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:

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:


Emergency Room (ER) Wait Times

emergency room, wait time, queueing theory, design thinking, shmula, ideo, ethnography, anthropology, lean manufacturing, lean thinking, six sigma, metacool, diego rodriquezThe Emergency Room plays a vital role in patient care and plays an important role in communities and society.  According to the CDC, there were 119.2 million visits to the Emergency Room in 2007 1.  Indeed, the demand for emergency room care is great.

emergency room, wait time, queueing theory, design thinking, shmula, ideo, ethnography, anthropology, lean manufacturing, lean thinking, six sigma, metacool, diego rodriquezThe Emergency Room plays a vital role in patient care and plays an important role in communities and society.  According to the CDC, there were 119.2 million visits to the Emergency Room in 2007 1.  Indeed, the demand for emergency room care is great.


Lean Thinking and the Amazon Kindle

tim brown, design thinking, shmula, ideo, ethnography, anthropology, lean manufacturing, lean thinking, six sigma, metacool, diego rodriquezI receive emails from recruiters – frequently.  So, as a favor to them, I am posting a job for your interest: the hiring company is Amazon.com.

Below is one job description and contact information, but if you go to the Amazon.com website, there are over 50 open positions looking for people with experience in Lean Thinking and Six Sigma.

tim brown, design thinking, shmula, ideo, ethnography, anthropology, lean manufacturing, lean thinking, six sigma, metacool, diego rodriquezI receive emails from recruiters – frequently.  So, as a favor to them, I am posting a job for your interest: the hiring company is Amazon.com.

Below is one job description and contact information, but if you go to the Amazon.com website, there are over 50 open positions looking for people with experience in Lean Thinking and Six Sigma.


Amazon and Zappos Sitting in a Tree

amazon.com acquires zappos.com, tony hsieh, customer service, jeff bezos, interviewAs most you know by now, Zappos has entered into a definitive agreement with Amazon.com and will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Amazon.  This is exciting and, after speaking with my friends both at Amazon and at Zappos, they are all quite excited too.  Congratulations to Amazon, Zappos, Tony Hsieh, and Jeff Bezos 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9.

amazon.com acquires zappos.com, tony hsieh, customer service, jeff bezos, interviewAs most you know by now, Zappos has entered into a definitive agreement with Amazon.com and will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Amazon.  This is exciting and, after speaking with my friends both at Amazon and at Zappos, they are all quite excited too.  Congratulations to Amazon, Zappos, Tony Hsieh, and Jeff Bezos 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9.


The Source of Dirt

In Amazon’s 2008 letter to shareholders, Jeff Bezos shares about a Kaizen event he participated in:

At a fulfillment center recently, one of our Kaizen experts asked me, “I’m in favor of a clean fulfillment center, but why are you cleaning? Why don’t you eliminate the source of dirt?”

I’ve spoken numerous times about Bezos on Lean Thinking, some of which are here, here, here and here but there are many more — just browse shmula.

In Amazon’s 2008 letter to shareholders, Jeff Bezos shares about a Kaizen event he participated in:

At a fulfillment center recently, one of our Kaizen experts asked me, “I’m in favor of a clean fulfillment center, but why are you cleaning? Why don’t you eliminate the source of dirt?”

I’ve spoken numerous times about Bezos on Lean Thinking, some of which are here, here, here and here but there are many more — just browse shmula.


Do Not Run From Your Customers

I’ve spoken extensively about the unheralded — but, arguably, the most important — Pillar of The Toyota Production System: Respect for People. Today, I want to highlight an interesting company that appears to have done an amazing job at Participative Management and in eliminating fear and mediocrity in the workplace: Semco Group.

I’ve spoken extensively about the unheralded — but, arguably, the most important — Pillar of The Toyota Production System: Respect for People. Today, I want to highlight an interesting company that appears to have done an amazing job at Participative Management and in eliminating fear and mediocrity in the workplace: Semco Group.


Lean & Six Sigma at Amazon.com

A friend of mine recently contacted me, seeking my advice on how to get a job at Amazon.com; my friend is a top-notch software engineer, manager, and an all-around good person and leader.  The job he is interested in is for a position as a software development manager in reverse-logistics at Amazon.com.  My friend qualifies on most items, except for the last bullet below, requiring experience in Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma — for a software engineering job!:

A friend of mine recently contacted me, seeking my advice on how to get a job at Amazon.com; my friend is a top-notch software engineer, manager, and an all-around good person and leader.  The job he is interested in is for a position as a software development manager in reverse-logistics at Amazon.com.  My friend qualifies on most items, except for the last bullet below, requiring experience in Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma — for a software engineering job!: