Roundtable 6 – Are kaizen events ‘good’?

The ‘posters’ of the Lean Is Good blog have grown to four in number. Each of us brings a different background and set of experiences around Deming, lean, and learning. How could we leverage this diversity of thought and voice for the benefit of our readers? We ‘planned’ and came up with an idea that [...]

Lean Is Good NCAA Tourney Bracket

March madness is here and we have a bracket.  You will need a yahoo account to compete.  We’re not giving anything away so this is for the intrinsically motivated.  The winner will be declared the “NCAA Men’s Basketball Guru” among the readers of the Lean Is God blog. Click here to join. Click on “Join [...]

Roundtable 5 – How do you teach lean ‘up’ the organization?

The ‘posters’ of the Lean Is Good blog have grown to four in number. Each of us brings a different background and set of experiences around Deming, lean, and learning. How could we leverage this diversity of thought and voice for the benefit of our readers? We ‘planned’ and came up with an idea that [...]

22 Rules, Respecting Humanity?

I recently read a plant newsletter that list 22 keys to forklift safety. Twenty-two.  Many of these are pretty intuitive and are pretty easy to remember if not somewhat ‘natural’ to someone who is used to operating any motor vehicle.  Some forklift operators will probably read this list of rules and integrate a couple of [...]

Rountable 4 – Would you rather have 3 good improvement activities or 1 great one?

The ‘posters’ of the Lean Is Good blog have grown to four in number. Each of us brings a different background and set of experiences around Deming, lean, and learning. How could we leverage this diversity of thought and voice for the benefit of our readers? We ‘planned’ and came up with an idea that [...]

Roundtable 3 – How do you check that you are engaging people?

The ‘posters’ of the Lean Is Good blog have grown to four in number. Each of us brings a different background and set of experiences around Deming, lean, and learning. How could we leverage this diversity of thought and voice for the benefit of our readers? We ‘planned’ and came up with an idea that [...]

Roundtable 2 – How do you measure a year in someone’s life?

The ‘posters’ of the Lean Is Good blog have grown to four in number. Each of us brings a different background and set of experiences around Deming, lean, and learning. How could we leverage this diversity of thought and voice for the benefit of our readers? We ‘planned’ and came up with an idea that [...]

Undercover Boss

The other night after the Superbowl (congratulations to the Saints) CBS debuted a new reality show that has gotten minor play in the lean blogosphere (here, curious cat, and LeanBlog). The premise of the show is bosses going undercover to do the actual work that happens in their companies. 

How do you measure the life of a woman or a man?

Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand Six Hundred Minutes.  One year. Over the last couple months we have posted several times on annual performance appraisals (The Jackass Fallacy,  Dan Pink’s & W. Edward’s Deming’s take on motivation,  Bryan suggests a better way, and competition among peers.)

Rountable 1 – Are lean certifications good?

The ‘posters’ of the Lean Is Good blog have grown to four in number.  Each of us brings a different background and set of experiences around Deming, lean, and learning.  How could we leverage this diversity of thought and voice for the benefit of our readers?  We ‘planned’ and came up with an idea that [...]

Book Review – Lead Well and Prosper

Lead Well and Prosper | Nick McCormick | Be Good Publishing Nick McCormick’s Lead Well and Prosper, subtitled 15 Successful Strategies for Becoming a Good Manager, follows fictional manager Joe “Joker” Kerr as he inflicts his leadership upon poor Wanda B. Goode, who must suffer Joe’s dysfunctional management for our benefit, allowing us to learn [...]

Introducing Kim Galizio

The Lean Is Good Blog welcomes Kim Galizio.  Kim has an extensive background in TPM, Autonomous Maintenance, and maintenance in lean organizations.  He is an apprenticeship trained pipe fitter and an accomplished amateur guitarist.  He introduced to me to the new paradigm about 16 years ago.  Kim’s inaugural post is here. Bruce

News Flash, Lean Is Good — for Fashion

Outsourcing May Be Slowing Down Apparel Firms | Marguerite Rigoglioso | Stanford Graduate School of Business News.   I found an article on the Stanford Graduate School of Business News site written by Marguerite Rigoglioso reviewing research done by Gerard Cachon of Wharton and Robert Swinney of Stanford Graduate School of Business.  The title, Outsourcing [...]

Undercover Boss – Going to the Gemba on CBS

Genchi gembutsu.  Go to the gemba.  The importance of going to the ‘actual place’ to see the ‘actual thing.’  It’s something that lean practitioners value a lot.  CBS’s new reality show, Undercover Boss, premiering on February 7th after the Superbowl is where corporate leaders do just that – the voyeuristic ritual of reality shows goes [...]

Competition Among Peers – Deming’s Third Deadly Disease

Last week I did a posts here and here (and Bryan offered a different paradigm here) about the external motivation (carrot and stick) assumption of many performance evaluation / merit pay systems.  We’re calling this the “jackass series”. Let’s talk about another assumption that underlies many of these systems – competition between peers increases productivity [...]