Happy Friday, Happy Holiday!

Monday morning blues 'are a myth' - Science, News - The Independent

I'm going to take a bit of a "blog holiday" this weekend, since it's a holiday in the U.S. (I prefer to call it "Independence Day," not the meaning-draining "July 4th") and my wife and I are on holiday in London. Celebrating our American independence by visiting our old colonial ruler. No hard feelings, anymore, on either side!

Anyway, this article reminded me of comments I've heard our good friend Norman Bodek make a few times recently. Norman tells a story about how he always asks audiences what day of the week they like best. People hardly ever say Monday, their favorite day of the week is usually Friday. Norman say that's sad, as people should be able to enjoy their work, that Monday shouldn't be such a dreaded day.So the linked article caught my eye - is this a myth that people hate Mondays? The article reads, in part:

Monday morning blues are a figment of the imagination, according to Australian scientists, who also say Friday euphoria is a chimera too.Psychologists at the University of Sydney collected information from hundreds of locals, who were asked on which morning and evening they felt best and worst. A separate study tracked their actual mood day by day. Results were compared.The scientists found that people dreaded Monday mornings and loved Friday evenings – but only with hindsight, or when looking ahead. Their moods showed that, in reality, happiness levels varied little.

Of course, it doesn't seem like very rigorous research, based on self reporting and a few hundred people in one location. Do people report hating Mondays because of peer pressure or societal pressures? I love my work... but do I look like a geek for admitting that in a room of people who might NOT love their job?

Anyway, as Norman says, I hope you *do* enjoy your work. But, in the U.S., it's a Friday AND a holiday, so I'm sure you're loving today. Have a great holiday and a great weekend. What do you think of all this? Do people really hate Mondays? Do you?

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Nice Quote

Heard a great comment today:

"Suggestions are things somebody else should do. Ideas are things that I can do."

Maybe that is why Norman Bodek's books and the others (The Idea Generator: Quick and Easy Kaizen and Ideas Are Free: How the Idea Revolution Is Liberating People and Transforming Organizations) use that word instead of "suggestion"

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LeanBlog Podcast #47 - Norman Bodek

Norman Bodek is once again back for episode #47 of the LeanBlog Podcast, talking about his most recent trip to Japan (his 68th trip!). He poses the question, "What can we do to leapfrog Toyota?" Norman asks important questions about how we can help people, in any role, enjoy their work, rather than dreading Mondays. Why does Norman think the Canon photocopier plant he just toured is the best he's ever seen? Why does Norman disagree with the phrase, "Work smarter, not harder"??

For earlier episodes, visit the main Podcast page, which includes information on how to subscribe via RSS or via Apple iTunes.

You can use the player (use the VCR-type controls) below to listen to a "streaming" version of the podcast (or click here for the streaming audio and RSS subscription). The streaming link is faster for one-time listening (hardly any delay to start listening). Or you can use the download link to put it on your iPod or other MP3 player.

MP3 File Right-Click to "Save As"

Enhanced AAC File

Episode #47 Key Words and Links:

• Toyota Culture: The Heart and Soul of the Toyota Way, recommended by Norman for its discussion of the "respect for people" principle.
• Frederick Taylor and Henry Ford as the fathers of modern industrial engineering -- and repetitive work, as opposed to people being master craftsmen. This repetitive work created income for workers who were uneducated, even "if the work was denigrating, boring, and tedious"
  
• Ideas Are Free: How the Idea Revolution Is Liberating People and Transforming Organizations, by Alan Robinson
  
• Do 60 or 80% of people "hate" their job? How can we help people enjoy their work?
• What is a "supermeister" in a Canon factory?
  

If you have feedback on the podcast, or any questions for me or my guests, you can email me at leanpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave a voicemail by calling the "Lean Line" at (817) 776-LEAN (817-776-5326) or contact me via Skype id "mgraban". Please give your location and your first name. Any comments (email or voicemail) might be used in follow ups to the podcast.

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Are We Cowboys or Not?

Fixing East-West clash challenging

Prof. Jeffrey Liker keynoted a Lean event in Oklahoma and is quoted as saying:

Maybe the cowboy and the samurai best illustrate the chasm between Eastern and Western corporate cultures, author Jeffrey Liker offered Thursday during the Southwestern Lean Conference.

The cowboy is identified as an iconoclast, the epitome of self reliance and going his own road, he said, while the samurai is all about serving the boss and working as part of the team.

"They're pretty different," Liker, author of the "The Toyota Way" and other books about the company, said of the contrasting cultural views. "This is a big challenge for the West."

What do you think about that? Are we incurable "cowboys" (and cowgirls) here in the West?

Last month, I wrote about some provocative words from Norman Bodek. Bodek says the "cowboy" thing is a myth perpetuated by management to keep employees from working together.

Anyway, I'm not trying to start a "Liker v Bodek" battle, but it's an interesting contrast in perspectives.

Liker made some other excellent points:

"When you have a quality problem, it's almost always a management problem," Liker said.

This is true in factories or hospitals. Rather than blaming individuals, we have to look at the system and the processes that could have led to the error. Good reactions include error proofing, not just blaming or punishing people.

He also talked about leadership, again contrasting East v. West:

Managers under the lean manufacturing system must constantly adapt to change and need time to quietly analyze problems before choosing paths. Toyota also provides management mentors who guide their proteges directly for years at a time.

Managers who buy into the Toyota way understand the Western and Eastern contrasts more clearly and are able to bridge the two sides, Liker noted. For instance, the Western view sees the world as logical and even tamable, while the East believes the world is still partially concealed, threatening and something that forces personal adaptation.

What are your thoughts and experiences with this? Toyota is able to train Western managers and workers to work under their model and system... is this East v. West? Or is it like Dr. Deming said, "people will work under any system..."?

I'm by no means an expert on Japanese or Eastern culture... I do realize there are differences, but does talking about the differences give people in the West an excuse to say "we're not Japanese, so we can't do this"??

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Norman & Me

Last week, I had the honor and pleasure of meeting Norman Bodek in person for the first time. After all of our podcasts and electronic correspondence over the years, this was a real treat. I had a chance to chat 1 on 1 and to see him present to two different healthcare audiences about Lean and, in particular, Quick and Easy Kaizen (as you can read about in his book The Idea Generator: Quick and Easy Kaizen).

I'll share a few of his thoughts and insights.

First off, I thought he made an excellent point that the goal for hospitals should be "NEVER harm the patient." This is a different goal and mindset than "don't make mistakes." Saying "don't make mistakes" holds people to a superhuman level -- are we going to penalize people for mistakes? We have to create an environment of learning and open problem solving -- being open about mistakes is our way of solving that problem so we don't have it reoccur in the future.

Norman told a story (also discussed here online) about our innate creativity. He asked the room what percentage of people thought they were "highly creative." About 20% of the room raised their hands. He said that was surprising, since most studies show 2% of adults self identify as "highly creative."

Norman asked how many little children are highly creative? All of them! What happens to this innate ability we are born with? A study showed that, by the end of Kindergarten, only 90% are still highly creative. By the end of first grade, it's only 10%. By the end of second grade, the number is down to adult levels -- 2%. That's sad.

The system beats the creativity out of us. It's the education system. Norman asks what happens in first grade -- the introduction of formal grading systems that punish us for making mistakes. If we learn by making mistakes, how do we have an educational system that punishes us for that?

Norman says "you've been brainwashed... you're still creative." I guess schools (and many businesses) want people who are passive and easily controlled, so the creativity is drummed out of us.

He then told a story about visiting Japan -- this was a new one to me -- and he saw a board in a factory where there were pictures of the employees. A worker came over and started writing something down under their picture. They were writing down a mistake they had made. Can you believe it? That wouldn't fly in most organizational cultures. In that factory's culture, mistakes were not going to get you fired or punished - otherwise, who would write something down?

They embraced their problems as learning opportunities, as something to be shared.

I don't think that's something most of us can go implement until we have a highly advanced "lean culture" in our workplace.

Anyway, it was a real pleasure meeting Norman. He's currently in Japan (his 68th trip), leading yet another study mission. I hope you all get a chance to meet him -- or, at the least, listen to his podcasts and read his books.

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LeanBlog Podcast #36 - Norm Bodek on the new Shingo Book

LeanBlog Podcast #36 once again features our friend and frequent guest, Norman Bodek, noted lean author, consultant, and President of PCS Press. In this episode, Norman talks about his most recent publication, a text by the legendary Shigeo Shingo, called Kaizen and the Art of Creative Thinking - The Scientific Thinking Mechanism, as well as future publications he is working on. This was recorded back in 2007, before the book was published (it has now been out in publication for a few months, I apologize for the delay in getting this podcast released).

If you enjoy this podcast, I hope you'll check out the rest of the series by visiting the LeanBlog podcast main page.

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Keywords and Main Points, Episode #36

• You can find the book here via enna.com, or amazon.com.
  

If you have feedback on the podcast, or any questions for me or my guests, you can email me at leanpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave a voicemail by calling the "Lean Line" at (817) 776-LEAN (817-776-5326) or contact me via Skype id "mgraban". Please give your location and your first name. Any comments (email or voicemail) might be used in follow ups to the podcast.
Click here for the main LeanBlog Podcast page with all previous episodes.

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You Can't Force Suggestions

There was a question on the NWLean email list about suggestions, in the context of The Idea Generator: Quick and Easy Kaizen, reading in part:

"My question is this; is the 2 suggestions per month per employee forced? Meaning do I require each worker to sumit their ideas or do I suggest that they do?"

Thankfully, Norman Bodek chimed in and pointed out this is never coercive. Lean leaders only fall back on positional authority and telling people what to do as a last resort. Hopefully it starts seeming silly to people to use one concept (getting employee input) via a non-Lean approach (mandating things).

The question continued:

If the answer is that I suggest they do, then what is the next approach I take if I have very little participation?

I think cases like this provide great opportunities to ask "why?" Why are employees not participating? The answers will vary depending on your environment, but it's always a good thing to ask "why?" instead of redoubling the mandate efforts.

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The Sun Devil Suggestion System

My wife is an Arizona State alumna, so we're watching the annual Arizona St / Arizona rivalry football game (well, I'm watching it, she just cares if ASU wins... sort of).

The sideline announcer just told a quick story about how ASU coach Dennis Erickson is a different type of coach because he'll watch film with the players and the players will make a suggestion, and he'll let them try it out in practice... and the players like that. She then mentioned how the former coach (fired last year) would have never done that. Must have been the "control freak" style of coach.

How would Norman Bodek coach a football team? I'm sure he would run his "quick and easy kaizen" system on both offense and defense, don't you think? :-)

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Norm Bodek on the new Shingo Book

The following is a message from Norman Bodek, printed with his permission.

-----------------------------

Dear Lean Blog readers,

Dr. Shingo was the co-discover of TPS/LEAN.

A NEW SHIGEO SHINGO BOOK

November 9, 2007 Vancouver, Washington

Announcing a new hardcover Shigeo Shingo book, Kaizen and The Art of Creative Thinking - The Scientific Thinking Mechanism. Once again Dr. Shingo will amaze you. Along with Taiichi Ohno, Dr. Shingo co-developed TPS (LEAN) with his deep understanding of how to improve the overall process of production. Dr. Shingo reveals how he taught Toyota and other Japanese companies the art of identifying and solving problems.

Many companies in the West are trying to emulate Lean but few can do it. Why not? Possibly, because we in the West do not recognize, develop and support the creative potential of every worker in solving problems. Toyota makes all employees problem solvers. Shingo gives you the tools to do it.

It is an easy to read brilliant book!

Dr. Shingo presents six unique models, the sum of which he calls the Scientific Thinking Mechanism. These frameworks allow groups to deconstruct problems and rebuild them into powerful improvement ideas. This concept is central to TPS and provides the necessary foundation for any Lean Initiative to be built upon.

“Dr. Shingo was a master of Kaizen, he had the scientific training and innovative genius to deeply understand processes and the humility to realize that he needed the operators to take ownership. We are fortunate to have this new opportunity to gaze deeply into the thinking of one of the true geniuses behind TPS. —Dr. Shigeo Shingo.” – From the foreword by Jeffrey K. Liker, Ph. D., New York Times best-selling author of The Toyota Way

“This book contains a myriad of case studies taken from office examples as well as shop floors. It is a gold mine of improvement ideas that cumulatively must have saved millions, and could still do so today!” Don Dewar, President & Founder, Quality Digest Magazine

“Kaizen and the Art of Creative Thinking is a revealing book and is the genesis manuscript to the Lean Manufacturing mindset. It captures the fundamental thought process to structure problem solving activities and is the foundation to all essential aspects of the Kaizen philosophy. Truly a wealth of knowledge, wisdom and frameworks to embolden you to change existing practices!” - Michel Mestre, Ph.D. Professor, School of Business Northwest University

“For those of us who have revered the work of Dr. Shingo, this is an exciting work. More so than any other of his books - Bill Kluck President, Northwest Lean Network

“Practicing Kaizen (the habit of making small improvements) eludes many people. Dr. Shingo’s Scientific Thinking Mechanism replaces the hope of the flash of creativity with a reliable and learnable habit-building approach. Thanks for making this Rosetta Stone for kaizen available to the world.” - Hal Macomber Principal Lean Project Consulting, Inc.

“This book teaches managers to be problem solvers instead of problem chasers.” – Collin McLoughlin, co-publisher

Norman Bodek in 1979 started Productivity Inc.- Press and published hundreds of books on Toyota and Japanese management.

The book retails for $59.40 and is available at www.enna.com

Best wishes,

Norman Bodek
PCS Inc.

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LeanBlog Podcast #32 - Norman Bodek in Japan

LeanBlog Podcast #32 once again features our friend and frequent guest, Norman Bodek, noted lean author, consultant, and President of PCS Press. In this episode, Norman talks about his recent study trip to Japan and what he saw there. If you enjoy this podcast, I hope you'll check out the rest of the series by visiting the LeanBlog podcast main page.

It's also "Norm Bodek Week" in the Lean blogosphere, apparently (via Evolving Excellence).

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Keywords and Main Points, Episode #32

• Trip to Japan
• The use of videotape to analyze the process to look for waste, with the employeesThe purpose of standard work (and kaizen)
• Going after waste relentlessly
• People writing down that they make mistakes
• Shingo said, "we make mistakes, but we don't want defects"
• "Poka yoke" and error proofing
• The use of automation and temporary labor
• Norman -- "how ROI, short-term thinking is killing America"
• Norman is going on another study mission in April 2008 -- go with him! Contact Norman through his website at pcspress.com about that

If you have feedback on the podcast, or any questions for me or my guests, you can email me at leanpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave a voicemail by calling the "Lean Line" at (817) 776-LEAN (817-776-5326) or contact me via Skype id "mgraban". Please give your location and your first name. Any comments (email or voicemail) might be used in follow ups to the podcast.

Click here for the main LeanBlog Podcast page with all previous episodes.

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New Shingo Book out Nov 1

Kaizen & the Art of Creative Thinking: Enna

I just had a nice conversation with Norman Bodek, which I'll be turning into a series of Podcast episodes as time allows.

One exciting tidbit he shared with me is the publication of a previously-unpublished (in English, anyway) a new Shingo book. Norman was involved in the selection and the translation of the book, which is focused on identifying problems and problem solving.

From the publisher's website:

Kaizen and the Art of Creative Thinking is a newly discovered classic from Dr. Shigeo Shingo, the original Lean Manufacturing genius. Never before published in English, Kaizen and the Art of Creative Thinking provides the single most important tool for initiating a Lean transformation, Dr. Shingo’s own Scientific Thinking Mechanism. For the first time ever, you have access to Toyota’s secret model of success; learn how to dissect the status quo so you can address the actual problem, generate innovative ideas in group environments, and learn the best way to implement solutions. This book unlocks the secret to managing creative thinking.

I don't see it on amazon.com, so you have to get it through the enna.com website (link at the top of this post).

New Norman Bodek Article

IndustryWeek : The Toyota Secret: Constant Change And Growth

Hadn't seen this one yet... always good stuff from our friend Norman on the people side of TPS and continuous improvement.

Norman focuses on everybody improving every day, using this story to highlight how NOT to do it:

"For instance, I was at a great American manufacturer, a leader in their field, and noticed that they had trained virtually every employee on the lean wastes. Yet the day I walked through the plant, I saw half the people standing and talking -- not adding value. I didn't see anyone looking at reducing motion, studying defect reduction or how to reduce transportation. I didn't notice charts up on the factory wall to challenge workers to make continuous improvement every day."

New "Quick n Easy Kaizen" Site

Quick n Easy Kaizen:

Hal Macomber, of the "Reforming Project Management" blog, has a new site that takes inspiration from Norman Bodek's "Quick and Easy Kaizen" approach and the book The Idea Generator: Quick and Easy Kaizen.

Hal's new site allows people to post examples of kaizen and lets readers comment. It's an interesting approach and format, it will be interesting to see how it works. Check it out.

LeanBlog Podcast #28 -- Norman Bodek

LeanBlog Podcast #28 features our friend and frequent guest, Norman Bodek, noted lean author, consultant, and President of PCS Press. This also celebrates the 1 year anniversary of the Podcast, which featured Norman as our first guest. As I've given him credit for previously, the Podcast really was Norman's idea when he said I should do "radio interviews" with him. Thankfully, this has turned into a series of interviews with others that I have enjoyed immensely. I hope you enjoy them as well.

If you enjoy this podcast, I hope you'll check out the rest of the series by visiting the LeanBlog podcast main page.



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Keywords and Main Points, Episode #28

• Summary of Norman's talk at the TWI Summit and the "pledge of continuous improvement."
• Gantt's book "Organizing Work" (via Google Books) -- the stakeholder groups that a business must serve (including community)
• Lifetime employment and the obligation for good management
• Can you have a workplace with no bosses? Example of a Skippy peanut butter plant
• Is the ultimate goal automation? Norman's thoughts on that
• Managers's resistance to change as a separate type of waste?
• Being on the floor all the time as a manager
• Norman talking about "conscious learning" (his next book)

If you have feedback on the podcast, or any questions for me or my guests, you can email me at leanpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave a voicemail by calling the "Lean Line" at (817) 776-LEAN (817-776-5326) or contact me via Skype id "mgraban". Please give your location and your first name. Any comments (email or voicemail) might be used in follow ups to the podcast. Click here for the main LeanBlog Podcast page with all previous episodes.

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"You're Not Developing Your People"

By Norman Bodek, PCS Press

Note: This originally appeared recently on the NWLean email list, this is re-printed with Norman's permission. Consider it a preview of an upcoming LeanBlog Podcast.

I believe that Toyota has always wanted to make great automobiles in the most efficient way. To do that they develop their people by building their skills and capabilities; they focus on relentlessly eliminating the non-value adding wastes; and they improve the work environment for machines and for people. To have the most efficient manufacturing facility to compete with China and other low cost areas of the world you must fully automate your plants. Just look at what people are doing in the plant - those "boring, repetitive tasks." What a terrible waste of human talent.

One of Toyota's main goals is to reduce the labor content - in essence they would love to have a fully automated factory without people assembling and running the machines. That is what productivity is all about being efficient and effective. But, and this is the big BUT, Toyota does not lay off people as they reduce waste and automate their plants. They uplift their workforce whereby every worker knows how to identify problems and eliminate them - in essence Toyota workers are all becoming engineers to improve the processes and make new automobiles.

Many years ago, I visited a FANUC plant in Japan and saw robots making robots. On the third shift the lights were out with only one engineer in the computer control room while robots were making robots. FANUC employees are all engineers and FANUC is probably the world's best manufacturer of sophisticated machines. And every employee of FANUC has lifetime employment.

Your problem is that you are not focusing on developing people. You are very happy to have people continue to do those "boring," repetitive jobs.

Develop people to learn and build new skills every day. Challenge people to find and eliminate waste every single day. Let people learn from their own creative ideas.

I once published a book titled "Twenty Million Ideas in Forty Years at Toyota." They were getting around 70 implemented ideas per employee per year. How many are you getting? How much time do you invest in developing your employees?

Ironically, Toyota comes to America to build cars and we go to Asia to build our products, and what is left over for American workers to do? I am not saying that we should not become global companies but we must, we must develop people for us to be internationally competitive in the long term. For as our high skill jobs leave to overseas what is left over for us to do with the undeveloped talent that we have?

There are seven classic wastes:

1. Excess inventory

2 Excess motion

3. Waiting and watching machines or other people

4. Over-processing or overproduction

5. Wrong processing

6. Defects - scrap. rework and inspection is actually a waste

7. Transportation is a waste

I added two new ones:

8. Underutilized talents of every worker

9. Every manager recognizes and breaks-through their resistance to change.

The manager should be identifying wastes and also be a catalyst to help people break through their resistance to change and eliminate those wastes.

Stop being an "obstacle" to change. As Dr. Shingo would always say "Do it!" You get a good idea, think it through, discuss it with others and then find a way to "DO IT!" - it is easy to find ways not to do it. Sure doing it might cause mistakes but that is one of the only ways we learn is by making "misacts."

I have been teaching companies Quick and Easy Kaizen for years and only a handful are doing it. Why not? The average company that does Quick and Easy Kaizen saves $4000 per year per employee and offers people a whole new way of looking at themselves with a new sense of dignity.

It is natural for people to resist change but breaking through that resistance is the only way to grow and a manager's primary job is to help people grow.

For further information you might like to read my books The Idea Generator: Quick and Easy Kaizen and Kaikaku: The Power and Magic of Lean.

Wishing you the best,

Norman Bodek

New Book from Chuck Yorke

Book Link

There's a new book from Chuck Yorke, co-author of the book All You Gotta Do Is Ask with Norm Bodek.

The new book can be found here and is called "Yes Innovation: Everyday Improvement Everyday Leadership"

The book description says:

A simple and short book that will quickly provide the answer to achieving outstanding business success. People and companies can learn to adapt and evolve. As people learn and grow, they can generate and implement ideas to help the business. Capturing their results, turning those results into the standard way of doing things and continuing the process is the rest of the equation. Tap into the creativity of all your people (they all have creative talent); give them the agility to flex with the business needs. This may be simple, but there is much work to be done.

You can find an excerpt here. Here's a recent Industry Week article by Chuck and his current book's co-author, Jim Garrick.

2007 Lean Accounting Summit "Agenda Reveal"

GoToWebinar : Link for Webinar

Click on the link above for a free web seminar about the upcoming Lean Accounting summit, including two good friends of the blog, Norman and Jean:

Lean Accounting Summit organizers are hosting a free webinar in which the 2007 Summit agenda will be revealed... live! Why join us? You'll hear from Brian Maskell, Jean Cunningham, Mark DeLuzio, and Norman Bodek!

LeanBlog Podcast #21 - Norman Bodek, "Building People"

LeanBlog Podcast Episode #21 features our friend and frequent guest, Norman Bodek, noted lean author, consultant, and President of PCS Press. In this Podcast, we talk about how Lean should be good for a company's employees, that Lean and the Toyota Production system are really about building people and investing in them rather than laying people off.

Norman's previous Podcast episodes can be found on the Podcast main page. Here is a link to Norman's books via Amazon.com.


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Show Notes and Approximate Time, Episode #21

• 2:00 Question from a blog reader: Is lean good for employees in the long term, or is it just good for the company and for management?
• 2:40 "Unfortunately, many companies are implementing lean to make more money, only.... without understanding the full power of the Toyota model"
• 3:00 Toyota not only builds cars, it builds people
• 4:45 Toyota has one team leader for every 4 to 7 people (as opposed to companies that often have a 100 to 1 ratio)
• 5:20 Toyota's Gary Convis
• 6:30 Toyota's two pillars: 1) Just-in-Time and 2) Respect for People -- the second pillar is now this instead of "Jidoka" (quality at the source)??
• 8:30 As Deming said, you have to root out fear from the organization, it's a form of waste that comes from viewing people as expendable
• 10:15 Examples of how Toyota has invested in people over time, made use of their talents
• 11:20 When has the "mass production" system ever been good for people?
• 12:15 Norman's "Quick and Easy Kaizen," making work exciting by getting ideas and suggestions from employees
• 16:50 "I want you to come up with ideas to make your work easier, to make your work more interesting..." that empowers people, as opposed to all decisions coming from the top down
• 18:15 "What's the ROI of bringing in Norman Bodek?"
• 19:30 "There's nothing magical that Toyota's doing that American companies can't do!"
• 19:40 The book Norman likes, "Getting the Right Things Done" and the Hoshin Kanri process
• 20:30 Norman, Gary Convis, and the A3 report

If you have feedback on the podcast, or any questions for me or my guests, you can email me at leanpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave a voicemail by calling the "Lean Line" at (817) 776-LEAN (817-776-5326) or contact me via Skype id "mgraban". Please give your location and your first name. Any comments (email or voicemail) might be used in follow ups to the podcast. Click here for the main LeanBlog Podcast page with all previous episodes.

LeanBlog Podcast #11 -- Norman Bodek, "Educating Leadership"

Here is LeanBlog Podcast #11, once again with Norman Bodek of PCS Press and the author of many books, including Kaikaku: The Power and Magic of Lean. In this Podcast, we discuss a topic posed by a podcast listener, Bruce from Akron Ohio: how do you educate your top leadership about lean? Norman and I discuss the perspectives of CEOs and executives toward lean, change, and their organizations and some examples of lean problem solving approaches. It's a long podcast (about 40 minutes), so I'd suggest you check out the show notes to find times of specific topics if you want to jump around.

You can use the player (use the VCR-type controls) below to listen to a "streaming" version of the podcast (or click here for the streaming audio and RSS subscription). The streaming link is faster for one-time listening (hardly any delay to start listening). Or you can use the download link to put it on your iPod or other MP3 player.

MP3 File (Right Click to Save-As)

LeanBlog Podcast #11 Show Notes and Approximate Timeline

• 1:20 Question from Bruce in Akron again, how do you educate your top leadership about lean?
• 2:00 Norman spoke at the Lean Accounting Summit, even many CFO's were asking how to get their leadership on board, as if they were powerless
• 3:50 Norman tells a story about a President of a $2B company asking him, "how can I get my people to deliver quality?" After two weeks in Japan, he said, "Now I understand, it's not them, it's me."
• 6:15 Developing a Quality and Productivity Plan, getting input from multiple company presidents within a corporation
• 9:00 Building consensus among 12 company presidents
• 11:00 Long-term strategic plans for Japanese companies
• 13:30 How do we educate our top leadership? Should we buy them books like Norman's "Kaikaku"?
• 13:50 Norman likes to ask, "If not me, who?" Who is going to do it? How are we going to empower people to work "bottom up" If you're a middle manager, you have take charge, quit living with fear
• 15:30 Is the boss necessarily smarter than you?16:20 A great story about convincing a boss to NOT outsource to Asia by asking him "what do you really want?" and working toward the cost reduction targets. How many companies go to China just to join that bandwagon?
• 17:50 "At this rate, we'd all better learn to speak Chinese," Norman says
• 18:10 Schwinn bicycle outsourced to Taiwan, then the company learned and took over design, etc. and became a big brand, Giant bicycles. They didn't need Schwinn anymore.
• 19:20 People at all levels of the organization point fingers up and down about why we can't do lean
• 20:30 The waste of not utilizing human talent, that provides the most opportunity
• 20:45 Why do we outsource to China before we've reduced waste and made the most of people here, instead of re-organizing our plants to avoid outsourcing?
• 21:40 A lot of companies say they want to empower employees, but do they know how?
• 23:50 Should every employee be their own boss? Norman gives an example of employees and the boss working together in a problem solving example
• 26:10 Norman got chewed out by a client for telling a worker what to do to solve some defects, he was told "that's not what you're here for..." It's a lesson Norman forgets sometimes, you have to ask employees, not tell.
• 30:30 Toyota still has a hierarchy of leadership and "bosses" within the factory, how does that fit with Norman's idea of everyone "being their own boss?"
• 31:30 Why are front line employees typically powerless?
• 33:45 Why do some bosses think that information = power, so they withhold information?
• 34:45 Ohno set a goal of "remove this warehouse in one year" and didn't tell people how (other than "retrain people as mechanics"), he expected them to figure out the solution

If you have feedback on the podcast, or any questions for me or my guests, you can email me at leanpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave a voicemail by calling the "Lean Line" at (817) 776-LEAN (817-776-5326) or contact me via Skype id "mgraban". Please give your location and your first name. Any comments (email or voicemail) might be used in follow ups to the podcast.

Click here for the main LeanBlog Podcast page with all previous episodes.

LeanBlog Podcast #7-- Norman Bodek

Here is LeanBlog Podcast #7, a new discussion with our friend Norman Bodek, President of PCS Press and the author of many books, including Kaikaku: The Power and Magic of Lean. In this Podcast, we discuss Toyota's response to recent quality problems and recalls along with other Lean leadership topics.

You can use the player (use the VCR-type controls) below to listen to a "streaming" version of the podcast (or click here for the streaming audio and RSS subscription). The streaming link is faster for one-time listening (hardly any delay to start listening). Or you can use the download link to put it on your computer or MP3 player.


MP3 File (Right Click to Save As)
For earlier episodes, visit the main Podcast page, which includes information on how to subscribe via RSS or via Apple iTunes.

LeanBlog Podcast #7 Show Notes and Approximate Timeline

• 1:40 What are Norman’s thoughts on Toyota’s recalls and their response of adding time back into the product development process to build in quality?
• 2:08 “When your model is being attacked, it’s unnerving. Very often, people are looking for an excuse to not do something.”
• 2:50 Yes, Norman buys Toyota
• 2:57 The book 40 Years, 20 Million Ideas: The Toyota Suggestion System
  
• 3:50 How Toyota invests in people, their training and development and how “lifetime employment was a brilliant concept”, because that investment in people is an investment in the company.
• 5:45 A few years ago, Norman visited Toyota Georgetown, why was the number of suggestions dropping? Employees had been getting $20 per suggestion, no matter how small and so employees “played the game and played it well.” So, Toyota stopped the program.
• 7:55 “The greatest respect you can show somebody is asking their opinion and listening to their ideas.”
• 8:10 Norman suggests that Toyota should have just changed their system to pay $20 for an idea “if it was worth $20.”
• 8:40 “Lifetime employment” or “lifetime improvement?”
• 9:10 As employees, do we learn and improve for the sake of “me” and “my career” or for “the company?” Norman says it’s “sad” that I don’t want to improve for the company’s sake.
• 10:00 Although Toyota Georgetown does not have “lifetime improvement,” they have never laid off a worker.
• 10:10 Are Toyota “temp” workers treated differently? Do they get a similar sense of commitment for ideas and suggestions?
• 11:15 How “Quick and Easy Kaizen” focuses on what’s good for the worker? How do you make your work more interesting and easier? Norman says, “The result will be better quality, safety, customer service, productivity…”
• 12:30 Back to Toyota’s product development and quality
• 13:10 Motorola and product development engineers improving the process
• 14:00 “How can you ask employees to be innovative rather than needing to have everything controlled by management, as we do in America?”
• 14:55 Norman says, “Management is not trained extensively, as they should be”
• 16:10 Working every day to improve, as employee, in a highly competitive world
• 16:30 Sending work to China for cheaper labor to do non-value added work versus eliminating waste? Why?
• 17:40 What about Toyota describing product development problems as “bonehead mistakes?” Is that not showing “respect for people?”
• 18:00 Toyota tries to take waste development out of the development process without working them too hard.
• 20:20 Why Norman likes the theme of “respect for people”
• Click here for Norman's Books and Videos from Amazon.com
  

If you have feedback on the podcast, or any questions for me or my guests, you can email me at leanpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave a voicemail by calling the "Lean Line" at (817) 776-LEAN (817-776-5326) or contact me via Skype id "mgraban". Please give your location and your first name. Any comments (email or voicemail) might be used in follow ups to the podcast.