, the strategy deployment method practiced by Toyota and many other le

The Power of Essentialism

By Ron Pereira - June 5th, 2015

Greg’s wife was scheduled to give birth to a baby girl on Friday. Upon hearing this wonderful news Greg’s boss explained, in a rather direct way, “Friday would be a very bad day to have the baby.” You see, as it turns out, Greg

Knowing What I Know Now…

By Jon Miller - June 1st, 2015

This week lean thinker, friend of Gemba Academy and American innovator Paul Akers shared an 11-minute video of an answer he gave to the question, “What would you do if starting over with lean, but knowing everything you know now?

What’s Your Dispassion?

By Jon Miller - May 25th, 2015

“What’s your passion?” Lately I’m often asked this when meeting new people socially for the first time. This always trips me up. Shall I name hobbies? Family members? Questions that I am pondering? Issues that make me angry or

Stress is Good for You (But Only If You’re Told)?

By Jon Miller - May 18th, 2015

Most would agree that stress is bad for our health and well being. When we are under pressure, when we are tense or when we feel uptight, these are all signs stress. Although people with many things going on in their lives, under a l

Solution-Jumping in the 21st Century

By Jon Miller - May 11th, 2015

This is a brief review of Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty with some longer observations on the problem solving process in the book, from a lean management perspective . It is surprisingly readable for a 570 page

What Do You Demonstrate and What Do You Tolerate?

By Steve Kane - May 8th, 2015

By Steve Kane I attended the AME Regional Conference in Denver last week and had some great conversations with Lean practitioners from a wide variety of organizations. It seems the topic of discussion in Lean circles has gravitated a

Three Tips for More Effective Hansei (Reflection)

By Jon Miller - May 4th, 2015

Hansei is a Japanese word meaning “reflection” or “self-reflection”. It has entered the lean vocabulary through the literature on hoshin planning, and more generally through discussions of what actually happen

Slow… or Just Observant?

By Kevin Meyer - May 1st, 2015

By Kevin Meyer The recent earthquake in Nepal has led me to reflect a bit on the importance of observation. Just over a year ago my wife and I were in Nepal, visiting various locations in the Kathmandu valley as well as Pokhara and B

Thirsty Horses and a Call for Meta-Advice

By Jon Miller - April 27th, 2015

Some of the process-related questions leaders ask during their interaction with front line workers include variations on “What is the standard?” and “What is the actual process?” and upon finding a gap “Why is there a gap?�

Heroin, Ice Cream and Candy Bars

By Jon Miller - April 20th, 2015

One of the many criticisms of the kaizen event approach to implementing lean is its insistence on delivering results in the form of visible changes within the 3-day to 5-day format. When proper preparation has been done and the kaizen

Showered With Creativity

By Steve Kane - April 17th, 2015

By Steve Kane I spent the this week working from the Gemba Academy studios in Fort Worth, Texas. During my visit the subject of overburdening came up a couple of times:once in discussion with Gemba Academy’s business developmen

Leading Lean, Like Pioneers or Privateers?

By Jon Miller - April 13th, 2015

Several recent conversations with a few seasoned lean thinkers, authors and experts have made me aware of an emerging belief among them that the corporate “lean initiative” or “lean implementation” or “l

Find the Other Stories

By Kevin Meyer - April 10th, 2015

By Kevin Meyer I recently came across the following TED Talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie where she talks about the “danger of a single story.” From growing up as a kid in Nigeria to studying in the United States and into

Towards a Culture Free of Fear, Embrace Surprise

By Jon Miller - April 6th, 2015

As a founding father of lean management, Taiichi Ohno believed that the enlightened leader is quick to admit being wrong. He said, “If you are wrong, admit it!” and further went on to speculate that even the wisest of us are wrong

Finding Our Own Way

By Ron Pereira - April 3rd, 2015

By Ron Pereira “I invented nothing new. I simply assembled the discoveries of other men behind whom where centuries of work.” -Henry Ford My colleague, Steve, recently experienced a rotten customer service situation with

How to Be Lean

By Jon Miller - March 30th, 2015

By Jon Miller Most people who come to Gemba Academy are looking for answers to three basic types of questions. The first is the technical question, relating to the practical details, formulas, calculations, shortcuts, dos and don’

Lean Leadership Lessons from William T. Sherman

By Jon Miller - March 26th, 2015

By Jon Miller I just finished reading a book about the Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman, titled Fierce Patriot: The Tangled Lives of William Tecumseh Sherman, by Robert O’Connell. I recommend it heartily for fans of milita

The Value of Less

By Steve Kane - March 24th, 2015

The Wall Street Journal recently reported Porsche is limiting production despite an increase in demand for its vehicles. Without going into too much detail on the article, the idea is that the brand should remain exclusive in order

Learning by Writing… by Hand

By Kevin Meyer - March 17th, 2015

By Kevin Meyer I’m an early adopter tech geek at heart, and generally am among the first to embrace a new technology. I may not go to the extreme of standing in line for a new iPhone, but I will pay to upgrade to the latest model

Lean Thinker Challenge #8

By Ron Pereira - March 10th, 2015

By Ron Pereira Welcome to another edition of the Lean Thinker Challenge! The Situation You’re an experienced lean thinker who recently joined a 75 person company that’s brand new to any sort of continuous improvement. Your

Bowling Should Be Unnecessary

By Steve Kane - March 3rd, 2015

By Steve Kane We often hear or read about work/life balance. It’s as though work is thought of as not part of one’s life but as a countering force. The very notion of balancing suggests conflict. After all it is con

Just Own It

By Kevin Meyer - February 24th, 2015

By Kevin Meyer In addition to having implemented lean in several companies, I’ve been fortunate to have been able to visit a large number of unique organizations where continuous improvement methods have taken root. Although f

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