TL;DR: A Toyota tour guide at the Tsutsumi plant once added a small hook to a catwalk railing because she didn’t like setting her bag down. Her manager approved it. A colleague installed it. No ROI analysis was required. That…
As I wrote about in Healthcare Kaizen, one of my favorite Lean transformation stories is the realization of an experienced medical technologist, John, that Lean leadership was about being “a coach, not a cop.” He had repeatedly said “no” to…
In our Healthcare Kaizen books, Joe Swartz and I have tried to make the case that the Kaizen style of continuous improvement isn’t just a nice way to treat employees… it’s smart business and it’s good for patients. It’s a practical…
New KaiNexus Webinar – 8/21 Dr. Greg Jacobson and I are doing another new webinar in a few weeks: “Getting Started with Continuous Improvement: Lessons and Reflections“ Click to view the recording! Greg and I will share some of our…
I made this short three-minute video for KaiNexus where I try to succinctly answer the question, “What is Kaizen?” Click the thumbnail below to view the video and/or to read the transcript: Please leave a comment on the KaiNexus website,…
TL;DR: PICK charts can help prioritize Kaizen ideas, but they shouldn’t shut down creativity. Instead of letting “Kibosh” ideas die, leaders should coach, simplify, and adapt them–shifting difficult ideas toward easier, high-impact solutions and keeping continuous improvement moving. The so-called…
For the past few years, Dr. Greg Jacobson and I have worked closely together to create and deliver our continuous improvement webinars. We try to share content that is useful to customers and others who are interested in improvement and…
Last Thursday, Joe Swartz and I presented about “Kaizen Coaching” at the annual Shingo Institute Conference. In the start of our breakout session, I made a point I usually make, something I learned from Norman Bodek: “A suggestion is something…
I’ve really enjoyed reading the book The Essential Deming: Leadership Principles from the Father of Quality, which was published last year. I think this link will work… You can view my public Kindle notes and profile online. If you haven’t read Dr. Deming’s…
The price paid for most management consulting work is based on either a daily rate or some variation of a flat-rate fee based on what is being delivered. Enterprise software pricing is also often fixed. In both cases, the client…
Last month, Joe Swartz and I presented a webinar for the newly renamed Shingo Institute about our Healthcare Kaizen books. The Shingo Institute’s new logo is at left and you can watch a video about their new name and expanded…
One of the big arguments given for “Lean Government” efforts are the cost savings that are generated by various Lean projects at local, state, or federal levels. I’ve heard stories and rumors from people who have done Lean Government work……