Lean Concepts at the Airport
I had my Lean goggles on at the airport last week and took two pictures of some Lean concepts in action. First off is a typical FedEx drop box. I’ve seen this before, but I love the simple visual control…
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All posts from Mark Graban’s LeanBlog.org, including podcasts, announcements, articles, and more.
A Review of "Lean Hospitals"
Training Within Industry – TWI Blog: Lean Book Review: Lean Hospitals by Mark Graban Bryan Lund, over at the TWI Blog has written a very thoughtful review of my book, Lean Hospitals: Improving Quality, Patient Safety, and Employee Satisfaction. His…
Report: Toyota’s First Layoffs Since 1950??
Report: Toyota considers cutting 1,000 jobs – USATODAY.com With the down economy, there had been much discussion about whether Toyota could continue it’s “no layoffs (of permanent employees)” streak going. That may end soon, sadly: Toyota is considering cutting more…
No, Not Our Type of "Lean"
This ad in the Minneapolis Paul airport caught my eye today (sorry for the blur, I was on a moving walkway…) This is probably not to be confused with law firms that are using Lean principles (as I’ve written about…
Gaming the College Rankings at Baylor
Baylor Rewards Freshmen Who Retake SAT – NYTimes.com Baylor Newspaper Article Show me a ranking system and I’ll show you a way to “game the system” to manipulate the apparent results. You see this with sales quotas, annual bonus plans,…
The Positive Business Manifesto – Hoshin Planning for Employee Engagement
By Adam Zak, Adam Zak Executive Search:I’ve been writing quite a bit lately about why respect for people, often vividly demonstrated when your team members are truly engaged in their day-to-day work, is critical to building and sustaining the Lean…
Steve Spear on Why Toyota Outraces the Competition — and What “High Velocity” Organizations Do Differently
Steve Spear spent six months embedded with a Toyota team as a doctoral student, learning the Toyota Production System by teaching it to a supplier in Kentucky. In this episode, he explains what he calls “high velocity” organizations — companies…
Two Sentences That Don’t Help
I’ve blogged before about the “20 things supervisors shouldn’t say.” I’ll throw out, for discussion, two phrases that are awful to hear in the context of any change management situation, such as Lean in a hospital or a factory. When…
Future Speaking Gigs
I’m fortunate to have a few private speaking gigs in the coming months (a hospital in Iowa, an online presentation for an engineering student group at Utah State University, and an MBA operations class at Wharton). I do have a…
Enter for a Chance for a Free Visual Management Webinar
Dear Lean Blog readers, I have an exciting opportunity here for a lucky reader. Gwendolyn Galsworth is author of outstanding books on visual management, including Visual Workplace, Visual Thinking: Creating Enterprise Excellence Through the Technologies of the Visual Workplace, and…
Experience vs. Outside Views (or Experience + Outside)
I’m getting some really interesting and constructive comments in my reader survey. Keep it coming. I’ll reflect, summarize, and respond to it here on the blog or personally via email. Thanks to those who have taken the time. One comment…
Lean + Layoffs @ a Nebraska Hospital: But Not Related??
Reminder: Reader Survey Link (2 minutes of your time) Economy brings layoffs at Kearney hospital – Top Local Stories – News : KHAS-TV Here is a story from Nebraska, local TV news again, about Lean at a hospital. If you…
