Roundtable 6 – Are kaizen events ‘good’?

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[tweetmeme source=”leanisgood” service=”ow.ly” only_single=false]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 we could each briefly answer a question once a week.  We will post a poll so that readers can interact when it is reasonable for the question asked. The order that the answers appear in will be randomized each time. Please join us by adding your comments. We would like to hear from you.

The question:

Are kaizen ‘events’ good? Do they fit in a healthy implementation? When? For what?

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Lean Is Good NCAA Tourney Bracket

[tweetmeme source=”leanisgood” service=”ow.ly” only_single=false]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 a Group.”

The group ID is132025 and the password id “leanisgood”

Good Luck!

Bruce

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

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[tweetmeme source=”leanisgood” service=”ow.ly” only_single=false]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 we could each briefly answer a question once a week.  We will post a poll so that readers can interact when it is reasonable for the question asked. The order that the answers appear in will be randomized each time. Please join us by adding your comments. We would like to hear from you.

The question:

How do you teach lean “up” in the organization? Do some people “up” in the organization learn faster or slower than others? Which ones?

22 Rules, Respecting Humanity?

[tweetmeme source=”leanisgood” service=”ow.ly” only_single=false]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 these keys into their behaviors – they will learn something they will retain on an intuitive level.  The bigger question isn’t really about forklift safety though.  The bigger question goes to the idea of 22 rules.

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

Staatsrat by jonas k under Creative Commons Attribution, Noncommercial, Share Alike

[tweetmeme source=”leanisgood” service=”ow.ly” only_single=false]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 we could each briefly answer a question once a week. Today we ‘do’ it, and we will ‘check’ it after a couple weeks looking for a high rate of comments.   This is the fourth edition of the ’roundtable.’   The first three are here, here and here.   We will post a poll so that readers can interact when it is reasonable for the question asked. The order that the answers appear in will be randomized each time. Please join us by adding your comments. We would like to hear from you.

The question:

All else equal – would you get three quick improvement activities (70 % solutions) or 1 really great activity (95% solution)?

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

Staatsrat by jonas k under Creative Commons Attribution, Noncommercial, Share Alike

[tweetmeme source=”leanisgood” service=”ow.ly” only_single=false]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 we could each briefly answer a question once a week. Today we ‘do’ it, and we will ‘check’ it after a couple weeks looking for a high rate of comments.   This is the third edition of the ’roundtable.’   The first two are here and here.   We will post a poll so that readers can interact when it is reasonable for the question asked. The order that the answers appear in will be randomized each time. Please join us by adding your comments. We would like to hear from you.

The question:

How do you ‘check’ that you are engaging people?

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

Staatsrat by jonas k under Creative Commons Attribution, Noncommercial, Share Alike

[tweetmeme source=”leanisgood” service=”ow.ly” only_single=false]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 we could each briefly answer a question once a week. Today we ‘do’ it, and we will ‘check’ it after a couple weeks looking for a high rate of comments.   This is the second edition of the ’roundtable.’   It is related to this post from last week.

Undercover Boss

[tweetmeme source=”leanisgood” service=”ow.ly” only_single=false]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.

[tweetmeme source=”leanisgood” service=”ow.ly”]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?

Staatsrat by jonas k under Creative Commons Attribution, Noncommercial, Share Alike

[tweetmeme source=”leanisgood” service=”ow.ly”]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 we could each briefly answer a question once a week.  Today we ‘do’ it, and we will ‘check’ it after a couple weeks looking for a high rate of comments. 

Book Review – Lead Well and Prosper

[tweetmeme source="leanisgood" service="ow.ly"] 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 by Joe’s poor example.   The book is a quick and simple read.  A few pages to develop a topic in each chapter followed by “DOs, DON’Ts, and ACTIONs” to finish each chapter (these are all summarized in the appendices for easy reference.) 

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.

[tweetmeme source=”leanisgood” service=”ow.ly”]  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 May Be Slowing Down Apparel Firms caught my eye because I like to see “outsourcing” and “slowing”

Undercover Boss – Going to the Gemba on CBS

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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 lean?

Competition Among Peers – Deming’s Third Deadly Disease

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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 and effectiveness.  The effort to create competition can take on many forms.  Differential bonuses or annual increases, or forced rankings of peers.  Some go so far as to force somebody in the group to be put in a category like “needs improvement” or “C”.  In some of the most extreme systems people are “let go”