Tweddle Continuous Improvement

Rather lengthy, but what can we pick up from the article or the videos?

Can we learn anything from these videos?

Life's battles don't always go To the stronger or faster man. But soon or late the man who wins, Is the man who thinks he can."

I like to remind people that it was the tortoise that won the race not the hare.

I particularly like - "You don't understand anything until you do it".

I really like these three tips: Complaining trumps self satisfaction. The people in an organization which is 10 years into a lean transformation should not be satisfied with their condition. A happy lean culture is a faltering lean culture. People should be happy, but there should be a distinct sense of dissatisfaction with the status quo. Frequent and brief complaining followed by 5 why root cause analysis and corrective action is a characteristic of a sustaining lean culture. Structured program trumps invisible behaviors. It's tempting to think that a formal, structured lean program is no longer necessary after 10 years of practicing lean because it is now "in the blood" and does not require special promotion or attention. However this is rarely the case. Nature abhors a vacuum, and corporations seem to abhor a vacuum in program-space. Best to keep the lean program and improve it also continuously as a support mechanism. Pedal to the metal trumps cruise control. Thomas Jefferson said, "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance" and coincidentally this is also the price of a sustained lean culture. At no time is it safe to put the program on cruise control. Corners always want to be cut, people naturally want to do what is easy, and without strong leadership to remind people that sometimes the important things are not easy, a lean culture will not sustain. Developing people trumps driving results. After 10 years even people who may have only paid this lip service begin to see the cause and effect connection and begin to believe. It takes time to develop people. When you can point to people that have developed with the organization and are driving results, this is a sign that the elements of a sustainable lean culture are in place.

Four

There is always a better way to do anything!

Such a cool video!

Perhaps some of our not so successful Kaizen's lie in this area.

Perhaps, and I think some other things have contributed, as well.

This is a top flight article! The answer to Joe's question about "More Lean Tips" above is within this article. In addition, I love "problems are gold- treasure them!"

How can we remember to use these tips in our daily operations?

The only thing better would be if he had a stand-up desk!