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A Mindless Worker is a Happy Worker

shmula-shut-up-and-workOne thing I know from experience: when people are given a chance to participate in creating something good, solving a problem, and play a role in adding value through the use of their mind, hands, and heart, good things happen.  Indeed, morale increases and a type of magic takes place – a feeling joy can be seen in people’s faces.

How to Add Value

shmula-how-to-add-valueIn Lean Thinking, we use the phrase “value-add” and then qualify that term as taken from the “customer’s perspective.” While that might be true, it’s not concrete enough and is actually difficult to understand.

I am reminded of something my older brother taught me a long time ago.  He said simply (I’m paraphrasing):

Gretchen Rubin – Part II

This entry is part 3 of 3 in the series Interview: Gretchen Rubin, Happiness Project

Gretchen Rubin, the author of The Happiness Project, answers reader’s questions – your questions – on this multi-series post on her Happiness Project.  This post is Part II of her responses to reader’s questions.

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Gretchen Rubin – Part I

This entry is part 2 of 3 in the series Interview: Gretchen Rubin, Happiness Project

Gretchen Rubin, the author of The Happiness Project, answers reader’s questions – your questions – on this multi-series post on her Happiness Project.

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Comment by Porter on February 10, 2010 @ 12:59 pm
Hi, Gretchen -


Less is Less with Jason Fried

This entry is part 1 of 1 in the series Interview: Jason Fried, 37Signals

shmula-jason-friedMost of you know who Jason Fried is – the founder of 37Signals and the author of several books, including Rework, his most recent publication.

He’s on shmula.com to answer your questions – on Lean Thinking, Design, Less is Less, Customer Development, and other principles he lives by and encourages others to consider in his book Rework.


Ask Gretchen Rubin: The Happiness Interview

This entry is part 1 of 3 in the series Interview: Gretchen Rubin, Happiness Project

GretchenRubinWe’re delighted to have Gretchen Rubin, the author of The Happiness Project, on shmula.com today.

Similar to prior interviews we’ve done [1, 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15], you – the reader – have a chance to ask Gretchen questions related to her findings on the Happiness Project.  But first, here’s some background:


Nothing Else You Need To Do

emergency room, wait time, queueing theory, design thinking, shmula, ideo, ethnography, anthropology, lean manufacturing, lean thinking, six sigma, metacool, diego rodriquezI reluctantly filed and survived – I finished my taxes.  I used TurboTax and things went smoothly.  Today, I received a message that was relief to read:

Nothing Else You Need To Do

It’s nice to know exactly what is expected of you.  In this case, I’m done and I need to do nothing else.

Expectations…

Cost Savings for a Fortune 500 Company

emergency room, wait time, queueing theory, design thinking, shmula, ideo, ethnography, anthropology, lean manufacturing, lean thinking, six sigma, metacool, diego rodriquezCummins Inc.1 reported their Q4 2009 earnings call today. In that call, they reported a cost savings of over $500MM due to their emphasis on Lean Thinking and Six Sigma. In the words of Tim Solso, Chairman and CEO of Cummins Inc:

Just Dial “0″ (”Zero”)

emergency room, wait time, queueing theory, design thinking, shmula, ideo, ethnography, anthropology, lean manufacturing, lean thinking, six sigma, metacool, diego rodriquezOn the way to work this morning, a commercial on National Public Radio (NPR) caught my attention.  It was a commercial for Ally Bank and one phrase piqued my interest (I’m paraphrasing):

To open an account, call xxx-xxx-xxxx and to talk to a real person, push “0″ anytime.

In the radio commercial, they emphasized “real person”.  Interesting.

Freedom within Framework

emergency room, wait time, queueing theory, design thinking, shmula, ideo, ethnography, anthropology, lean manufacturing, lean thinking, six sigma, metacool, diego rodriquezA fence keeps us safe from harm – often, from harming ourselves and from harming others.  In deployments of Lean Thinking at organizations, the principle of Freedom within Framework describes our approach well.

Disambiguating the Fence

A fence can be understood a few different ways:

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