The KaiZone

In the KaiZone Friday Favorites, I present my top ten favorite articles from the last two weeks in the world of Lean, continuous improvement 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.  Doing Lean Versus Becoming Lean by Jim Luckman.  “Moving from “doing Lean” to “becoming Lean” is more than just a change in organizational objectives. It requires a mindset of curiosity and experimentation, a commitment to learning and reflection, and a willingness to focus on and build high quality relationships among the individuals in the organization. Sometimes “just do it” may be the right answer, but when it comes to Lean, true change comes from becoming a new kind of organization.”

9.  Making Learning a Habit by Gregg Stocker.  “For years we’ve been taught that learning takes place in a classroom where experts convey knowledge to students.  When looking at the value of classroom learning in terms of improving performance and competitiveness, though, it becomes evident that the connection is weak, at best.  And although there are some benefits to conferences, seminars, and in-house training classes, they are not the type of activities that drive team learning. “

8.  Are We “Doing Lean” All Wrong by Brent Wahba.  “Somewhere in Ohio is a small healthcare management company that is the best Lean company, EVER. . . Good scientists use more than just the Scientific Method – they also question their assumptions and understand the difference between correlation and causality. So far this company has achieved about 80% of the benefits of a sustained Lean transformation with only 20% of the effort and 5% of the religion. Are they really the best Lean company ever? To them they are and that’s all that matters.”

7.   If It’s Not About Flow Then It’s Not About Lean by Bill Waddell.  “In all of the noise and complexity around lean it can be easy to lose focus, but the bottom line when it comes to lean is that it is all about flow – increasing the rate of flow through the value stream from end to end – cycle time compression is the core of lean thinking and any possibility of lean success. All of the tools, techniques and philosophies . . . were designed as useful tools to facilitate increased flow rates; and if they are not used for that purpose there is little point in the long haul of using them at all.”

6.  A Problem is a Fact by Jon Miller.  “Language is the crystallization of thought. But the words we choose do more than just reflect our thought patterns–they shape them. What we say–and how we say it–can deeply affect a company’s culture. To change attitudes and behaviors, it helps to first change the vernacular. To spark innovation, it helps to influence the dialogue around new ideas.”

5.  The Toyota Production System (TPS), Philosophy, and DNA by Michel Baudin.  “I have the greatest respect for TPS, and have experienced its adaptability to industries ranging from making frozen foods to computers and aerospace.  And I understand that you can’t go to a hospital and tell administrators, doctors, and nurses that you are going to help them with a method for making cars. You not only have to adapt it, you must also present it in such a way that they will listen. For 25 years, the word “Lean” has been used for this purpose. It has also been abused, to leverage the respect inspired by TPS in order to promote unrelated ideas.”

4.  Look Inward for Root Causes by Bill Waddell.  “Gemba walking is only powerful when the gemba walkers – no matter what their level is in the organization – look to themselves for the root cause of problems, rather than look to others in the company to blame.”

3.  What Toyota Taught Me by Mark Reich.  “The most important lesson I have learned during my time at Toyota is that there is a lot of power in the development of the capabilities of people, and that the role of leadership in creating a culture of problem solving is critically important.”

2.  Can We Design Enjoyable Work? by Jeff Liker and Michael Ballé.  “Practically, rather than inventing enjoyable work from scratch, Toyota’s approach is to try to take away the least enjoyable aspects of work from every job, through the development of what they call “mutual trust”.”

I (literally) read thousands of blog posts every year.  It’s a rare occurrence that I feel compelled to print one out and take notes.  But that’s just what I did with this week’s Friday Favorite from Planet Lean, which is big on both inspiration and information:

1.  Achieving a Lasting Transformation by Nestor Gavilan.  “What determines the direction in which the business will ultimately go depends on the approach of top management: without winning the hearts and minds of people, nothing more than fast-disappearing results will be accomplished.”

Do you have an article that you’d like to share with The KaiZone community?  Hey, we don’t shy away from shameless self-promotion here at The KaiZone!  Post it in the comments section below.  Have a great weekend, friends!