Lean Six Sigma Academy

The human brain fascinates me. As such, I was very excited to finally read Brain Rules by John Medina.

In this book Medina proposes 12 different rules, that once understood, may help us all to be happier and more productive individuals.

Here is a quick summary of the 12 rules. At the end of the article will be an awesome slide show created by Garr Reynolds of Presentation Zen fame.

• Rule #1: Exercise boosts brain power. Medina proposes that the most effective meetings would be ones where all attendees walked 1.8 miles per hour.

• Rule #2: The human brain evolved, too. Medina proposes, “There is no greater anti-brain environment than the classroom and cubicle.”

• Rule #3: Every brain is wired differently. Each time we learn something our brain is literally re-wired. Medina also claims the categories of intelligence may number more than 7 billion!

• Rule #4: We don’t pay attention to boring things. Microsoft is to blame for this as their famous “PowerPoint” software has resulted in far more boring meetings than anyone should have to deal with. Stop reading the slides man!

• Rule #5: Repeat to remember. As powerful as they are, most human brains can only hold around seven pieces of information for less than 30 seconds. To remember we must repeat things… a lot.

• Rule #6: Remember to repeat. Medina claims that our schools are currently designed so that most real learning has to occur at home.

• Rule #7: Sleep well, think well. In one study, a 26-minute nap improved NASA pilots’ performance by 34 percent.

• Rule #8: Stressed brains don’t learn the same way. Medina claims that the emotional stability of our homes plays a huge part in how our children learn.

• Rule #9: Stimulate more of the senses. Ever wonder why, if you like coffee, walking into a Starbucks makes you feel happy? Smell. That’s why.

• Rule #10: Vision trumps all other senses. Bullet points are so 1998… use images and simple phrases to get your point across in your presentations.

• Rule #11: Male and female brains are different. Show a man a slasher film and his right brain lights up… while a woman’s left brain goes into overdrive. Same movie, different reactions.

• Rule #12: We are powerful and natural explorers. We humans love to explore and learn new things even if crammed inside a cubicle 40 hours a week!

Editors Note: This is a guest post from Michael Lombard. And Buckeye fans please forgive me… I’m sure this is probably some type of college football sin to allow a post such as this on this blog!  Go Bucks!

I’m still a little stoked from seeing my Gators take care of business last night and wrap-up their 2nd BCS Championship in the past three years. This has inspired me to discuss what I think is the secret to the Gators’ success–their head coach, Urban Meyer, who I believe to be a Lean leader (don’t tell anybody).

As a UF alum and lifelong football die-hard, it’s no surprise that I follow Gator football closely. In particular, for the last four years I’ve paid close attention to Meyer’s leadership style. Some coaches are yellers (like Chucky, err, Jon Gruden), some are manipulators (think Bill Parcells), and some are evil geniuses (Bill Belichick anyone?). But not Urban Meyer. He’s a Lean thinker.

Urban Meyer thinks long-term

Case in point: even after winning his first BCS Championship two years ago, he said he felt uneasy because his program wasn’t where it needed to be. He had a “great team but a bad program,” in his words.

He said this because although his team was stacked with talent from a monster recruiting class that his predecessor had landed, half of these players were seniors or would leave early for the NFL, leaving him with a weak team the next year, and he was right. He didn’t want up & down cycles like that. He wanted to level it out and recruit balanced classes each and every year, so he could achieve balanced results each and every year.

Sounds like heijunka to me. More importantly, it sounds like long-term systems thinking instead of short-term manage-by-results thinking that plagues coaches and businesses everywhere.

Urban Meyer values flexibility

Meyer’s Lean leadership style is also reflected in the types of players he recruits. Like Toyota, he seeks out talent that’s more flexible than the competition. Yes, there’s always a need for deep functional expertise in both Toyota’s engineering departments and on the Gators’ roster, but both of these organizations place a premium on flexibility.

Look at the Gators’ QB, Tim Tebow. He’s not the most accurate passer (but he’s accurate), he doesn’t have the strongest arm (but he gets it there well enough), and he’s not the fastest runner (but he’ll run a linebacker over in a heartbeat). However, add up all his skills and you have a well-rounded athlete capable of doing whatever it takes to score points (he’s also a tremendous person).

Because of Tebow’s (and his teammates’) flexibility, the Gators can run a wide range of plays out of their spread-option offense. This allows them to plan different schemes for different defenses and to make mid-game adjustments as needed. Toyota has the same type of advantage in developing new products and refining processes because they have a deep bench of well-rounded engineers and operators.

Urban Meyer practices “genchi genbutsu”

Also, Urban Meyer is well-known for being one of the most hands-on coaches in football, especially with his Special Teams (kickoff, kick return, punting, punt return, etc.). Meyer is personally involved in every aspect of Special Teams, showing that he’s not afraid to “go to the gemba” and become deeply knowledgeable of the smallest details of the work. And think of the awesome message that this must send to his coaching staff and players—“If the head guy’s not afraid to get his hands dirty, then I better be filthy dirty out there on the shopfloor.” This is a staple of any Lean culture (think of the Ohno Circle).

Okay, I think I’ve rambled on enough here about Urban Meyer and the Mighty Gators (did I mention they’re the national champions again this year?).

My hypothesis should be clear—I think Urban Meyer is a Lean leader and will produce Toyota-like results for years to come. In true PDCA fashion, we’ll have to check back this time next year to verify results (I feel confident though!).

What do you think?

About the author: Michael Lombard is a lean thinker, “treehugging capitalist”, and a wannabe project manager currently working for Palm Harbor Homes, Inc. You can find him on Twitter as mglombard, or view his LinkedIn profile here.

As regular readers of the blog know I am a huge Ohio State University fan.

Well, as many of my American readers probably know we lost to Texas in the Fiesta Bowl tonight with only  seconds left on the clock.  It was a true heart breaker for OSU fans… especially since the country seems to love hating us and no one gave us a chance in this game.

The thing I love about this particular team are how many of the seniors on the team turned downed millions of dollars last year as they decided to come back for their senior seasons.

Of course there are other schools that also have seniors come back (a.k.a. Mark Graban’s mighty Wildcats of Northwestern) but I think it’s safe to say the trend today is to leave for the money, especially those that will be drafted in the first round.

Two young men in particular stand out.  James Laurinaitis (shown in picture) and Malcolm Jenkins both came back for their senior seniors.   I can only imagine how much they wanted to win tonight as it was their last game as a Buckeye.

But, alas, they didn’t and it stinks for them and for Buckeye nation.  But this senior class never lost to Michigan and goes out as the second winningest senior class of all time.  That ain’t too shabby.

And for those interested, here is the scripture verse James has under his eyes.

When Jesus had said this, he raised his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you.” (Jn 17:1).

Go Bucks!

Enjoy and Happy New Year all!

I was recently asked to describe the key characteristics of a successful leader/person. Here’s my take on it.

1. Hustle

Nothing beats hustle. I don’t care how smart someone is, in my opinion, if they’re not willing to work their butts off they will not succeed long term.

This is actually one of the reasons I attribute to any success I’ve enjoyed in my career. You see, I have never been the smartest guy in the room… but, at least for the most part, I have rarely been out hustled by anyone. This has served me very well.

2. Get things done

The main reason the hustling person is so valuable is because they get things done. Instead of talking about problems or complaining about them… the hustling leader is actually attempting to do something about it.

3. Do what you say, and say what you do

Next, nothing is worse than making promises you cannot keep. So, if you say you are going to do something… do it. And if you don’t think you will be able to get something done, don’t say you will.

4. Fail better

Another attribute of the successful person is their willingness to fail. This is to say they are willing to challenge the status quo while not worrying about being wrong.

It also means that when they do meet a temporary setback – or failure – these people find a way through it. They don’t settle. They don’t quit. They are relentless. They are willing to fail better.

5. Think

Lastly, the successful person is always thinking. They’re constantly wondering why. They’re constantly searching for a better way. They challenge others and themselves by asking tough questions to tough problems. In short, because of their constant thinking they make others think.

What do you think?

Do you agree with this list? Have I missed anything?

My good friend – and fellow Keller, Texas lean blogger (it’s a small world) – Mark Graban is holding an auction over at his blog. The proceeds are going to support the Josie King foundation.  If you’d like to support this noble cause please click here.

I first saw this on John Hunter’s blog.  It’s a little over 2 minutes and definitely worth viewing… especially in light of recent events in America.

I’m sitting here at my PC working on a little “project” I can’t wait to tell you all about.  In fact, I’ll probably be sitting here well into the morning… but I am definitely not complaining.

Anyhow, I have an old “Styx” CD playing in the background… and man, I don’t know, I’m feeling a little sentimental with Thanksgiving coming up tomorrow.  Plus Styx is just totally awesome.  Anyhow, since my wife is asleep and probably wouldn’t appreciate me waking her to talk about it I decided to capture my thoughts here.

You see, I am so thankful for the blessings in my life.  Here is short list of the things I’m thankful for.

• My faith.  Nothing in my life is more important than my Catholic faith.  And I am so thankful I live in a country where I am free to worship as I choose.
• My wife.  My wife is my best friend and the most amazing woman I know.  As they say, she completes me.
• My children.  I’ve been so richly blessed with my 4 children.  Since they are all under 6 years old we definitely have our moments… but I can’t imagine my life without them.
• My family.  I am also thankful for my family – starting with my Mom and Dad.  I also have great siblings and the best in-laws a man could ever ask for.  And I’m not just saying that since my father-in-law subscribes to this blog!
• My profession.  I love what I do and couldn’t imagine my life without some aspect of continuous improvement in it.
• This blog.  This may sound weird… but I am thankful for this blog.  What started out as a little hobby on a free Blogger account has turned into something pretty special.  More than 2,000 people subscribe to LSS Academy and I’ve met, well virtually met at least, people from all over the world.  And this little “project” I am working on would have never happened had I not started this blog.  So, yeah, I am very thankful for this blog and most importantly I’m thankful for all the awesome people that stop by from time to time to see what it is I am rambling on about.

If you live in a place that celebrates Thanksgiving tomorrow I hope you are able to spend some time relaxing with those you love.

I also hope you take the time to think about the things you are thankful for.  God bless and Happy Thanksgiving!

It’s always interesting how a post that takes me 48 seconds to write can create so much discussion!  As of right now there have been 28 29 comments left on the spinning lady post… most explaining how she is spinning one way or another.

I first came across this picture on the Lateral Action blog.  The main premise behind their article was, as some of you pointed out, that this little experiment might be able to help you determine which is strongest – your left brain or right brain.

Apparently if you think the lady is spinning clockwise you are right brain dominant and if she is spinning to the left you are left brain dominant.  I’m no brain guru but this seems a bit shaky to me.

Anyhow, with Thanksgiving coming up I must confess… I don’t want you and your family ignoring the football games as you gaze at my blog trying to figure this out (though somehow I bet at least a few of you will put your family members to the test).  So, if you really want to know which way she is spinning… click here.

What do you think now?

OK, are you up for a challenge?

If so, which way is the lady spinning: clockwise or counter-clockwise?

Leave your answer in the comments if you want to play.

And let me just say… don’t be so sure about your answer.