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Repetition is the act of doing something the same way over and over again. Repetition helps provide stable outputs to a process by making the inputs consistent. Repetition has a side effect of creating muscle memory—the state where your body acts without conscious thought, much like walking. You don’t have Read more…
Process improvement is the act of reviewing a specific process to make it Process improvement is the act of reviewing a specific process to make it better. The degree of formality can be minimal, such as an immediate decision to change a method on the fly. This might include moving Read more…
Practice is repeating a task in order to improve your skills. This doesn’t mean that it has to just be an exercise. You can practice doing good Pareto charts by finding opportunities to use them in real situations. Practice is characterized by purpose. That means identifying a gap in a Read more…
A mentor is an experienced, wise counselor. The mentor must be trusted by the student. This often precludes mentors from being in direct supervisory roles. People often feel cautious about sharing too much personal information with bosses. In Lean, because of its Japanese heritage, a mentor is often referred to Read more…
In short, leadership is the act of one person uniting and motivating others toward a common goal. Leadership is part natural (as in “natural-born”), but is greatly refined through training, practice, and constant learning. Confidence in oneself is a key component of leadership. While leadership is generally considered a positive Read more…
Knowledge is the body of facts and information surrounding a specific topic. That topic can be about processes, company policies, knowing who to speak with to get things done, or general skills. In fact, it can be about practically anything. Knowledge has the trait of specificity. That just means that Read more…
A kanban is a signal that gives an instruction to get, move, produce, order, or take some other activity with production materials. Its literal translation from the original Japanese term, though, is “signboard” or “billboard”. Kanbans tell you when to order, what to order, how much to order, and where Read more…
Just-in-case is a play on words of just-in-time manufacturing. Contingencies are one of the main reasons why people do many of the non-Lean activities that hurt an organization. Holding inventory just-in-case a shipment is late Batching some extra just-in-case there is a problem Buying an extra machine just-in-case it breaks Read more…
Job security is the feeling of safety that one’s job will be there in the future. Because job security is so closely linked to basic needs, like shelter and food, people react with strong emotions when their job security is threatened. In fact, job security falls into the first level Read more…
Many of the benefits of Lean are specific and tangible. Space savings, productivity gains, and inventory reduction all fall into this category. Some of the benefits of Lean, though, are intangible. They are the things that are not clearly perceptible. How can you define the impact of a focus on Read more…
The dictionary definition of facilitation is to make something easier. In this broad definition, facilitation covers a lot of ground. But in the continuous improvement definition, facilitation has a few specific characteristics. Facilitation is generally done for groups, not for individuals. Facilitation is most common for discrete projects. You might Read more…
Employee engagement describes a state of workers’ full commitment to the success of the company. Employee engagement is characterized by the worker making the extra effort and linking her personal success to corporate success. Employee engagement relies on two factors: Job satisfaction The ability to contribute in his role A Read more…