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I see the same cycle in so many places.

What cycle?

This one, more or less:

Step 1. Altruistic leaders sincerely (?) ask the associates for their improvement ideas (a.k.a. suggestions, kaizens, CI’s, etc.) in an attempt to foment some daily kaizen.

Step 2. Associates (not all of them), somewhat skeptically, call leadership’s bluff and submit their ideas.

Labels, lines, and shadows have little personality. Their job is largely around identification, location, and quantity.

Visual performance metrics provide insight into the health of a process or value stream by comparing actual performance versus target within the context of people, quality, delivery, and cost.

Andons are dynamic in nature. They visually (and often audibly) signal abnormal conditions and trigger problem-solving...or at least, most immediately, problem containment.

We've all heard the flight attendant's compulsory safety announcement regarding oxygen masks.

In many ways, visual controls are a 24/7 mirror of leadership’s competency and credibility.

To borrow a phrase that was borrowed by Pope Benedict XVI for hi

Last month, I teamed up with Gemba Academy's Ron Pereira and presented a two-part webinar on the subject of

This question is typically posed in response to a question that is deemed a bit nosey. It’s actually more of a statement. Along the lines of, “Mind you own business!” But, for the purpose of this post, it really is a question - one of, and for, the lean leader’s self-reflection. What truly is the purpose of the questions that we ask? Granted that we must always consider the particular situation, the intent of our questions says a lot about our own lean leadership effectiveness.

During my recent travels, I came upon a somewhat bizarre sight.

Ok, so the title is a little overreaching, but so was, “All I really need to know about life I learned in kindergarten,” and that didn’t stop that email from being forwarded a few million times.

My learning experience began at about 4 a.m., while sitting at a Waffle House counter with my buddy. He was dozing in his seat.