Lean Archives | Page 16 of 67

GA 357 | Revisiting The Toyota Way with Jeff Liker

By Jessica Bush - February 4th, 2021

This week’s guest is Dr. Jeffrey Liker. Jeff explained why he released a second edition of his bestselling book, The Toyota Way. Jeff and Ron also discussed scientific thinking and its relationship to other lean tools like 5S, Ho

The Continuous Improvement Apple Tree

By Jon Miller - February 1st, 2021

Apples are one of the most popular fruit. They are bright, sweet and the subject of children’s books, religious symbolism and business metaphors. Most people have an idea where apples come from. Grocery stores. They are readily a

GA 356 | How Standards Prevent Turnover with Jason Haines

By Jessica Bush - January 28th, 2021

This week’s guest is Jason Haines. Ron and Jason discussed the importance of having a visual workplace, and how it, along with standard work, can actually help you retain employees. A MP3 audio version of this episode is availabl

Toyota Kata Crossword Puzzle

By Jon Miller - January 25th, 2021

One of my weekly responsibilities is to contribute a blog post. The hardest part of this is coming up with something to write about. I’ve managed to keep it up for quite a few years, but finding topics is starting to get challeng

GA 355 | The Relationship Between Machines and Humans with Prasad Akella

By Jessica Bush - January 21st, 2021

This week’s guest is Prasad Akella. Prasad shared his take on the relationship between machine intelligence and human intelligence, and how they can work together in harmony. Prasad also stressed the importance of data and data l

How to Vaccinate 100 Million People in 100 Days

By Jon Miller - January 18th, 2021

This week the incoming U.S. President Biden announced his intentions use FEMA and the National Guard to establish COVID vaccination sites across the country. The goal is to vaccinate 100 million people his first 100 days in office. At

GA 354 | Avoiding the Continuous Appearance Trap with Patrick Adams

By Jessica Bush - January 14th, 2021

This week’s guest is Patrick Adams. Patrick recently released a new book all about the concept of “continuous appearance.” He explained what it can mean for your organization and its culture, and how it can be prevent

How to Have a Happy New Year

By Jon Miller - January 11th, 2021

The end of one year and the start of the next one is a time to reflect on a question; how can we make this year better than the last? What have we learned? What do we still need to learn to have a happy new year? Especially this past

GA 353 | Creating the Jeep with Paul Bruno

By Jessica Bush - January 7th, 2021

This week’s guest is Paul Bruno. Paul doesn’t have a traditional lean background, but the fascinating research he shared on the story behind the creation of the Jeep is full of lean parallels and lessons. A MP3 audio versio

GA 352 | Defining, Executing, and Aligning Winning with Billy Taylor

By Jessica Bush - December 31st, 2020

This week we’re sharing the audio of our recent Billy Taylor livestream. Billy is a lean powerhouse and his presentation is packed with practical and profound wisdom. If you’re looking for some New Year’s inspiration,

GA 351 | The Biggest Truth and Lie in Life with Lili Boyanova

By Jessica Bush - December 24th, 2020

This week’s guest is Lili Boyanova. Lili shared some of what she’s learned about lean so far and her vision for the future. Lili also asked Ron some pretty profound questions about life and lean. A MP3 audio version of this

GA 350 | Emphasizing the Process with Cristian Goyzueta

By Jessica Bush - December 17th, 2020

This week’s guest is Cristian Goyzueta. Cristian is relatively new to continuous improvement but had a wealth of knowledge to share. Cristian and Ron covered quite a few different topics, ranging from ISO to visual management and

Better Living through Algorithms

By Jon Miller - December 14th, 2020

I’ve been reflecting on an article from June of this year. It’s about Daniel Kahneman’s efforts to help organizations to become better at decision-making. He is a Nobel Prize winning psychologist and behavioral econo

Norman Bodek and Respect for People

By Kevin Meyer - December 11th, 2020

Yesterday I learned of the passing of Norman Bodek and I have been reflecting on the impact this great man had on my life and career – and the lean and business world in general. A quarter century ago I was a new operations manag

GA 349 | Lean and Sports with Richard Henderson

By Jessica Bush - December 10th, 2020

This week’s guest is Richard Henderson. Richard has applied lean in various settings, and he shared some of what he’s learned over the years. Richard also plays and coaches soccer, and he and Ron discussed how lean relates

Simpler Definitions of Muri, Muda and Mura

By Jon Miller - December 7th, 2020

In the Lean lexicon are three Japanese words that describe the nature of losses in a system. They are muri, muda and mura. In English these are often translated as overburden, waste and variation. The seven types of waste are well-know

What is the Biggest Truth in Life?

By Ron Pereira - December 4th, 2020

Earlier this week one of my podcast guests turned the tables and asked me a few questions. I was fully prepared for a few traditional continuous improvement themed questions but, as it turns out, the first question, in particular, was

GA 348 | Communicating Respect in Lean with Tejas Munot

By Jessica Bush - December 3rd, 2020

This week’s guest is Tejas Munot. Tejas shared what he learned during his time at VIBCO Vibrators, the importance of respect, and more. Tejas also interviewed Ron about HIS lean journey thus far. A MP3 audio version of this episo

Gratitude as a Performance Metric?

By Jon Miller - November 30th, 2020

Each year during the November harvest festival, I take time to reflect on thankfulness. This year it’s less about appreciating the fruits of efforts, payoffs from sacrifices, or being grateful for seeds sewn long ago. It feels mo

GA 347 | Leveraging Deliberate Practice with Billy Taylor

By Jessica Bush - November 26th, 2020

This week’s guest is Billy Taylor. Formerly the Director of Manufacturing at Goodyear, Billy has an impressive amount of lean knowledge. From the value of diversity, to performance maps, to deliberate practice, you won’t wa

Change Point Management, Accountability and the Seahawk’s Defense

By Jon Miller - November 23rd, 2020

In a few short years, the Seattle Seahawks’ defense has gone from being historically great to the worst ever in terms of yards allowed, through the first half of the 2020 season. Fans are agonizing over this, calling for the head

GA 346 | Navigating the Gemba with Jay Hodge

By Jessica Bush - November 19th, 2020

This week’s guest is Jay Hodge. Ron and Jay discussed the confusion around the word gemba and how gemba relates to kaizen. Jay has worked at GM, Toyota, and Caterpillar, to name a few, so he shared what it’s like to make th

Lean Thinking and the Swiss Cheese Model

By Jon Miller - November 16th, 2020

This pandemic has introduced many new terms and concepts into the popular consciousness. We work to flatten the curve. Policies now state that some businesses and jobs as essential. We are aware of the dangers of asymptomatic transmiss

GA 345 | Hearing for the First Time with Adam Alamade

By Jessica Bush - November 12th, 2020

This week’s guest is Adam Alamade. Adam works for a cochlear implant manufacturer and he described how they use continuous improvement. He and Ron also discussed dealing with resistance, owning problems, developing habits, and mo

Five 5 Why Fallacies to Avoid

By Jon Miller - November 9th, 2020

I was updating a few old articles on problem solving and came across some notes from a few years ago. These notes were on topics related to root cause analysis that I’ve written or spoken about. I picked out a few old favorites a

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