Lean Helps Organizations Break Bad Habits
I recently read an article about a company that made a considerable improvement in productivity by simply staggering their lunch breaks. Before the change, everyone went to lunch at the same time. The plant made an item that had a printed dial of some kind. The printing process required two machines. When lunchtime came, the ink had to be removed and cleaned, or it would dry out. When the...
Read MoreIncorporate These Four Elements To Ensure A Successful Continuous Improvement Program
Problems, customer issues, productivity issues, and making decisions are an inherent part of daily life in every organization. Many organizations do an outstanding job and can resolve issues and make decisions very efficiently and quickly. However, there are still many organizations that struggle to resolve the simplest of issues. Why is it that some organizations are so much better than...
Read MoreSix Leadership Competencies Needed Now & In The Future
Over the years, I’ve worked with several family-owned companies founded twenty or thirty years ago by an earlier generation. Through a lot of hard work and perseverance, these companies could find a niche in the marketplace. They were able to grow and expand their operation from the original few employees to over one hundred. I often see that although they’ve grown in size and...
Read MoreUse Gemba Walks to Uncover Problems & Promote Accountability
Gemba is a Japanese word that means the real place where value is created. A gemba walk is a management tool whose purpose is to have managers walk the front line where they can see problems as they are occurring, ask questions and allow them to create follow-up on problems and promote accountability. Problems are most visible where they occur and the best ideas for solving them will come...
Read MoreDoes Your Organization Have A Learning Disability?
Organizations fail at alarming rates and in most companies that do there is an abundance of evidence in advance that the firm is in trouble. Organizations fail to recognize these impending threats and understand their implications even when some individual managers are aware of it. It is no accident that most organizations are poor learners. The way they are designed and managed, the way...
Read More