Lean Six Sigma Academy

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

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

Live Built in Quality Seminar in Denton, TX

November 29, 2011 By Ron Pereira Leave a Comment

Peterbilt Motors, Gemba Academy and Kaizen Institute are pleased to present a half-day live workshop on Monday December 5th 2011 on the subject of “Built-in Quality”, one of the two pillars of the Toyota Production System house.

What is Built in Quality?

Sometimes called jidoka or autonomation, the lean approach to quality is to develop processes that prevent, detect, contain and countermeasure errors. The aim of a Built-in Quality system is to stop defects from being passed to the next process i.e. the customer.

Commonly expressed “Don’t accept, make or pass on poor quality” this is possible only by understanding how various principles and tools interact within a Built-in Quality system. These enablers include the andon system, the stop-and-call / stop-and-fix principle, Quality Key Points within standardized work, rapid response teams, practical problem solving, mistake proofing, process capability and many others.

About the Presenter

The seminar speaker will be Chris Schrandt, Senior Consultant with Kaizen Institute. Chris has taught kaizen and the Toyota Production System (TPS) for the past 23 years in the USA, Brazil, Argentina, Sweden and Mexico in manufacturing, healthcare and service fields. Chris gained a deep understanding of Built in Quality over 10 years as Quality Engineering Manager with Toyota in Georgetown, Kentucky.

Chris learned under Japanese coordinators and experts, and directed a team of 40 engineers and support staff responsible for improvement projects across multiple suppliers and processes.

Where and When

Monday, December 5, 2011
8:00AM – 1:30 PM (lunch provided)
Peterbilt Motors Company
3200 Airport Road
Denton, Texas USA

Cost

The cost is $150 per person, including lunch and printed materials.

Learn more here.

Filed Under: Featured, Lean

Gemba Glossary: Value Stream

November 10, 2011 By Ron Pereira Leave a Comment

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

Also, we’re running our Free 30 Lean DVDs promotion this month. To learn more about this limited time offer please click here.

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

iSixSigma is Back!

November 7, 2011 By Ron Pereira Leave a Comment

Just got this message via email. This is GREAT news for the continuous improvement world.

iSixSigma Founder Promises Rebirth of Lean Six Sigma Website
Readers will again have access to the best Six Sigma, Lean and operational excellence resources as well as more ways to share, learn and discover

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, Wash. (Nov. 7, 2011) – iSixSigma.com, the leading online community and resource portal dedicated to Six Sigma, Lean and other operational excellence methodologies, is back under the ownership of the website’s creator, Michael Cyger. Plans are under way to “rebuild the functionality of iSixSigma.com from the ground up,” Cyger said, “taking advantage of the tens of thousands of articles, tools and resources already created.”

iSixSigma, as well as several other Internet properties, were sold to Schofield Media Group by Cyger in 2008. Now that he has reacquired the assets of the website, iSixSigma.com will become part of Web X.0 Media, an Internet publishing company Cyger launched in 2009.

After eight years operating the largest Lean Six Sigma portal and as a Six Sigma veteran of GE and Citigroup, Cyger is rooted in process improvement. “I’m excited to be back involved in the Six Sigma and operational excellence industry,” Cyger said. “I see this as a tremendous opportunity.”

The iSixSigma founder plans to work closely with the community during the next month to develop innovative features to help the community share, learn and achieve higher levels of operational excellence faster. “When iSixSigma.com went offline in August, I received many calls from people in the industry who wanted to see iSixSigma.com get back on track. I appreciated the outpouring of support and look forward to serving this exceptional community,” Cyger said.

About iSixSigma: Since 2000, http://www.iSixSigma.com has provided the most comprehensive and essential resources available to businesses at every stage of their Lean Six Sigma maturity and to professionals at every skill level. Hundreds of thousands of monthly online readers learn new skills, advance their careers and contribute to the success of their organizations through a wide range of articles, blog posts, tools and a discussion forum. In addition to publishing, iSixSigma operates a jobs board at http://jobs.iSixSigma.comand a marketplace at http://store.iSixSigma.com.

Web X.0 Media uses next-generation Internet technologies to publish content on relevant, informative topics. Web X.0 Media is located in Bainbridge Island, WA.

Filed Under: Featured, Six Sigma

The 7 Steps to Hoshin Kanri

November 2, 2011 By Ron Pereira 3 Comments

Gemba Academy recently added their 211th video to their constantly growing online and DVD based Lean Training System.

To celebrate breaking the 200 video milestone they’ve brought back their extremely popular Free DVDs promotion. All the details can be found here.

This newest course is focused on Hoshin Planning, commonly referred to as Hoshin Kanri or Policy Deployment. During this course students also learn how to use the simple, but very powerful A3 document.

The first video, of this 11 video course, shown below introduces the Hoshin topic while also explaining the 7 steps to Hoshin Planning covered in detail later in the course.

Here is a PDF Summary Document for this first module that you can print out and read at your convenience.

If you’re reading this via RSS or email you may need to click through to the site in order to see the video.

Filed Under: Featured, Lean

How to Not Demotivate People

October 31, 2011 By Ron Pereira 3 Comments

Here is a short, but excellent, video on how to not demotivate workers. The person speaking is Jim Collins, author of the bestseller Good to Great.

I’d be curious to hear your thoughts on whether you agree with everything Mr. Collins says in this video. If so, why? If not, why?

Filed Under: Featured, Leadership

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