A Lean Journey

Lean Quote: Stay Motivated, Celebrate Accomplishments Along the Journey

2013-05-24T05:00:00.000-04:00

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve. "Accomplishments will prove to be a journey, not a destination." — Dwight D. Eisenhower If you want to reach your goal it...

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Happy 4th Blog Anniversary A Lean Journey

2013-05-23T05:00:00.000-04:00

Today marks the 4th anniversary of A Lean Journey Blog and as tradition here each year I take the opportunity to reflect. The act of "self-reflection" is called Hansei is Japanese. It is the practice of continuous improvement that consists of looking back and thinking about how a process can be improved. I’d like to think that I turned my naive endeavor to share learning along my own journey into a successful contribution in the Lean community. As I have said before this labor of love has...

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Book Review: Anatomy of a Lean Leader

2013-05-21T05:00:00.000-04:00

Are you looking for a Lean leadership model for your organization? In Anatomy of aLean Leader Jerry Bussell draws from his rich lifetime of learning and wealth of stories from the gemba to weave together important lessons from exemplary lean leaders. In his book, Bussell identifies ten characteristics that he claims are essential for a leader to possess in order to successfully implement a “lean” culture within an organization, or an organization that consistently improves its operations...

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Quality Trends: What Motivates You at Work?

2013-05-20T05:00:00.000-04:00

This month on ASQ’s blog A View From The Q Julia McIntosh takes a look at several themes from ASQ’s World Conference on Quality and Improvement. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend the conference this year but it appears from all the commentary online that is was a huge success. A topic that Julia highlighted that is of particular interest to me was in regards to workplace motivation: “What motivates you at work?” Motivation is a core factor for a successful business and there have...

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Lean Quote: Leadership Takes Away Excuses

2013-05-17T05:00:00.000-04:00

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve. "The coach’s (leaders) job is to take excuses away from the player – no travel problems, no equipment problems, no bad practices, no...

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SME’s 2013 #EASTEC Conference Review - Human Ingenuity

2013-05-15T05:00:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I got a chance to get out the office and partake in EASTEC. The Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) organizes EASTEC, one of the largest manufacturingshows on the East Coast highlighting the latest technologies and management strategies for operational excellence. The theme this year was “Human Ingenuity” meaning to envision a new product, it takes human ingenuity. This was a great opportunity to see some old friends and listen to a couple of Lean presentations. I...

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Daily Lean Tip Edition #47

2013-05-14T05:00:00.000-04:00

For my Facebook fans you already know about this great feature. But for those of you that are not connected to A Lean Journey on Facebook or Twitter I post daily a feature I call Lean Tips. It is meant to be advice, things I learned from experience, and some knowledge tidbits about Lean to help you along your journey. Another great reason to like A Lean Journey on Facebook. Click this link for A Lean Journey's Facebook Page Notes Feed. Here is the next addition of...

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15 Tell-Tale Signs of Eventual Quality Failure Looming in Your Business

2013-05-13T05:00:00.000-04:00

The 2010 BP Deepwater Rig Explosion Product quality problems don’t happen overnight, nor are they the result of a crippled procedure or one poorly conceived policy. The problems have brewed over time, sending out signals that risks to product quality are growing. A breakdown of quality is not an event. It is a process. Long before a quality failure explodes on the front page of the paper, a company’s quality system has been in trouble because of corporate decisions, policies and...

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Lean Quote: Eliminate Rework and Scrap to Save Time and Money

2013-05-10T05:00:00.000-04:00

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve. "If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?" — John Wooden Nearly every business has...

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10 Signs of a Non-Lean Manager Who Disengages the Workforce

2013-05-08T05:00:00.000-04:00

Companies with poor management practices typically have employees who are disengaged. While a disengaged workforce is a symptom of substandard leadership, just what constitutes bad management? Here are a few problematic practices and signs I believe should be axed: 1. Bad Communication Few things cause employees to tune out faster than a management team that keeps the company's future direction to itself. Successful Lean leaders see the larger picture and will share the...

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Book Review: The Laws of Subtraction

2013-05-07T05:00:00.000-04:00

Less is indeed more in our age of excess in everything. Our lives have become complicated, overwhelming, and more demanding. Award winning author Matthew E. May has an answer for this in his book The Laws ofSubtraction. Subtraction is defined simply as the art of removing anything excessive, confusing, wasteful, unnatural, hazardous, hard to use, or ugly … or the discipline to refrain from adding it in the first place. The Laws of Subtraction provide insights and lessons towards...

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Top 10 Reason Why Lean Transformation Fails

2013-05-06T05:00:00.000-04:00

I believe when Lean principles are properly understood and applied, the upside for productivity improvements is nearly infinite. I have personally witnessed numerous Lean thinking initiatives that have improved productivity by large amounts (like 40-60%) in short periods of time with minimal expenditures. The Lean track record is well documented by numerous authors. Despite the enormous popularity of Lean, the track record for successful implementation of the methodology is spotty at...

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Lean Quote: Success Requires Passion in the Face of Failure

2013-05-03T05:00:00.000-04:00

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve. "Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." — Winston Churchill To err is completely human,...

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Small Teams vs Keeping Everyone Informed

2013-05-01T05:00:00.000-04:00

In response to the post “Collaboration Techniques for Moving Ideas & Decisions Forward” a reader on our Facebook page recently asked “How do you reconcile between keeping everyone involved and keeping the team small?” Highly empowered and effective teams are the key to compete in today’s world of high technology processes, six sigma quality and continuous innovation. We all have roles in our organizations but it is the power of teamwork that makes our endeavors successful. It takes...

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Lean Roundup #47 - April, 2013

2013-04-30T05:00:00.000-04:00

A selection of highlighted blog posts from Lean bloggers from the month of April, 2013. You can also view the previous monthly Lean Roundups here. JBS - How To Tear Down A Lean Pillar - Bryan Lund share a one step Job Breakdown Sheet on “How to Tear Down a Lean Pillar” If the Student has Not Learned the Teacher has Not Taught – David Kasprzak talks about the need to consider multiple learning styles when educating the workforce. Cross Training in Factory vs the Office - Why...

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Simple Steps to a Lean Email

2013-04-29T05:00:00.000-04:00

Today I am pleased to present a guest post by Tony Ferraro of Creative Safety Supply (one of our sponsors). Tony talks about email best practices and provides some tips on productivity. This a topic I am sure we can all use some help improving. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you are like the majority of people, your email inbox is bursting at the seams with all sorts of emails. Some emails are informational, some contain important...

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Lean Quote: True Success Of A Leader Can Not Be Measured Without Considering The Results Of The Succession Plan

2013-04-26T05:00:00.000-04:00

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve. "A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm." — Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906);...

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Book Review: The Lean Practitioner’s Handbook

2013-04-24T05:00:00.000-04:00

Any time you are trying to learn something new or you need to jog your memory your will find a reference guide helpful. Mark Eaton, as consultant, author and lean practitioner himself, authored a practical reference guide that will be useful on a day-to-day basis. TheLean Practitioner’s Handbook bridges the gap between the tools and the concepts of Lean and the practical use of the tools. Eaton discusses key areas, such as: aspects of a Lean Program; scoping a program; value stream...

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Daily Lean Tips Edition #46

2013-04-23T05:00:00.000-04:00

For my Facebook fans you already know about this great feature. But for those of you that are not connected to A Lean Journey on Facebook or Twitter I post daily a feature I call Lean Tips. It is meant to be advice, things I learned from experience, and some knowledge tidbits about Lean to help you along your journey. Another great reason to like A Lean Journey on Facebook. Click this link for A Lean Journey's Facebook Page Notes Feed. Here is the next addition of tips...

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Lean Eliminates DOWNTIME, Green adds FEWER

2013-04-22T05:00:00.000-04:00

Today is Earth Day 2013 whose theme is the Face of Climate Change. I am not an expert in this topic and nor I am going to talk about it here. However, in celebration of the environment today I thought I would share some thoughts on the use of Lean and Green together for the better. I have talked about how Lean eliminates downtime before. DOWNTIME is a acronym I use to remember and explain the eight wastes of...

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Lean Quote: Today Should Be Better Than Yesterday, And Tomorrow Should Be Better Than Today

2013-04-19T05:00:00.000-04:00

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve. "Yesterday’s Home Runs Don’t Win Today’s Games." — Babe Ruth This Babe Ruth quote is a great reminder of how you shouldn't...

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Book Review: Perfecting Patient Journeys

2013-04-17T05:00:00.000-04:00

Healthcare is undergoing many changes these days which has long been overdue for those of us who have been patients. Lean thinking has been spreading globally for decades in product and service businesses. In the last few years this value stream improvement methodology has been gaining support in health care. Now there is a step by step guide for visualizing the patient experience and improving the flow of value with Perfecting Patient Journeys. Published by the Lean...

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The Benefits and Impact of Global Quality Award Programs

2013-04-16T05:00:00.000-04:00

In this month’s ASQ post by Paul Borawski he asks the Influential Voices to discuss the impact of Global Quality Programs. Do you live in a country with a national quality program? Is it serving to create role models for others to emulate? Is the national program growing in visibility and perceived value and creating capacity for national excellence? If you search Google for “Quality Award Programs” you may be surprised by the number of programs. I certainly didn’t realize...

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Six Suggestions to Allay People's Fear of Change

2013-04-15T05:00:00.000-04:00

A reader asked me for some suggestions on relieving fear of change: I am curious what you would recommend to allay people’s fears when for instance a physical change is taking place on the floor. An explanation is made, they are involved to a degree but ultimately it is for the good of the operation. This creates anger and I am at a loss as to how to diffuse this. People commonly resist change for a variety of reasons. Although you intend for the change to result in a positive outcome,...

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Lean Quote: Lean Improvement is a Better Option in a Competitive World

2013-04-12T05:00:00.000-04:00

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve. "A competitive world has two possibilities for you. You can lose. Or, if you want to win, you can change." — Lester Thurow, Dean,...

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