I got sidetracked from the DC lean tour. I’ll wrap it up with this installment. The tour starts here, with Part 1.

Random lean images and thoughts from the trip:

I was able to tour the Baltimore Oriole’s ballpark at Camden Yards. This photo shows the scoreboard. See the two orioles in the upper corners? Those were designed to be weather vanes, to show the wind direction. Notice how they’re pointed different directions?

Turns out that the birds are too heavy to turn freely in the wind. That’s a nice design lesson — test and prototype along the way. Which such expense, they couldn’t afford “Plan, Do, Check, Act” — they have “Plan, Do, Check…. DOH!”

See all of the “computers” in the upper right photo there? Click on the picture for a larger view to read the caption. The women at those desks were “computers.” They did calculations for aerospace engineers after World War II. Sometimes technology brings job change that’s unavoidable. What’s the best career strategy in a changing world? Be adaptable and have skills that are transferable. Lean skills are a great example of that.

You think skilled people can’t benefit from standard work, whether that’s engineers or doctors? Here is an example of what might be called “Standard Work” for U.S. Space Shuttle crews. Even with all of their training, they still kept standard work close by (on their wrists).

About LeanBlog.org: Mark Graban is a consultant, author, and speaker in the “lean healthcare” methodology, focused on improving quality and patient safety, improving access, reducing costs, and fully engaging healthcare professionals. He is also the Chief Improvement Officer for KaiNexus.