Lean Archives | Page 25 of 67

An Introduction to Kaizen

By Jon Miller - May 13th, 2019

Kaizen (改善) is a Japanese word meaning “improvement”. The symbol kai means to change, to renew, to correct something that is wrong, and zen means “good” – there is no relation to Zen Buddhism. The w

Businessman with vampire fangs in the office

The Problem of Profit as a Purpose

By Kevin Meyer - May 10th, 2019

Just yesterday the Harvard Business Review presented an article by a London Business School professor suggesting that companies don’t always need a purpose beyond profit. I had to take a walk on the beach to get my blood pressure

GA 266 | The True Value of Cost Reduction with Amery Williams

By Jessica Bush - May 9th, 2019

This week’s guest is Amery Williams. Ron and Amery discussed cost reduction and its role in continuous improvement, which can sometimes be controversial. An MP3 audio version of this episode is available for download here. In thi

The Pursuit of True Pull

By Jon Miller - May 6th, 2019

A couple of weeks ago I spent the day with Jeff Kaas at his company Kaas Tailored. We discussed their approach to hoshin kanri, gemba walks, visual management, creating flow in a high-mix low-volume environment, and how they are adapti

Ask These 4 Questions During Your Next Coaching Call

By Ron Pereira - May 3rd, 2019

A critical component of our Green Belt and Black Belt certification program are weekly coaching calls. We’ve learned that staying in close contact with our candidates is vital to their success. We’ve also learned that fou

GA 265 | Finding Your Best Way with William Harvey

By Jessica Bush - May 2nd, 2019

This week’s guest is Dr. William Harvey. William and Ron discussed William’s research on Toyota Kata, including his process and what he learned from other lean thinkers. An MP3 audio version of this episode is available for

Akio Toyoda Gets Real

By Jon Miller - April 29th, 2019

The New Year’s message to Toyota employees on January 8, 2019 by CEO Akio Toyoda’s was that times are changing. The automotive industry is in a once-in-a-century technological revolution. Products will need CASE: Connectiv

GA 264 | Repeating the Process of Learning with Dr. Jeffrey Liker

By Jessica Bush - April 25th, 2019

This week we’re sharing an incredible keynote by Dr. Jeffrey Liker that he gave at KataCon5 earlier this year. Dr. Liker shared a wealth of information regarding his background, his lean journey, and the lessons he’s learne

How to Balance Broad Deployment of Lean Tools with Development of Depth of Capability

By Jon Miller - April 22nd, 2019

During his keynote speech at KataCon 5, Jeff Liker shared a question that he is grappling with lately; how to balance the broad deployment of Lean tools with the development of depth of capability of people? By his own admission, his c

GA 263 | Using Lean to Make Life-Changing Decisions with Tyson Ortiz

By Jessica Bush - April 18th, 2019

This week’s guest is Tyson Ortiz. Tyson’s son was born with a congenital heart condition, and Tyson graciously shared how he used kata and scientific thinking as he and his wife navigated their son’s diagnosis. An MP3

Resources for Personal Lean Leadership

By Kevin Meyer - April 18th, 2019

Lean, and continuous improvement in general, isn’t just for the professional world. The tools and concepts can also be used to clean your garage (5S), organize your pantry (kanban), set direction (hoshin), or reduce the time it takes

Harnessing Deliberate Reflection to Create Personal Improvement

By Kevin Meyer - April 12th, 2019

My favorite part of last week’s podcast with James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, was the last five minutes when he talked about a potential downside of good habits. When we decide to improve, and create a new practice with th

GA 262 | The Next Generation of Lean with Tyler Athey

By Jessica Bush - April 11th, 2019

This week’s guest is Tyler Athey. Tyler is at the beginning of his career but has accomplished a lot in just a few years. Ron and Tyler touched on a lot of different aspects of lean, including kanban systems, flow, culture, and m

Building Lean Habits, in a Lean Way

By Jon Miller - April 8th, 2019

Our podcast with Atomic Habits author James Clear posed some interesting questions that we can ask ourselves when striving to practice and become Lean. Chiefly among them is, “Who is the type of person who could be Lean?”

GA 261 | Building the Habit of Excellence with James Clear

By Jessica Bush - April 4th, 2019

This week’s guest is James Clear. Author of the bestseller Atomic Habits, James shared a wealth of knowledge with us regarding the different kinds of habits, how they form, and how we can successfully change our behavior. A writt

Breaking the Weak Link in the Value Chain

By Jon Miller - April 1st, 2019

In the lean way of thinking, the value we deliver to the customer increases in proportion to effort when we connect processes and keep the activities moving along smoothly. Instead, Harvard Business School professor Thales Teixeira wri

GA 260 | The Secret to Excellence with Oscar Roche

By Jessica Bush - March 28th, 2019

This week’s guest is Oscar Roche, Director of the TWI Institute in Australia & New Zealand. Ron and Oscar discussed the humanity of lean, the components of TWI, and more. An MP3 version of this episode is available for down

Avoiding the Productivity Paradox

By Jon Miller - March 25th, 2019

Lean thinking and practice have the potential to improve outcomes in healthcare, software development teams, government services, business performance and even individual growth and well-being. For something that is so powerful and eff

What’s the Follow Up Plan?

By Steve Kane - March 22nd, 2019

Covey said it best: “Begin with the end in mind.” The adoption of a lean practice sometimes starts with a problem to solve. Other times it starts with a new tool (“To a man with a hammer everything looks like a nail&#

GA 259 | Using Lean to Facilitate Social Change with Jason Schulist

By Jessica Bush - March 21st, 2019

This week’s guest is Jason Schulist. Jason is President of GLCI, an organization that connects communities so they can better address social issues like homelessness. Jason shared how continuous improvement factors into this impo

Introducing the Value Stream Management Resources Page

By Jon Miller - March 20th, 2019

When Mike Rother and John Shook wrote the book Learning to See, it represented a major step forward in the awareness among practitioners in the lean community. Prior to the activity of Value Steam Mapping, it was more challenging for

Lean Literacy

By Jon Miller - March 18th, 2019

Michael Ballé wrote a thoughtful reply to the question of what should be included in an MBA-level course to teach Lean concepts. It is a tough question because as Michael points out, there are some deep differences that must be recon

GA 258 | Creating a Common Meaning with Billy Taylor

By Jessica Bush - March 14th, 2019

This week’s guest is Billy Taylor. Billy is a Senior Operations Executive at Goodyear and is known worldwide for his work in operational excellence. Also famous for his storytelling abilities, Billy shared some truly powerful ane

What Meetings Reveal About a Leader’s Beliefs

By Jon Miller - March 11th, 2019

One of the simplest and most impactful things an organization can do in the pursuit of excellence is to reform how they hold meetings. And yet this is one of the most challenging changes. A recent conversation reminded me of this. The

The Most Important Lesson I’ve Learned the Past 20 Years

By Ron Pereira - March 8th, 2019

My kids range in age from 3 to 16. And, as long time Gemba Academy followers may know, I have quite a few kids in between these two. And while my wife and I have learned a lot about parenting over the years we’re still learning.

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