Lean Archives | Page 27 of 68

GA 273 | Lean as a Management System with Skip Steward

By Jessica Bush - June 27th, 2019

This week’s guest is Skip Steward. Ron and Skip continued their conversation from Episode 269, diving deeper into scientific thinking, Toyota Kata, management systems, and more. A MP3 audio version of this episode is available fo

Standard Work for Solving Crossword Puzzles

By Jon Miller - June 24th, 2019

Lately I have been having fun solving daily crossword puzzles with my family. By reflecting on both mistakes and successful approaches, I have arrived at a strategy, even something like standard work, for solving crossword puzzles. Ste

GA 272 | The Role of Lean in Empowering People with Disabilities with Brent Weichers

By Jessica Bush - June 20th, 2019

This week’s guest is Brent Weichers of The Lighthouse for the Blind, a non-profit that employs people who are blind, DeafBlind, and blind with other disabilities. He explained the inner workings of this unique organization, and h

Review of The Lean Sensei by Balle, Chartier et al.

By Jon Miller - June 17th, 2019

The Lean Sensei by Michael Ballé, Nicolas Chartier, Pascale Coignet, Sandrine Olivencia, Daryl Powell and Eivind Reke collects the co-authors’ wisdom to answer, “what is a lean sensei and what do they do?” The auth

3 Tips for Overcoming Confirmation Bias

By Ron Pereira - June 14th, 2019

Making decisions is an important part of being human. Some decisions, like which shirt to wear today, aren’t all that important. But other decisions, like which person to marry, are incredibly important. And, to be sure, we c

GA 271 | Scientific Thinking as a Lifestyle with Panos Efsta

By Jessica Bush - June 13th, 2019

This week’s guest is Panos Efsta. Ron and Panos discussed the value of scientific thinking, confirmation bias, and more. An MP3 audio version of this episode is available for download here. In this episode you’ll learn: A

A Surprisingly Simple Gemba Story

By Jon Miller - June 10th, 2019

During a recent workshop, a customer asked me to share some inspiring Lean conversion stories. It was an impromptu request. I did my best but didn’t quite nail it. In hindsight, I think there is a difference between stories abou

Creating Range Through Exploration

By Kevin Meyer - June 7th, 2019

Last weekend I powered through David Epstein’s new book, Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. The book has received rave reviews from the likes of Daniel Pink, who calls it “an essential read for bosses,

GA 270 | The Simplicity of Lean with Philip Holt

By Jessica Bush - June 6th, 2019

This week’s guest is Philip Holt. Philip discussed the books he’s written, the concept of “mosquito leadership,” and more. An MP3 audio version of this episode is available for download here. In this episode you

How to Choose a Continuous Improvement Approach

By Jon Miller - June 3rd, 2019

Most business leaders are at least familiar with one or more of the popular modern management improvement approaches such as BPM, TQM, Six Sigma and Lean. In many large organizations, several of these are being attempted at the same ti

GA 269 | Establishing a Standard Behavior with Skip Steward

By Jessica Bush - May 30th, 2019

This week’s guest is Skip Steward. Ron and Skip had a long conversation all about healthcare and the transformative powers of TWI, Toyota Kata, and more. An MP3 audio version of this episode is available for download here. In thi

Lessons Learned as a Kata Coach

By Steve Kane - May 24th, 2019

I first learned about Toyota Kata many years ago by attending a one-day workshop presented by Beth Carrington. A short time later, I read Toyota Kata and I began practicing. The practice as a new kata coach was difficult for me.

GA 268 | Breaking Down the Seven Wastes with Jeff Kaas

By Jessica Bush - May 23rd, 2019

This week’s guest is Jeff Kaas. We’re sharing the audio from an upcoming course that features Jeff’s company, Kaas Tailored. Using real life examples, Jeff explains each of the seven wastes in a unique and dynamic way

First, Make a Human Connection

By Jon Miller - May 20th, 2019

A recent conversation with a friend of mine who is a continuous improvement director at a sizable North American corporation yielded some personal insights for him and general ones about being a technical change leader. This story is s

GA 267 | The Nature of Coaching with Steve Kane

By Jessica Bush - May 16th, 2019

This week’s guest is our Director of Customer Success, Steve Kane. Ron and Steve talked all about Steve’s coaching journey, including using kata, the power of the right mindset, what it means to be a coach, and more. An MP3

An Introduction to Kaizen

By Jon Miller - May 13th, 2019

Kaizen (改善) is a Japanese word meaning “improvement”. The symbol kai means to change, to renew, to correct something that is wrong, and zen means “good” – there is no relation to Zen Buddhism. The w

Businessman with vampire fangs in the office

The Problem of Profit as a Purpose

By Kevin Meyer - May 10th, 2019

Just yesterday the Harvard Business Review presented an article by a London Business School professor suggesting that companies don’t always need a purpose beyond profit. I had to take a walk on the beach to get my blood pressure

GA 266 | The True Value of Cost Reduction with Amery Williams

By Jessica Bush - May 9th, 2019

This week’s guest is Amery Williams. Ron and Amery discussed cost reduction and its role in continuous improvement, which can sometimes be controversial. An MP3 audio version of this episode is available for download here. In thi

The Pursuit of True Pull

By Jon Miller - May 6th, 2019

A couple of weeks ago I spent the day with Jeff Kaas at his company Kaas Tailored. We discussed their approach to hoshin kanri, gemba walks, visual management, creating flow in a high-mix low-volume environment, and how they are adapti

Ask These 4 Questions During Your Next Coaching Call

By Ron Pereira - May 3rd, 2019

A critical component of our Green Belt and Black Belt certification program are weekly coaching calls. We’ve learned that staying in close contact with our candidates is vital to their success. We’ve also learned that fou

GA 265 | Finding Your Best Way with William Harvey

By Jessica Bush - May 2nd, 2019

This week’s guest is Dr. William Harvey. William and Ron discussed William’s research on Toyota Kata, including his process and what he learned from other lean thinkers. An MP3 audio version of this episode is available for

Akio Toyoda Gets Real

By Jon Miller - April 29th, 2019

The New Year’s message to Toyota employees on January 8, 2019 by CEO Akio Toyoda’s was that times are changing. The automotive industry is in a once-in-a-century technological revolution. Products will need CASE: Connectiv

GA 264 | Repeating the Process of Learning with Dr. Jeffrey Liker

By Jessica Bush - April 25th, 2019

This week we’re sharing an incredible keynote by Dr. Jeffrey Liker that he gave at KataCon5 earlier this year. Dr. Liker shared a wealth of information regarding his background, his lean journey, and the lessons he’s learne

How to Balance Broad Deployment of Lean Tools with Development of Depth of Capability

By Jon Miller - April 22nd, 2019

During his keynote speech at KataCon 5, Jeff Liker shared a question that he is grappling with lately; how to balance the broad deployment of Lean tools with the development of depth of capability of people? By his own admission, his c

GA 263 | Using Lean to Make Life-Changing Decisions with Tyson Ortiz

By Jessica Bush - April 18th, 2019

This week’s guest is Tyson Ortiz. Tyson’s son was born with a congenital heart condition, and Tyson graciously shared how he used kata and scientific thinking as he and his wife navigated their son’s diagnosis. An MP3

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