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.”
Norman is awesome….his steady drumbeat of kaizen is a marvelous souce of direction. We owe him much.
That’s Norman, straight and to the point, and not afraid to challenge those at the C-level by pointing out the obvious flaws and hypocrisy in their “strategic” thinking.