December 2016 | Gemba Academy

GA 143 | Embracing the Fear of Failure with Ron Pereira

By Jessica Bush - December 29th, 2016

This week is our last episode of 2016. Join Ron as he discusses failure, specifically our fear of it. Featuring an empowering message from Jocko Willink, a retired US Navy SEAL, this episode is a great way to kick off the new year. An

GA 142 | How to Engage People with Jess Orr

By Jessica Bush - December 22nd, 2016

This week’s guest is Jess Orr, a Six Sigma Black Belt at WestRock, a large packaging company. Ron and Jess discussed Jess’s Toyota background and the importance of employee engagement. An MP3 version of this episode is a

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

GA 141 | Practicing Continuous Improvement in Japan with Zuhara Chavez

By Jessica Bush - December 15th, 2016

This week’s guest is Zuhara Chavez, an Industrial Engineer and PhD student. Zuhara is currently living in Japan, researching mapping tools and other continuous improvement concepts. Ron and Zuhara discussed her work, what cont

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

GA 140 | How to Use Your Lean Skill Set in Different Settings with John Chacon

By Jessica Bush - December 8th, 2016

This week’s guest is John Chacon, Continuous Improvement Advisor at Black & Veatch and a former U.S. Marine. Ron and John discussed John’s lean journey, specifically how he has applied his skills to the different phas

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

Month: December 2016