In the KaiZone Friday Favorites, I present my top ten favorite articles from the last week (give or take a few days) in the world of Lean – and beyond.  With leading content from the world’s foremost improvement authors and future Lean leaders, I do the research so you don’t have to!

10. When Standard Work is Not the Answer by Joe Crist.  “Standard work can provide the framework for sustainment and stability for a process in the elimination of undesirable outcomes (defects).  The hypothesis is simple; if the standard work is followed, then the defect will not occur. However, it is critical to recognize the difference between a standard work creation or revision problem and a standard work deployment problem.”

9.  Kaizen Methodologies: The Meaning of Kaizen by Benjamin Thompson.  “The Japanese word ‘kaizen’ simply means “good change”, with no inherent meaning of either ‘continuous’ or ‘philosophy’ in Japanese dictionaries or in everyday use. The word refers to any improvement, one-time or continuous, large or small, in the same sense as the English word ‘improvement’.”

8.  Even Knowledge Workers Get Dis-Engaged by Al Norval.  “Many of the same workplace issues of yesterday can remain in place today. Repetitive tasks without the ability to change and improve the work can lead to a dis-engaged workplace as much today as it did 50 or 100 years ago. Empowerment to make change, remove waste and improve the way work is done gives people some control over their immediate work environment.  The result – an engaged workforce constantly seeking a better way.”

7.  Performance Metrics: Don’t Lag Behind by Dan Littlefield.  “Think back to your school days: do you remember waiting for your report card to come so that you could find out how you did in a tough class?  Not only did you receive a standard performance measurement at the end of the course, but typically you would receive occasional milestone measurements, perhaps at the course mid-point, as well as scores on individual assignments.  Because of the constant feedback, rarely was I not at least directionally aware of my performance throughout the course.”

6.  Leadership Team Development by Jacklyn Whitaker.  “From our lean training, we understand the importance of respecting humanity. We understand that traditional thinking dictates to hire brilliant people to try to fix broken processes while lean thinking prescribes to empower regular people to improve upon brilliant processes. The difficult task isn’t recognizing the right approach, but rather being effective in putting it to practice.”

5.  Why No “Respect for People?” by Bob Emiliani.  “Hierarchies may be unavoidable in most cases, but the “I’m better than you” trap that leaders fall victim to, whether self-imposed or the view of others, is avoidable. If they can do that, then continuous improvement comes alive with the entire enterprise, top-to-bottom, with the spin-off benefit of reducing people’s stress and creating a healthier work environment both mentally and physically.”

4.  Hanging up My Cape by Josh Howell.  “Managers and front line workers hustle to work around problems resulting from poorly designed work systems (if it is justifiable to use the words “design” and “system”) and with such pride! We all like to be the hero, I suppose. I certainly did. Knowing what I know now, however, having experienced what I’ve experienced, this scene breaks my heart. Because there really is a better way!”

3.  Blame: Human Error is Going to Happen Even If We’re Being Careful by Mark Graban.  “Human error is GOING to happen, because we are fallible. That’s why we need good systems, tools, and processes and we can’t just ask people to “be more careful” and we can’t just blame them after an error occurs.”

2.  Leveled Production: Why Do It? by Ian Glenday.  “Batch logic is based on the principle “economies of scale.” The logic is focused on the machines. There is nothing wrong with economies of scale as long as you meet one criteria: you have very few products. As the product portfolio increases it becomes difficult to have long runs without unacceptable increases in finished goods inventories. Most companies have seen an explosion in their product portfolios in the last 20 years. What we need is a different focus that will improve efficiency while having shorter runs with more change-overs.”

And this week’s Friday Favorite goes to . . .

1. What is Enterprise Lean and How Do We Get There? by Jeffrey Liker.  “Since Plan-Do-Check-Act is the process needed to carry out sustainable improvement at all levels, it requires skilled practitioners at all levels—from the C-suite to the working level.”

Do you have an article that you’d like to share with The KaiZone community?  Post it in the comments section below.  Have a great weekend, friends!

 

In the KaiZone Friday Favorites, I present my top ten favorite articles from the last week (give or take a few days) in the world of Lean – and beyond.  With leading content from the world’s foremost improvement authors and future Lean leaders, I do the research so you don’t have to!

10. How to Solve Difficult Problems Using the Inversion Technique by James Clear.  “Here’s a new framework for thinking about how you solve difficult problems (like losing weight and getting fit, creating more innovation in your company, learning a new skill, or otherwise changing your behavior).  I call this strategy the Inversion Technique and author Josh Kaufman covers it in his book, The First 20 Hours.”

9.  13 Pillars of the Toyota Production System by Eliott Farr.  “Underpinned by thirteen core processes and philosophies, The Toyota Production System pioneered modern manufacturing as we know it. Here’s what each one is and how each one works.”

8.  Lean Leader’s Visual Controls by Bob Emiliani.  “Leaders need visual controls as well, for both their day-to-day management work and for strategic direction. Leaders, like everyone else, must learn new ways of thinking and doing things. Yet, in most cases, leaders tell people do think Lean and do Lean things, while then proceeding to do the same things they have always done. Visual controls can help avoid this inconsistency.”

7.  Formula 1 Pit Stop 1950 to 2013 by Michael Baudin.  “The 1950 pit stop used 4 people for 67 seconds, which works out to 4 minutes and 28 seconds of labor. If we include the external setup — before the car arrives — and the cleanup afterwards, the 2013 pit stop used 17 people for 44 seconds, or 12 minutes and 28 seconds of labor. In terms of labor costs, the 2013 pit stop was therefore less “efficient.” In a race, however, cutting the car stoppage time by a factor of 22 is priceless.”

6.  Learning How to Manage by Pascal Dennis.  “Like many of you, I was lucky enough to go to a professional school in a well-known university.  My studies were in business and engineering. Chats with colleagues who went into law, medicine, nursing, architecture and so on, suggest we picked up similar mental models and habits.  Many of my courses were ostensibly focused on ‘management’ – at least that’s what the curriculum said.  But I never learned how to manage till I got to Toyota. And then, the first order of business was to unlearn what I’d been taught!

5.  Top 5 Influencers of the Toyota Production System (TPS) by Matt Elson.  “The Toyota Production System (TPS) has been developed, refined and improved over the course of many decades.  While there have been many major influences in its development, the strength of the system is the fact that everyone continues to improve upon it, based on their own experiences.”

4.  Coaching for Success by Tim McMahon.  “Coaching is the process of preparing your employees to succeed. It is an ongoing, two-way process that involves using constructive, consistent feedback to reinforce positive behavior, resulting in improved performance.  Coaching must be part of business processes if you want the most benefit.”

3.  The Status Quo is Risky, Too by Liane Davey.  “It’s now common practice to manage risk with heightened awareness, disciplined processes, and due diligence. Unfortunately, we are more likely to apply these tools to evaluate the risk of changing than to evaluate the risk of staying the same. If your teammates are anchoring your business in the past, it’s your responsibility to help them see the risk of the status quo.”

2.  Intentional Decision Making by Karen Martin.  “All parties benefit by being intentional and clearly communicating the level of decision making authority we’re operating from (which varies, depending on the decision to be made). Imagine a world with this level of clarity. No more wondering if you’re authorized to make a decision or not. No more irritation because someone made a decision they weren’t authorized to make. No more frustration with people who aren’t making decisions that are theirs to make simply because they didn’t know they had the authority to do so.”

And this week’s Friday Favorite goes to . . .

1.  Which Side Are You On? by Michael Ballé.  “Modern corporations are built upon the idea that efficiency must be enforced through staff systems. Finance enforces cost accountability because operational people will spend like there is no tomorrow.  IT enforces complexity management because things have gone so far out of hand no human could possibly deal with such complex systems. Human Resources are fast become a labor cost control function. Each functional director must convince the CEO that applying their preferred program, initiative, or system will force line managers in getting the results every one asks from them.”

Do you have an article that you’d like to share with The KaiZone community?  Post it in the comments section below.  Have a great weekend, friends!