respect for people

Kanban Family Job Chart

tim brown, design thinking, shmula, ideo, ethnography, anthropology, lean manufacturing, lean thinking, six sigma, metacool, diego rodriquezI’ve tried this a few times, but I think this time, with the help of the kids and my sweet wife, we’ve got it right for our family.

The Opportunity

We have a big family – we’ve adopted a bunch and we’re very thankful for our chance to be parents.  We’ve got great kids.

tim brown, design thinking, shmula, ideo, ethnography, anthropology, lean manufacturing, lean thinking, six sigma, metacool, diego rodriquezI’ve tried this a few times, but I think this time, with the help of the kids and my sweet wife, we’ve got it right for our family.

The Opportunity

We have a big family – we’ve adopted a bunch and we’re very thankful for our chance to be parents.  We’ve got great kids.

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Respect for People, Underutilized People, and Waste

adoption, International, Domestic, Waiting, child, baby, infant, adoption, adopt, adopting, adoptionThe two pillars in Lean Thinking are Continuous Improvement and Respect for People.  What is not well understood is that most of what we know as The Toyota Production System comes from these two pillars.  The Lean sub-culture tends to over-emphasize the “tools” of Kaizen, but miss the point altogether, since the tools stem or originate from one of the pillars above.  The relationship between the 2 Pillars and Waste is subtle, but important.

adoption, International, Domestic, Waiting, child, baby, infant, adoption, adopt, adopting, adoptionThe two pillars in Lean Thinking are Continuous Improvement and Respect for People.  What is not well understood is that most of what we know as The Toyota Production System comes from these two pillars.  The Lean sub-culture tends to over-emphasize the “tools” of Kaizen, but miss the point altogether, since the tools stem or originate from one of the pillars above.  The relationship between the 2 Pillars and Waste is subtle, but important.

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Unappetizing Spaghetti Diagrams

spaghetti diagram, healthcare obama plan, democrat plan, lean, six sigmaA Spaghetti Diagram is a simple visual tool to demonstrate the flow of material, flow of information, and flow of money in a process. The word “spaghetti” is descriptive because it describes flow that is not easily understood, can’t easily be followed, or if the flow is literally all over the place.  Indeed, a Spaghetti Diagram represents a point-of-departure: what does the current state look like and what are the exact improvements we need to make?

spaghetti diagram, healthcare obama plan, democrat plan, lean, six sigmaA Spaghetti Diagram is a simple visual tool to demonstrate the flow of material, flow of information, and flow of money in a process. The word “spaghetti” is descriptive because it describes flow that is not easily understood, can’t easily be followed, or if the flow is literally all over the place.  Indeed, a Spaghetti Diagram represents a point-of-departure: what does the current state look like and what are the exact improvements we need to make?

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Customer Service – A Chance for Redemption

home depot, shmula.com, customer experience, twitter, facebook, net promoter score, nps, detractor, promoterIn a very tough economy, keeping customers happy should have more considerable weight and attention from companies.  I had a negative customer experience recently at Home Depot, where they had a chance to redeem themselves from a very poor customer experience.

home depot, shmula.com, customer experience, twitter, facebook, net promoter score, nps, detractor, promoterIn a very tough economy, keeping customers happy should have more considerable weight and attention from companies.  I had a negative customer experience recently at Home Depot, where they had a chance to redeem themselves from a very poor customer experience.

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The Atomic Rules of Kaizen

Systems that are internally consistent and externally pragmatic stem from just a few rules.  Systems with exceedingly many rules typically fail or will not endure.  For example,

Systems that are internally consistent and externally pragmatic stem from just a few rules.  Systems with exceedingly many rules typically fail or will not endure.  For example,

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How To Be A Human

shmula.com, pete abilla, familyI had an experience recently where I spoke with a group of friends and acquaintances about the economy and the existential despair that is all around us.  Then, a friend said something that shocked me:

. . . it’s terrible that (company x) went through such a huge delayering

shmula.com, pete abilla, familyI had an experience recently where I spoke with a group of friends and acquaintances about the economy and the existential despair that is all around us.  Then, a friend said something that shocked me:

. . . it’s terrible that (company x) went through such a huge delayering

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