The First Rule of Lean Culture Change September 20, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in 5S & Visual Management, culture.Tags: 5S, culture
add a comment
5S is simplest, most straightforward lean culture tool, according to Rick Bohan at IndustryWeek. Culture change is easy to talk about, but difficult to do. A simple workshop will not do the trick. Follow-up, and a system to follow up making sure 5S is applied correctly and consistently, is a good way to help make sure that a serious attempt at 5S is being made.
Read Bohan’s article and thoughts on culture change here.
To Procrastinate – Or Not? September 20, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in personal productivity, work-life balance, workforce.Tags: personal productivity, work-life balance, workforce
add a comment
In an article at FastCompany, Drake Baer talks with Frank Partnoy, author of Wait: The Art and Science of Delay, about the lengthy decision-making process. Partnoy believes delaying decision-making is not necessarily a bad thing. Yet, the business and social media world looks on delayed decision-making as a bad thing, but this often leaves little room for relaxed and well-thought out decisions. On the other hand, Kevin Purdy, also writing at FastCompany, cautions against procrastination and encourages people to get to work, because procrastination can have negative effects. He thus advises readers to clear away clutter and tackle heavy things first.
You can read the interview with Partnoy here, and Purdy’s article against procrastination here.
Lean and Free Will September 20, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in lean, Lean Thinking, workforce.Tags: lean, Lean Thinking, workforce
add a comment
A post over at Gemba Tales blog talks about how lean can only ever truly be implemented when it is embraced voluntarily by those it is being taught to. Lean requires transformation, not just appointed tasks and functions. The individual must be invested in lean intrinsically to see it truly succeed, and that sometimes requires coaching and appointed tasks – but the danger is that the person may not come to embrace lean in the long run.
Check out the rest of the post here.
Potholes? There’s an App for That September 20, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in government, lean.Tags: government, lean
add a comment
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino has overseen the use of social networking, in the form of more than twenty venues, to allow citizens to be in touch with city hall to report problems and issues. The most popular is the application called Citizens Connect, in which vandalism, graffiti, and potholes can be reported. The program has been downloaded 23,000 times and has spawned 31,000 reports. Thus, city workers can actually focus on fixing real problems rather than looking for them.
To learn more about Boston’s efforts, and to learn more about their app process, head here.
5S At Home September 20, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in 5S & Visual Management, lean, work-life balance.Tags: 5S, 5S & Visual Management, lean, work-life balance
add a comment
Tim McMahon, writing at A Lean Journey, shares a video by Paul Akers of applying lean at home. The video highlights, among other things, Aker’s home office and bathroom. He revamps his top desk drawer by using carved-out foam to standardize the locations of his commonly-used tools and writing instruments. David Allway, writing at The Common Sensei, recalls his childhood foundations of 5S, helping to organize his father’s workshop. Allway organized important steps of his life –as a college student, a coach, an athlete, and as a business professional.
Check out McMahon’s thoughts and the nifty video here, and Allway’s excellent post here.
What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast September 20, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in personal productivity, work-life balance.Tags: personal productivity, work-life balance
add a comment
Laura Vanderkam writes about time management in the morning in an article at FastCompany. She provides a list of suggestions for handling chaotic mornings. These suggestions include tracking one’s time, and thinking through logistics, including mapping out a morning schedule to follow.
For the rest of Vanderkam’s suggestions, read her article here.
Working Out Doesn’t Just Make You Stronger, It Makes You Smarter September 20, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in work-life balance, workforce.Tags: work-life balance, workforce
add a comment
Exercise is vital to a person’s health. Yet, by their teenage years, only 12% of people get enough daily exercise. But exercising improves more than just one’s health – it also improves intelligence. Activity means the brain is functioning, increasing the size of the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for memory. According to the study listed, on average, employees who exercise regularly are 15% more efficient.
Read more about the mind and exercise here.
Death to PowerPoint! September 20, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in personal productivity.Tags: personal productivity
add a comment
The 22 year-old PowerPoint program is now a universal aspect of businesses both large and small. While absolutely useful, for many, PowerPoint has gone from being an aid to a crutch. Rather than the speaker being the main point of a presentation, the speaker allows the PowerPoint presentation itself to take center stage, making for a boring and contemptible presentation.
Check out the Bloomberg Businessweek opinion here.
Team Building Using the Workforce Engagement Equation September 20, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in change management, workforce.Tags: change management, workforce
add a comment
Michael Sinocchi of Lean Insider interviews Jamison J. Manion, who has authored the book The Workforce Engagement Equation: A Practitioner’s Guide to Creating and Sustaining High Performance. Manion explains that people must constantly sharpen and improve their skills in today’s economy, especially owing to the fact that many fields have become so niched. Real-world solutions are needed rather than overly simplistic or redundant suggestions about how to proceed. The comprehensive approach includes knowing what people need, management and leadership response, and employable tools and techniques.
Read the rest of Manion’s thoughts and ideas here.
Paul O’Neill Talks ThedaCare, Lean Healthcare on CNBC September 20, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in healthcare, lean.Tags: healthcare, lean
add a comment
Mark Graban over at LeanBlog shares a video from CNBC of Paul O’Neill talking about cleaning up healthcare. The root problem is a systems problem, not a problem traceable to individuals. Better systems and improved processes will ultimately raise the excellence of the workforce.
Unfortunately, the CNBC host spends too much time up front talking about his unignorable microphone and cuts off the former Treasury Secretary, CEO, and obvious Lean Thinker in the middle of a coherent response.
To see the video, and read Graban’s analysis, head here.
You Don’t Set the Rules September 20, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in lean, supply chain.Tags: lean, supply chain
add a comment
Kevin Meyer, writing at Evolving Excellence, talks about how the customer is the one who ultimately calls all the shots, and that each supply chain has its own rules. Customers who abuse the supply chain often lose out on better opportunities with other supplies, because those suppliers do not want to suffer that abuse.
What passes these days for a “lean supply chain” or a “supplier partnership” is often laughable.
To read Meyer’s informative post, head here.
Learning from Mistakes Requires Getting Past Your Emotions September 20, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Lean Tools & Techniques, Mistake Proofing.Tags: mistake-proofing
add a comment
A hard-hitting piece at The Mistake Bank elaborates on the need to separate actions from emotions, in order to get the best out of mistakes. A lesson learned from a mistake can become the greatest asset or tool in work and in life. By accepting responsibility and learning from what has gone wrong, people can move forward in greater strength.
Check out the Mistake Bank post here.
View of Failure in the Startup World: A Video September 20, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Creativity & Innovation.Tags: Creativity & Innovation
add a comment
The New York Tech Meetup, Start Up Stories, has created a video about failures in the startup world. The video explains that overnight successes never really are overnight. FourSquare, for example, was not a two year success story, but a thirteen year failure story before that. The one common theme among the stories presented? That failure meant greater learning opportunities.
To watch the video, head here.
The Management Myth September 20, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in change management.Tags: change management
add a comment
At Evolving Excellence, Bill Waddell takes to task the concept of hierarchical, total-control management. While such a system might work well in the military, it doesn’t necessary apply to a one-building metalworking company, for example. A one-size solution doesn’t fit all – and neither does each new fad that comes along. The new default business approach, Waddell contends, is a blank sheet of paper.
To read the rest of Waddell’s post, head here.
Batteries of the Future Can Be Painted On September 20, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in new products and technologies.Tags: new products and technologies
add a comment
The vast array of gadgets and gizmos flooding the market mostly require one important thing: batteries. We always need batteries, asserts Edwin at CoolestGadgets. Either that, or chargers and adapters and plugs. Rice University in Texas is developing a spray paint battery, part of a five-part system for generating energy.
To see photos of a battery painted onto a beer mug, and to learn more, head here.
Lean Quote: Mistakes are the Portals of Discovery September 20, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in learning organization, workforce.Tags: learning organization, workforce
add a comment
Tim McMahon, writing at his blog A Lean Journey, has showcased a quote by famed Irish novelist and poet James Joyce: Mistakes are the portals of discovery. Joyce might well have been writing about lean. While lean shoots to get things right the first time, it also recognizes that people make mistakes. McMahon provides an analysis list for understanding and learning from mistakes, including accepting that a mistake has been made, and inquiring of the individual to seek what can be learned from the mistake.
See the rest of McMahon’s list here.
A Fire Truck When an Ambulance Would Suffice September 20, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in lean.Tags: lean
add a comment
Kevin Meyer, writing over at Evolving Excellence, writes about organizational scope creep. He highlights a Wall Street Journal article that shows, among other things, that it takes twice as many firefighters to put out half as many fires as was done 30 years ago. While the operational model hasn’t changed, he says, the amount of response has – increasing costs unnecessarily. The same is true of business, and over-responding to problems or issues, such as a senior manager handling a problem far below his station.
Check out Kevin’s article here.
Are You A Level 5 Company? September 20, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in work-life balance, workforce.Tags: work-life balance, workforce
add a comment
Chuck Runyon at FastCompany talks about the hierarchy-of-needs for businesses, which include safety, love, and esteem, to reach the fifth level of self-actualization – blurring the lines between home and work. In other words, at home, employees should be able to think about work not out of pressure or demand, but because of self-satisfaction and happiness to work. In this fifth level, employees give their hearts and souls to the company.
For the list of levels and their explanations, check out Runyon’s article here.
A Wristband that Forces Doctors to Wash their Hands and Save Lives September 20, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in healthcare, Mistake Proofing.Tags: healthcare, mistake-proofing
add a comment
A new wristband, secured around the wrists of doctors and medical personnel, aims to cut down on hospital acquired infections and illnesses –much of it from the failure of medical professionals to commit simple tasks, such as washing their hands. The new wristband system, Hyginex, consists of soap dispensers and wristbands, alerting doctors when they either have not washed their hands, or haven’t washed them well enough. The system will also keep a log of doctors and how well they clean their hands.
For photos of the system, and more information, head here.
Demand Surges for Lean Talent Over Six Sigma March 29, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in lean, six sigma.Tags: lean, six sigma
add a comment
In an IndustryWeek analysis of an Avery Point Group study, the demand for lean skills is outpacing demand for Six Sigma skills this year by 68%, whereas last year lean outpaced Six Sigma demand by only 35%. The reason why is inferred to be because lean is viewed as being a faster system of improvement than Six Sigma.
For more of the IndustryWeek analysis, head on over to see the article here.
Securing the Elusive Lean Buy-In March 29, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in change management, lean.Tags: change management, lean
add a comment
Jamie Flinchbaugh, writing over at IndustryWeek, presents a four-step process for a successful lean buy-in. Among those steps are treating those you are seeking to buy into not as enemies, but as customers; and overcoming the valid “no” by responding to questions and concerns about the buy-in.
Check out Jamie’s IndustryWeek article here.
Is Manufacturing Dead in America? March 29, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in manufacturing.Tags: manufacturing
add a comment
According to popular perception, there is no such thing as American manufacturing anymore. But according to Michael Newkirk, writing at IndustryWeek, this is clearly not true. The United States is still the leading manufacturer in the world, and the third largest exporter. Among other facts Michael presents is that in 2008, America exported $5.5 trillion in manufactured goods, up 30% from 2000.
For these and other heartening data, please read Michael’s article here.
Box-Swap Process Helps GM-Fort Wayne Keep on Truckin’ March 29, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in automotive, manufacturing.Tags: automotive, manufacturing
add a comment
The Fort Wayne, Indiana General Motors plant has developed an interesting approach to handle new large truck designs too big for its existing factory conveyance system. Trucks of different sizes that are ordered in the same color are paired together and their cabs and beds are switched for painting. Then they are returned to the proper vehicles. These and other innovative solutions to problems have made the plant highly successful.
To read more about this innovative solution to a vexing problem, click here.
Is Takt Time the Most Misunderstood Lean Concept? March 29, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Lean Tools & Techniques.Tags: Lean Tools & Techniques
add a comment
Takt time, which Jamie Flinchbaugh defines as customer demand rate, is very often misunderstood as production process pace. Takt time has to deal with what a company is working and building towards, and so it is often confused with production pace. It also demonstrates that lean is not just mere common sense, but that there is serious substance to it as well.
Check out Jamie’s explanation of takt time and what it means at his website.
Train Your Brain to Focus March 29, 2012
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in personal productivity, work-life balance.Tags: personal productivity, work-life balance
add a comment
While popular media and friends marvel at those who can multitask, a Bloomberg Businessweek Harvard Business Review article asserts that multitasking means more mistakes and an inability to retain information among other issues. Focus is better. The article presents a ways that anyone can train their brains to focus. Negative emotional distress can be tamed with good sleep, meditation, and exercise, for example –and this leads the brain to strategize more efficiently.
Head on over to Harvard Business Review to read the article.
