Guidance is the way that a leader or mentor provides assistance to another person to help her reach her goals. Guidance is more general in nature than specific directions. The goal is to help a person make a good decision on her own, not to tell her what to do. Read more…
A simple definition of goal setting is that it is the act of declaring something that you want to achieve and putting some specific parameters around the end result. It includes the who, what, when, where, and why. This goal setting definition, though, is overly simplistic. Goal setting has a Read more…
Setting expectations is part of the relationship building process. Whether between a boss and a subordinate, or a Lean advocate and the rest of the company, relationships are formed by what one party expects from the other. One of the things that sets the human mind apart from that of Read more…
Diminishing returns happen when resource (time, effort, money, space) yields less output than it did at an earlier time. In math jargon, diminishing returns happen when the productivity curve starts to flatten out. Diminishing returns are essentially the inverse of the Pareto 80/20 Principle. Once the 80% of gains are Read more…
A decision is a choice between two competing or alternative options. We make countless decisions each and every day—what to wear, what to eat, the route to take to work. Some decisions are made so rapidly that they are virtually automatic. You make a decision every time you adjust the Read more…
Criticism is negative feedback about something. At work, criticism can be about personal performance or a process.
In a Lean culture, discussing problems is an essential part of making improvements. The key to success at addressing these issues is to make every attempt to separate the failure of a person from the failure of a process.
I am a devotee of 5S. I love what 5S does for my effectiveness at work. I keep things organized, make my workspace support what I do, and prioritize all my ‘tools’ (books, computer peripherals, etc.) so the most important things are at arm’s reach. Despite that, I still constantly Read more…
A Standard Work Combination Sheet (SWCS) is also known as a Standard Work Combination Chart, or a Standardized Work Combination Table. Regardless of what you call it, it is one of the most critical documents to your Lean success. Standard Work Combination Sheets goes hand-in-hand with Standard Work Sheets. In Read more…
The Standard Work Sheet is a staple form for Lean Manufacturing. It provides a graphical view of the workstation, the path of the operator, and the amount of standard work-in-process required to keep the process flowing smoothly. This form goes hand-in-hand with the Standard Work Combination Sheet. Directions for the Read more…
Let me ask you this question about the benefit of Lean. Is jogging a mile harder than sprinting a quarter mile? That’s the basic problem with pitching Lean as making a job easier. It’s not always an apples-to-apples comparison. Sure, Lean makes tasks easier. But the entire job might actually get Read more…
There’s a little pastry shop up the road from us. It’s just far enough off our beaten path that we have to make an effort to go there. My wife stopped in a few years back and got lousy service. I had gone around the same time, but I thought the Read more…
The current economy reminds me of a story about two guys walking in the woods. They come upon a grizzly bear up ahead on the trail. The bear sees them, and starts licking his chops as he starts down the path towards them. One of the hikers sits down and Read more…