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Continuous Improvement and Respect for People - big ideas that deserve to be capital letters!
These reflect the infinite finesse of the Lean Business System.
They are yin & yang, masculine & feminine, mind & heart.
Each contains the other, as in the famous yin/yang image.
Continuous improvement is largely, though not entirely, an affair of the 'rational mind', which some people call the 'Left Brain'.
We need to know the fundamentals, including Value/Waste, 5 S, Visual Management, Standardized Work & the like.
We need enough problem solving 'reps' so that our core katas become part of our muscle memory.
Respect for People is largely, though, again, not entirely, an affair of the 'heart, which some people call the 'Limbic Brain'.
Respect for People requires empathy, and a solid grounding in core values.
Our readers will know, by now, that for me, this means the Cardinal Virtues:
- PRUDENCE,
- TEMPERANCE,
- COURAGE,
- JUSTICE
These figure strongly in my book, Reflections of a Business Nomad.
By the way, my friend and colleague, Dr. Reldan Nadler, has written persuasively about the importance of Emotional Intelligence in leaders.
I recommend his books warmly.
Best regards,
Pascal
In case you missed our last few blogs... please feel free to have another look…
Why Do We Learn More from What Did Not Work?
Failure is a Requirement for Innovation
KAIZEN – Small Changes vs. Monster Projects
Is Inventory a waste or a cover-up of deeper waste?
Here is something brief that I posted on LinkedIn while I was in Japan recently, but I also wanted to share it here, elaborating a bit. In my visits to Japan, I have learned that not every company here utilizes TPS, Lean, Kaizen, or TQM. It's not the default and it's not easier if you're […]
The post From Japan: “We were not always a Kaizen company” — Surprising? appeared first on Lean Blog.
10. 6 Surefire Ways to Kill Morale – Avoid these six simple blunders that are morale killers and prevent your employees from sticking around.9. 7 Key Factors of Successful...
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One of the things I do with KaiNexus is manage our webinar series. That means lining up presenters, playing the role of host and moderator, and sometimes being the presenter, as I did again the other day. One of our measures is the number of people who register for each webinar. Our goal isn't to […]
The post Different Ways of Reporting our KaiNexus Webinar Registration Numbers appeared first on Lean Blog.
"Reflection is one of the most underused yet powerful tools for success." — Richard Carlson
Great leaders pause and reflect...
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Kim Hollon is CEO and President at Signature Healthcare. I don't know him well, but I've heard a lot of great things about him and his leadership from a friend who used to do Lean work at Signature. I did some Lean training for the organization about 10 years ago when I was full time […]
The post A Hospital CEO’s Humble Reflections on His Role in Lean and Patient Safety appeared first on Lean Blog.
#1 Not setting any goals
#2 Setting too many goals
Businesses flounder when they chase too many goals. If you feel you have too many priorities and claims on your attention, you are hardly alone. A recent survey of 1,800 global executives that dug into this issue revealed a wide range of related management ailments, including:
Most executives (64%) report they have too many conflicting priorities.The majority of executives...
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Organizations take on countless projects in the name of process improvement. Whether reducing defects or ensuring call centers are best equipped to solve issues, they’re ultimately looking to meet customers’ needs and help their business succeed. But with limited time and resources, they can only turn so many ideas into fully fledged projects. That’s where project steering committees come in.
Have you ever heard of “The Iceberg of Ignorance”? Japanese consultant Sidney Yoshida coined the term in a study that he presented at the International Quality...
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