I have now read Taiichi Ohno’s Workplace Management which was recently translated by Gemba Press. I have already started reading it a second time as I know I will gain an enormous amount reading it again (and maybe a third time).

I wanted to share my first impressions of the book. I will offer a more thorough impression of the book once I finish my second pass.

This book reads as though Mr. Ohno is speaking to you. I suppose the reason for this is because it is the documentation of a series of interviews he gave to the JMA!

With this said it is not the smoothest read you will ever lay your eyes on. I have a feeling this is largely due to translating it from Japanese to English. Also, and I could be way off here, I sense that Mr. Ohno was not the most “polished” speaker of his time. This is not to say he sounds unintelligent. It is just a feeling I got from listening to the way he carries on a conversation. He has a simple, yet very deep, way about him. It is quite mysterious when I stop and think about it.

The other thing that jumped out at me was how Mr. Ohno seemed to be a bit of a hard a##. He almost bragged about how he would yell at supervisors in front of their employees since he felt this would help them drive improvement down through their organization. I struggled with this aspect of him as it didn’t seem very respectful. Perhaps it is deeper than I realize now.

The last thing I will say is I only wish I could have met Mr. Ohno face to face. The knowledge and wisdom this man had in his head was simply beyond this world.

This book was not what I expected. It was better. If you are serious about really understanding the TPS (i.e. beyond the easy stuff like kanban, standard work, and heijunka) you need to buy it and read it at least 2 times.

As I explained a few nights ago I received my copy of “Workplace Management” by Taiichi Ohno. When I first looked at the book I was a bit surprised at how small the book looked. Normally when I see a 100 something page book I can blow through it in a hour or so. Not so with this book.

I am 2/3 of the way through the book right now. I plan to finish it in the next day or two. Let me rephrase that… I plan to finish my first pass through this book in the next day or two.

I wouldn’t say the book is hard to read. In fact it is simple to “read” in the strictest sense of the word. But the book is full of deep meaning. Deep with a capital D. I mean we are learning from the master himself so to think you are going to be able to blow through with little effort on your part is ridiculous.

Anyhow, more to come soon!

Let me set the scene of this momentous moment.My wife had already left for her Bible study. I had two kids in the tub (2 year old and 8 month) and my 4 year old was doing something bad… I am sure of it but can’t prove it since I couldn’t see her. Then the worst thing that could happen happened. The stupid door bell rang!

I grabbed the kids out of the tub, 2 year old now screaming since she was not done playing. I got half way down stairs and could tell no one was at the door… and man was I ticked.

So I open the door and there, sweet Mary mother of Jesus, it was. After some unexpected delays, I finally received the book “Workplace Management” by Taiichi Ohno.

I just read the publishers forward and wanted to send this post out before I lay down on the couch to soak this puppy up like a starved sponge. I am so stoked to read it I cannot explain it with words.

While I don’t intend to give a chapter by chapter review I definitely want to share my reactions of the book.

If you want to buy this bad boy for yourself click here and tell ‘em Lean Six Sigma Academy sent you!

(Written this past Friday)

Hello from 28,000 feet up in the air. I am flying back home after an awesome week of training a room full of Six Sigma students.

I got to the airport a little early and ended up staring down a book shelf in one of the excessively expensive airport shops. After scanning the scene I decided on The Exceptional Presenterby Timothy J. Koegel. It seems like all the books I read are about Lean, Six Sigma, or something similar and honestly they all begin to read the same after awhile. And since I do lots of training and presenting I thought this book looked interesting enough. It was.

I finished the book in 1 hour 40 minutes and while it started a little slow it grew more interesting the further I read.

Here is a brief summary of Mr. Koegel’s message.

The exceptional presenter follows the OPEN UP guidelines:

• Organized – Knows the purpose of what they want to say and is prepared.
• Passionate – Speaks with power and purpose and gestures precisely.
• Engaging – Works on building rapport with the audience and connects with them.
• Natural – Has a conversation with the audience rather than preaches to them.
• Understanding – Does his or her homework and knows the audience.
• Practice – As with anything in life we must practice to be good!

The book quoted a very interesting statistic. According to the research of a Dr. Mehrabian it is estimated that 7% of a presenter’s impact is determined by their words, 38% is determined by their confidence and conviction, and a whopping 55% is determined by the speaker’s nonverbal cues – such as their body language, eye contact, and facial expressions!

The book also referred to the 60/20 rule which states that a presenter should arrive to the room 60 minutes early to get things in order. Then, 20 minutes before the start of the presentation they should focus on meeting as many people from the audience as possible. By talking to the people and engaging in conversation the presenter is building rapport which we discussed earlier this week.

Over the years I have presented to all kinds of people and would be lying if I didn’t say I am quite comfortable in front of people. Heck, I will even sing Karaoke and that takes guts for a white man with little singing talent! With this said, after reading this book I realize I have many areas of opportunity.

A big issue for me has to do with what Koegel calls “verbal graffiti.” No, I don’t swear in front of my classes! However, I have a terrible habit of using so called “filler” words such as “um,” “so,” and the worst filler of all “To be honest with you.” This last one is particularly awful as it is really saying all the things I have been saying before now have been lies!

My hands and arms also tend to go wild from time to time. Koegel has a whole section on what to do with your extremities which was really interesting.

There are many more tips and cool examples, like how Tony Blair may very well be the best speech giver alive today, but these were some of the highlights for me.

If you present a lot or simply want to learn how to better articulate yourself you should pick up this short read.

The blog”scribbit” is one of the coolest, non CIPish, blogs I have ever come across. This blogger has some serious skills. She recently posted a blog about an excellent book I highly recommend you read – The Tipping Point. Check it out!

scribbit: The Tipping Point A Blog About Motherhood in Alaska