Working through resistance is always one of the most challenging parts of a Lean cultural transformation. It’s difficult and time consuming to understand where each individual falls on a change management curve and their personal motivation for change. However, getting some of your biggest resistors to move forward can result…
The other day I was invited to coach a two-and-a-half hour visioning meeting. I was super excited for the event. The group was working to create three innovative ways to serve future customers—and the meeting was planned to be totally interactive. Problem was, I was going to be five hundred…
If you have ever read a Lean book, blog or article, you’ll know that “value” is defined by the customer. While often referenced, we don’t spend enough time thinking about what this really means. What Do Customers Truly Want? Henry Ford reportedly once said, “If I’d asked my customers what…
Have you been in the following situation: Your manager calls you into her office, sits you down and says, “I have exciting news…and a great opportunity! You’re going to coach Vice President XYZ!” Although on the outside you smile a huge smile and thank your manager for the opportunity, inside,…
In a recent blog by Mark Reich, Senior Coach for the Lean Enterprise Institute, he harps on an experience circa 1994 where he reminisces on a life-long lesson on how a do-first mentality can bring more value to improving a process than coaching advice. With no engineering experience, Reich, an…
Led by Operations Director Paulo Maldonado, a recent 100-day waste walk yielded $3.7M in hard savings for the 2017 budget at UMC Health System. "It's the small things," says Lisa Barrington, Lean Six Sigma manager for UMC Health System, as she exclaims the impact of hundreds of submitted process improvement…
This week marks the 7th edition of the Executive Development Mission by Honsha. Direct from beautiful Japan, the Executive Development Mission aims to bring leaders to the next level of Lean thinking by showing the role of culture awareness. Guests will understand the pure principles of Kaizen directly from Gemba…
What Is a Process Walk? Process Walks are also known as “Going to Gemba.” Gemba is a Japanese term that translates to “go to the real place.” A Process Walk means an improvement team physically walks the whole process together while conducting interviews with those that work in the process.…
“Gemba” is a Japanese word that translates into “the site” or “the place of work.” There is a related word, “Gembutsu” which means the “actual thing.” We “go to the Gemba” to find out what is really happening. That might be a nice piece of philosophy, but what does it…
The City of SeaTac is blazing a trail for all cities in the U.S.A with their Align and Improve initiative. This city-wide initiative is focused on creating better strategic alignment throughout the City of SeaTac and launching process improvement efforts in city processes. With facilitation help from Tracy O'Rourke, the…