Visual Management is certainly one of the characteristic traits that sets lean organizations apart from all others. The success of Visual Management is predicated on relevant and current data. To be effective, Visual Management must be embraced and utilized by leadership, management, and employees throughout the organization. I also believe that “Knowledge is Power and Wisdom is Sharing it.” For […]
Managing Visually – A word from Daniel T. Jones
Game On – Playing it Safe with Lean
Communicating a concept or methodology in a manner that doesn’t offend the current status quo is likely the biggest challenge we face as lean practitioners and consultants. In all too many instances it seems that people are open to change as long as someone else is doing the changing. To diffuse opposition and resistance to change, it is essential that everyone understands […]
Hanging from a thread – Lean Healthcare
Background It seems that Lean Healthcare is getting a lot of exposure here as of late. I will qualify this by saying “in practice” rather than “name”. The Toronto Star published yet another article, Sunnybrook cuts wait for prostate diagnosis down to 72 hours, that once again demonstrates that improvements can be made if we put our minds to it. […]
Are you an Excel Hero?
Background Not too long ago, I was approached by a systems consultant to consider writing an Excel solution to create a weekly production schedule for one of his clients. The reason for using Excel will become clearer in a moment. The current process Sales representatives submit a unique Excel spreadsheet / file for each customer order. All orders are saved […]
Lean Healthcare – Sunnybrook Surgeons given a hands-off way to Kinect
An article in today’s Toronto Star titled “Surgeons given a hands-off way to Kinect” clearly demonstrates how improvements can be realized in our work environment. One of the concerns in the operating room is maintaining a sterile field during surgery. Doctors cannot physically touch any devices away from the sterile field for fear of breaking it and have only 1 […]
Lean – Walk and Talk
In my article “Waste: The Devil is in the Details“, I discussed the importance of paying attention to the details. From a company or personal perspective, the underlying theme to identify waste (or opportunity) is to be continually cognizant of what it is we’re doing and asking “Why?” I have continually stressed the importance of conducting process reviews right where the action is. It seems […]
Waste: The Devil is in the Details …
I planned to publish this yesterday but for some reason I felt compelled to wait. I doubt it was fate, but as you will see, Toyota once again managed to serendipitously substantiate my reason for it. I was originally inspired to write this post based on a recent experience I had at a local restaurant. After I was seated, I ordered a coffee to start […]
The Art of Deception – All Decisions are NOT Equal
As I discussed in “What did you expect? Benchmarking and Decisions – For Better or Worse” we are confronted with decisions every day. I even went so far as to suggest that an underlying benchmark is at the root of all decisions. As you will soon find out, not all decisions are equal. Most of us understand visual or optical […]
PI: Discovery to Application – 1900 years
Mathematicians celebrate PI day on March 14 to honour of the number 3.14. PI day was founded by Physicist Larry Shaw at the San Fransisco Exploratorium on March 14, 1989. Greek mathematician Archimedes of Syracuse (287 to 212 B.C.) was the first to calculate the value of PI, however, its use became wide-spread only after it was adopted by Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler in 1737. Concept to […]
What did you expect? Benchmarking and Decisions – for better or worse.
What did you expect? Benchmarking & Decisions – for better or worse I recognize that benchmarking is not a new concept. In business, we have learned to appreciate the value of benchmarking at the “macro level” through our deliberate attempts to establish a relative measure of performance, improvement, and even for competitor analysis. Advertisers often use benchmarking as an integral component of their marketing strategy. […]
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