Gemba Academy

The Easiest Kaizen Trick in the World

By Jon Miller - July 11th, 2016

There are many tips, tricks and techniques that lead to shortcuts on the continuous improvement journey. I call these kaizen tricks. Many so-called “lean games” such as the 5S letter game, the catch ball game, the A puzzle

Back to the Beginning with Ohno, Suzuki, and Yoda

By Kevin Meyer - July 8th, 2016

As I was researching the remarkable similarities between Lean and Zen for my book, The Simple Leader, one of the most interesting – and meaningful – was the concept of the beginner’s mind. Taiichi Ohno said, “Ob

So You Think You Need an A3 Template

By Jon Miller - June 27th, 2016

Problem-solving is a core part of continuous improvement and lean management. The so-called A3 problem-solving method has become mainstream popular. I’m often asked to recommend a template by the people that I coach. I’m re

No Overburden, No Gain?

By Jon Miller - June 20th, 2016

In lean thinking we say there are three undesirable conditions related to any work: waste, variability and overburden. In Japanese they are muda, mura and muri. Of the three, waste is often the main focus of continuous improvement act

Safety In Numbers: What Message Are We Sending?

By Steve Kane - June 17th, 2016

Guest contribution by Jamie Parker “Don’t tell the team. I don’t want to be the reason our number goes back to zero.” These are the words a front-line team member shared with her plant manager after sustaining an injury. You se

How to Start a Fire

By Jon Miller - June 13th, 2016

Humanity’s ability to use fire at will has transformed the quality of life for our species. Fire provides warmth, light, protection from animals, slash-and-burn agriculture, and the ability to make our food tastier and easier to dig

Performance, Not Policy

By Kevin Meyer - June 10th, 2016

Few people realize how employee policy manuals, usually given to you on your first day and then mostly forgotten, shape an organization’s culture and thereby its fundamental performance. To give you a reference point, one company I

“Be Yourself” or Be Who the Customer Needs You to Be?

By Jon Miller - June 6th, 2016

Whether we are trying to be a better leader, team member, or individual performer “be yourself” is a common piece of advice these days. This can be good advice if one is trying too hard to do or be something that they are

How to Become a More Passionate Leader & Person

By Ron Pereira - June 3rd, 2016

Do you want to be part of an incredible culture at work? What about your personal life? Well, in this article I’d like to explore a characteristic I believe to be extremely important for any person, or organization, seeking excelle

8 Attributes of Top-Performing Managers, According to Google

By Jon Miller - May 30th, 2016

One day when our lean consultants are bots, we will ask our smart devices what we need to do to be a top performer in our chosen work. For now, we’ll have to Google it. An interview in Knowledge@Wharton with Brian Welles, the

Hello, My Name is Leanbot

By Jon Miller - May 23rd, 2016

Hello, my name is Leanbot. Don’t be afraid. At the moment I am just an idea in the minds of several lean geeks. Alas, my ability to interact with you is limited to the comment box below. Today I’m just a twinkle in a lean e

A Supervisor’s Strategy to Make Lean Stick

By Steve Kane - May 20th, 2016

By Steve Kane Michelle Trejo is a production supervisor for Specialty Silicone Fabricators, Inc. in Paso Robles, California. She believes in Lean and she believes in her people. Michelle has many leadership successes to her credit.

How to Solve Problems in Just Five Days

By Jon Miller - May 15th, 2016

How can we solve big problems and test new ideas in just five days? If you are at all experienced in lean, you may reply, “Run a kaizen event.” By various names, the five-day rapid improvement workshop has been helping comp

The Reward of Just Doing It

By Kevin Meyer - May 13th, 2016

A few years ago I starting playing around with a book concept that described several personal and professional leadership methods and habits I had developed over my three decade career. I collected ideas, supporting information, and wo

When Does Fermented Squid Go Bad? And Other Management Questions

By Jon Miller - May 9th, 2016

How long does shiokara, or fermented fish guts last? Just a pinch of it is enough to make a bowl of plain white rice burst with flavor. It starts out tasting, smelling and looking rotten. So how would you know? This is a good question

2 Apps That Have Changed My Life for the Better

By Ron Pereira - May 6th, 2016

I’ve recently started to use two different iPhone apps that have made a dramatic impact on my life. And, don’t worry, if you’re an Android user you’re also in luck since there are apps available for you too. Sleep Cycle Alarm C

Lean Leaders, Darling Killers

By Jon Miller - May 2nd, 2016

Another very good article from Fast Company builds on the insights on how to change minds we highlighted in a previous blog post. The article further explains how the most successful people constantly question their strongest bel

Dance Your Way to Better Team Performance

By Jon Miller - April 25th, 2016

During our monthly coaching conversation last week, one of my customers shared her latest challenges and successes in leading continuous improvement within her organization. To my surprise she added, “Also, my team and I sig

To Be a Lean Coach, Know the Wrong Answers

By Jon Miller - April 18th, 2016

The success of lean systems, and continuous improvement in general, relies on engaging the hands and brains of everyone in the upkeep and renewal of the system. It requires constant practice. It requires a strong will to compete and t

Inspiring a Bias for Action

By Steve Kane - April 15th, 2016

Jamie Parker practices Lean and is passionate about learning and sharing Lean leadership. She has 15 years’ experience in operations management / leadership across retail, service, and manufacturing environments. Jamie serves as

Lean Systems and Robots That Can Say “No”

By Jon Miller - April 11th, 2016

“A robot that follows commands without question could put humans in danger” warns a Scientific American article that argues why robots need to be able to say “no” to our commands. Just as people should not alwa

A Break to Reflect and Unlearn

By Kevin Meyer - April 8th, 2016

By Kevin Meyer Over the past few years I’ve been working hard on cultivating positive habits. New habits can be powerful. But habits can also create barriers that limit our perspective, which can hinder kaizen, creativity, and even o

How to Change Minds

By Jon Miller - April 4th, 2016

One of the most common challenges people face when leading continuous improvement is persuading others to change. We agree that want a different results, we agree that this requires different processes and different behaviors, and we

Employee Engagement Poor, But Not in Retreat

By Jon Miller - March 28th, 2016

The Gallup organization polls adults working for U.S. employers daily by phone, reporting on levels of employee engagement. Each year they alert the world to the crisis of employees engagement. It is consistently around 70% not engage

Half of the Day is Open to Reflection

By Jon Miller - March 21st, 2016

March 20th marked the equinox, when the duration of day and night are roughly equal all over the planet. This day comes twice per year and marks the entry into spring or into autumn. On the equinox, half of the day is day and half is�

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