Are you working on the right problems?
Lean is not all about waste, despite what we see in most definitions and applications. If it were about one thing (which oversimplifies things) it would be about problem solving, at all levels of the organization. We take problem solving for granted. Why? Because we’ve been doing it since we
Read MoreBuilding a Problem Solving Organization Presentation
I want to thank Enterprise Minnesota and the Center for Business & Industry for hosting me during the Lean Enterprise Summit held today. The following are my slides from my talk on building a problem solving organization.
Read MoreTo hell with your competitors, compete against perfection
This is a quote from the book Lean Thinking by Jim Womack and Daniel Jones, and I think one of the most useful phrases brought out from this book. What does it mean? So many companies spend considerable amount of time focusing on their competitors: what are they doing?
Read MoreThe failure of "Don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions!"
I head this approach many times, and in many different forms. Managers say “I don’t want people to bring me problems; I want them to bring me solutions.” Or “I don’t want more questions, I want answers.” I ran across this on the Harvard Business Review Blog in The No
Read MoreFearless Problem Solving [Guest Post]
Guest Post: Donald Sweigart worked with “The Body Shop @” which developed the “Star-Link Certified” Lean business model improving Profitability, CSI, and Cycle Time in the Collision Repair Industry. This model is now licensed by a Fortune 100 in it’s Industry-wide Lean Training. His passion is implementing Lean solutions in
Read MoreEntrepreneurship is problem solving
I’ve written before that problems solving is a key still for innovation, in 3 Key Stills that Enable Innovation. This is why we must be building problem solving skills at every level of the organization. Perhaps one of the most important aspects of this is simply defining the problem. It’s
Read MoreHouston, we have a problem…or don’t we?
Do you have problems in your organization? Does everyone agree on what they are? Teams worry about problem solving processes and problem solving skills. But if they can’t even agree on what would be a problem and what wouldn’t be, then what’s the point? Is the report or order being
Read MoreProblems across boundaries require a different approach
How do you engage other departments in problems? Most organizations do this at the wrong time. This is why efforts like value stream mapping exist. People we don’t engage across functions on an ongoing basis, we need over-the-top efforts to break in and start to solve those cross-boundary issues. But
Read MoreDon’t problem solve to infinity
Good problem statements define a gap to close. They do not just describe an undesirable condition that you would like to remove completely. Why does it matter? It comes down to when you consider yourself “done”, or at least done for now. David Allen of “Getting Things Done” fame talks
Read MoreToo Many Problems
My latest article, Too Many Problems, articulates that I see problem solving in organizations as much more than problem solving skills. Many times people roll out new problem solving skills thinking that is enough. But beyond that, you also need systems and infrastructure to support those skills, and the right
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