Kaizen Archives | Page 6 of 12

GA 186 | How to Transition into Different Lean Roles with Jess Orr

By Jessica Bush - October 26th, 2017

This week’s guest is Jess Orr. Ron sat down with Jess at AME Boston to discuss her transition from working at Toyota to taking on a new role at another company. An MP3 version of this episode is available for download here. In t

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

GA 177 | How to Think Like Toyota with Tracey and Ernie Richardson

By Jessica Bush - August 24th, 2017

This week’s guests are Tracey and Ernie Richardson. Tracey and Ernie talked about their new book The Toyota Engagement Equation and about their personal lean journeys. An MP3 version of this episode is available for download her

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

GA 166 | How to “Win” at Lean with Paul Critchley

By Jessica Bush - June 8th, 2017

This week’s guest is Paul Critchley, a lean consultant with a diverse background. Paul and Ron discussed some of the roadblocks organizations typically experience on their lean journeys, as well as what it means to be “win

GA 158 | The Importance of Employee Engagement with Deondra Wardelle

By Jessica Bush - April 13th, 2017

Today’s guest is Deondra Wardelle, who we met at this year’s KataCon conference in San Diego, California. Deondra is a Corporate Lean Director at MPS, or Multi Packaging Solutions. Ron and Deondra discussed employee engagem

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

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

McProcess

By Steve Kane - February 17th, 2017

I recently saw the movie “The Founder”— the story of Ray Kroc and the McDonald’s empire. The movie does a good job of illustrating what one can do with the right opportunity, enough drive, and a lot of moral flexibility. We’l

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

Toyota’s 8 Step Practical Problem Solving, Revisited

By Jon Miller - August 5th, 2015

The practical problem solving steps… It is too early to talk about solutions. It is still too early to talk about solutions. It is still too early to talk about solutions. It is still too early to talk about solutions. Did som

There’s More to Nemawashi than Consensus

By Jon Miller - August 3rd, 2015

A local grocery store has been doing some major remodeling. This summer they redesigned their parking lot, including new landscaping. A number of young oak trees were planted in the soil beds dividing the parking area into sections. Th

The Three Rules for Rules

By Jon Miller - March 8th, 2013

Many individuals view rules, standards, and policies as constricting, even at the mere mention of them. It is true that rules which are inadequately designed and implemented can be restrictive. Nevertheless, a complete absence of rules

The Best Kaizen is Still Better Kaizen

By Jon Miller - October 1st, 2012

It’s quite unexpected to be quoted, particularly when I have no recollection or record of it. Nevertheless, I stand by these words of mine, originally published in The Daily Kaizen blog by the experienced lean practitioners at Gr

Visualizing the Benefit of Small Improvement Steps

By Jon Miller - September 21st, 2012

One of the foundational principles of kaizen is that one takes many small steps toward the ideal condition, continually. The strength of this approach is that by keeping the steps small it is both psychologically and physically easier

Innovation is Nothing but ECRS

By Jon Miller - August 21st, 2012

Kirby Ferguson explains in a TED video that Everything is a remix. What seems new is actually something old, but changed. This is a familiar idea in the continuous improvement field, and a place of significant overlap with the nuts and

Hack Days, 20% Time and Kaizen Events

By Jon Miller - August 9th, 2012

The 20%Doctrine How Tinkering, Goofing Off, and Breaking the Rules at Work Drive Success in Business by Ryan Tate introduces the concept of “hack days” popularized by software development teams within companies such as Goog

Kaizen Transformation Update from Procon Engineering

By Jon Miller - June 4th, 2012

We have shared updates on the kaizen journey at Procon Engineering of Karachi, Pakistan from time to time (TPM story, COPQ story). S.M. Junaid has been very patient with me over the past few months, sending me news which I have not pos

Where is Your Suggestion Box?

By Jon Miller - May 15th, 2012

The placement of a suggestion box within an organization speaks volumes about their level of commitment and sophistication in pursuing customer service, quality and continuous improvement. The example above was in the lobby of a county

How to do Hansei

By Jon Miller - May 4th, 2012

I am wrapping up a fairly intensive period of reflection. This week was the first board meeting since the merger of Gemba Research and Kaizen Institute nearly 18 months ago. It has been a time of challenge, opportunity and personal gro

Kaizen and the Moisture Content of Fabrics

By Jon Miller - December 2nd, 2011

Fabric is one of the oldest technological artifacts of humanity. Water is essential to our survival and ubiquitous in our daily lives. So it is fitting that these two things come together in a metaphor about kaizen – changing thi

Live Seminar: Built-in Quality, Dallas – Dec. 5, 2011

By Jon Miller - November 28th, 2011

Peterbilt Motors, Gemba Academy and Kaizen Institute are pleased to present a half-day live workshop on Monday December 5th 2011 on the subject of “Built-in Quality”, one of the two pillars of the Toyota Production System h

Batch Answers to Reader Questions

By Jon Miller - November 23rd, 2011

The readers of Gemba Academy have expressed some questions and concerns regarding certain content in the blog articles. I’ll address some of the top concerns. Balancing Non-Value-Added Activities and Overprocessing in Know

Management Improvement Carnival #149

By Jon Miller - November 20th, 2011

I’m honored once again to contribute to the Management Improvement Carnival series which John Hunter at the Curious Cat Management Improvement blog has kept going now to its 149th round. As I looked back over some of the blog pos

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