Mark Graban

When I shared a link to my post about applying Kaizen to my websites, I was asked a fascinating question on LinkedIn last week: "What was your very first process improvement?" In this post, I answer that question.

There's much to admire about Toyota and even regular readers of this blog might throw the "fanboy" label at me. Toyota employees in San Antonio have a lot of positive things ("pros") to say online about working there. But, the overwhelming "con" is the rotating work schedules - being on days for two weeks then switching to nights for two weeks. Where do a priority on safety and "respect for people" enter into the discussion about which shift pattern is safest, most effective, and most fair?

I do my best to practice what I preach. I'm not perfect, by any means, but I'm pretty good about practicing the "Kaizen" style of continuous improvement. In this post, I share three recent examples of my Kaizen efforts for LeanBlog.org, JapanLeanTrip.com, and LeanHospitalsBook.com.

I often get asked a question along the lines of "So, what exactly do you do?" Today, I give some updates about my various projects and partnerships, including continuing with KaiNexus (with a different title) and a new partnership with Value Capture.

Again, there's still time to sign up for the next Lean and Kaizen study trip to Japan that I'm facilitating with Kaizen Institute, from February 26 to March 2, 2018. There's still room in the tour if you'd like to join us. In this post, I share some of my thoughts - answers to questions posed by Kaizen Institute. And, I share some thoughts from Risa Cox, from Kaizen Institute.

My guest for Episode #297 is John (JJ) Villareal, Ed.D., the superintendent of the Rockwall I.S.D. here in the Dallas area. In this podcast, we talk about the applications of Lean in education, how to move beyond what JJ calls "the behavior waste of judgment and blame," and how visiting a factory was inspiring and helpful, among other topics. Even if you don't work in education, I hope you'll be inspired by this podcast.

Tomorrow, with the entire KaiNexus team, I'm going to visit the Toyota truck plant in San Antonio, the plant referred TMMTX. The 15 of us will be there in closed toed shoes and all other required clothing to learn about the Toyota Production System, Kaizen (continuous improvement), and Lean. I've blogged about it on the KaiNexus blog. I asked the KaiNexus team to say a little bit about what they hope to learn in the visit and you can read their comments it here. In this post, I share a 24-minute tour preview webinar that I put together, links to past tour blog posts, and more.

Saturday, you might have seen the news about a "false alarm" push alert that was sent to many iPhones and other smart phones in Hawaii. An alert was also sent out over many TV channels through the Emergency Response System. Is the response one that focuses on blame and punishment? Or is it focused on understanding how systems fail and how to improve them to prevent future recurrence? How does this all apply to your organization?

Come join me and Kaizen Institute in the last week of February as we lead a study trip to Japan. This will be my third trip to Japan and I'm very excited... we still have space in the group if you can join us.

You might think that "command and control" leadership styles are a thing of the past. But, old habits die slowly and many leaders today still seem to have a mental model that longs for a workforce that would "just do what they're told." What did former President and General Dwight D. Eisenhower say about leaders who are "hitting people over the head?" I blog about that here...

Joining me for Episode #296 of the podcast is Zeev N. Kain, MD. MBA, FAAP. He is a physician and a Chancellor's Professor at the University of California, Irvine. He has many additional roles and titles, including: Director, System Redesign & Value Based Care for the UC-Irvine Health Policy Research Institute Executive Director of the UCI-Yale Center on Stress & Health President of the American College of Perioperative Medicine Dr. Kain is "recognized as an international expert in the clinical management of perioperative fear and anxiety, and management of children undergoing invasive medical procedures. His research addresses major dilemmas encountered in the management of affected children." He's also an advocate for Lean and Six Sigma and the connections to reducing "clinical variation" in healthcare. So, that's what we're talking about today.

Yesterday, I saw this headline from the Associated Press: "Tatsuro Toyoda, former head of Toyota, dies at 88" He passed away on December 30, 2017. I offer my condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues. In this post, I share some of his history and some reflections from two Americans who worked with him directly.