Tag: Deming
Fear of speaking up is a broader problem, not just in...
Announcement: Dr. Greg Jacobson and I are doing a new webinar for KaiNexus on "More Leadership Behaviors That Create a Culture of Continuous Improvement'"...
“Four Days with Dr. Deming” – Key Points from a Quality...
I had planned on chilling out over the holidays by reading some books that aren't related to Lean, Kaizen, etc. Novels are not normally...
A Hotel, Time Quotas, Systemic Problems, and Employees Not Having the...
I travel a lot and, thanks to my work, I'm pretty well attuned to the idea of not blaming individuals for systemic problems in...
Good Ideas, Lean Ideas, Keep Crossing the Pacific
The ideas, principles, and methods that we'd recognize as "Lean" aren't exclusively of Japanese origin. Many of us, myself included, draw inspiration from Toyota,...
“Quality Circles” Are Alive & Well in Japanese Organizations; We Might...
One question I was asked to ask during my Japan trip was to see if "Quality Circles" are still active in Japanese companies. I...
Lean is a “Generic” Term for TPS (and The Toyota Way),...
People often say Lean is pretty simple (or that it's just "common sense"). Yeah, some of the concepts are simple... but sometimes deceptively so....
Why Red-Green Charts in Management are a Rear-View Mirror Approach
tl;dr: The article critiques the traditional use of red-green charts in management, likening it to driving by looking only at the rear-view mirror. It...
Teaching Up in the Organization?
People often talk about the need for senior leadership support for Lean. If we're going to really transform our culture, workplace, and performance, "quality...
The One Where a Dog Reviews the Strategy Deployment Metrics Wall
I've had some cartoons on the blog before, including a few "Doofus & Leanies." I can't draw at all, believe me (although I sometimes...
That Moment When You Realize a Potential Client CEO is a...
Many healthcare organizations are non-profits. They provide some "community benefit" in terms of charity care (as do for-profit healthcare organizations).
Then, there are healthcare organizations...
3 Ways to React to Human Error
What happens when a mistake is made in your organization? How do you react when an error occurs?
A lab specimen gets mislabeled. The wrong...
The Worst Root Cause Problem Solver in the Animal World Is…...
We all know the beaver is "the engineer of the animal kingdom." That's why MIT has a beaver as a mascot... it's an engineer...