Have you ever heard the stories of how the air conditioning repair man often has air conditioning problems at home?

Or how the plumber’s wife is constantly after him to fix the leak under the sink?

Well, I can relate.

You see, if I am being honest, I must confess to having many personal weaknesses as it relates to living the lean thinking life.

Messy Computer Desktop

One of the most annoying weaknesses I have long battled is a messy computer desktop.  You see, I will go through phases were I keep my computer’s desktop neat and tidy… then, in all my daily haste, I will save files to it… pictures I have “snagged” from the Internet to it, etc.  Then, eventually, I have a mess.  A big mess!

Junk Files Killing Me!

Well, I finally decided that enough was enough.  And after doing some hansei I realized that the primary root cause to my messy desktop problem was the junk file.

You see, many times I will download files to read once or look at once.  They aren’t worth filing into a folder… so I just drop them on my desktop.  These files are essentially junk.

The “delete” folder

So, to counter this problem I created a new folder called “delete” and placed it on my desktop.  Now, when I need to save a junk file or picture I save it to the delete folder. Click the image above to see a larger view of  the delete folder in action.

Then, at the end of the week I open the delete folder and clean it out.

Now,  I thought about saving these junk files directly to the Trash folder… but decided to create a bit of a “grave yard” before completely discarding the file.

So far it’s working like a dream.  I had a few hiccups the first few days… but it’s now becoming habit and I’m confident my desktop will remain clutter free for years to come.

What about you?

What do you think of this solution?  Do you do something similar?  If not, how do you keep your computer desktop clutter free?

If you are an iPhone user you’re going to want to download the 100% free Lean Daily app.

It’s extremely cool as it consolidates the latest posts from your favorite lean blogs into one convenient app.

Here is a summary of the blogs and free lean videos you’ll be able to access with the Lean Daily app.

• Jamie Flinchbaugh (Lean Learning Center)
• Matt May (In Pursuit of Elegance)
• Kevin Meyer (Evolving Excellence)
• Jon Miller (Gemba Panta Rei)
• John Hunter (Curious Cat)
• Ron Pereria (LSS Academy)
• Mark Graban (Lean Blog)

You’ll also be able to watch all the free Gemba Academy lean training videos we release with this app.

My good friend, and fellow Texas lean blogger, Mark Graban was the brains behind this project… so extra kudos to him for all his hard work.

Gemba Academy is looking to possibly implement a Learning Management System (LMS) that would allow our customers to track what videos have been watched as well as what quizzes have been taken.

So, to help us understand how value added a LMS is to our current and future customers we’ve created a short 4 question survey that will take less than 45 seconds to complete.

15% Off Discount Code

And as our way of thanking you for your feedback a special coupon code will be displayed at the end of the survey.

This coupon code, when entered during the checkout process, will give you 15% off any purchase… no matter if you buy a single online course for $149 or go for the Wamma Jamma 1 Year Premium Package for $995.

Thanks in advance for your valuable input.  Here’s the link to the survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JX6QGYN.

Lot, a reader of LSS Academy, recently sent the following question in.

“We are actually starting lean six sigma in our bank and I am in charge of the central processing unit of the HO. I am getting a bit confused as to who I should satisfy first and foremost. Should it be the client’s desire or my company’s desire to improve cost and efficiency?”

First, I am always excited to hear of non manufacturing organization’s taking the leap, so to speak, into the world of continuous improvement.

Whom shall we serve?

Now then… whom shall we serve? The customer or the company? The immediate response most probably expect me to say is, “Um, the customer.” I mean the customer pays the bills, right?

And, in the purest sense, I stand by this advice of serving the customer first and foremost.

Of course, this is easy for me to write even though most reading this also have a boss to please, objectives to meet, and a family to feed.  Right or wrong this is reality and those lost in text book theory need to crawl out from under their rock.

Going blind

<rant> Being blunt, I get annoyed with many of my fellow lean thinking pals who are so far removed from the “real world” that they forget life is more than PowerPoint training slides and 3 month consulting deals. </rant>

My advice

All this said… my recommendation is to – of course – ensure everything we do improves the customer experience. Doing anything else will do nothing but harm.

But we must also remember most Continuous Improvement practitioners also need to help their company prosper… even survive in some business climates.  This means cutting costs, reducing defects, etc.  Of course, one can argue this in turn helps the customer, right?

So, in the end, my advice is to never forget about the customer, as they ultimately keep you employed.

But, at the same time we must also ensure our efforts are also contributing to the long term success of the organization.

Both should work in harmony when done correctly.

What do you think?

This is my advice for Lot. Do you agree with it?  If so, why?  If not, why?

I was recently asked the following question by a continuous improvement practitioner:

“Should we make safety the 6th S, thus calling it 6S instead of 5S?”

I offered my two cents but rather than sharing my thoughts at this time I am more interested in what you think.

So, two questions.

1. Does your company call it 5S or 6S?
2. Do you think adding safety to the list makes sense? If so, why? If not, why?