Lean Office

276 Articles

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 147 | How to Succeed at Value Stream Mapping with Beau Keyte

By Jessica Bush - January 26th, 2017

This week’s guest is Beau Keyte, an author and performance improvement coach with an impressive background. Ron and Beau discussed both editions of The Complete Lean Enterprise, the evolution of Value Stream Mapping, and more. An

How Do I Teach My Team?

By Steve Kane - January 20th, 2017

I like to think that a large part of a leader’s job is to teach, coach, mentor and inspire.  And, working for people who do this well is often a great experience.  The trouble is that there is typically little, if any, training

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

Monitoring Agency Revises Date for Peak Lean

By Jon Miller - October 19th, 2011

October 19, 2011 Brussels (AP) One of the world’s leading efficiency trends monitoring agency, the Organization of Practitioners in Lean Enterprise Advancement and Sustainability (OPLEAS) issued a statement today revising the exp

With New Technology, Where Should We Go?

By Jon Miller - September 15th, 2011

According to a Wall Street Journal article from September 15, 2011, With New Technology, Start-Ups Go Lean start-ups are purportedly adopting a lean approach with the aid of new technology. However, this claim can be deceptive if we in

Lean Government Example: Defect Display Board

By Jon Miller - September 3rd, 2011

Here is a photo I took while on a hike through a state park with some family members one summer. Whether through an individual initiative by a park ranger or as part of a lean government initiative by Washington State, it is a great ex

Knowledge Workers Stand Up for a Healthier Workplace

By Jon Miller - September 2nd, 2011

The use of standing desks by knowledge workers is starting to go mainstream, according to an article by the Wall Street Journal titled Standing Desks Are on the Rise. Focusing mainly on Silicon Valley firms such as Google and Facebook,

The Non-Standard Semantics of Standardization

By Jon Miller - October 31st, 2010

The words standard, standards, and standardization with their associated concepts and meanings cause a lot of trouble for lean thinkers and others whose intentions are to promote continuous improvement without the lean label. A basic p

Practical Pokayoke: Preventing Phone Charger Loss

By Jon Miller - October 19th, 2010

This is an example of a great pokayoke (mistake proofing). My road warrior colleague Kent is prone to forget his phone charger, leaving them plugged in when he departs. The photo above shows the simple yet brilliant application of the

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