Gemba Academy

The Best Indicator of Success with Lean

By Jon Miller - September 9th, 2019

This past week I had the opportunity to walk the gemba of several companies. They ranged from large to small, public to private, across manufacturing and service. Each has been committed to Lean management for more than twenty years. T

What is Sensorial Management?

By Ron Pereira - September 6th, 2019

A few weeks ago my colleagues and I visited the Lighthouse for the Blind in Seattle, Washington. Here’s what I shared on LinkedIn a few days after the visit. I’m still processing what my colleagues and I experienced two d

Three Answers to “How do We Sustain the Results of Improvement?”

By Jon Miller - August 26th, 2019

Rumors have it that the vast majority of Lean transformations fail. Some even quote success rates as being below 10%. There are many problems with this. How we define success. When (too soon) we measure and conclude failure. What exact

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

Advancing the Self-Revolution

By Jon Miller - August 19th, 2019

A brand-new banner caught my eye during a recent trip to China. If judging by the size, variety and volume of banners alone, one would think that the communist revolution is still in full swing 98 years after the formation of the Party

Why Can’t We See the Financial Impact of Continuous Improvement?

By Jon Miller - August 12th, 2019

Last week I had the opportunity to address the question of why it’s sometimes difficult to see the financial impact of successful continuous improvement efforts. If actions are inadequate to deliver results or if they are not sus

The Divergent Paths of Old Lean Dudes

By Kevin Meyer - August 9th, 2019

I’ve been immersed in the lean world for over a quarter century. From the start when some folks from the Association for Manufacturing Excellence showed me how quick changeover could save my injection molding operation (and pro

The Lean Approach to Strategy

By Jon Miller - August 5th, 2019

A strategy is a plan of action intended to achieve a major objective. Lean transformation aims to make major changes in how we work, to streamline our processes, to upgrade our thinking and skills. Many agree that Lean is a strategy fo

The Soul of a Company

By Ron Pereira - August 1st, 2019

Creating a strong company mission and vision is an important part of the Hoshin Kanri, or Policy Deployment, process. All companies should have a vision. All companies should have a mission. And these vision and mission statement

Can We Have Too Much Scientific Thinking?

By Jon Miller - July 29th, 2019

The term scientific thinking has been used with increasing frequency in the Lean management community over the past decade. The idea is not new. There is little doubt as to its importance in continuous improvement, good management and

Reflections on a Lean Futuring Discussion

By Steve Kane - July 26th, 2019

Last week I met with a dozen Lean practitioners, leaders, consultants, and advisors for the purpose of understanding where we’re headed as both individuals and as a community. We had a very deliberate and structured discussion

Moonshots, Rocket Science and Taking Small Steps

By Jon Miller - July 22nd, 2019

This week we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing by the Apollo 11 mission. After a sleepy half-century in which space exploration has been largely unmanned, interest in sending humans further out in space is growing at l

The Lean Leader as Player-Coach

By Jon Miller - July 15th, 2019

Player-coaches are far less common today than they were in professional sports a few decades ago. A few notable superstar players informally perform a similar role today, but under a dedicated head coach who guide the team. In modern b

More Ways to Dig Deeper Using Five Questions

By Kevin Meyer - July 12th, 2019

On a plane the other day I listened to a Tim Ferris podcast with Chip Conley. To be honest, I’m not usually a fan of Mr. Ferris or his long format podcasts, but I do scan his guest list from time to time to look for interesting

The Guessing Game of Lean Leadership

By Jon Miller - July 8th, 2019

“Eliminate slogans and exhortations asking the workforce for zero defects” or other such improvement targets, Dr. Deming set down as one of his fourteen principles. Yet this piece of advice ignored by even the most dedicate

What Happened to Blockbuster Nights?

By Ron Pereira - July 5th, 2019

Do you remember how you felt walking into a Blockbuster store to rent some movies on a Friday night? I do. It felt wonderful… curiosity mixed with anticipation created a powerful elixir. Add in some junk food (for the kids

Six Month Reflection Questions

By Jon Miller - July 1st, 2019

A colleague recently suggested reflecting back seven years on what we learned and what we would do differently today based on that. Seven years is so long ago. It almost makes me dizzy to consider. The big issues and questions from bac

Standard Work for Solving Crossword Puzzles

By Jon Miller - June 24th, 2019

Lately I have been having fun solving daily crossword puzzles with my family. By reflecting on both mistakes and successful approaches, I have arrived at a strategy, even something like standard work, for solving crossword puzzles. Ste

Review of The Lean Sensei by Balle, Chartier et al.

By Jon Miller - June 17th, 2019

The Lean Sensei by Michael Ballé, Nicolas Chartier, Pascale Coignet, Sandrine Olivencia, Daryl Powell and Eivind Reke collects the co-authors’ wisdom to answer, “what is a lean sensei and what do they do?” The auth

3 Tips for Overcoming Confirmation Bias

By Ron Pereira - June 14th, 2019

Making decisions is an important part of being human. Some decisions, like which shirt to wear today, aren’t all that important. But other decisions, like which person to marry, are incredibly important. And, to be sure, we c

A Surprisingly Simple Gemba Story

By Jon Miller - June 10th, 2019

During a recent workshop, a customer asked me to share some inspiring Lean conversion stories. It was an impromptu request. I did my best but didn’t quite nail it. In hindsight, I think there is a difference between stories abou

Creating Range Through Exploration

By Kevin Meyer - June 7th, 2019

Last weekend I powered through David Epstein’s new book, Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. The book has received rave reviews from the likes of Daniel Pink, who calls it “an essential read for bosses,

How to Choose a Continuous Improvement Approach

By Jon Miller - June 3rd, 2019

Most business leaders are at least familiar with one or more of the popular modern management improvement approaches such as BPM, TQM, Six Sigma and Lean. In many large organizations, several of these are being attempted at the same ti

Lessons Learned as a Kata Coach

By Steve Kane - May 24th, 2019

I first learned about Toyota Kata many years ago by attending a one-day workshop presented by Beth Carrington. A short time later, I read Toyota Kata and I began practicing. The practice as a new kata coach was difficult for me.

First, Make a Human Connection

By Jon Miller - May 20th, 2019

A recent conversation with a friend of mine who is a continuous improvement director at a sizable North American corporation yielded some personal insights for him and general ones about being a technical change leader. This story is s

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