January 2017 | Gemba Academy

Three Management Lessons from the 2016 NFL Season

By Jon Miller - January 30th, 2017

After about a 20 year hiatus, I have enjoyed following the game of American football closely over the past two years. Go Hawks! Watching how teams hire and fire coaches, build their rosters and manage their seasons is almost more int

GA 147 | How to Succeed at Value Stream Mapping with Beau Keyte

By Jessica Bush - January 26th, 2017

This week’s guest is Beau Keyte, an author and performance improvement coach with an impressive background. Ron and Beau discussed both editions of The Complete Lean Enterprise, the evolution of Value Stream Mapping, and more. An

Amps, Watts, Volts, Ohms and Lean Effectiveness

By Jon Miller - January 23rd, 2017

The most thoughtful questions that I have received from senior leaders regarding the health of their organization’s lean transformation have little to do with the methods, tools and lean practices themselves. Nor are these ques

How Do I Teach My Team?

By Steve Kane - January 20th, 2017

I like to think that a large part of a leader’s job is to teach, coach, mentor and inspire. And, working for people who do this well is often a great experience. The trouble is that there is typically little, if any, training

GA 146 | How to Innovate with Geoff Cox

By Jessica Bush - January 19th, 2017

This week’s guest is Geoff Cox, a Production Manager for a high-tech laser measurement company. Ron and Geoff talked about innovation, specifically how Geoff and his team go about generating and implementing new ideas. An MP3 ver

To Close an Engagement Gap, Bust Out a Myth

By Jon Miller - January 16th, 2017

We think of myths as commonly-held ideas or beliefs that are in fact not true. We even watch as Myth-busters test out and disprove popular myths. Why then would myths be the key to saving the world? Before myths were false, they were�

A Time to Read and Reflect

By Kevin Meyer - January 13th, 2017

It’s that time of the year when we reflect on the past and plan for the future. An arbitrary time, which has always bothered me. We should really be doing this in a continual fashion. I try, with daily, monthly, and quarter

GA 145 | How to Grow as a Lean Leader with Edward Gemin

By Jessica Bush - January 12th, 2017

This week’s guest is Edward Gemin, a lean consultant with a background in the automotive and appliance industries. Ron and Edward discussed Edward’s lean journey, including past projects and other lean experiences. An MP3 v

The Political Economy of Fitness

By Jon Miller - January 9th, 2017

As often happens this time of year, the Wall Street Journal editorialized on the physical fitness (or lack thereof) of Americans with a brief history of humankind’s desperate attempts to stay fit. In essence, the article demonst

The Obstacle is the Way

By Ron Pereira - January 6th, 2017

Our actions may be impeded, but there can be no impeding our intentions or dispositions. Because we can accommodate and adapt. The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting. The impediment to action advanc

Month: January 2017