Lean Archives | Page 19 of 68

GA 352 | Defining, Executing, and Aligning Winning with Billy Taylor

By Jessica Bush - December 31st, 2020

This week we’re sharing the audio of our recent Billy Taylor livestream. Billy is a lean powerhouse and his presentation is packed with practical and profound wisdom. If you’re looking for some New Year’s inspiration,

GA 351 | The Biggest Truth and Lie in Life with Lili Boyanova

By Jessica Bush - December 24th, 2020

This week’s guest is Lili Boyanova. Lili shared some of what she’s learned about lean so far and her vision for the future. Lili also asked Ron some pretty profound questions about life and lean. A MP3 audio version of this

GA 350 | Emphasizing the Process with Cristian Goyzueta

By Jessica Bush - December 17th, 2020

This week’s guest is Cristian Goyzueta. Cristian is relatively new to continuous improvement but had a wealth of knowledge to share. Cristian and Ron covered quite a few different topics, ranging from ISO to visual management and

Better Living through Algorithms

By Jon Miller - December 14th, 2020

I’ve been reflecting on an article from June of this year. It’s about Daniel Kahneman’s efforts to help organizations to become better at decision-making. He is a Nobel Prize winning psychologist and behavioral econo

Norman Bodek and Respect for People

By Kevin Meyer - December 11th, 2020

Yesterday I learned of the passing of Norman Bodek and I have been reflecting on the impact this great man had on my life and career – and the lean and business world in general. A quarter century ago I was a new operations manag

GA 349 | Lean and Sports with Richard Henderson

By Jessica Bush - December 10th, 2020

This week’s guest is Richard Henderson. Richard has applied lean in various settings, and he shared some of what he’s learned over the years. Richard also plays and coaches soccer, and he and Ron discussed how lean relates

Simpler Definitions of Muri, Muda and Mura

By Jon Miller - December 7th, 2020

In the Lean lexicon are three Japanese words that describe the nature of losses in a system. They are muri, muda and mura. In English these are often translated as overburden, waste and variation. The seven types of waste are well-know

What is the Biggest Truth in Life?

By Ron Pereira - December 4th, 2020

Earlier this week one of my podcast guests turned the tables and asked me a few questions. I was fully prepared for a few traditional continuous improvement themed questions but, as it turns out, the first question, in particular, was

GA 348 | Communicating Respect in Lean with Tejas Munot

By Jessica Bush - December 3rd, 2020

This week’s guest is Tejas Munot. Tejas shared what he learned during his time at VIBCO Vibrators, the importance of respect, and more. Tejas also interviewed Ron about HIS lean journey thus far. A MP3 audio version of this episo

Gratitude as a Performance Metric?

By Jon Miller - November 30th, 2020

Each year during the November harvest festival, I take time to reflect on thankfulness. This year it’s less about appreciating the fruits of efforts, payoffs from sacrifices, or being grateful for seeds sewn long ago. It feels mo

GA 347 | Leveraging Deliberate Practice with Billy Taylor

By Jessica Bush - November 26th, 2020

This week’s guest is Billy Taylor. Formerly the Director of Manufacturing at Goodyear, Billy has an impressive amount of lean knowledge. From the value of diversity, to performance maps, to deliberate practice, you won’t wa

Change Point Management, Accountability and the Seahawk’s Defense

By Jon Miller - November 23rd, 2020

In a few short years, the Seattle Seahawks’ defense has gone from being historically great to the worst ever in terms of yards allowed, through the first half of the 2020 season. Fans are agonizing over this, calling for the head

GA 346 | Navigating the Gemba with Jay Hodge

By Jessica Bush - November 19th, 2020

This week’s guest is Jay Hodge. Ron and Jay discussed the confusion around the word gemba and how gemba relates to kaizen. Jay has worked at GM, Toyota, and Caterpillar, to name a few, so he shared what it’s like to make th

Lean Thinking and the Swiss Cheese Model

By Jon Miller - November 16th, 2020

This pandemic has introduced many new terms and concepts into the popular consciousness. We work to flatten the curve. Policies now state that some businesses and jobs as essential. We are aware of the dangers of asymptomatic transmiss

GA 345 | Hearing for the First Time with Adam Alamade

By Jessica Bush - November 12th, 2020

This week’s guest is Adam Alamade. Adam works for a cochlear implant manufacturer and he described how they use continuous improvement. He and Ron also discussed dealing with resistance, owning problems, developing habits, and mo

Five 5 Why Fallacies to Avoid

By Jon Miller - November 9th, 2020

I was updating a few old articles on problem solving and came across some notes from a few years ago. These notes were on topics related to root cause analysis that I’ve written or spoken about. I picked out a few old favorites a

The Winning Link with Billy Taylor

By Ron Pereira - November 6th, 2020

Gemba Academy is entering the “live stream” movement. We’ve obviously had some experience with video based learning over the years and we’ve also done many webinars which, technically, is a streaming event. Bu

GA 344 | Learning Lean Lessons From Powerful Stories with Steven Jackson

By Jessica Bush - November 5th, 2020

This week’s guest is Steven Jackson. Steven shared some incredible stories that have clear parallels to continuous improvement. This episode really demonstrates the effect this kind of thinking can have on human lives, past, pres

GA 343 | The Role of Ops Leaders in Integrating Lean with Jamie Parker

By Jessica Bush - October 29th, 2020

This week’s guest is Jamie Parker. Ron and Jamie discussed the role and responsibilities of ops leaders, and the challenges they face. Jamie also explained why “implementing” lean might not be the best approach. A M

Learning from the Scientific Skepticism of the Amazing Randi

By Jon Miller - October 26th, 2020

Growing up in Japan in the 1970s, I was exposed to a lot of entertainment about supernatural or extraordinary phenomena. In books and on TV, there were what seemed at the time like serious investigations of UFOs, ghosts, ESP and crypto

Stop Being the Expert and Be a Coach

By Steve Kane - October 23rd, 2020

I wrote the article below a few years ago and wanted to revisit it and include some thoughts on how this relates to coaching. “If I am wiser. . . it is because I know that I do not know.” ~ Socrates Is it possible that expe

GA 342 | Lean, Law, and Automation with Andrew Shapiro-Zysk

By Jessica Bush - October 22nd, 2020

This week’s guest is Andrew Shapiro-Zysk. Andrew explained how lean is being used in the legal profession, including dealing with pushback. He and Ron also discussed the power of automation and avoiding automating waste. A MP3 au

Queues These Days as Reminders of Little’s Law

By Jon Miller - October 19th, 2020

I’ve never been fond of queues. It’s not so much the standing and waiting that bothers me. Instead, it’s the reminder that queue exists because there is an imperfection in the process that prevents smooth flow. Of cou

GA 341 | Exploring Quantum Lean with Sean Fields and Michael Sanders

By Jessica Bush - October 15th, 2020

This week’s guests are Sean Fields and Michael Sanders. Together with Ron they discussed the concept of quantum lean and how it can be used to streamline processes. They also explored how quantum lean compares to value stream map

Lean Lessons from Soviet Supermarket Failures

By Jon Miller - October 12th, 2020

I came across the story of How the Supermarket Helped America Win the Cold War while catching up on past episodes of the Freakonomics Radio podcast. It tells of the role the American supermarket played in the downfall of communism in t

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