Lean Archives | Page 36 of 67

GA 158 | The Importance of Employee Engagement with Deondra Wardelle

By Jessica Bush - April 13th, 2017

Today’s guest is Deondra Wardelle, who we met at this year’s KataCon conference in San Diego, California. Deondra is a Corporate Lean Director at MPS, or Multi Packaging Solutions. Ron and Deondra discussed employee engagem

King County Food Safety Rating System Earns a Fail

By Jon Miller - April 10th, 2017

The State of Washington boasts an active Lean community of large corporations, small startups, local hospitals, non-profits, state and local government. Both the State and King County, where Seattle is located, have Lean departments

When Opportunity & Job Instruction Meet

By Ron Pereira - April 7th, 2017

We’re just finishing up another awesome week of TWI Training here in the lovely state of Virginia. Specifically, we’re completing live Job Relations (JR) and Job Methods (JM) training with a room full of Gemba Academy students.

GA 157 | Using Brain Science to Understand TWI with Roger Bilas

By Jessica Bush - April 6th, 2017

This week’s episode is a live talk by Roger Bilas, which he gave at this year’s TWI Summit in San Diego, California. Roger explained why the three main components of TWI are done the way they are, specifically from a brain

Solution-Jumping Creates Problems

By Jon Miller - April 3rd, 2017

In my experience, the most so-called problem solving in this world is just solution-jumping. This is true in business, government policy, personal relationships, sports, personal health. We grease the squeaky wheel. We tamper with syst

GA 156 | The Current State of Lean in Healthcare with Mark Graban and Joe Swartz

By Jessica Bush - March 30th, 2017

This week’s guests are Mark Graban and Joe Swartz, both leaders in lean healthcare. They discussed the past and current states of lean in healthcare, as well as their upcoming workshop, Kaizen Live. An MP3 version of this episod

Lean Thinking Questions for a Provider Delay Board

By Jon Miller - March 27th, 2017

I recently joined a family member’s visit to a local medical center. A new visual control labeled “Provider Delay Board” was displayed prominently in the waiting area. The medical center in question is known for being

Getting Executive Buy-In

By Steve Kane - March 24th, 2017

A common struggle in the lean community is the perception that if senior leadership doesn’t drive lean, then the rest of the organization can’t be lean. As Masaaki Imai put it, the three most important requirements in em

GA 155 | Toyota Kata and the Power of Networking with Christopher Ferrier

By Jessica Bush - March 23rd, 2017

This week’s guest is Christopher Ferrier, who we met up with at the TWI/KataCon conference in San Diego, California. Ron and Christopher talked about Toyota Kata, the power of networking, ultramarathons, and more. An MP3 version

A Lean Look at Citigroup’s Ethics Improvement Efforts

By Jon Miller - March 20th, 2017

David Miller (no known relation) is a morality improvement consultant. That’s not morale, as in how people feel about their work, but morality, as in whether we are good people or bad people, in ethical terms. Featured in the W

A Painful Perpective from the Goofy Foot Pop Up

By Kevin Meyer - March 17th, 2017

For the past couple years I’ve worked hard at getting into the best shape I’ve been in in decades. In fact, many of us at Gemba Academy have, and we have a wellness program that encourages and rewards positive efforts tow

GA 154 | The Real Meaning of Lean with Art Byrne

By Jessica Bush - March 16th, 2017

This week’s guest is Art Byrne, author and highly respected lean leader. Ron and Art discussed Art’s lean journey, including his days as CEO of Wiremold. You won’t want to miss this one! An MP3 version of this episod

Taiichi Ohno Interview Video Footage

By Jon Miller - March 13th, 2017

This week I found a five-minute YouTube video excerpt featuring Taiichi Ohno. It is a television program about the revolutionary productivity Ohno achieved at Toyota. It is from the late 1980s. Taiichi Ohno is interviewed in what lo

GA 153 | From Tiffany & Co. to Toyota with Josh Sanchez

By Jessica Bush - March 9th, 2017

This week’s guest is Josh Sanchez, a continuous improvement practitioner with a fascinating background. Josh worked for Tiffany & Co. before landing a job at Toyota, and is now transitioning into a healthcare role. Ron and J

Respect for People and Workbenches of the Mind

By Jon Miller - March 6th, 2017

Lean cultures accomplish the most good with the least time and resource through continuous improvement and respect for people. Compared to continuous improvement, there is less evidence to prove that respect for people directly affect

GA 152 | TWI, Kata, and Respect for People with Skip Steward and Brandon Brown

By Jessica Bush - March 2nd, 2017

This week’s guests are Skip Steward and Brandon Brown. We had the pleasure of interviewing them while attending the KataCon/TWI Summits in San Diego. They both shared a lot of valuable insight with us regarding TWI, Kata, Respec

The Inner Game of Continuous Improvement

By Jon Miller - February 27th, 2017

Five-time Superbowl winner Tom Brady credits reading The Inner Game of Tennis by Tim Gallwey for helping him overcome anxiety and self-doubt, and to keep winning. I read the book looking for parallels and general lessons that could

GA 151 | The Obstacle Is the Way with Ron Pereira

By Jessica Bush - February 23rd, 2017

This week Ron discusses The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph by Ryan Holiday. It’s a fantastic book based on stoicism, with a particular focus on Marcus Aurelius. All lean thinkers can benefit

What’s Another Word for “Problem”?

By Jon Miller - February 20th, 2017

What’s another word for “problem”? Opportunity? Situation? How about challenge? Whenever I hear this question, it’s an indication of a cultural problem. Unlike in lean organizations, bad things follow the discov

McProcess

By Steve Kane - February 17th, 2017

I recently saw the movie “The Founder”— the story of Ray Kroc and the McDonald’s empire. The movie does a good job of illustrating what one can do with the right opportunity, enough drive, and a lot of moral flexibility. We’l

GA 150 | How to Respect Diversity with Mike Brett

By Jessica Bush - February 16th, 2017

This week’s guest is Mike Brett, a lean thinker from the UK. Ron and Mike talked about the diversity of Mike’s company, their journey with Hoshin Kanri, and a special lean card game that Mike created. An MP3 version of this

Review of Leading with Lean by Philip Holt

By Jon Miller - February 13th, 2017

Leading with Lean: an Experience-based Guide to Lean Transformation, by Philip Holt, aims to provide current or aspiring lean leaders with experience-based insights and steps to ensure that others in the organization are turned on a

Mother Nature Takes On the Lean Home

By Kevin Meyer - February 10th, 2017

A few months ago I told you how my wife and I had found a mid-century remodel project only a couple blocks away from where we currently live. We wanted to create a “lean home” – smaller with a simple layout, less st

GA 149 | How to Teach TWI with Jamie Parker

By Jessica Bush - February 9th, 2017

This week’s guest is Jamie Parker, an avid lean thinker and past podcast guest who recently participated in our first live training class. Jamie and Ron reflected back on the class, which centered around the Job Instruction co

A Pithier Name for the 8th Waste

By Jon Miller - February 6th, 2017

An article in Popular Science introduced some interesting research how to activate your brain’s ability to learn. The findings can be read as an interesting neuroscience-based argument in favor of daily stand up meetings, follow

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