Archive for February, 2007

One Last Story on Toyota (for February)

Tuesday, February 27th, 2007

Toyota can't stay out of the press. If you've been reading the prior stories you know why. Well, I couldn't help myself. I just had to pass along one more story Why Toyota Is Afraid Of Being Number One appearing in Business Week.

"Chrysler communications chief Jason Vines said, "The thing I resent is Toyota wrapping themselves in the American flag." "We still employ more people and contribute more to the economy.""

Read the rest of this entry ¶

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Lean Project Delivery Can Learn from Toyota

Monday, February 26th, 2007

If you haven't read From 0 to 60 to World Domination, then do so quickly. It's a New York Times Magazine article; they could pull it off the general readership at any moment. Better yet, make yourself a copy. Even the Toyota critics will have to admit that the NY Times did a great job with this article. They answer the question, "How do they do it?" Read the rest of this entry ¶

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When the NY Times Writes about The Toyota Way You Better Listen

Wednesday, February 21st, 2007

While others are writing about Jet Blue's Passenger Bill of Rights I'll continue writing about Toyota. Toyota is in the news…the news everywhere. The NY Times wrote two stories about Toyota last week. I don't generally refer to NY Times articles because the Times makes their news articles unavailable after 7 days except to subscribers and for those people who are willing to pay. However, the NY Times got their stories right and I just had to write about it.

The most interesting thing for me in their articles is that Toyota takes the time to make sure employees learn the Toyota Way. I won't go into the Toyota Way. It's well described in Jeffrey Liker's book, The Toyota Way. What is the Acme Way? Or the Big Auto Way? While you and I might not know, the firms can't afford that their employees don't know. Read the rest of this entry ¶

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Thinking about Kaizen, Think TWI

Wednesday, February 21st, 2007

You've heard the axiom: standardize before improving. There's no better way I know to create standard work than TWI. Learn about it at the TWI Summit where you'll also get to meet Norman Bodek.

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Planning, Scheduling, and Forecasting

Tuesday, February 20th, 2007

Glen Alleman took me to task for yesterday's posting Misunderstanding Project Planning as Anticipation. He wrote a rather comprehensive rebuttal to my claim that the general understanding of planning is as anticipating a future. Glen makes a good case that best practice — at least in DoD projects — doesn't misunderstand planning. Since I've only worked at one defense contractor, I won't contradict him. I will say that my experience of the everyday practice of planning is as I described. Project managers/planners usually take an approach that limits alternatives concluding with "the plan". The plan is then represented as a CPM schedule. I don't argue with Glen that this is inadequate, nor am I saying that some people know better AND do something different. I am saying that the usual practice is to have a smart experienced person create a plan that is then represented as a schedule for others to follow. That is a practice that must change if we want better project performance. Read the rest of this entry ¶

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Lean Is a Way of Life, even at Home

Tuesday, February 20th, 2007

I usually advise, "Don't try this at home." Ron has a different idea. Read, My "Sensei" Wife.

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Misunderstanding Project Planning as Anticipation

Monday, February 19th, 2007

Our everyday speaking gets in the way of better planning. This weekend I was listening to Tim Russert interview Presidential Spokesman Tony Snow on Meet the Press. Tim asked Tony about the plan for winning the war in Iraq. The question inferred that something went terribly wrong. Tony replied,

"I'm not sure anything went wrong. Battle plans don't live beyond the first encounter with the enemy."

Tony went on to say that like most of life we can't anticipate the future…no amount of planning can change that. Tony is right about that. The future is uncertain and unknowable. Grasping that fact is a key to better planning. Read the rest of this entry ¶

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Explore a PM’s Brain

Monday, February 19th, 2007

Raven shares her curiosity and interests at Raven's Brain as she explores the world of project management. Explore with her.

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The Lean Six Sigma Elephant in the Room

Sunday, February 18th, 2007

I am cautious writing this post. Some people have been calling attention to an elephant in the room. KT Cat is one of those people. I don't know KT Cat. I read his weblog, The Scratching Post. KT writes anonymously. He writes with an attitude. That often makes for good reading. In his recent posting, A Lean Six Sigma Slogan, KT wrote,

"It's better to have your employees wonder if you're a complete idiot than it is to send them to Lean Six Sigma training and remove all doubt."

I think he speaks honestly. I'm not saying I agree with what he says. Nor am I saying that he's saying what is inherently true about Lean Six Sigma. But I do think he speaks from experience. Read the rest of this entry ¶

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Bringing New People to Your Project Needn’t Be Hard

Sunday, February 18th, 2007

As project performers come and go you'll need a strategy for them to be successful. Johanna is ready to help. Read her latest posting, It's Too Hard to Bring New People Into the Organization to get started.

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Distraction, another Form of the Two Great Wastes™, Leads to Project Failure

Wednesday, February 14th, 2007

There's no independent study I'm quoting today. No, I'm just sharing what I've been observing. In yesterday's post on Silence Is a Project and Career Killer, the authors of the study emphasized that team members need to be speaking. My experience is that most team members, at one time or another, do speak about their concerns for the project. But others — team members, leaders, managers, and clients — are too distracted by their own concerns to pay attention to the speaking. I mean, really pay attention. The kind of attention that requires putting the laptop cover down. The kind of attention that keeps you from answering the telephone during the conversation. The kind of attention that the person speaking walks away knowing that s/he has been listened to by you. That kind of attention. Read the rest of this entry ¶

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Don’t Get Dooced

Wednesday, February 14th, 2007

For my fellow bloggers, all you wanna-be bloggers, and those reading weblogs who want to understand what people like me are doing, then read Naked Conversations, by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel. (It only took me 13 months to get around to reading it.)

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Silence — One of the Two Great Wastes™ — Is a Project and Career Killer

Tuesday, February 13th, 2007

Facts are in. Not speaking on projects is a key contributor to project failure. Worse, it's also leads to failed careers. Three years ago Greg Howell and I authored a paper Two Great Wastes™ which we presented at IGLC-12. The paper was somewhat speculative. We had observed teams that just weren't making the progress that knew was possible. After studying a number of teams we noticed a pattern. Many of the poor performing teams were composed of people who didn't speak up and/or leaders who weren't listening. We coupled those observations with some research into some big disasters. We concluded that project deterioration was a function of not listening and not speaking. We named those behaviors the Two Great Wastes.

Teams that can't or don't speak up are doomed to fail.

The Concours Group validated our conclusions with their study. Read the rest of this entry ¶

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Mistake-Proof Your Projects

Tuesday, February 13th, 2007

IW reports, "The report "Mistake-Proofing Six Sigma demonstrates how to eliminate the ambiguity (or 'fuzziness') involved in the human side of the equation, and put specific mechanisms in place to greatly reduce the potential for human error, according to its authors."

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10 Unbreakable Rules for Project Success

Monday, February 12th, 2007

Some things just don't go out of style. Four years ago, PM Forum published an essay on succeeding on projects. Many people have referenced the essay. It's now my turn.

Mark Lilly and Tim Rahschulte1 introduce their unbreakable project rules this way:

"Why do so few projects succeed? Despite the decades of increasingly complex attempts to manage projects, far too many managers overlook the 10 Unbreakable Rules for Project Success. As outlined below, these common sense guidelines hold the key to increasing your success rate and delivering greater consistency across your project's lifecycle."

Recognize the limitations of a me-first orientation. Projects require cooperation, collaboration, and coordination.

Their advice is directed at individuals on project teams. Here are their 10 unbreakable rules: Read the rest of this entry ¶


  1. "Lilly and Rahschulte, a university professor, collaborate on enterprise projects through Tin Orb, LLC, a knowledge services company in Portland, Ore" as reported in the PM Forum article [ ⇑ back ]
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Wondering about Six Sigma?

Monday, February 12th, 2007

Read Six Sigma for Dummies. While it's written for the beginner, it will introduce you to the key 6σ concepts. Book reviews are mixed…mine included. So buy the book used!

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What Does Sheepwalking Lead to?

Sunday, February 11th, 2007

Seth Godin has a knack for making new distinctions for every-day occurrences in life. His latest is "sheepwalking". Seth defines sheepwalking as, "…hiring people who have been raised to be obedient and giving them a braindead job and enough fear to keep them in line." Some might say that is cynical. Others might see themselves in the description. Seth goes on to say, "…sheepwalking is actually on the rise."

Could sheepwalking lead to malicious compliance?

Seth has me wondering. Where are sheepwalkers working? How might they find their way to our projects? What might happen? Is sheepwalking reversible? Is there really such a thing as sheepwalking? Read the rest of this entry ¶

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When Six Sigma Goes Awry

Sunday, February 11th, 2007

With tongue-in-cheek, The Boston Globe writes, Creating Flawless Products No One Wants. Don't miss it.

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  • Read Six Sigma for Dummies. While it's written for the beginner, it will introduce you to the key 6σ concepts. ...
     
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  • At the Six Sigma Blog they look at the 99% world to show The Significance of Six Sigma. At 99% 50 babies would be dropp...
     
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Safety and Quality In Health Care and Construction

Wednesday, February 7th, 2007

The CBS follow-up story to Katie Couric's interview, One Doctor's Crusade For Hospital Reform is a good read. CBS highlighted the everyday benefits of high capability processes on our lives. The interview opens this way with Dr. Berwick saying,

"Hospitals are very dangerous places. I don't know how to explain this to the public in a way that doesn't create too much fear. But they need to be realistic, and the technologies that help you can also hurt you — and they do it every single day."

Improving process quality and safety creates more time for engaging with people.

Studies indicate that 15 million patients are injured or get some sort of insufficient care each year. Some where between 44,000 and 96,000 die unnecessarily. Dr. Berwick and the 3,100 IHI partner hospitals have set out to change that. They are making their improvements in the same way that Toyota and other high-capability companies make their improvements. IHI is adopting Lean Six Sigma. Dr. Berwick goes on to say, Read the rest of this entry ¶

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Point Your Finger at Lean Six Sigma

Wednesday, February 7th, 2007

There's a new kid (blog) on the block. He calls himself the Lean Six Sigma Academy, a.k.a. Ron Pereira. He's not afraid to share his opinions: Stop the Finger Pointing!The truth of the matter is that people would be much better served figuring out a way to work together instead of against one another. Keep an eye on this guy.