Lean Archives | Page 33 of 67

15 Lean Failure Lessons from Software Development, 1/3

By Jon Miller - October 30th, 2017

Reading the Atlantic Monthly article The Coming Software Apocalypse helped me see the question of “Why do lean transformations fail?” in a new context. This question is usually preceded by statements like “95% of lean

I Feel Better Already

By Steve Kane - October 27th, 2017

A customer recently contacted me to let me know that business conditions had changed and he would be unable to put his Gemba Academy subscription to use. He was consumed with several business problems to solve at once and was working

GA 186 | How to Transition into Different Lean Roles with Jess Orr

By Jessica Bush - October 26th, 2017

This week’s guest is Jess Orr. Ron sat down with Jess at AME Boston to discuss her transition from working at Toyota to taking on a new role at another company. An MP3 version of this episode is available for download here. In t

Why Aliens Have Yet to Visit Earth

By Jon Miller - October 23rd, 2017

Space is big. The scale of outer space is so grand that humans can’t comprehend it. To boot, humans have difficulty with long-term thinking. This has resulted in an emerging tragedy of the commons, in orbital space. About 95% of

GA 185 | How to Use Lean to Create Value with Steve Kane

By Jessica Bush - October 19th, 2017

This week we’re sharing a keynote by our own Steve Kane, from a recent conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Steve provided some powerful perspective on what lean is really all about, and why we need it so much. An MP3 version of

How Fresh Starts Motivate Us to Keep Improving

By Jon Miller - October 16th, 2017

When a method works, it works even when we don’t understand how. If we do understand, we can find wider application for the method. So it was interesting to stumble across a human behavior called the fresh start effect as a possi

From Linear to Roundabout Thinking

By Kevin Meyer - October 13th, 2017

Ever since I visited Italy over a decade ago my inner geek has had a fascination with traffic engineering. If you’ve visited Italy, or many similar places, you probably know why. Traffic appears chaotic, thanks in part to wha

GA 184 | How to Become a Better Problem Solver with Kelly Moore

By Jessica Bush - October 12th, 2017

This week’s guest is Kelly Moore, longtime friend and customer of Gemba Academy. Ron and Kelly discussed problem solving and all the different ways you can approach it, including Toyota Kata, PDCA, and more. An MP3 version of thi

Why Don’t You Try TPS?

By Jon Miller - October 9th, 2017

“We need to improve our operation.” “Why don’t you try TPS?” “We don’t make cars.” If I had a dollar for every time a client brought up the “we don’t make cars” objection to trying to learn from the Toyota Product

The Dangers of Benchmarking Lean Exemplars

By Ron Pereira - October 6th, 2017

A common practice for folks getting started with lean is to benchmark lean exemplars in order to see what “good” looks like. In fact, there are benchmarking tours to Japan where you can visit companies like Toyota. I ac

GA 183 | How to Approach Lean with Michael Ballé

By Jessica Bush - October 5th, 2017

This week’s guest is Michael Ballé. Michael recently co-authored a new book, The Lean Strategy. Ron and Michael discussed the contents of the book and why the idea of lean as a strategy is so controversial. An MP3 version of th

The Definition of Insanity

By Jon Miller - October 2nd, 2017

Insanity is thinking or behavior that is unreasonable or irrational. Albert Einstein is often credited with observing that insanity is doing the same thing over and over a again and expecting different results. This definition seems to

GA 182 | How to Use the “5 Why” Method with Jon Miller

By Jessica Bush - September 28th, 2017

This week’s guest is GA Co-Founder Jon Miller. Jon explained the “5 Why” method and how it can be used to effectively determine root causes and solve problems. An MP3 version of this episode is available for download

Lean Customer Experience Design

By Jon Miller - September 25th, 2017

Customers are front and center when it comes to lean transformations. We want to win them over, delight them, keep them, strengthen the relationship and grow the business, by continuously improving what we do. Too often for non-service

There’s Value in Simple, Visual and Manual Systems

By Steve Kane - September 22nd, 2017

The advancement of technology of the years has put the sum of human knowledge at our fingertips. We can look up pretty much anything we want to know in a matter of seconds. Data systems have enabled us to see details of our busines

GA 181 | How to Start Your Lean Journey with Steve Kane

By Jessica Bush - September 21st, 2017

This week’s guest is our Director of Customer Success, Steve Kane. Steve and Ron discussed the best mindsets and approaches for beginning a lean journey. They also covered some of the problems that may arise. An MP3 version of th

A Speedy Recovery to Houston, and a Lesson in Overburdened Systems

By Jon Miller - September 18th, 2017

Mura, muri, muda. Three words that someone should have taught the civic leaders of Houston decades ago. This trio explains how systems break, why we waste our resources, and why people suffer worse than we should from predictable disas

GA 180 | How to Use Total Productive Maintenance with Jeff Gregory

By Jessica Bush - September 14th, 2017

This week’s guest is Jeff Gregory, a consultant with a strong industry background. Jeff and Ron talked all about TPM, OEE, and much more. Even if you’re not in manufacturing, there’s a lot to learn in this episode. An

A Spymaster’s Guide to Lean Thinking

By Jon Miller - September 11th, 2017

A person works in intelligence told me a few things about that profession. Here is a summary of a few similarities between good spy craft and good business leadership that come with lean thinking. Go to the gemba. Intelligence gatherin

GA 179 | How to Leverage Continuous Improvement in the Office with Jim Pecoraro

By Jessica Bush - September 7th, 2017

This week’s guest is consultant Jim Pecoraro. Jim and Ron discussed applying continuous improvement beyond manufacturing, specifically in an office or otherwise administrative context. An MP3 version of this episode is available

Chess Masters and Lean Thinkers

By Jon Miller - September 4th, 2017

I found an interesting parallel between lean thinking and game mastery in a book about the history of board games by Tristan Donovan titled It’s All A Game. In a section of the book discussing chess, the author introduced an insi

Monuments to the Lean Journey

By Kevin Meyer - September 1st, 2017

Nearly two decades ago I had left the medical device industry to jump into telecom photonics equipment. My team was responsible for the operations side of a facility that was a recently-acquired startup in the space, with a product t

GA 178 | How to Apply Lean and Agile to Software Development with Liam Brien and Greg Zimmer

By Jessica Bush - August 31st, 2017

This week’s guests are Liam Brien and Greg Zimmer. Liam and Greg shared how they use both lean and agile in the software development space. An MP3 version of this episode is available for download here. In this episode you’

This Area Closed to Improvement

By Jon Miller - August 28th, 2017

An organization I visited recently surprised me. They are on a long-running and successful continuous improvement journey. They do many things right. They recognize where they have gaps and are open to outside help. And yet they have c

Questions from a Gemba Academy Subscriber

By Steve Kane - August 25th, 2017

When customers start a subscription with Gemba Academy we like to start with discussion about how we can help them meet their Lean goals. A recent new customer was very well prepared for our conversation and had four prepared question

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