Terms are listed most recent first. Check back often to see when we post new Lean content.
Coaching is the act of giving specific guidance to help a person make better decisions that will result in the individual getting closer to reaching his or her goals or accomplishing a specific task better. Generally speaking, coaching is very targeted, and usually comes as a result of a formally Read more…
Continuous improvement is as much about not going backward as it is about making progress. Knowing what to avoid is as important as knowing what to do. While many of the items on this list of No-No’s won’t derail your Lean efforts, they do act as speed bumps that slow Read more…
Abraham Maslow (1908-1970), is a psychologist made famous by his “Hierarchy of Needs”. He proposes that people have a tiered structure of needs, and the most basic of these must be met prior to dedicating attention to more advanced, or higher-order needs. The hierarchy, from lowest to highest, includes: Physiological Read more…
The military has a term called “commander’s intent”. It is a part of every mission briefing in which the commander describes success and the purpose behind what he or she wants to achieve. Unfortunately though, in any combat operation, there is a chance that a unit will find itself without Read more…
Kaizen kits are packages of tools and supplies that support continuous improvement activities. The purpose of the kit is to streamline the kaizen process by having necessary tools and supplies gathered in advance. The kit has another benefit. It can inspire creativity. When you put materials in front of people, Read more…
Job descriptions exist for nearly every position in nearly every company. They outline the overview of the job, responsibilities, work activities. They should also list job requirements, and clearly spell out which are mandatory, and which are “like-to-haves”. Job descriptions are most commonly used for recruiting purposes or during annual Read more…
In continuous improvement, you often have to go out and collect information from people. Sometimes it is from observations. Often, though, you will be speaking directly to people doing the process, and you will be asking them questions. Keep in mind one important distinction. Interviews generally seek answers. Interrogations seek Read more…
A hidden factory is the set of undocumented and unstaffed processes that are done in an organization. When you dive into a process, you will often find two methods of doing it. The first is the documented method, or the one described by the operator as what he or she Read more…
A gemba walk is a leadership process in which a manager walks through his or her areas of responsibility in order to gain a better understanding of how the operation is running. The term “gemba” means “the real place” in Japanese. The level of structure of a gemba walk varies Read more…
“Form, fit, and function” are most commonly discussed in relation to the design of an object, or when considering if a process is value added or not. Form: Form is the physical characteristics of the product. It includes things like shape, weight, color, material, etc. Fit: Fit is short for Read more…
Economy of scale means that an organization is structured in such a way that as production volumes rise, per unit costs fall. In effect, this is a fancy of way to say “bigger is better”. It is based on the idea that a product has two basic components to its Read more…
When using drawers to store equipment, one expression stands out: Out of sight, out of mind. Things in a drawer tend to get piled up, misplaced, and forgotten about. Drawers take time to open and close, and slow down processes. They hide things. Bottom line: Drawers are fine for storage, Read more…