Posts tagged as:

Problem Solving

Why won’t they tell me there is a problem?

01.24.2012

Leaders ask people to tell them what problems they have. This isn’t a practice exclusive to lean. MBWA, or Management By Walking Around, even incorporated this concept. In some organizations, there are systems in place (whether digital or on a board) for individuals to capture and surface problems. We ask as part of one-on-ones. But [...]

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Northeast Shingo Prize Keynote Presentation on Problem Solving

10.06.2011

The Northeast Shingo Prize recognizes business excellence regionally. They are established with the goal of making manufacturing facilities and other industries more competitive in the global marketplace, illustrating how world-class results can be achieved through the implementation of lean principles and techniques in core manufacturing and other business processes. This year I am giving the [...]

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Call firefighting and band-aids what they are – but do them in a structured way

09.19.2011

Sometimes, firefighting is the right answer. Once the fire is burning, whether figuratively or literally, you must put it out. There’s nothing wrong with this. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be a reactive, firefighting organization in a structured way. What would you structure in this reactive mode? First, you would get a little definition [...]

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Why do we still use RE-training as a “solution” to problems so frequently?

08.17.2011

Through my coaching efforts with clients, I get to see a lot of problems and a lot of solutions. I’ve never tried to take the solutions as data and categorize them. If I did, I think the most common solution people try is… retraining. Not training, RE-training. As in AGAIN. Let’s think about this for [...]

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Leaning-out “dead wood” in a subcontractor-based business [Guest Post]

05.23.2011

Guest Post: Kurt Woolley is Lean Champion within Intel’s Fab/Sort Manufacturing (FSM) organization, and founder of Atmos Industries. See more on his LinkedIn profile at http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kurt-woolley/3/941/575. Do lean methods apply within a subcontractor-based business? Oh yes! In my recent journeys, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a sub-contractor business – a millwork operation, making cabinets [...]

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10 Management Traps – and How to Avoid Them

04.30.2011

Recently Steve Minter of Industry Week interviewed a range of people for an article he titled 10 Management Traps – and How to Avoid Them. The ten traps he lists are: 1. Not ‘Nipping it in the Bud’ 2. Squelching the Flow of Bad News 3. Doing Drop-Down Work 4. Spending Too Much Time on [...]

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Entrepreneurship is problem solving

04.26.2011

I’ve written before that problems solving is a key still for innovation, in 3 Key Stills that Enable Innovation. This is why we must be building problem solving skills at every level of the organization. Perhaps one of the most important aspects of this is simply defining the problem. It’s sounds easy. So easy in [...]

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Lessons from the Road: Surfacing Problems Daily

03.21.2011

This month I am starting a new column for Industry Week. The title of the column is Lessons from the Road. Lessons from the Road is the subtitle of our book The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Lean. In this new column, I hope to provide pragmatic and actionable advice for companies on the lean journey. The [...]

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The Fine Line Between Micro-Management and Surfacing Problems

02.21.2011

Not many people want to be the victim of micro-management. And most managers don’t espouse operating that way. But not all micro-management is created equal. As organizations pursue lean effort,s I see a tension between making problems visible and micro-management. Many organizations are very sensitive to anything that feels like micro-management, even just a detailed [...]

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If you’re not frustrated, then you’re not working on the right problem.

01.03.2011

In my coaching, many of my conversations begin with a source of frustration by the individual. The source of frustration could be rooted in another person, or a team problem, or in their own abilities. But nonetheless, the frustration is there. This is a good thing. The philosophy that I’ve embraced is… If you’re not [...]

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