Customer Value is the Primary Goal of #Lean – Never Forget It TAGS: cleanliness | consulting | continuous | cost savings | customer | improvement | lean | lean blitz | mia | national league of families | pow | pow-mia | processes | six sigma | start | value The National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia was initiated by an uprising of servicemen’s families during the Vietnam War who demanded that action be taken …Continue reading →

The 2013 #Masters: Coaching Is Auditing AND Facilitating Improvement TAGS: audit | auditing | augusta national golf club | benefit | coach | coaching | continuous improvement | georgia | improvement | lean blitz consulting | masters | operations | process | project | punitive | quality | sports | standards | zach johnson | zack johnson Masters Week is finally here! All of the golf world has descended upon Augusta, Georgia for April 8-14 for the 2013 Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. The Masters …Continue reading →

Lean or Sushi?? TAGS: 5S | ankimo | error-proofing | gemba | genchi cenbutsu | hanedashi | heijunka | hoisin | hokkigai | hoshin kanri | japan | kaikaku | kaizen | kanban | kani kamaboko | kazunoko | kim chee | koi | lean | lean blitz consulting | lean or sushi | mekajiki | mizusumashi | muda | muri | nagara | nama tako | nigiri | octopus | poka-yoke | quiz | saltwater carp | seiketsu | sumitomo | sushi | suzuki | tempura | unagi | yokoten Lean terms regularly applied in Japan don’t always get translated into English when the concepts are used in the United States. Reasons for this include lacking a concise literal translation …Continue reading →

Where I Got My Start In Lean (and Sports) TAGS: automotive industry | autonomous management | consulting | continuous improvement | dannon | dr. robert jacobs | eaton corporation | engineer | georgia | indiana university | kaizen | kelley school of business | l.a.m.e. | lean | lean as misguidedly executed | lean blitz | lean in name only | mark fougerousse | ohio | operations | optimization | plastic engineering technical services | pontiac coil | problem solving | process | root cause analysis | sandy cutler | six sigma | solving efeso | south carolina | sports | thomson plastics | tri-state university | trine | wastes I don’t often get to tell my story of how I got started with Lean, but more frequently I’m asked about how I’ve gotten into and what I’m doing with …Continue reading →

The NFL Pro Bowl and Focusing On Things That Matter TAGS: all-star game | aloha stadium | change | concussion | continuous improvement | football | jeff saturday | kaizen | kyle rudolph | lean | nfl | operations | pro bowl | process | quality | six sigma | sports | super bowl | testing | that's the way we've always done it | value There is serious talk at the highest league levels about discontinuing the NFL Pro Bowl, and for very good reason. – The game really only serves as a vacation for …Continue reading →

What Mr. Bean Can Teach Us About Problem Solving TAGS: big sale | blitz | consulting | continuous improvement | dynamite | fireworks | lean | learn | mr. bean | mythbusters | operations | paint | problem | process | solution | solving | sports | teach I think the IMDb.com page for the British comedy show Mr. Bean gives the best synopsis of what you need to know. Life is a difficult challenge for Mr Bean, …Continue reading →

A Visit to TEDxColumbiaSC TAGS: blitz | columbia | consulting | continuous improvement | global | grumpy cat | ideas | lean | non-profit | operations | process | sharing | six sigma | south carolina | speakers | sports | spreading | technology | ted | ted conference | ted talks | tedx | tedxcolumbiasc | worth I had the great thrill of attending the TEDx event TEDxColumbiaSC on Monday. For those of you unfamiliar, TED (which stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design) is a non-profit organization …Continue reading →

Trust TAGS: blitz | business901 | catfish | consulting | continuous improvement | customer expectations | football | hoax | joe dager | kaizen | lance armstrong | lean | manti te'o | notre dame | operations | oprah winfrey | process | robert guillame | six sigma | sports night | trust | trustworthiness | trustworthy Our trust in the athletes we’ve grown to admire was certainly tested this past week. Any way we look at trust – reliability, faith, integrity, consistency, honesty, strength – is …Continue reading →

Kicking Off 2013 with S.M.A.R.T. Goals TAGS: achievable | blitz | blog | consulting | continuous improvement | goal | lean | measurable | operations | process | relevant | s.m.a.r.t. | six sigma | smart | smart goals | specific | sports | time-bound | weight loss It’s January 1, 2013!! (Well, okay, when this is posted it will be January 2.) That means everyone is going nuts with resolutions for the new year. And in about …Continue reading →

Future State? Blow Up the Current State. TAGS: anchors | bias | blow | continuous improvement | current | downstream | future | game changing | ideal | improvement | innovations | kaizen | lean blitz consulting | machine | map | mushroom cloud | operations | optimization | process | six sigma | sports | start over | state | steps | system | tasks | up | upstream | vamoose Sometimes when we look to create an ideal future state of a process or situation, we are so heavily anchored in the non-ideal current state that our biases and familiarity …Continue reading →

Politics and (the Lack of) Root Cause Analysis TAGS: 2012 | ad hominem | agenda | analyze | answer | answers | barack | belief | birth certificate | campaign | candidate | change | conservative | continuous | control | credibility | deficit | define | definition | democrat | dmaic | election | fallacy | fiscal | five whys | foundation | government | identify | implementation | improve | improvement | lean blitz consulting | liberal | measure | mitt | nominee | obama | operations | optimization | pdsa | plan do study adjust | platform | policy | politics | president | problem | process | public | republican | romney | root cause analysis | service | six sigma | slogan | social | sports | tax return As a continuous improvement practitioner, I have a significant disdain for politics. By politics, in this case I’m referring to the democratic elections and campaigning by individuals running for public …Continue reading →

College Football Rule Changes and PDSA TAGS: alabama | ambiguous | analysis | behavior | college | consulting | cupcake | defense | defensive end | division ii | division iii | effects | failure | fbs | feedback | field | fmea | football | football bowl subdivision | football championship subdivision | force | gray area | helmet | hit | james madison | lean | lean blitz | mack brown | maximize | mode | modify | ncaa | nick saban | northwestern | off | offense | oklahoma state | operations | opposition | pdca | pdsa | plan do check act | plan do study act | pop | preseason | process | rip | rule | running back | safety | savannah state | six sigma | sports | texas | trial and error Recently I wrote about the lack of PDCA – the continuous improvement framework of Plan-Do-Check-Act – and how it affects college football teams because they don’t have the luxury of …Continue reading →

What Endurance Running Can Teach Us About Lean TAGS: 5k | 5S | act | audit | bright | check | continuous improvement | control | couch | cycle time | dayton ohio | discipline | distance | do | endurance | excess | flashlight | goals | high school | inventory | lean | lean blitz consulting | lofty | maintaine | motion | motivate | motivation | operations | osha | pdca | plan | process | progress | race | run | running | s.m.a.r.t. goal | safe | safety | soreness | sports | sprint | success | susie stein | system | template | training | troy ohio | up and running | visual indicator | waste reduction | weight loss | win | wins Many moons ago, I was a distance runner. I ran cross country in high school my junior and senior years, each race being a 5K. After starting out as a …Continue reading →

Toyota Way Principle #13: Decide Slowly Through Consensus, Implement Rapidly TAGS: achieve | analysis | benefits | blitz | cause | change | consensus | consider | consulting | decisions | defects | delay | errors | evaluate | failure | five whys | fix | haste makes waste | implement | lean | management | operations | options | principle | problem | process | quick | rapidly | reap | root | sigma | six | slow | solve | sports | toyota | way One of the risks of implementing changes or new ideas in processes is the failure to consider all options and the potential for an outcome not otherwise projected. A lot …Continue reading →

What P90X and Lean Have in Common TAGS: 90 days | blitz | change | common sense | consulting | continuous improvement | difficult | doctor | efficiency | expert | fix | flip | hard | implement | improvement | infomercial | input | intense | lean | leaner | loss | magic pill | management | operations | optimization | output | p90x | pain | philosophy | problem | process | quick | quick fix | reduction | regimen | results | sigma | six | skeptical | solve | sports | sustain | switch | systems | testimonial | waste | weight We’ve all seen the infomercials. (Or have you? Maybe I need to minimize my late-night television viewing.) P90X is the relatively new home workout philosophy that consists of a training regimen …Continue reading →