Time is short for a full post, so here’s an effort to clean out the backlog and to give you some links to check out:

Friend of the blog, Mike Thelen, has an article expanding upon the “Lean vs. LAME” construct:

“I’ve seen and heard many comments from others on web logs, forums, and news outlets (some just dabbling in the lean arena, others researching, and some simply trying to discredit lean). Some say that the attitude they’ve witnessed by technical experts is usually condescending or disrespectful. They say that humility or respect doesn’t appear to be one of the prerequisites for lean or kaizen consultants. I’ve also been informed that they fail to develop people as a whole, with no concern for understanding how people interact with each other, their environment or their unique circumstances.

True lean doesn’t support this….” (read more)

It’s a good question for hansei, or reflection. Do we, as consultants or professionals, treat our clients or colleagues with respect?

To compete better, local plants go lean – The Oregonian

This is a nice overview article about Lean and the success that organizations in Oregon are having. They talked to our friend Norm Bodek and he gives a provocative quote (one I heard him say in person last week… more about that soon):

“We’ve had this myth of individuality. Management has used that myth to dominate workers and keep them separate,” Bodek says. “The shame is, we all love teams. We’re excited that the Blazers did so well this year, and we hope they do better next year. It’s puzzling to me why we don’t have teams in every American company. It’s a powerful missing ingredient.”

What do you think? Is the American concept of “rugged individuality” real or a myth created by The Man to keep us down?

Derailed From The Lean Track – Industry Week

I was quoted, from a blog post, in this article about Boeing’s Lean struggles.

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.

Tagged as: Backlog, LAME, Thelen