Secret Sauce and Magic Fairy Dust

I love this quote from Eiji Toyoda, by way of Jon Miller's Gemba Panta Rei blog post, The Man Who Saved Kaizen:

On Toyota's secret sauce:

"Ultimately, there are no special secret strategies to the Toyota Production System. We are just doing the obvious things, thoroughly, without omission, as a habit. This is simple, but difficult to do consistently across large organizations."

Reminds me of what Mr. Nagamatsu of Shingijutsu shared with us years ago while at Tektronix-Danaher:  "There is no magic fairy dust!"

That said, what I've found if you do the basic (obvious) things thoroughly, without omission, as a habit, then 'magic' happens!  .....there's just no bottle for it.

Casey Neistat--Lean Rockstar (and Movie Maker)

I've watched a few (OK, many/most) of this guy's videos on YouTube, and I must say I like his stuff and generally his approach to life (from what I can tell).

It wasn't until I saw "Casey's Neistat's Wildly Functional Studio" that the Lean connection hit me.  Check it out:

He gets it:

Visual management (at a glance.....dare I say "5S")........check.
"Moonshining" (i.e. making things yourself from what you have readily available).....check.
--Not letting perfect get in the way of better.....check.
--Creativity before capital.......check.
and more.....
Oh, and don't forget.......Being cool..............................check.


Similarly, lots of Lean-ness with "Emergency Brake":



You can check out more of his stuff at:
http://www.youtube.com/user/caseyneistat
http://caseyneistat.com/

Lean Police?

There are many angles to this one--both Lean and Six Sigma.  I bet this police officer would be great at leading Lean Transformation.  Talk about leading "as if" you have no authority (even when you really do).


Thanks to a Facebook friend of mine for sending this link out (months ago)!

The Road to Exellence

A while back I ran across this image somewhat at random in a presentation file on the internet.  I like to call it "The Road to Excellence":

In my work I seem to encounter this 'place' regularly, and it can be very trying at times.  But look carefully......up the hill on the left......there is always a way.....

NOTE:  I've tried to track down the original source of this image.  At one time I thought I had found the source at http://limitlesslivingtoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Dead_End_Road.jpg, but then it dropped off the internet.  I later found the same image at http://www.rugusavay.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/closed-roads-9.jpg.  If anyone knows of THE proper source reference please let me know.  Also, there are other similar "dead end" images at http://www.rugusavay.com/closed-roads/.       - M

Great Stuff from HENRYandREL Supermarche: Meals Per Hour - YouTube

What's better than helping people in need?  Answer:  Doing an even better job of it.

Here's a great video from HENRYandREL Supermarche (that's been out for a few months now) showing just that, and also provides a nice glimpse into some of the basic concepts of Lean (AKA - the Toyota Production System).  There is lots to love about this video, but I particularly love the line from Natalia near 1m:25s, "...if you have a good system...the work takes care of itself."  Yes indeed!  - M

Now for something completely different.....Lean Life???....The Wisdom of Tenderness: Jean Vanier on Lived Compassion, L'Arche, and Becoming Human | On Being

I recently caught a radio segment of this content on a late drive home one night and was captivated.  I'd never heard of Jean Vanier (or his work, his story), nor On Being with Krista Tippett.  Bits of the interview still float through my mind weeks later.  The interview is lengthy (~1+hrs depending on the content file you choose) and appears to be a number of years dated now, but if you have some time check it out.

There are a number of connections to Lean in the content that is covered....(Aside:  I particularly like the brief discussion related to Aristotle)...., and it gets me thinking about Lean....Lean Manufacturing, Lean Healthcare, Lean Government,..... dare I say Lean Life?    Arghhhh!!!!......"Lean" sure is a poor label for what Lean is about.  Maybe instead of Lean.........just "Good", or "Great"! .......or maybe it is that which cannot be named.....  But I digress....                        ......Enjoy.  - M

The Wisdom of Tenderness: Jean Vanier on Lived Compassion, L'Arche, and Becoming Human | On Being

Commercials that make you go, Lean?!?! --Comcast Business TV Commercial, 'Rolling in Less'

This commercial puts me into a bit of a catch-22 about the concept of "more is less", but you've got to love the line, "...we're rolling in less..." at the end.  Although Lean is not about cost savings, the scene seems all too familiar.  Enjoy.  - M