Month: March 2017

12 Articles

GA 156 | The Current State of Lean in Healthcare with Mark Graban and Joe Swartz

By Jessica Bush - March 30th, 2017

This week’s guests are Mark Graban and Joe Swartz, both leaders in lean healthcare. They discussed the past and current states of lean in healthcare, as well as their upcoming workshop, Kaizen Live. An MP3 version of this episod

Lean Thinking Questions for a Provider Delay Board

By Jon Miller - March 27th, 2017

I recently joined a family member’s visit to a local medical center. A new visual control labeled “Provider Delay Board” was displayed prominently in the waiting area. The medical center in question is known for being

Getting Executive Buy-In

By Steve Kane - March 24th, 2017

A common struggle in the lean community is the perception that if senior leadership doesn’t drive lean, then the rest of the organization can’t be lean.  As Masaaki Imai put it, the three most important requirements in em

GA 155 | Toyota Kata and the Power of Networking with Christopher Ferrier

By Jessica Bush - March 23rd, 2017

This week’s guest is Christopher Ferrier, who we met up with at the TWI/KataCon conference in San Diego, California. Ron and Christopher talked about Toyota Kata, the power of networking, ultramarathons, and more. An MP3 version

A Lean Look at Citigroup’s Ethics Improvement Efforts

By Jon Miller - March 20th, 2017

David Miller (no known relation) is a morality improvement consultant. That’s not morale, as in how people feel about their work, but morality, as in whether we are good people or bad people, in ethical terms. Featured in the W

surfer goofy foot pop up

A Painful Perpective from the Goofy Foot Pop Up

By Kevin Meyer - March 17th, 2017

For the past couple years I’ve worked hard at getting into the best shape I’ve been in in decades.  In fact, many of us at Gemba Academy have, and we have a wellness program that encourages and rewards positive efforts tow

GA 154 | The Real Meaning of Lean with Art Byrne

By Jessica Bush - March 16th, 2017

This week’s guest is Art Byrne, author and highly respected lean leader. Ron and Art discussed Art’s lean journey, including his days as CEO of Wiremold. You won’t want to miss this one! An MP3 version of this episod

Taiichi Ohno Interview Video Footage

By Jon Miller - March 13th, 2017

This week I found a five-minute YouTube video excerpt featuring Taiichi Ohno. It is a television program about the revolutionary productivity Ohno achieved at Toyota. It is from the late 1980s. Taiichi Ohno is interviewed in what lo

Our Job Instruction Course is Available!

By Ron Pereira - March 10th, 2017

We’re really excited to announce that our Job Instruction (JI) course was soft launched this week.  I say “soft launch” because we’re still adding the course to our Learning System platform, but our Learning Li

GA 153 | From Tiffany & Co. to Toyota with Josh Sanchez

By Jessica Bush - March 9th, 2017

This week’s guest is Josh Sanchez, a continuous improvement practitioner with a fascinating background. Josh worked for Tiffany & Co. before landing a job at Toyota, and is now transitioning into a healthcare role. Ron and J

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