Success at continuous improvement requires having a Lean infrastructure in place. This comes in two basic forms. There is the traditional view of infrastructure—the physical systems that support an operation. There is also the intellectual Lean infrastructure. This is the collection of knowledge, tools, documents, training materials, and the like Read more…
There is a pretty high failure rate with Lean. I’ve seen studies that said 76% of continuous improvement efforts under deliver, and I’ve heard anecdotal stories from Lean bloggers that claim upwards of 90% of implementations fail. The truth is that it is hard to pin down precise numbers, as Read more…
Most seasoned consultants look for warning signs when they try to help a company that is early on its continuous improvement journey. Creating a continuous improvement culture is extremely challenging. In its infancy, it is hard to build momentum, and easy to get derailed. Some of the ‘tells’ of a Read more…
An important part of conducting a continuous improvement event is selecting a kaizen team that is strong and will get great results. The following factors all play a role. Scope Too few people for the scope of the project and you won’t finish. Too many and you’ll have a lot Read more…
Patient satisfaction metrics are bad for healthcare. There. I said it. I know. It is blasphemy to say something like that in the Lean world. The focus of continuous improvement should be on the customer. The customer tells us if we are doing something right by speaking with their wallets. Read more…
We want people to stay busy, right? Idle people are wasteful, right? In Lean, these are both false. I would rather see a person sit idle than just try to fill the time with busy work. Busy work masks opportunity. It is understandable that people do this. If they sit Read more…
I grew up in Chicago. When it snowed, we had to get drifts over a foot to get school cancelled. At least that’s how the school-aged kid inside of me remembers it. But I do know that we had some pretty bad storms. During the storms, things shut down, then Read more…
Many people have fairly solid leadership skills. But those skills are put to the test in a continuous improvement culture. Typical leadership is not enough. The people in charge must exhibit improvement-oriented leadership. This simply means that they not only guide people to accomplish today’s task, but also have to Read more…
Processes are important for many reasons. They improve productivity. They make quality better. They improve predictability. They also help prevent chaos. Think about what happens when a driver chooses not to follow a process. We know that this can cause trouble if the violation is self-serving: speeding, running a red Read more…
I recently got a comment from an ex-subscriber that was not very flattering. While some of the criticisms were valid—I do have some issues with my download delivery processes—there was also an accusation that I was conducting false advertising. That bothered me, and I had a pretty quick reaction. But Read more…
I teach a lot of problem solving tools. In fact, much of continuous improvement is just various forms of problem solving. Most of the tools are just standardized solutions to problems that most people face in their jobs. Take andon lights, for example. The first person who came up with Read more…
The ease of making a change is correlated to the willingness to make a change. This is a critical concept to understand when trying to create a continuous improvement culture. A big part of a CI culture is the expectation that everyone contributes. Great Lean companies have participation from people Read more…