Lean Six Sigma Academy

The Best of LSS Academy – 2011 Edition

December 29, 2011 By Ron Pereira 3 Comments

Well, friends, another year has come and gone. As always, I’d like to sincerely thank each and every one of you for taking the time to visit LSS Academy.

We now have more than 16,000 subscribers which is simply mind blowing!

I remember sitting on my couch a few years ago pounding out my first blog article… never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the site would grow like it has.

But before we move onto 2012 here’s a look back to some of the more popular LSS Academy articles in 2011. Enjoy!

January:

Practice Makes Champions (9 comments)

February:

Are Dishwashers Lean? (42 comments)
This is the worst its ever been (10 comments)

March:

10 Tips to Immediately Boost Productivity (8 comments)

April:

The Secret to Living a Happy Life at Home and Work (15 comments)

May:

Character & Integrity (6 comments)

June:

Great. Here comes Mr. Oh-No! (12 comments)

July:

Hustle (7 comments)

August:

Training Wheels (9 comments)
Let’s all be friends and focus on making things better (10)

September:

The Last Step to the 5 Whys Process (8 comments)

October:

How not to demotivate people (3 comments)

November:

The 7 Steps to Hoshin Kanri (3 comment)

December:

All Bleeding Stops Eventually (11 comments)

Filed Under: Featured, featuredpost, Lean

2011 Management Carnival Annual Roundup

December 26, 2011 By Ron Pereira Leave a Comment

I’m excited to take part in this years Annual Management Carnival.

I chose three of my favorite blogs and hope you enjoy the following articles as much as I did.

Dan Pink

Jim Collins on 3 ways to avoid demotivating people at work: In this insightful 3-minute video Jim Collins explains three ways organizations demotivate their employees.
H ow to understand regret — and 2 ways to avoid it: Dan explains two different techniques we can all use when we’re stuck in a rut and can’t make a decision.
The Genius Hour – How 60 minutes a week can electrify your job: Learn how short burst of 60 minute action can change the way your company innovates.
The 4 Most Overlooked Attributes of Successful Coaches: In this article we learn the four most overlooked attributes of successful coaches and leaders.

Evolving Excellence

A Tough Obituary to Write: Bill Waddell, never one to shy from controversy, offers a less than flattering obituary to the late Steve Jobs.
Stretching the Eulogical Boundaries: Kevin responds to Bill’s obituary with his own perspective on Steve Jobs’ legacy.
Bangkok Airways and the Power of People: Kevin explains what he learned about customer service from Bangkok Airways.
Of Honor and Weasels: This article is short but sweet. A must read for any leader of people.

Got Boondoggle

I am Insane: Mike explains how the President of a company asked him if he was insane during a lean training session. Mike’s response? He smiled.
4 Ways to Eliminate “That’s Not My Job” Thinking: How to move people beyond closed minds.
Top 3 Reasons Apple will be Successful without Steve Jobs: Mike offers his take on the passing of Steve Jobs.
Sometimes the Best Lean Approach is to Just Jump into the Mud: A brilliant reminder of the need to take action!

Filed Under: Featured, Lean

An Easy Way to Make Your New Year’s Resolution Stick

December 15, 2011 By Ron Pereira 6 Comments

Action is the foundational key to all success.
-Pablo Picasso

As 2011 comes to an end and we look forward to 2012… many of us will make new year’s resolutions.

Some will commit to working out, some will commit to getting organized, and some will commit to, well, lots of things.

The Sad Truth

New years resolutions are great. We all make them. At least most of us do. But, sadly, the truth is most people fail to stick to them. As such, by January 28th all of the passion and excitement is gone and everything is back to the way it was.

That’s the bad news. But don’t despair as I come with hope!

A Solution is Within our Grasp

You see, I’m confident I have a countermeasure that anyone can use to battle this issue. Want to know what it is? It’s really quite simple.

Start now. Today. Don’t wait until January 2012.

Take Action Now

If you hate the way you look and feel don’t wait until January 4th to join the gym. Join today on your lunch break and get a workout in.

If you plan to set up a family budget stop delaying. Download Mint (it’s free) and start tonight.

If you plan to stop smoking or some other bad habit don’t set a stop date. Stop now.

If you plan to learn some new skill in 2012 don’t wait. There’s no reason to put it off. Sign up with Lynda or our favorite lean thinking training company and let the learning begin minutes from now.

Momentum Leads to Sustainability

By taking action now you’ll have momentum once the new year begins. And with momentum comes success. And with success comes sustainability.

What do you think? Am I crazy? If so, are you willing to prove me wrong?

Filed Under: Featured, Productivity

Lean Healthcare Webinar Replay

December 14, 2011 By Ron Pereira 1 Comment

We recently held a live webinar featuring Mark Graban focused on the topic of Lean Healthcare. Specifically, Mark talked about “Putting the Continuous Back into Continuous Improvement.”

We’ll be sharing a free replay of the webinar until January 7, 2012. You can watch it by clicking here or on the image below.

Additionally, here are the slides Mark used during the presentation.

Healthcare Kaizen Webinar Mark Graban Gemba Academy Dec 2011

View more presentations from Mark Graban

Filed Under: Featured, Lean

Gemba Glossary: Value Stream Mapping

December 8, 2011 By Ron Pereira Leave a Comment

Here is the next video in our Gemba Glossary video series. This one focuses on Value Stream Mapping. If you missed any of our earlier Gemba Glossary videos please follow the links below.

If you’ve not already done so, we’d encourage you to create your own Free Lean Starter Account at Gemba Academy which gives you access to more than 1 hour of free lean training videos.

Finally, if you are reading this via email or RSS you may need to click through to the site to see the video.

Filed Under: Featured, Lean

All Bleeding Stops Eventually

December 6, 2011 By Ron Pereira 11 Comments

Here’s a fact you may not have realized… all bleeding stops eventually.

The key question, of course, is how long it takes to stop it.

Do we quickly apply a band-aid and limit the damage to our body or do we sit around and wait until medical attention can no longer save us?

I know it’s a gruesome thought – bleeding to death – but the parallels to problem solving are strong.

Let’s Create a Charter!

You see often times lean and six sigma practitioners identify an issue and prepare to solve it.

They form a team. They create a charter or begin an A3. They get approval to work on the problem. The have a kick-off meeting with donuts and coffee. And, finally, they start to identify root causes so a countermeasure can be applied.

This is all well and good… but the problem is the patient (the process in this case) is lying on the operating table bleeding to death!

Stop the Bleeding!

So, before you worry about forming your team or getting approval or planning a meeting… the most important thing you can do is STOP THE BLEEDING.

Apply a temporary solution/band-aid. Who cares if the solution isn’t perfect or ideal. All we’re trying to do is keep the patient alive.

Of course, once the bleeding has been stopped we must seek a more permanent countermeasure to the problem… in other words don’t relax once the band-aid has been applied. After all, that’s how disease and infection sets in.

Do you agree?

Do you agree with this approach to problem solving? Should we keep the patient/process alive by applying a temporary solution/band-aid?

Filed Under: Featured, Lean, Six Sigma

The Courage to Try

December 1, 2011 By Ron Pereira 2 Comments

I was recently speaking with a Gemba Academy customer who’s looking to start a small lean consulting company. I’ll call this person Bob for the sake of this article.

About Bob

Bob explained that he doesn’t have a college degree but does have many years of practical, real world, experience.

Bob has also sought, and received, a lot of continuous improvement training (lean and six sigma) on his own. As such, Bob seems to really know his stuff.

The Most Important Characteristic

As we continued our discussion Bob asked if I had any advice on how to best deal with clients once the consulting engagement begins.

The main thing I explained was how important it is to be confident in your skills and advice.

I also explained what I believe is the most important characteristic any lean or six sigma practitioner can have. And this characteristic is to always have the courage to try.

Having the Answers

You see, contrary to popular belief, the best lean and six sigma practitioners don’t have all the answers… but they do have the courage to seek solutions through problem solving and root cause analysis.

Furthermore, the best lean teachers are those who understand the simple statement, “What do you think?” may just be the most powerful reply to any question they receive.

Finally, the best teachers I’ve ever had are those who aren’t afraid to try and fail since, as Sir Winston Churchill once explained, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

What do you think?

What other bits of advice do you have for Bob? I’ll be sure to send him a link to this article and I know he’ll appreciate learning from your wisdom and advice.

So what do you think?

Filed Under: Featured, Leadership, Lean