Anybody up for an experiment?

Here are some possibilities: 1. Job ticket writing 2. POD Print schedules 3. Pressroom print schedules 4. Project schedules in Content Development (Creative, Authoring, Special projects) 5. Help desk tickets in IT 6. Project development work in IT I vote for either POD print schedules or Job ticket writing. However, I'd also like to see something done in Content Development. Your thoughts?

Leaders need to challenge their employees to move out of their comfort zone. You can't move forward if you don't grow and you can't grow if you never leave your comfort zone. When possible, give your employees challenging assignments. Help them prepare by providing them a safe environment to learn from the mistakes that they are bound to make.

In any field, there are a handful of common mistakes. Continuous improvement is no different. Some of these errors come as a result of ignorance about the proper way of doing things. Some are the result of habit. And a handful come as a function of taking the path of least resistance.

I think that kaizen activities flourish at the intersection of Autonomy, Courage, and Knowledge.

The more steps you have in a process, the more waste you'll have. No matter how smooth, efficient, and well-designed the process, more steps (and more people) means more waste.

If your process isn't simple, it's going to be very expensive, not very usable, and probably not sustainable - put simply, it will fail. Whether evaluating new processes, or determining which ones to re-engineer or discard, make simplicity a key consideration. Remember this - usability drives adoptability, and simplicity is the main determinant of usability.

So…participate! If you set up a system to surface, capture, and apply small and rapid continuous improvement ideas, then use it. Be a role model…a visible role model. This is not to show off. If you want small ideas from others, then find small ideas, submit them, and execute them. Let everyone see you using it.

Learning by doing, also known as experiential learning, happens when you use hands-on learning to engage in an ongoing cycle of action and reflection, deepening your understanding of concepts and mastering practical skills. As you take part in meaningful activities-instead of simply watching them-and then later evaluating what you have learned, learning is far more meaningful, memorable, and long-lasting. Leaders/coaches assist in this process by facilitating appropriate experiences through which you can learn, and by leading discussions that reflect on those experiences.

More wisdom from last week's factory tours with Ritsuo Shingo: 1. Don't ask workers for improvement ideas. Ask them: What work they don't like What work is tiring Any suggestions they have for management In other words, you can't just ask for "improvement ideas" unless and until you've established trust - i.e., until you've earned the right to ask for their help. 2. "Blaming your workers is like spitting in the sky. It comes back down on your face. It's your teaching that needs to be improved." 'Nuff said.

Great article on the benefits of Kaizen events

"Improvement doesn't just happen.  It takes time, and in the pressure pot of our day to day activities, there is never enough time to improve our situation. The structure of Lean permits and requires time be set aside for improvement. If managers do not definitively provide time for the task of improvement, then people will know that they are not serious about making improvement a formal part of the work."

When it comes to improvement methodologies, scalability is important.  It's great when we can use a consistent approach to improvement regardless of whether we're working on a small, incremental improvement on the front-lines or a big, strategic improvement at the enterprise level.

By avoiding these common value stream mapping pitfalls, you'll be able to begin achieving Ferrari-like results and zip down the improvement highway at speeds that you never thought were possible.  Pintos didn't accelerate nor navigate very well, and when a little force was applied had the propensity to explode.

There is an old saying that goes "Once you think you have arrived, you have already started your descent." One must never think they "have arrived." In the West we say "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." But the spirit of kaizen suggests that there is always something to learn and ways to improve, and that it is also better to prevent problems than to fix them.

What works to create action? Asking myself these questions:

The most effective leaders are those who can cut through the clutter to focus on what is most important. When individuals and teams are confronted by multiple issues, they often try to take them all on… at once. Because they are overwhelmed, they make progress on none of them. The result: inertia and a lack of change.

I'm a rabid believer that lean concepts and tools can improve personal productivity enormously - hell, I (literally) wrote the book on that. But it's nice to see validation from the go-go world of internet startups.

Ships aren't built so they can sit there in a harbor. Ships are built for sailing and adventures in the sea. There may be risks, but hey, that's what the ship was made to do. Much like a person can be safe and comfortable with status quo, but that's not the point of improvement. The point of continuous improvement is to explore and challenge our understanding, not to mindlessly accept what we have always done.

Get out there, go to the Gemba. I say this to executives and to people on-the-floor alike. They must start their Lean journey with a trip to see what Toyota calls the three reals - the real place, the real data and the real problem. They must go and see for themselves, not just take the advice of a Lean committee!

"Part of what the transition phase between the current state and future state is about is giving people hope. We don't talk about hope in business circles. But when people are beaten down and frustrated with the amount of chaos that they deal with day in and day out, hope is a great antidote to resistance [to change]. And hope is the way forward."