'Tiz the season for cold winds but warm hearts, the longest night but brightest lights! Our team wishes you a joyful holiday with abundance that flows, shopping with no waiting, gifts with zero-defects, company who arrives and leaves just-in-time, and at least one string of lights that is untangled and works. It's time to curl up in front of a fireplace with your favorite computer and read the holiday issue of "The LEAN Executive".
Merry and happy times to all,
The LEAN Affiliates Team |
 Lean Consumption at the Post Office
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By Mark Edmondson
Editor's Note: What happens when our president goes to the post office for holiday stamps? We try to keep him out of trouble, but sometimes he's found in public causing trouble.
Today I went to the local post office to buy holiday stamps and Priority Mail boxes. (An aside: Priority Mail for gift parcels is a great deal – you can cram as much stuff as possible into your free “flat rate” box that will arrive in about 3 days – all for about the price of the box alone at the UPS Store.)
After waiting in line for 20 minutes, the clerk motioned me forward. (Note to self: avoid the PO at lunch time; half the clerks go on break just in time for the noon customer rush.)
“I’d like to buy some Christmas stamps, please.”
“I’m sorry sir, we’re out of holiday stamps.”
“When will you get some more?” I asked hopefully.
“They’re back-ordered now, but we should have them by the end of the month.”
“But the end of the month is after Christmas.” I said lamely.
“We have these salsa dance stamps – they have some nice holiday colors in them.” the clerk suggested.
I appreciated the unexpected empathy; maybe the Post Office really does care. I pictured salsa dance stamps on my Christmas card envelopes and wondered if anyone would notice. Dancing is part of the holidays, isn’t it?
Yet another example of a well intentioned employee coping with a broken process....
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 Case Study: How to Eliminate Waste From Your Team's Decision Process
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By Nina Atwood
“So, how does your group decide what needs to get done?” I queried the table of executives, all senior managers with ownership interest in their fifty million plus business. Puzzled looks reflected back the bewilderment they felt. We had spent the past two hours on the subject of “alignment,” a concept that in the past, to them, meant “agreement.” Everyone had confirmed that far too much waste had been going on in their team meetings; i.e., churning over issues and not resolving them. I turned to the CEO and asked for his perspective.
“Normally, we put a subject on the table, we discuss it, and I try to get everyone to agree on what we should do.” I asked everyone to comment on how that usually went. Finally, one person spoke authentically. “The truth is that we argue over the issues for hours, discussing them back and forth, and at the end of the meeting, no clear decisions are made. I personally leave frustrated and feel like we’ve wasted a lot of time.” Heads nodded around him. We had at least found one thing they agreed on – that they weren’t very good at getting to solid decisions as a group.
Alignment, I explained, is basically “rowing the boat in the same direction.” I then offered the notion that you don’t need agreement in order to get to alignment. “Alignment,” I said, “is when you agree, as a group, to support a decision regarding the direction of the company or a particular initiative of the business.” How do you get there? By following a process that allows for everyone’s input, and that results in a decision, in as timely a manner as possible. Less waste, more value.
“Imagine this scenario...” I said.
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Recommended Holiday Reading
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Kiss Theory Good Bye
By Bob Prosen
We're seeing companies using Kiss Theory Good Bye as their operating blueprint for 2007 to improve performance, profits and productivity. The real value is in the tools it provides to accomplish more, advance your career and have more time to do the things you love.
We hope you will share it with your employees, clients and friends to help them in the never ending quest to increase accountability, make their job easier, consistently accomplish their objectives, react less and have more time to spend with family and friends.
“Most management/leadership books I read are confusingly complex and deliver no actionable information. Kiss Theory Good Bye is the exception. It lays out a nuts-and-bolts map for successful execution in any business.”
Ken May
President and CEO
FedEx Kinko’s
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Would your company benefit from a comprehensive assessment of its operations? Contact us to nominate your company for a complementary Lean Enterprise Assessment & Diagnostic. Selected members of your management team and individual contributors are invited to participate in a web-based diagnostic refined over the years to provide a reliable indicator of your organization’s current level of operational excellence.
There are 31 lean enterprise practices in the diagnostic, divided amongst six major competencies: Leadership Commitment, Management Systems, Organizational Development,Customer Focused, Employee Engagement, and Operational Excellence.
This information is gathered via a confidential on-line survey of your team. Your results are compiled and analyzed by us, and then benchmarked against results from other companies within similar industries.
Our team then presents this analysis to you during a one hour conference call or on-site visit. You'll also receive an annotated slide set summarizing your results and our recommendations.
Contact Us to Schedule Your Company's Assessment |
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