Lean Archives | Page 35 of 68

How to Avoid the Hazards of Habituation with Standard Work and Kaizen

By Jon Miller - December 4th, 2017

In an oddity of human behavior, we pay more respect to the unfamiliar than to the familiar. This is true towards people, processes and situations. When we meet someone new we are more likely to be polite to them than to a friend or a p

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

Applying the 6 Laws of Tech to Lean

By Jon Miller - November 27th, 2017

Melvin Kranzberg, a professor of the history of technology at Georgia Institute of Technology, came up with six laws to explain society’s unease with technology’s growing power and presence in our lives. This was in the 1980s

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

Wishing Everyone a Granular Thanksgiving

By Jon Miller - November 20th, 2017

Thanksgiving is my favorite American holiday. The football, the food, the time with friends and family. Part of the tradition is to remember and name things that we are thankful for. It’s an occasion to stop and reflect on our bl

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

15 Lean Failure Lessons from Software Development, 3/3

By Jon Miller - November 13th, 2017

Some say that as many as 95% of Lean transformations fail. How could this be? An article The Coming Software Apocalypse in the Atlantic Monthly about the software development world offers insights. This post is the third of a 3-part

The Multi-Faceted Power of Walking

By Kevin Meyer - November 10th, 2017

Walking is man’s best medicine. – Hippocrates Walking has become a much larger part of my life over the past few years. It started when I embraced kinhin – walking meditation. Walking slowly on the beach for an ho

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

15 Lean Failure Lessons from Software Development, 2/3

By Jon Miller - November 6th, 2017

Can it be true that as many as 95% of Lean transformations fail? If so, how? Challenges from the complexities of modern software development offer insights. This post is part 2 of a 3-part exploration, inspired by the article The Comi

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

15 Lean Failure Lessons from Software Development, 1/3

By Jon Miller - October 30th, 2017

Reading the Atlantic Monthly article The Coming Software Apocalypse helped me see the question of “Why do lean transformations fail?” in a new context. This question is usually preceded by statements like “95% of lean

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

Why Aliens Have Yet to Visit Earth

By Jon Miller - October 23rd, 2017

Space is big. The scale of outer space is so grand that humans can’t comprehend it. To boot, humans have difficulty with long-term thinking. This has resulted in an emerging tragedy of the commons, in orbital space. About 95% of

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

How Fresh Starts Motivate Us to Keep Improving

By Jon Miller - October 16th, 2017

When a method works, it works even when we don’t understand how. If we do understand, we can find wider application for the method. So it was interesting to stumble across a human behavior called the fresh start effect as a possi

From Linear to Roundabout Thinking

By Kevin Meyer - October 13th, 2017

Ever since I visited Italy over a decade ago my inner geek has had a fascination with traffic engineering. If you’ve visited Italy, or many similar places, you probably know why. Traffic appears chaotic, thanks in part to wha

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

Why Don’t You Try TPS?

By Jon Miller - October 9th, 2017

“We need to improve our operation.” “Why don’t you try TPS?” “We don’t make cars.” If I had a dollar for every time a client brought up the “we don’t make cars” objection to trying to learn from the Toyota Product

The Dangers of Benchmarking Lean Exemplars

By Ron Pereira - October 6th, 2017

A common practice for folks getting started with lean is to benchmark lean exemplars in order to see what “good” looks like. In fact, there are benchmarking tours to Japan where you can visit companies like Toyota. I ac

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

The Definition of Insanity

By Jon Miller - October 2nd, 2017

Insanity is thinking or behavior that is unreasonable or irrational. Albert Einstein is often credited with observing that insanity is doing the same thing over and over a again and expecting different results. This definition seems to

Lean