Tips for Lean Managers Archives

Man on a boat fishing for tuna fish in the North Atlantic ocean.

Are You Keeping The Line Wet?

By John Knotts - August 23rd, 2024

Last week, during a Gemba Academy Lean Bootcamp, Ron Pereira talked about “keeping the line wet” when teaching. This was a new term to me, but I found it to be an important term. “Keep the line wet” is a phrase

GA 541 | The Gemba Academy School of Leadership with Ron Pereira

By Jessica Bush - August 15th, 2024

This week’s guest is Ron Pereira. Ron introduced the Gemba Academy School of Leadership and shared the audio from some of this exciting new content. Be sure to check the show notes to watch the video versions. An MP3 audio versio

A Company’s Continuous Improvement Journey

By John Knotts - July 19th, 2024

Embarking on your company’s continuous improvement journey can often be frustrating. This leads to the disheartening realization that your efforts seem ineffective. In the pursuit of excellence, many companies embark on a journey

Conducting A Manual Process Assessment

By John Knotts - July 21st, 2023

A manual process is a task or procedure that is performed without the assistance of automation or technology. These tasks typically require human effort, physical actions, and direct input. Manual processes can range from simple tasks,

Conducting Engaging Virtual Meetings

By John Knotts - February 17th, 2023

In process improvement, it is always best to involve a team. This helps get different points of view and perspectives on a problem. Also, having a team means that you have more people to help you do the work — especially when it

Engaging Partners and Suppliers on Your CI Journey

By John Knotts - April 15th, 2022

In my first blog on the subject of Continuous Improvement, I highlighted the proverb, “many hands, make light work.” The concept of a culture of continuous improvement is to orient everyone in the organization toward one common g

Developing Leadership Through Tours

By John Knotts - March 18th, 2022

In my last article, we had a great discussion, in our continuing series, regarding Continuous Improvement Development for Leadership and Professionals. Leadership development is extremely important if you are trying to change or create

Building A Culture Of Continuous Improvement Part Two

By Steve Kane - January 28th, 2022

This article was written by John Knotts, a Senior Coach here at Gemba Academy. This is the fourth in a series of five articles written by John. The previous three are hyperlinked below: Over the last three months, we have covered th

GA 396 | The Barriers to Developing a Lean Culture with Sara Ann Todd

By Jessica Bush - November 4th, 2021

This week’s guest is Sara Ann Todd. Sara shared her thoughts on continuous improvement and organizational culture, specifically creating a culture of lean. She and Ron also discussed Respect for People, dealing with self-doubt, a

What are Lagging & Leading Indicators? How are they related? Why are they important?

By Steve Kane - January 22nd, 2021

David Barber is CFO of Omni Industries in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. David and the rest of the senior executive team at Omni are leading a lean transformation. He wrote this article for Omni’s company newsletter to help people at

Stop Being the Expert and Be a Coach

By Steve Kane - October 23rd, 2020

I wrote the article below a few years ago and wanted to revisit it and include some thoughts on how this relates to coaching. “If I am wiser. . . it is because I know that I do not know.” ~ Socrates Is it possible that expe

5 Tips for Choosing a Lean Certification Course

By Steve Kane - September 25th, 2020

There are many Lean certification courses available from a wide variety of organizations. Choosing the right one to suit your specific needs can be a bit tricky. Here are some tips and considerations to help you find the right one for

Team Learning vs. Individual Learning

By Steve Kane - July 24th, 2020

Gemba Academy has been helping people gain proficiency in Lean and Six Sigma through Green Belt and Black Belt certification courses for several years. These certification courses have always included one-on-one coaching via phone or v

GA 315 | Dealing With Uncertainty with Steve Kane

By Jessica Bush - April 16th, 2020

This week we’re sharing the audio of a presentation on coaching, leader standard work, and uncertainty by our own Steve Kane. Steve’s advice on uncertainty is particularly relevant to today. A MP3 audio version of this epis

GA 304 | The Different Approaches to Training Leaders with Brent Weichers

By Jessica Bush - January 30th, 2020

This week’s guest is Brent Weichers of The Lighthouse for the Blind. Ron and Brent discussed the various approaches to training leaders, including the different hard and soft skills involved. A MP3 audio version of this episode i

It’s Your Duty to Make Things Right

By Steve Kane - January 24th, 2020

I completed US Army basic training at Fort Dix in May of 1990. Immediately after, I went to advanced individual training (AIT) at the US Army Intelligence Center at Fort Huachuca in Arizona. Drill Sergeant Smith was my platoon drill se

Reframe Your Thinking

By Steve Kane - August 23rd, 2019

Part of my role at Gemba Academy is to coach customers along their continuous improvement journey. Coaching sessions are typically brief phone conversations that help clients continually realign their efforts with organizational goal

GA 246 | How to Admit When You’re Struggling with Gary Peterson

By Jessica Bush - December 20th, 2018

This week’s guest is Gary Peterson. Gary talked about his company O.C. Tanner’s lean journey, and shared some vulnerable anecdotes about failure, asking for help, and owning up to your mistakes. An MP3 version of this epi

GA 245 | How to Coach Leaders to Coach Others with Jamie Parker

By Jessica Bush - December 13th, 2018

This week’s guest is Jamie Parker. Ron and Jamie talked about Jamie’s career thus far, the importance of having an impact on others, and how to help leaders develop a team of problem solvers. An MP3 version of this episode

GA 236 | How to Develop Strong Effective Leaders with Cheryl Jekiel

By Jessica Bush - October 11th, 2018

This week’s guest is Cheryl Jekiel, CEO of the Lean Leadership Center. Based on her background in operations and human resources, Cheryl explained what she believes it takes to develop great lean leaders. An MP3 version of this e

Set Full Sail

By Steve Kane - June 22nd, 2018

Getting started with lean in an existing organization challenging on many levels. Often some of the most important steps in a lean journey are not recognized. A common place people think they start is with 5S. It’s an

Instructions Aren’t Enough

By Steve Kane - May 25th, 2018

During a recent airline emergency, cabin pressure was lost and the oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling. Passengers donned the masks, but not quite as instructed. Mobile phone videos of the incident showed many passengers wearing th

How Do I Teach My Team?

By Steve Kane - January 20th, 2017

I like to think that a large part of a leader’s job is to teach, coach, mentor and inspire. And, working for people who do this well is often a great experience. The trouble is that there is typically little, if any, training

Facing the Firing Squad

By Steve Kane - December 16th, 2016

By Steve Kane I recently had the opportunity to watch a value stream mapping training event in an administrative process. These types of events are enjoyable for me because I always learn something new. The lesson learned th

Change Management Lessons from Big Trees Transplant

By Jon Miller - October 14th, 2015

This may be the best unintentional video on nemawashi ever. For those new to nemawashi, it is a Japanese word meaning “preparing roots of a tree for transplant” but is known to us as part of the consensus-building and chang

Tips for Lean Managers

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