Published Articles

It’s time for another installment of Lessons from the Road, my column for IndustryWeek. In the next few installments, I will talk about the lean roadmap, or how to handle the change management of the lean journey. This month, I am talking about the beginning of the journey, The Lean

I’ve written about observation many times before, but in my latest IndustryWeek Lessons from the Road column, I address how to use the different levels of observation and make better decisions about observation. Here is an excerpt from Using Observation Systematically: There are four distinct levels of observation, each with

Our friend from Gemba Academy, Ron Pereira, recently interviewed me for his Gemba Academy podcasts. Here’s a brief synopsis of what is covered.   Jamie’s lean career history (2:42) The quote that has inspired Jamie for over 15 years (4:08) Jamie’s definition of a Lean Leader, and why it’s a

My last two Lessons from the Road columns [Building Behaviors Bedrock of Lean Success and Build a Deliberate Culture, Not an Accidental One] focused on the tactics and strategies of culture change, which is crucial for a successful lean journey. One of those tactics is to role model the right

I recently published a new post on the KaiNexus blog site titled The single best way leaders support cultures of continuous improvement. Here is an excerpt: In working with one VP responsible for supporting 3,000 people, she found a small change in her email use habits that turned out to

In my last Lessons from the Road column, I introduced the the idea that culture is the most important element of lean transformation. I was fortunate to have the opportunity early in my lean journey to see just how important the correct behaviors would be, regardless of how well you

For my latest column, I set out to write about culture change. I barely got through the introduction and realized I’m already out of room. Such is the restriction of a 1-page column. So, the introduction became the column. You can read the latest installment of Lessons from the Road,

My latest IndustryWeek column shares some thoughts on equipment excellence, more from a strategic perspective than simply how to fine tune what you have. Here is the beginning of one of my 3 points on equipment assets: 1. Be frugal on features. I saw a recent mock advertisement for Apple

I recently wrote a column for IndustryWeek titled Get the Most from Your Assessments. This was in part inspired by the several assessments I had just completed for clients in the weeks preceding my column due date. But there is also a pet peeve that I wanted to correct: there

I have performed a lot of assessments over the years. If done right, they’re actually quite exhausting. You’re trying to absorb everything you are hearing, seeing, not seeing, while trying to follow a process, draw conclusions, and generate next questions. But when done well, and received openly, they can provide