Gemba Academy

Lean Practices to Counter Cognitive Biases

By Jon Miller - December 19th, 2016

The Knowledge@Wharton interview with Michael Lewis, the author of The Undoing Project, was interesting for several reasons. First, it covered cognitive biases, one of my favorite topics. Second, the book is about Amos Tversky and Dani

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

Coming Soon: The Toyota Engagement Equation

By Jon Miller - December 12th, 2016

I’ve always loved hearing stories and insights from the early days of Toyota’s building their lean culture. Tracey and Ernie Richardson were there in 1986 when Toyota started up the first US factory in Georgetown, Kentucky

Introduction to Lean Manufacturing Spanish Español

New Videos: Lean Introductory Topics in Spanish

By Kevin Meyer - December 6th, 2016

We just released our fourth course in the School of Lean in Spanish, Introductory Topics. Going beyond Spanish subtitles, which are already available on all School of Lean and School of Six Sigma courses, these new courses use native

How Children Can Help Us Become Better Lean Leaders

By Jon Miller - December 5th, 2016

Lean thinking as a concept has been around for two decades since the publication of Lean Thinking by Womack & Jones. In practice, it existed before publication in a few parts of the world, and still does not exist in vast parts o

A Change of Pace

By Kevin Meyer - December 2nd, 2016

One of my favorite habits is a nice slow kinhin – walking meditation – on the beach a couple blocks from my house. One step per breath, slow and deliberate. It’s amazing what you notice – both about your surroundings and your

Gratitude is the Heart of Respect

By Jon Miller - November 28th, 2016

Those of us who model our approach to lean management on the Toyota Way recognize that there are two core elements: continuous improvement and respect for people. Each of these elements breaks down into more detailed principles and pra

Appreciation of a System

By Jon Miller - November 21st, 2016

I’ve gained a renewed appreciation for systems as a result of reading an interesting book, The Invention of Nature, about the life and influence of the nineteenth century German celebrity scientist Alexander von Humboldt. Whi

Lean Virtual Collaboration

By Steve Kane - November 18th, 2016

By Steve Kane In my previous role in the medical device manufacturing industry I was involved in Job Instruction and Job Relations. Both were incredibly valuable to the organization. A few months ago Gemba Academy took on the proje

New Videos: Transforming Your Value Streams in Spanish

By Kevin Meyer - November 14th, 2016

We just released our third course in the School of Lean in Spanish, Transforming Your Value Streams. Going beyond Spanish subtitles, which are already available on all School of Lean and School of Six Sigma courses, these new courses u

When the Possible Trumps the Likely

By Jon Miller - November 14th, 2016

About a decade ago I was invited to help mentor the productivity and quality improvement teams at a large consumer electronics manufacturer. During the first visit there were three things that immediately struck me about this company

The Pursuit of Perfection

By Kevin Meyer - November 11th, 2016

Five months ago I called my painter, who happens to live all of three doors away, to see if he had time to do some touchup on the house. He was able to fit me into his schedule starting a couple weeks ago. I knew I was going to ha

For a Culture of Innovation, Turn Board Meetings into Cardboard Meetings

By Jon Miller - November 7th, 2016

Not long ago a friend of mine from a compay not too far away called me for advice (hopefully that is vague enough provides enough plausible deniability for him and/or her). My friend was told to remove a large quantity of cardboard fr

Two Productivity Hacks Worth Trying Today

By Ron Pereira - November 4th, 2016

Producing a weekly podcast takes a lot of work. We have to find guests, figure out what we’ll talk about, schedule the interview, do the interview, edit the episode, write up the show notes for the episode before, finally, rele

New Videos: Workplace Visualization Course

By Kevin Meyer - November 1st, 2016

In this new School of Lean course we explore what visualization is and why it’s such an important aspect of lean management. Also, we will discover how to go about bringing the concept of visuality to the workplace. Finally, we&#

A Five-letter Recipe for a Non-Fail Presidency

By Jon Miller - October 31st, 2016

Barely eight days remain until the American voters elects the adult human who will serve as the next President of the United States. It has been an ugly process to narrow it down to the two major candidates, with all due respect to th

For Continuous Improvement, Think Like a Child

By Jon Miller - October 24th, 2016

Listening to a Freakonomics Radio episode titled Think Like a Child reminded me of the words of a TPS sensei. When a kaizen team was faced with puzzling process failures, complex problems, or a need for innovative designs, sensei

Lean Lessons from Tough Mudder

By Steve Kane - October 21st, 2016

By Steve Kane May 2016 I had the bright idea that I’d register for the Michigan Tough Mudder Mud Run, then find a way to get in shape (ready, fire, aim). I had seen ads and social media posts from finishers and thought t

New Videos: Lean at the City of Grand Rapids

By Kevin Meyer - October 20th, 2016

Steve Kane, Director of Customer Success at Gemba Academy, visits a Gemba Academy customer, the City of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Steve had the opportunity to talk with decision makers, city executives, as well as as other city employees

How Lean Thinking Can Relieve Traffic Jams

By Jon Miller - October 17th, 2016

Seattle owns the dubious distinction of having one of the 10 worst traffic experiences in the United States. This is due to a combination of geography, lack of long-term transportation planning, population growth, and driver behavi

Designing a Lean Home

By Kevin Meyer - October 14th, 2016

I’ve received several comments on The Simple Leader, with some of the most unexpected having to do with the section where I discuss my desire to design and build a home with Lean principles in mind. If I hadn’t studied chem

Five Thoreau Quotes to Reflect on Continuous Improvement

By Jon Miller - October 10th, 2016

Nineteenth century American poet, agitator for social change and champion of simple living Henry David Thoreau had a lot to say about continuous improvement. Here are five quotes that will help us reflect on how we improve. “Man

If Not You, Who?

By Ron Pereira - October 7th, 2016

I was fortunate enough to speak at a FedEx leadership team meeting yesterday which was a ton of fun! Before I spoke I was able to hear a few presentations including an awesome talk by our great friend and fellow lean thinker, Jamie Pa

Learning the Wrong Lessons from Failure

By Jon Miller - October 3rd, 2016

In the early days of lean it was all about imitation. People looked at Japanese factories and said, “They have quality circles, let’s have quality circles.” Or TQM, or kanban or JIT or kaizen. Lean factories work in

Better Decisions through Headspace Mapping

By Jon Miller - September 26th, 2016

When I was just getting started in business twenty years ago, one of my mentors had the habit of asking me, “Are you making an emotional decision or are you making a business decision?” A business decision, of course, I wou

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