Leadership

878 Articles

Preparing for Reflection

By Kevin Meyer - December 8th, 2017

“We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience.” – John Dewey I’ve written before about how I’ve worked hard to develop a practice of reflection… daily, monthly, and a

GA 192 | How to Use Visual Management with Julie Lushbough

By Jessica Bush - December 7th, 2017

This week’s guest is Julie Lushbough. Julie works for Hallmark and shared her lean journey with us, including her experience using visual management. An MP3 version of this episode is available for download here. In this episode

GA 191 | How to Reflect on the Roles of Fear and Love in Continuous Improvement with Renée Smith

By Jessica Bush - November 30th, 2017

This week’s guest is Renée Smith, a Lean Transformation Services Director for the State of Washington. Renée shared her fascinating findings on fear, love, and their roles in continuous improvement. An MP3 version of this episo

GA 190 | How to Use Lean in Software Development vs. Operations with Tom and Mary Poppendieck

By Jessica Bush - November 23rd, 2017

This week’s guests are Tom and Mary Poppendieck. Tom and Mary discussed the role that lean plays in software development, versus in more traditional operational contexts. An MP3 version of this episode is available for download h

GA 189 | How to Use Kata in Healthcare with Brandon Brown

By Jessica Bush - November 16th, 2017

This week we’re bringing you a keynote by Brandon Brown from the TWI/Kata conference earlier this year. Brandon shared some truly powerful examples of how kata can change lives, especially in healthcare. An MP3 version of this ep

GA 188 | How to Understand the Components of Kata with Brandon Brown

By Jessica Bush - November 9th, 2017

This week’s guest is Brandon Brown. Brandon provided us with a comprehensive breakdown of both the improvement and coaching katas, in anticipation of our upcoming kata course. An MP3 version of this episode is available for downl

Do This and Lean Success Is Far More Likely

By Ron Pereira - November 3rd, 2017

Getting started with continuous improvement is hard.  But, I think it’s safe to say that sustaining continuous improvement over the long run is even harder. At Gemba Academy we mentor and coach hundreds of lean and six sigma pra

GA 187 | How to Leverage the Improvement and Coaching Katas with Mark Rosenthal

By Jessica Bush - November 2nd, 2017

This week we’re giving you a sneak peek of our upcoming kata course. Ron explains why kata is so valuable, and we’ve also included some great clips from Mark Rosenthal’s classroom instruction. An MP3 version of this e

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

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

GA 185 | How to Use Lean to Create Value with Steve Kane

By Jessica Bush - October 19th, 2017

This week we’re sharing a keynote by our own Steve Kane, from a recent conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Steve provided some powerful perspective on what lean is really all about, and why we need it so much. An MP3 version of

GA 184 | How to Become a Better Problem Solver with Kelly Moore

By Jessica Bush - October 12th, 2017

This week’s guest is Kelly Moore, longtime friend and customer of Gemba Academy. Ron and Kelly discussed problem solving and all the different ways you can approach it, including Toyota Kata, PDCA, and more. An MP3 version of thi

GA 183 | How to Approach Lean with Michael Ballé

By Jessica Bush - October 5th, 2017

This week’s guest is Michael Ballé. Michael recently co-authored a new book, The Lean Strategy. Ron and Michael discussed the contents of the book and why the idea of lean as a strategy is so controversial. An MP3 version of th

GA 182 | How to Use the “5 Why” Method with Jon Miller

By Jessica Bush - September 28th, 2017

This week’s guest is GA Co-Founder Jon Miller. Jon explained the “5 Why” method and how it can be used to effectively determine root causes and solve problems. An MP3 version of this episode is available for download

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

GA 181 | How to Start Your Lean Journey with Steve Kane

By Jessica Bush - September 21st, 2017

This week’s guest is our Director of Customer Success, Steve Kane. Steve and Ron discussed the best mindsets and approaches for beginning a lean journey. They also covered some of the problems that may arise. An MP3 version of th

GA 180 | How to Use Total Productive Maintenance with Jeff Gregory

By Jessica Bush - September 14th, 2017

This week’s guest is Jeff Gregory, a consultant with a strong industry background. Jeff and Ron talked all about TPM, OEE, and much more. Even if you’re not in manufacturing, there’s a lot to learn in this episode. An

GA 179 | How to Leverage Continuous Improvement in the Office with Jim Pecoraro

By Jessica Bush - September 7th, 2017

This week’s guest is consultant Jim Pecoraro. Jim and Ron discussed applying continuous improvement beyond manufacturing, specifically in an office or otherwise administrative context. An MP3 version of this episode is available

lean monument

Monuments to the Lean Journey

By Kevin Meyer - September 1st, 2017

Nearly two decades ago I had left the medical device industry to jump into telecom photonics equipment.  My team was responsible for the operations side of a facility that was a recently-acquired startup in the space, with a product 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

GA 176 | How to Be a Transformative Leader with Amir Ghannad

By Jessica Bush - August 17th, 2017

This week’s guest is Amir Ghannad, author and leadership specialist. Amir talked about his book, The Transformative Leader, and explained the differences between change and transformation. An MP3 version of this episode is availa

GA 175 | How to Be Resilient with Ria Story

By Jessica Bush - August 10th, 2017

This week’s guest is Ria Story, author, speaker, coach, and wife of last week’s guest Mack Story. Ria shared her incredibly inspirational background with us, and explained how to be resilient. This episode does mention some

GA 174 | How to Foster Leadership in the Blue-Collar Workforce with Mack Story

By Jessica Bush - August 3rd, 2017

This week’s guest is consultant and speaker Mack Story. Mack talked about his experiences sharing leadership development skills with the blue-collar workforce. This is a powerful episode that really sheds light on what it means t

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

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