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18 Articles
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Safety In Numbers: What Message Are We Sending?

By Steve Kane - June 17th, 2016

Guest contribution by Jamie Parker “Don’t tell the team. I don’t want to be the reason our number goes back to zero.” These are the words a front-line team member shared with her plant manager after sustaining an injury. You se

5 Thoughts On Dealing With Leadership Resistance

By Steve Kane - November 20th, 2015

By Steve Kane Gemba Academy recently conducted a one-question survey. The question was “What are you struggling with on your continuous improvement journey?” The most common response was related to dealing with leadership resistanc

Improvement Through Personal Fulfillment

By Steve Kane - October 16th, 2015

By Steve Kane Tony Robbins is well known for his motivational speaking, books, interviews and articles.  A consistent theme in his work is the six human needs. 1. Certainty: assurance you can avoid pain and gain pleasure 2. Uncertaint

Thomas Merton and Dalai Lama

Discovering the Inner Merton

By Kevin Meyer - October 9th, 2015

By Kevin Meyer If you are too obsessed with success, you will forget to live. If you have learned only how to be a success, your life has probably been wasted. ― Thomas Merton, Love and Living Sometimes there are dots just waiting to

Standard Work Saved a Company

By Steve Kane - September 18th, 2015

By Steve Kane I’ve been an aviation enthusiast most of my life. I started flying sailplanes a couple of years ago and recently transitioned to power planes. The first lesson in flying is an introduction to standard work—specifical

Discovering the Value of People

By Kevin Meyer - September 11th, 2015

By Kevin Meyer Big news in the business world: Wal-Mart is famous for keeping costs down, including employee-related costs. In Joplin, the company is testing a new approach: investing in workers through higher wages and training, on th

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Owning Numerical Ignorance

By Kevin Meyer - August 14th, 2015

Earlier this year I discussed the value created by writing by hand.  By writing on whiteboards or scribbling in a notebook, ownership, learning, and understanding is created. Similarly, truly understanding numbers creates ownership,

You’re Good When You Think You’re Bad

By Kevin Meyer - July 10th, 2015

By Kevin Meyer Well over a decade ago I created my first lean enterprise assessment, just as a tool to help me understand gaps in my organization.  I’m generally loathe to use such tools as they are often misinterpreted, gamed,

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The Value of Uber and Airbnb

By Kevin Meyer - June 12th, 2015

By Kevin Meyer The following is not an advertisement, even if it sounds like it. I will admit I am a big fan of Uber and use the service pretty much anytime I travel. Now that they’re in my relatively small town, I might start us

Slow… or Just Observant?

By Kevin Meyer - May 1st, 2015

By Kevin Meyer The recent earthquake in Nepal has led me to reflect a bit on the importance of observation.  Just over a year ago my wife and I were in Nepal, visiting various locations in the Kathmandu valley as well as Pokhara and B

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