The KaiZone

Improving the business of life

How to Find More (and Better) Improvement Opportunities

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Ask The KaiZone Coaches Logo - 2

Move over Stooges!  Make way Musketeers!  ¡Adiós Amigos!  Kevin, Mike and Joel are back for the latest edition of ‘Ask The KaiZone Coaches’.  Each month, The KaiZone Coaches answer the most challenging and thought-provoking Lean and continuous improvement questions submitted by you, The KaiZone Community.  While certainly not the most well-known (or best-looking) bunch, you will not find a more passionate, personable or practical group of Lean thinkers on the interwebs today.  

This Month’s Question

Submitted by The KaiZone Community member Linda:

My Lean program is struggling to get off of the ground.  Our performance suggests we’ve got no shortage of problems, but my staff struggles to identify opportunities for improvement.  And the handful problems we have solved haven’t made much of an impact.  How can I get my staff to identify more – and better – improvement ideas?”

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Turning ‘Respect for People’ Into Action

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Ask The KaiZone Coaches Logo - 2Move over Stooges!  Make way Musketeers!  ¡Adiós Amigos!  Kevin, Mike and Joel are back for the latest edition of ‘Ask The KaiZone Coaches’.  Each month, The KaiZone Coaches answer the most challenging and thought-provoking Lean and continuous improvement questions submitted by you, The KaiZone Community.  While certainly not the most well-known (or best-looking) bunch, you will not find a more passionate, personable or practical group of Lean thinkers on the interwebs today.  

Meet The KaiZone Coaches:  Kevin and Mike

As this is the inaugural edition of Ask The KaiZone Coaches, let’s first take a moment to meet the authors.

Kevin Pavack

Kevin Pavack is a results-focused operations leader and Lean expert with 23 years experience driving operational excellence for a wide variety of industry-leading manufacturing and operations organizations. He is an acknowledged thought leader in the Toyota Production System (TPS) with a broad experience implementing these principles throughout the supply chain.  Kevin is a relationship-builder known for successfully demonstrating the value of Lean principles to staff at all organizational levels with a coaching, mentoring, and consensus-building approach.  Connect with Kevin on LinkedIn.

Mike Grogan

Mike Grogan is a Lean Missionary, and since Feb 2013, has been coaching Lean at not-for-profit healthcare organizations in Tanzania.  Mike is an Irish national and  has coached and trained over 1,000 people around the world (USA, UK, Middle East and Africa) on the application of Lean thinking.  Mike’s mission is to empower people and organizations to significantly improve their performance capability in order to achieve worthwhile purposes that advance society.  In particular, Mike’s focus is on organizations based in Africa and South East Asia.  Follow Mike on his personal website or connect with him on LinkedIn

This Month’s Question

Submitted by The KaiZone Community member James:

I hear a lot of talk in the Lean world about the concept of ‘Respect for People’. I like the idea, but I struggle trying to turn it into real, tangible actions. What are some things that can I do to incorporate ‘Respect for People’ into the way I manage my organization?”

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