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Happy Winter Solstice

By Steve Kane - December 18th, 2015

By Steve Kane I always enjoy the holiday season. Not only because of the holidays themselves, but also because of the renewed energy I get from ending one year and beginning another. This is the time to reflect on the year that was

Now, at the Gemba

By Kevin Meyer - December 11th, 2015

By Kevin Meyer If we are not fully ourselves, truly in the present moment, we miss everything. – Thich Nhat Hanh Many people have a problem with letting go of the past – whether painful or pleasant. Not me. I’ve always been able

5 Thoughts On Dealing With Leadership Resistance

By Steve Kane - November 20th, 2015

By Steve Kane Gemba Academy recently conducted a one-question survey. The question was “What are you struggling with on your continuous improvement journey?” The most common response was related to dealing with leadership resistanc

A Reflective Perspective on Schein

By Kevin Meyer - November 13th, 2015

By Kevin Meyer I will take time to be alone today. I will take time to be quiet. In this silence I will listen… and I will hear my answers. – Ruth Fishel One of my great pleasures is going for a walk on the beach a couple blocks fr

Improvement Through Personal Fulfillment

By Steve Kane - October 16th, 2015

By Steve Kane Tony Robbins is well known for his motivational speaking, books, interviews and articles. A consistent theme in his work is the six human needs. 1. Certainty: assurance you can avoid pain and gain pleasure 2. Uncertaint

Discovering the Inner Merton

By Kevin Meyer - October 9th, 2015

By Kevin Meyer If you are too obsessed with success, you will forget to live. If you have learned only how to be a success, your life has probably been wasted. ― Thomas Merton, Love and Living Sometimes there are dots just waiting to

United by Problems

By Jon Miller - October 5th, 2015

Nothing divides people like a solution. It seems the larger the problem, the larger the divide. I am reminded of this painfully with every mass shooting, as we had this past week at a community college in Oregon. We grieve as a natio

Standard Work Saved a Company

By Steve Kane - September 18th, 2015

By Steve Kane I’ve been an aviation enthusiast most of my life. I started flying sailplanes a couple of years ago and recently transitioned to power planes. The first lesson in flying is an introduction to standard work—specifical

Aerofit Fittings - Courtesy of Aerofit.com

AeroFit’s Factory Improvement Team

By Steve Kane - August 21st, 2015

Chris Ferrier, Manufacturing Engineer with AeroFit, was challenged to increase production on a manufacturing line by one part per hour. While this might sound easy, making it happen isn’t. AeroFit makes fluid fittings for aer

There’s More to Nemawashi than Consensus

By Jon Miller - August 3rd, 2015

A local grocery store has been doing some major remodeling. This summer they redesigned their parking lot, including new landscaping. A number of young oak trees were planted in the soil beds dividing the parking area into sections. Th

Lean for Social Good

By Jessica Bush - July 31st, 2015

For most of us, the desire to improve and to be respectful of others is inherent. Many people practice some rudimentary form of lean without even realizing it. Those familiar with lean typically think first of manufacturing, and fo

Jidoka, Self-awareness and the Value of a Lean Coach

By Jon Miller - July 26th, 2015

How do you feel? It’s a simple question that isn’t always easy for some of us to answer without a reference standard. Not too long ago, I didn’t always recognize exactly how I felt. This has changed now, thanks to my tran

The Whole Problem of End-to-End Productivity

By Jon Miller - July 20th, 2015

As the adage attributed to management guru Peter Drucker goes, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” Well, you might be able to improve it by chance or by heroic effort, but not in a sustainable way.

What’s This Thing Called Lean?

By Steve Kane - July 17th, 2015

By Steve Kane My introduction to lean occurred many years ago while working in the motorcycle business. I went to work for a BMW Motorcycles dealer in California as a parts and accessories specialist. My job was to sell cool motor

You’re Good When You Think You’re Bad

By Kevin Meyer - July 10th, 2015

By Kevin Meyer Well over a decade ago I created my first lean enterprise assessment, just as a tool to help me understand gaps in my organization. I’m generally loathe to use such tools as they are often misinterpreted, gamed,

The High Cost of Ignoring Standard Work

By Jon Miller - June 29th, 2015

This June marked the 200th anniversary of the defeat of Napoleon by Wellington at Waterloo, which effectively ended his career as a military and political leader. Reading Andrew Roberts’ excellent book Napoleon: A Life, it became app

How Do You Fight A Fire With A Garden Hose?

By Steve Kane - June 19th, 2015

By Steve Kane Many years ago, I was visiting a friend’s house in Southern California. It was a 1950’s ranch style house with a straight walkway from the street to the door. There was a tall palm tree where the walkway met the s

The Value of Uber and Airbnb

By Kevin Meyer - June 12th, 2015

By Kevin Meyer The following is not an advertisement, even if it sounds like it. I will admit I am a big fan of Uber and use the service pretty much anytime I travel. Now that they’re in my relatively small town, I might start us

GA 061 | Adventurous Thinking with Sally Dominguez

By Ron Pereira - June 4th, 2015

Press the play button above to listen to the episode. If you’re reading this via email or RSS click the image below to listen to the episode. Today’s episode is a little different, in a fantastic way. As an architect, inven

Knowing What I Know Now…

By Jon Miller - June 1st, 2015

This week lean thinker, friend of Gemba Academy and American innovator Paul Akers shared an 11-minute video of an answer he gave to the question, “What would you do if starting over with lean, but knowing everything you know now?

Stress is Good for You (But Only If You’re Told)?

By Jon Miller - May 18th, 2015

Most would agree that stress is bad for our health and well being. When we are under pressure, when we are tense or when we feel uptight, these are all signs stress. Although people with many things going on in their lives, under a l

Solution-Jumping in the 21st Century

By Jon Miller - May 11th, 2015

This is a brief review of Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty with some longer observations on the problem solving process in the book, from a lean management perspective . It is surprisingly readable for a 570 page

What Do You Demonstrate and What Do You Tolerate?

By Steve Kane - May 8th, 2015

By Steve Kane I attended the AME Regional Conference in Denver last week and had some great conversations with Lean practitioners from a wide variety of organizations. It seems the topic of discussion in Lean circles has gravitated a

Three Tips for More Effective Hansei (Reflection)

By Jon Miller - May 4th, 2015

Hansei is a Japanese word meaning “reflection” or “self-reflection”. It has entered the lean vocabulary through the literature on hoshin planning, and more generally through discussions of what actually happen

Slow… or Just Observant?

By Kevin Meyer - May 1st, 2015

By Kevin Meyer The recent earthquake in Nepal has led me to reflect a bit on the importance of observation. Just over a year ago my wife and I were in Nepal, visiting various locations in the Kathmandu valley as well as Pokhara and B

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