Videos

We often hear “we cannot manage what we cannot measure”.  I think the better way to say it and approach improvement is that you cannot manage or improve what you cannot evaluate. As you are looking to improve something you need to ask how you are going to understand what

When people talk about a lean journey, they say the word “journey” as if they understand it will take time to change a culture, however their behavior often reveals they don’t have the relentless patience will actually take to create change.  We talked about the effort required to changing a

One common instruction many coaches violate is trying to play the along side their players while they are coaching.  This often happens in business and when it does we get the same result – much less effective coaching because you lose your ability to be objective and to be a

Learning what works and what doesn’t work is driven by experimentation, real-world trials that inform us about cause and effect. How do we improve the ability to experiment? By reducing the cost, the effort, the friction required to test what works. As we continue my effort to de-jargonize (ok, that’s

I have had many conversations lately where people are asking about the simplest way to get started with process improvement.  The simplest way is to start with one simple question – why.  

There are two thinking “filters” that affect how we problem solve during the continuous improvement process.  They are both necessary but should not be used simultaneously.      

Plan Do Check Act (PDSA)  is a well known approach to continuous improvement and problem solving.  I propose you consider the PDSA approach that includes study and adjust to truly understand why you are getting the results you are.        

The idea that just as doctors practice medicine we must practice lean is the premise of a book I contributed to called Practicing Lean which was edited by Mark Graban. We must be wiling to evolve our practices and learn as we move forward.   Order a copy of the book today

The following video was recently shared with me, and it reminding me of hearing the speaker in person. It’s a great story. It is the story of Captain David Marquet, Commander of a nuclear submarine, which is an environment that is perhaps least tolerance of leadership failures, and therefore a

Design thinking is a concept that is as hard to pin down and define singularly as it is with lean. But the two have collided and converged as people look for new ideas to solve their most challenging problems and inspire the most insightful thinking. Both practices are meant to