Our Kaizen Institute guide, Brad Schmidt (pictured above) talked to us on Monday about standardized work. He said, of the practice at Toyota, that it’s “voluntary standardization.” This is revolutionary thinking, I believe, for much of the Lean community and it’s something I’d like to explore and reflect on a bit. I’ve always cringed a bit at the enthusiasm with which traditional “command and control” organizations embrace the idea of “standardized work” with Lean. They … Continue reading Standardized Work: “Unity in the Essential, Liberty in the Non-Essential…”