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Go and See

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Go and See

“Go and See” and talk with the people on the frontline to understand the non-conforming issues that they are dealing with. We believe that treating people with respect means telling them the truth, helping them where they need help and holding them accountable, and expecting them to do the same of you.

As the saying goes, “The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable” is fundamental to my leadership approach. Running a manufacturing facility using only computer data, prepared reports and posted metrics is naïve at best, self-serving at worst. After all, as a manufacturing executive, I know that money is not made/lost in manufacturing on a daily, monthly, yearly basis, but hour by hour.

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Opinion: Kaizen or Kaizen "Events"?

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Opinion: Kaizen or Kaizen "Events"?

I’ve seen a lot of kaizen “event” bashing recently. I understand it, I really do. Let’s face it: the problem with the way most organizations “do” kaizen - it is purely event based, often consultant- or specialist-lead, and too few and too far between. And it stays this way, forever.

Lean purists tell everyone, “everyone is responsible for kaizen” and “kaizen happens continuously, on the gemba, don’t wait for an event.”

When I hear this, I envision an ideal state: where we walk to the gemba, and see workers experimenting with their processes, improving them and their products on the spot. Engineering, Quality and Management personnel are there to help remove barriers for the workers to achieve the next level of performance. Everyone knows that it is not just “ok to stop the line” and fix the problem right now... its expected. After all, identifying the root cause of problems, and preventing recurrence, and learning from it to bring more perfect value to our customers is the most important thing to do right now.

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Why I care about Culture...

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Why I care about Culture...

As a Manufacturing Engineering and Lean Transformation professional, I divide my time almost equally about technical and cultural topics. To me, it is not at all surprising, but I wonder if it is to others...

The Lean Journey: Thoughts on the road I have traveled...

The Lean Journey: Thoughts on the road I have traveled...

All lean journeys start pretty much the same way, whether on a burning platform for change, or with a directive or desire to cut costs and lead times, or some other motivation to make organizations more competitive... or when organization 'reboot' failed or stalled lean implementation...

What's it like to work in Whoville?

What's it like to work in Whoville?

The last few years, I have become increasingly fascinated by the concept of culture. What is it, how does it develop, how does it evolve? What is the relationship between the culture of the organization and its values that it writes on websites, job postings, placards, signs and in the employee handbook? Why do some organizations and teams develop incredibly strong bonds and an intense sense of loyalty within corporations that don't foster the culture that the team has, and other teams within larger organizations with great culture fail to bond? What makes a culture sustainable, what makes it vulnerable, and what happens when the REAL culture of the organization doesn't match what the company claims its culture is?

Getting to know you...

Getting to know you...

Maybe its just me, but I have noticed that lately it seems it is more difficult to really get to know the people we work with the way we used to. When I first started working, I had a lot of "work friends". We socialized, we hung out - we knew each other's significant others, friends and families. As our careers progressed, we watched each other move up, move on, get married, buy homes, start families, go back to school. It seems that many of the connections I forged early in my career were some of the strongest I have had, and still maintain...