Archive for the 'asides' Category

From the Lean Insider: Speaking to Toyota employees at the Detroit Auto Show President Watanabe asked that they take responsibility for recent quality problems.

"I do not regard the problem as something that suppliers are responsible for. We must work together so that we are fully aware of where suppliers are."

Bernstein closes saying, "At Toyota, they know that doing the best job of serving the customer is what makes the company profitable."

Brad Appleton reviewed Lean Project Management, by L Leach concluding, "I found Lean Project Management to be a fairly quick read providing a good overview of some TOC and CCPM fundamentals and how they align with Lean thinking."

I'm glad to have Claude posting at RPM. It was Claude who gave name to these wonder filled times — the project age. Please welcome him with your comments.

WSJ reported, "Ford and GM reported lower December sales, capping off annual declines of 12% and 6%, respectively. Toyota's 2007 sales (in US) rose 3.1% even amid tough competition and signs that the U.S. consumer is beginning to labor in a slowing economy."

Re-familiarize yourself with the principles and practices of lean with Lean for Dummies. Do it to put yourself in new action!

Make every "Yes" count, Learn to Say, "No".

Eat your heart out! Beauteous!

Inside CRM offers The Manager's Cheat Sheet. Here are three of the best:

11. Only promise what you can realistically deliver.
37. Explain things simply.
79. Identify the positives.

Read the rest…

Silk and Spinach calls attention to the blame game. While there appears to be too much going around, there are signs to the contrary.

Chauncey Bell writes,
Why Is Construction so Backward? Is it just construction? Or, are projects backward?

Norman Bodek, godfather of lean, was honored by the IGLC for his contributions bringing the wisdom of lean experts to the world.

Are you getting more than 3 QnEKs per person per month? Why not? Make QnEK team sport.

The Quick-n-Easy-kaizen community website is ready for wide use. Stop by to see what others have posted. Share one of your own while you are there.

Reviewed by Ron Pereira at Lean Six Sigma Academy. Ron highlighted a passage on Parkinson's Law: a task will fill the time available. I haven't had time to read The 4 Hour Work Week, but I listened to Michael Port's great podcast with author Tim Ferris.

This is the super event…15 years running. It's here in the US…won't return for at least four more years. Don't miss meeting lean leaders in an informal setting. But the big reason is to get a first look at the most recent thinking on lean construction and lean project delivery. Register for IGLC-15 now!

What I like most about the Carnival of the Agilists is the self-organization for publishing. It's quite agile. Don't miss best of agile stories.

The TWI Summit Presentations are available. Make sure you look at John Shook's description of TWI and Toyota. John had a key leadership role in the start-up of NUMMI.

Norman Bodek opened the TWI Summit challenging participants:
Make mistakes
Copy others
Look forward to Mondays!

See Norman at 2007 Lean Construction Summit, July 18 - 20, 2007.

This is quite funny. While The Dip made the hard-to-break NYT Best Sellers list, one of the editors shared how much muscle they're willing to flex. Don't I wish I had that much power.

Ask Fluor. They did that by cutting their injury rate from 100 to 9 in one year. Let's not settle for less.

Rosie the Riveter put TWI on the map. Toyota Talent explains how standard work, TWI-style, set Toyota apart. There are still spots available to attend the TWI Summit on June 5-6. Use "lci" as the promo code to save $300.

I couldn't let this one pass. The folk at Trizle (that's the name) bring a wonderful writing style with their strong opinions. Here's the latest: How to Finish Big Projects

I had the chance to speak with Seth about Toyota. He's quite interested in the idea of "stopping the line to fix the problem." He says it's one reason why Toyota is the best in the world. He took a moment to quote me, Jidoka.