Training, Coaching and Consulting
What happens when your company doesn’t understand “lean”? Since the introduction of lean manufacturing and related concepts like kaizen in the 1950’s, companies everywhere have tried to match the achievements of Toyota. No matter what department – from manufacturing to human resources – scores of managers have tried to emulate the best practices that Deming […]
As a management concept, lean has several highly logical and practical disciplines, which at first glance tend to apply primarily to waste management, processes and data. I have written about these concepts before in articles such as Applying Lean and Excellence in an Age of Rapid Change and The Human Side of Continuous Improvement. It […]
There is a well-known principle in the world of project management that is highly applicable to day-to-day productivity both on the shop floor and in offices everywhere. The principle is called Parkinson’s Law, and it reads like this: “Work expands to fill the time available.”For example, for most people, a project that is due at […]
Continuous improvement can easily become one of those buzzwords that everyone embraces without fully understanding it. People often believe they are practicing continuous improvement by making a single positive change, for example in the way they manage a meeting, or in providing more listening time for employees, but even these tentative steps tend to […]
One of the most pressing topics on the minds of managers, executives and employees everywhere is the future of work. It is vital for them to understand what people need to know and what skills they need to possess in order to stay competitive and employed in a world increasingly dominated by information and automation. […]
Lean Six Sigma has proven itself to be an influential and effective strategy, one that improves processes by identifying and removing wasteful practices. This calls into question whether a specific type of leader is needed to drive a company towards lean management, or whether the program itself can be self-led. The most direct application of […]
Achieving Management Excellence Even When Employees Want To Quit It is a well-known fact that many employees who leave a company are not quitting their job, they are quitting their manager. In these cases, an individual has studied and worked hard to get into a position that contributes to his/her career path or life goals. […]
Deploying Change Management Process Towards Establishing Operational Excellence Talking about operational excellence and actually making it happen are two very different concepts. What appears to be great in theory, or even as a case history faces at least three significant challenges in deployment and maintenance once introduced locally. The first is relevance. What works for […]
Defining Excellence Metrics: A Challenge for Today’s Leaders “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” That is one of Peter Drucker’s most poignant quotes. It is foolish to pursue a campaign of continuous improvement without quantifying and analyzing every facet of a company’s performance, and then acting upon the results. Progress is not a […]
Can a country operate as a company? I don’t mean in a purely capitalist sense, focused solely on profits and market dominance, but instead, can it embrace principles of excellence and lean management even when it does not partake directly in free market economics? Every country depends on an extensive administrative system to keep its […]
Toronto is the largest city in Canada, with a population of three million, which represents eight percent of the country’s population. Like many rapidly growing cities, it faces problems around increased demand on infrastructure (housing, hospitals, and transit). It shares a trait with other iconic cities, including San Francisco, Paris, Mexico City, Geneva, Prague, Amsterdam […]
There are very few companies, if any, that will publicly say they pursue mediocrity, or that they really don’t care about their customers or their products. That just doesn’t happen. The problem comes about when the customer says these things about a company. Comments from end users naturally have enormous influence on a company’s financial […]
As a company grows and moves along its lifeline from start-up into adolescence and then early middle age, it will be inevitable that Management will seek to review all of its processes to take stock of what is working well and what is not. This is the time when concepts such as lean production start […]
Is there a difference between solving a problem and problem-solving? It might seem like pure wordplay, but I will suggest otherwise. In my experience, I have noticed that the first activity, solving a problem, involves taking steps to resolve an issue. It’s a one-off action. Over time, it can become a series of one-time measures, […]
One of the most significant challenges faced by senior management in most organizations is keeping up with a pace that continues to accelerate. I have noticed this on numerous occasions in which I have visited organizations in both the public and private sectors, many of whom say they follow the fundamental principles of Lean management […]