Lean Archives | Page 13 of 68

Have Faith & Trust the Process

By Ron Pereira - April 1st, 2022

My family and I are going through a difficult time right now with a personal situation. Thankfully everyone is healthy…but we have been dealt a blow. After I shared the situation with a close friend, who knows me very well, they

GA 417 | Steel Toes and Stilettos with Kathy Miller and Shannon Karels

By Jessica Bush - March 31st, 2022

This week’s guests are Kathy Miller and Shannon Karels. They shared what it’s like being women in manufacturing, their experiences leading lean transformations, and the inspiration behind their book Steel Toes and Stilettos

GA 416 | JELD-WEN’s Lean Journey with Gregg Miner

By Jessica Bush - March 24th, 2022

This week’s guest is Gregg Miner. Ron asked Gregg about his personal lean journey and JELD-WEN’s lean journey. Gregg also shared some great advice on goal setting. An MP3 audio version of this episode is available for downl

Why Lean Programs Don’t Work

By Jon Miller - March 22nd, 2022

While reading a Knowledge@Wharton article on the subject of why employee wellness programs don’t work, I found myself thinking about why lean programs don’t always seem to work. Management professor Iwan Barnakay found, “Well

GA 415 | Reacting vs. Responding with Sumit Gupta

By Jessica Bush - March 17th, 2022

This week’s guest is Sumit Gupta. Ron and Sumit discussed various aspects of leadership, including what it means to be a leader, dealing with different personality types, and more. An MP3 audio version of this episode is availabl

GA 414 | The Characteristics of a Good Leader with Richard Sheridan

By Jessica Bush - March 10th, 2022

This week’s guest is Richard Sheridan. Ron and Rich discussed Rich’s two books, Joy, Inc. and Chief Joy Officer. Rich also shared what qualities he thinks make a good leader. An MP3 audio version of this episode is availabl

Top 8 Reasons Teams Abandon Their Visuals

By Jon Miller - March 7th, 2022

Reader Dan made a great suggestion in a comment to a recent article on using artifacts to make thinking visible, “Next you might delve into why visuals are sometimes abandoned by teams.” Abandoned visual controls, outd

5 Ways to Be More Grateful and Why Lean Thinkers Should Care

By Ron Pereira - March 4th, 2022

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but the parent of all others.” -Cicero I’ve been thinking about gratefulness a lot lately. Being grateful is something I try to do…but often fail at. There are many

GA 413 | Understanding the Constraint with Hezi Korn

By Jessica Bush - March 3rd, 2022

This week’s guest is Hezi Korn. Ron and Hezi discussed TOC and how to identify and evaluate your constraints before automating anything. They also touched on some other important lean tools. An MP3 audio version of this episode i

Using Artifacts to Make Our Thinking Visible

By Jon Miller - February 28th, 2022

In sports, statecraft, gambling, and other competitive endeavors, it often pays to hide one’s thoughts and true intentions. What we indicate and what we actually intend are often different. We hold our cards close to the chest an

Continuous Improvement Development for Leadership and Professionals

By Steve Kane - February 25th, 2022

This article was written by John Knotts. John is a senior coach at Gemba Academy. If you have studied anything about change management, you will have seen some type of change model; I embrace the change continuum model shown below bu

GA 412 | Lean and Design with Andy Switky

By Jessica Bush - February 24th, 2022

This week’s guest is Andy Switky. Ron and Andy discussed lean thinking versus design thinking, and what the two worlds could learn from each other. An MP3 audio version of this episode is available for download here. In this epis

How to Let Small Things Bother You

By Jon Miller - February 21st, 2022

An interesting New York Times article points out how many of us have become desensitized to the dangers of this pandemic over the past couple of years. This is due to the constant alarm bells that ring, without always seeing real dange

GA 411 | Practicing Lean in High School with David Tuttle

By Jessica Bush - February 17th, 2022

This week’s guest is David Tuttle. David is the head of Precision Machining Technology at Platt Technical High School, and he explained how the program works and how it can be life-changing for students. An MP3 audio version of t

Formalism for Forms

By Jon Miller - February 14th, 2022

One thing I’ve been doing a lot lately in my job at Gemba Academy is preparation. Specifically, I’m making sure that we have the graphics, figures, and forms our video editors need to do their job smoothly. The audio portio

Leverage the Power of Safety to Drive Cultural Transformation

By Kevin Meyer - February 11th, 2022

Earlier this week our good friend Mark Graban at Lean Blog reminded me of an article on how former Alcoa CEO Paul O’Neill focused on improving workplace safety, which contributed to driving growth from $3 billion in 1987 to $27 b

GA 410 | Are You Winning or Losing? with Max Krug and Pavel Kuviarzin

By Jessica Bush - February 10th, 2022

This week’s guests are Max Krug and Pavel Kuviarzin. Part Two of a recent episode, Max and Pavel discuss everything from root cause analysis and problem-solving, to sustaining success. They also stressed the importance of visual

Towards A Practice Pattern for Gratitude

By Jon Miller - February 7th, 2022

Between food, family, and the feeling of gratitude, Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It’s easy to be thankful when our blessings cover and surround the dining room table. Even when we have little, or when we face stru

The Continuous Improvement Culture Model

By Ron Pereira - February 4th, 2022

This article was written by John Knotts, a Senior Coach here at Gemba Academy In September, we started our journey of Building a Culture of Continuous Improvement. In that first article, I discussed the concept of my model I use to

GA 409 | Continuous Improvement at Douglas Dynamics with Shannan Vlieger

By Jessica Bush - February 3rd, 2022

This week’s guest is Shannan Vlieger. Ron and Shannan talked all about Douglas Dynamics and their management system, DDMS. Shannan explained the five levers of DDMS and why they’re important. An MP3 audio version of this ep

Leader Standard Work for Time and Contingency Planning

By Jon Miller - January 31st, 2022

Many of us make plans or set intentions to improve some aspect of our lives early in the year, or after a break or period of reflection. We may want to prepare healthier meals, exercise more, increase our earnings, get better at guitar

Building A Culture Of Continuous Improvement Part Two

By Steve Kane - January 28th, 2022

This article was written by John Knotts, a Senior Coach here at Gemba Academy. This is the fourth in a series of five articles written by John. The previous three are hyperlinked below: Over the last three months, we have covered th

GA 408 | Lean and Life Coaches with Sarah Tilkens

By Jessica Bush - January 27th, 2022

This week’s guest is Sarah Tilkens. Sarah talked about her journey as a leader at GE and how she has embraced her true self in the process. Sarah also explained her interest in becoming a life coach. An MP3 audio version of thi

From Lean Workplaces to Empowered Work Spaces

By Jon Miller - January 24th, 2022

We could describe what lean management does as an exercise in threefold rearrangement. First, we rearrange what’s in our minds. This often begins with our attitude about what is our isn’t “my job”. It includes h

GA 407 | Choosing an Approach to Lean and Six Sigma with John Knotts

By Jessica Bush - January 20th, 2022

This week’s guest is John Knotts, Senior Coach at Gemba Academy. Ron and John took a deep dive into process improvement versus project-based approaches, and why the two can and should coexist. An MP3 audio version of this episode

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