April 2009 | Gemba Academy

Taiichi Ohno Quote of the Day: My First Move

By Jon Miller - April 29th, 2009

My first move as the manager of the machine shop was to introduce standardized work. How many people can say that the first thing they did when taking on a management position was to introduce standardized work? I certainly can’t

Simplicity

By Ron Pereira - April 28th, 2009

“Simplicity means the achievement of maximum effect with minimal means.” – Dr. Koichi Kawana If I was only able to use one word to describe what lean and authentic continuous improvement meant to me I’d choose, without hesi

Leader Standard Work and Material Control

By Jon Miller - April 27th, 2009

I am taking some time off with the family this week so any posts will be short and less than fully developed. The emerging thought of the day concerns the relationship between leader standard work and material control principles of

Leave No Buffalo Behind

By Ron Pereira - April 27th, 2009

Last week I wrote about how geese stick together through thick and thin. Well, I think it’s safe to say buffalo make geese look like a bunch of sissies. Be sure to watch this all the way to the end. Just trust me when I say thi

Web Design and Control Charts

By Ron Pereira - April 23rd, 2009

I used to check my website stats several times a day. I’ll admit, I had a problem… but I’m guessing most bloggers have similar issues when first starting out. Well, I’m happy to say that I now check my website

The Drop, the Bucket and Continuous Improvement

By Jon Miller - April 22nd, 2009

Mr. Obama, who held his first cabinet meeting Monday, has tasked officials with finding $100 million in savings. Asked by reporters after the meeting if that amount is a drop in the bucket of the government’s budget, Mr. Obama sa

The Way of the Goose: 5 Leadership Lessons

By Ron Pereira - April 21st, 2009

We humans can learn a lot from geese. Yes, that’s right, geese. In fact, in 1991 Angeles Arrien gave a speech called “Lessons from Geese” that was largely based on the work of Milton Olson. What follows is my take on the stor

The A3 Thinking Blog

By Jon Miller - April 20th, 2009

Launched quietly in March by Art Amalley and Prof. Durward Sobek, authors of the Understanding A3 Thinking book, the A3 Thinking Blog promises to be an excellent resource. So far there are just a handful of articles such as User Feedba

Crowdsourced Leadership Standard Work

By Ron Pereira - April 19th, 2009

A few weeks ago I posted an article where I asked for your thoughts on what “leadership standard work” meant to you. As is typical, you all blew me away with your comments. Steve Armitage, a reader of Gemba Academy’

Does Spiderman Save?

By Ron Pereira - April 18th, 2009

While it has nothing to do with lean or six sigma this was just too good to not share. My 4 year old daughter recently asked my wife, “Mommy, does Spiderman take away the sins of the world?” Sure, they ‘cost’ a

Month: April 2009