John Shook — one of the first Americans to work deeply within Toyota — explains why the A3 is far more than a template. It’s a management process for solving problems, developing people, and leading organizational change. Episode #56 of…
Here is part 3 of the results from my online survey about Kaizen Events in healthcare. You can find Part 1 and Part 2 in previous posts. One thing to keep in mind, and I’ll comment more on this another…
Rod Dreher: What it means to lead | Dallas Morning News | Opinion: Viewpoints “Authority is responsibility. Authority is accountability. It is not power.” That sounds like a good motto for leaders. Is this the latest from a Toyota leader,…
Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves your people and processes. (Rule 8 of The Toyota Way) Being the geek that I am, I took advantage of the chance to try the new American Airlines mobile flight check-in process.…
I wanted to remind you about an online event I’m presenting for Thursday afternoon and tell you about a new event (local to Dallas) that I’m attending Thursday night. THE DARK REPORT presents: How To Find And Eliminate All The…
Podcast Episode #51 is the first part of a two-parter (listen to part 2 here) with retired Lt. Randy Russell of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, an innovator in the use of Lean methods for improving law enforcement. Starting in 2004, the…
The ‘Brick’ is… | 9 to 5 Mac There’s news that Apple is going to announce new laptops. I love my MacBook that I just bought earlier this year, but I’m not an Apple “Fanboy” (this was my first Mac…
Ok, so I’ll combine a mish-mash of Ford related topics into a single post here. First off, it’s the 100th anniversary of the Model T, introduced in 1908. Yesterday’s USA Today has an article about the anniversary and some interesting…
Obama Promises To Stop America’s S***ty Jobs From Going Overseas | The Onion – America’s Finest News Source Replace “some” in my post headline with a word that rhymes with “witty” but starts with an “sh.” OK, by now, you…
The Associated Press: Toyota lays off 800 line workers at Japan plant I’m starting to cut Toyota less slack for their claims of not having laid off employees in over 50 years. Japanese automaker Toyota has laid off 800 people…
Export Boom Fuels Factory Town’s Revival – WSJ.com: It’s more a story of exchange rates (weak dollar) than Lean, but manufacturing isn’t dead yet, especially in Wisconsin. As someone who re-opened a closed factory says: “America got tired of manufacturing,”…
I’m proud to report that I survived driving in the U.K. for the first time today, driving about an hour to Cambridge. I’m working in a town without a direct rail link (would have to go down to London and…