Steve Kane, Author at Gemba Academy

Steve Kane

Steve has a diverse career ranging from being responsible for a large medical device sales territory, plant manager where he leveraged lean methods to drive improvement, and VP Operations at Specialty Silicone Fabricators where he led the lean efforts of the company. He has served on the western region board of The Association for Manufacturing Excellence and has worked with the Michigan Lean Learning Consortium and the California Central Coast Lean Forum.

81 Articles

Remain Detached from the Outcome

By Steve Kane - December 27th, 2019

I’ve been working on my Black Belt certification for several months. The past few have been devoted to a project related to understanding how improvements over the years have impacted business performance. Many of the improvement

Leading Lean from the Middle of the Organization

By Steve Kane - November 22nd, 2019

This article was originally posted a couple of years ago. Questions about getting other people to change their thinking come up fairly regularly, so I thought I’d revisit the topic here. A common struggle in the lean community

Reframe Your Thinking

By Steve Kane - August 23rd, 2019

Part of my role at Gemba Academy is to coach customers along their continuous improvement journey. Coaching sessions are typically brief phone conversations that help clients continually realign their efforts with organizational goal

Reflections on a Lean Futuring Discussion

By Steve Kane - July 26th, 2019

Last week I met with a dozen Lean practitioners, leaders, consultants, and advisors for the purpose of understanding where we’re headed as both individuals and as a community. We had a very deliberate and structured discussion

Lessons Learned as a Kata Coach

By Steve Kane - May 24th, 2019

I first learned about Toyota Kata many years ago by attending a one-day workshop presented by Beth Carrington. A short time later, I read Toyota Kata and I began practicing. The practice as a new kata coach was difficult for me.

What’s the Follow Up Plan?

By Steve Kane - March 22nd, 2019

Covey said it best: “Begin with the end in mind.” The adoption of a lean practice sometimes starts with a problem to solve. Other times it starts with a new tool (“To a man with a hammer everything looks like a nail&#

Vision, Values, and Principles

By Steve Kane - February 20th, 2019

Labor and work environments have continually changed since the dawn of employment. These topics are like just about any other aspect of the human experience in that they have changed more rapidly over the past century than any other pe

What’s the Thinking Behind the Tools

By Steve Kane - January 25th, 2019

I have a small hobby business I run on the weekends. It involves some simple assembly and kitting, which I do in my basement. I’ve come to the point where flow has become the next problem to solve. What’s the Convention

Small Improvements Instead of Resolutions for the New Year

By Steve Kane - December 28th, 2018

We’re closing in on the new year, a time when big ideas about improving our lives come to mind. It’s common knowledge that new year’s resolutions typically abandoned by Valentine’s Day. Taking on too much

Applying Job Relations to Job Instruction

By Steve Kane - November 23rd, 2018

A customer I collaborate with from time to time is responsible for continuous improvement in several factories here in the US. For the ease of telling the story, we’ll call this customer Joe. Joe’s organization is begin

Disrupt Your Thinking

By Steve Kane - October 26th, 2018

Learn Something New Autumn seems to be conference season in the Lean community. I’ve attended events hosted by the Colorado Lean Network and the Michigan Lean Consortium in the past few weeks. Conferences are great opportunitie

Constraints Are Opportunities

By Steve Kane - September 28th, 2018

I started my lean journey many years ago while working in the motorcycle industry. I was a parts and accessories manager for a BMW Motorcycles dealership in the Monterey Bay area of California. This dealership had been in business

You Want Me to Do What!?!

By Steve Kane - August 24th, 2018

I coach a variety of teams in diverse industries in the area of continuous improvement. A common struggle is overcoming an obstacle that is often perceived as resistance to change. Improvement is Inherent Change for the better s

Set Full Sail

By Steve Kane - June 22nd, 2018

Getting started with lean in an existing organization challenging on many levels. Often some of the most important steps in a lean journey are not recognized. A common place people think they start is with 5S. It’s an

Instructions Aren’t Enough

By Steve Kane - May 25th, 2018

During a recent airline emergency, cabin pressure was lost and the oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling. Passengers donned the masks, but not quite as instructed. Mobile phone videos of the incident showed many passengers wearing th

Where Do I Start with Lean?

By Steve Kane - April 27th, 2018

Where should I start with Lean? is a common question we receive at Gemba Academy. Some say starting with 5S is a must. Others favor eliminating the seven deadly wastes. Others still suggest value stream mapping. A great question

Avoid the Ambush

By Steve Kane - February 23rd, 2018

As I’m writing this, I’m attending the Toyota Kata Summit in Atlanta. The early keynotes of the conference touched on several important aspects of Lean leadership. Among them were the general topic of respect for people

Big Decisions Don’t Lead to Results

By Steve Kane - January 26th, 2018

The Big Idea January’s the month for resolutions–big decisions to make significant changes in one’s life. Celebration of the new year offers a sense of renewal and opportunity for change. While the month of Januar

Happy Thanksgiving

By Steve Kane - November 23rd, 2017

During this time of Thanksgiving we would like to express to you our sincere appreciation to each and every one of you for reading our blog, listening to our podcast, and watching our videos. Because of you, we are able to do the wor

I Feel Better Already

By Steve Kane - October 27th, 2017

A customer recently contacted me to let me know that business conditions had changed and he would be unable to put his Gemba Academy subscription to use. He was consumed with several business problems to solve at once and was working

There’s Value in Simple, Visual and Manual Systems

By Steve Kane - September 22nd, 2017

The advancement of technology of the years has put the sum of human knowledge at our fingertips. We can look up pretty much anything we want to know in a matter of seconds. Data systems have enabled us to see details of our busines

Questions from a Gemba Academy Subscriber

By Steve Kane - August 25th, 2017

When customers start a subscription with Gemba Academy we like to start with discussion about how we can help them meet their Lean goals. A recent new customer was very well prepared for our conversation and had four prepared question

Why I Mow My Own Lawn

By Steve Kane - July 28th, 2017

There are things you should do yourself and other things you should pay someone else to do It seems that, for many people, there is no uncertainty about which category lawn maintenance falls into. This is why lawn maintenance compani

“I Didn’t Teach the Dog Anything”

By Steve Kane - June 23rd, 2017

The Dog is a Handful I have a Jack Russell Terrier named Kirby. Kirby has some–how should I put it–less than desirable behavioral traits. He’s a great dog most of the time. Other times, he can be a handful. Fo

Lean Outside of Manufacturing

By Steve Kane - May 26th, 2017

There are so many examples of lean in manufacturing that it can be easy to understand how well-suited the methodology is for that industry. Folks in other types of organizations and roles often comment that it is difficult to transla

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