If you’ve been anywhere near a TV lately, you’ve probably heard and seen this hypnotizing “What is iPad?” commercial (YouTube link). The announcer breathlessly and shamelessly tells you how “beautiful” and “magical” the iPad is… “it’s crazy powerful,” he says,…
Last week, I published Part 1 of my notes about a breakfast talk by Dr. Brent James at the Shingo Prize Conference. One of the more interesting things that Dr. James said was something he prefaced as saying it would…
Looking ahead to Wednesday’s free LEI webinar “Lessons from Lean Startups” with Eric Ries, it’s exciting to see Eric and Steve Blank featured in the NY Times today (“The Rise of the Fleet-Footed Start-Up“). You can sign up for the…
In an article (“Assembly required: Health care from the Toyota factory floor“) from Canada’s National Post newspaper says Lean healthcare is “taking Canadian healthcare by storm.” The piece leads with some work done by Windsor’s Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital – a…
TL;DR: Patient safety leader Lucian Leape’s critique appears less about Lean itself and more about “L.A.M.E.”–Lean As Misguidedly Executed. True Lean in healthcare prioritizes patient safety, quality, and respect for people; when those are missing, the problem isn’t Lean–it’s how…
Keeping things light on a Saturday… New York Magazine has a funny photo story series of President Obama on tours of different factories and laboratories (hat tip to @counternotions on Twitter). The series is called “A History of Obama Feigning…
TL;DR: An NPR story about workplace “efficiency” illustrates L.A.M.E.–Lean As Misguidedly Executed–where tools like 5S are applied without respect for people or employee engagement. True Lean builds capability with the people doing the work, not through top-down cost cutting. Oh…
I had an incredible visit to a hospital in Stockholm yesterday, to walk the “gemba” (the actual workplace) to see their lean improvement efforts first hand. I’ll share some details and highlights over time here on the blog. One…
Laboratory Equipment – Easy Lean Lab Exercises When I see “Easy Lean” or, as I also saw recently in a consultant’s promotion, “Instant Lean,” I take notice and cringe. “Easy Lean” and “Instant Lean” don’t exist. Sorry. Lean seems simple…
Leanies of the World, Unite! TL;DR: Not everything labeled “Lean” is truly Lean–many worker complaints stem from L.A.M.E. (Lean As Misguidedly Executed), not the Toyota Production System itself. Real Lean is a management philosophy built on respect for people, problem…
telegraphjournal.com – Lean process, big results I’ll write more on this topic of unions and Lean tomorrow, but I wanted to share this story from Canada. The New Brunswick provincial health system is going to start working with the Lean…
Ten Common Misconceptions About Toyota | Quality Digest I found this interesting column from Quality Digest, by Stewart Anderson, a guy who says he has first hand experience with Toyota people and suppliers. The website bio page requires registration to…
