Dilbert – Type in All Caps

OK.  So this post really doesn’t have much to do with lean.  I just found this Dilbert cartoon hysterical.

Click on image to enlarge

We could talk about the lack of respect Wally shows his boss by leading him into a potentially awkward situation with another person at work.  I prefer to find the humor in people that TYPE IN ALL CAPS NO MATTER WHAT THEY ARE SENDING.

What? I couldn’t read all of that.  Some of it was in lower case letters.

Have a great day!

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Counting Down the Top 10 Viewed Posts of 2012 – 10 Thru 6

2013 is now in full swing.  Before 2012 is too far in the rear view mirror, I thought I would recap the Top 10 most viewed posts on Beyond Lean for 2012.

New followers of the blog can use this as an opportunity to read posts they might have not seen in the past.  While, long time followers can use this as an opportunity to re-read some of the top viewed posts.

This post will count down the 10th thru 6th most viewed posts of 2012.  Enjoy!

10. Guest Post: Selling Lean to People That Don’t Want It (July 2011) – This is a post from Joe Wilson before he became a full-time author at Beyond Lean.  Joe talks about ways to sell lean to people who are not bought into the benefits of lean.

9.   Making Leader Standard Work Visual (June 2011) – Previous Year Ranked #8 – An example of a visual board from a group I worked with.  The board makes the tasks and if they were completed by the managers visual.

8.  Dilbert Leading Transformation (July 2010) – Previous Year Ranked #10 – The Pointy-Haired Boss wants clear responsibilities and employee engagement.

7.  True Mentoring (May 2012) – This is my take on true mentoring versus fake mentoring that goes on in business today.

6.  Comparing Lean Principles to the 14 Toyota Principles (July 2010) – Previous Year Ranked #5 – The first part of a three part series where I compared the lean principles I learned from the Lean Learning Center to the Toyota Principles.  This post covers the first five Toyota Principles.

My next post will count down the Top 5 viewed posts of 2012.

Dilbert The Practical Jokester

We are coming to the end of summer and school either has started or is getting ready to start for elementary, high school and college students.  As we wind down summer, I thought a little fun would be in order.

The Dilbert cartoon is always funny and there are a lot of lessons that can be seen from a lean and leadership point of view…of what not to do.  This cartoon on the other hand I just find plain funny.  I have been laughing at it all summer, so I thought I would share it.  Enjoy and I hope you had a great summer.

Dilbert Cartoon by Scott Adams (click image to go to website)

It’s…It’s…It’s a Kaizen Blitz

While looking for material about a kaizen event on the internet I found this great video on YouTube.  It is a song about a kaizen blitz (event) set to the music of Ballroom Blitz by Sweet.

If you have ever been a part of a kaizen event (or blitz), I bet a lot of this really hit home.  The guy did a great job of catching all aspects of the kaizen in a very funny way.  I plan on showing this to the kaizen teams I lead in the future at a point where a break in the tension is needed.

Counting Down the Top 10 Viewed Posts of 2011 – 10 Thru 6

2012 is now in full swing.  Before 2011 is too far in the rear view mirror, I thought I would recap the Top 10 most viewed posts on Beyond Lean for 2011.

New followers of the blog can use this as an opportunity to read posts they might have not seen in the past.  While, long time followers can use this as an opportunity to re-read some of the top viewed posts.

This post will count down the 10th thru 6th most viewed posts of 2011.  Enjoy!

10. Dilbert Leading Transformation (July 2010) – Previous Year Ranked #3 – The Pointy-Haired Boss wants clear responsibilities and employee engagement.

9.   Adding Inventory…A Good Thing? (March 2011) –  Sometimes adding inventory might be the right thing to do based on your business. Take time to understand your business and its needs before deciding.

8.  Making Leader Standard Work Visual (June 2011) – An example of a visual board from a group I worked with.  The board makes the tasks and if they were completed by the managers visual.

7.  Beyond Lean Joins Twitter (February 2011) – Beyond Lean announces the venture out onto Twitter.

6.  Redbox Produced in the U.S. Using Lean (October 2010) – Previous Year Ranked #5 – News article about Redbox manufacturing using Lean to produce the Redbox dispensers close to it’s customers in the U.S.

My next post will count down the Top 5 viewed posts of 2011.

Merry New Year!

This weekend will bring a New Year.  As we usher in the new year, I was reminded of a movie scene a great comedy…Trading Places starring Eddie Murphy and Dan Akroyd.

Just a reminder of the melting pot that is New York and the United States.  Enjoy!  And have a Merry New Year!  Hahahahahaaaaaaa!

Dilbert Animated Cartoons

I hope everyone had a great Christmas yesterday.  A little Dilbert treat for the holidays.

The Pointy-Haired Boss makes it so hard to get clear objectives and Dilbert is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

 

Does any of this sound familiar?  Clear objectives and misaligned values can cause a lot of confusion in an organization.  The confusion can lead to nobody taking action.  No action means no improvement.  I hope your objectives for 2012 are clear.

30 Rock Definition of Six Sigma

A couple of weeks ago, I posted something from a guest blogger James Lawther (“Do They Get It?”).  During our emails, James showed me the 30 Rock Six Sigma approach.  I found it to be very funny so I thought I would pass it along.  It is a good way to go into the weekend.

The Six Sigmas are (link to the 30 Six Sigma page):

• Teamwork
• Insight
• Brutality
• Male Enhancement
• Handshakefulness
• Play Hard

Not sure where they came up with the six attributes instead of the variance, but it adds humor to it.

I also enjoyed the acronym for C.L.A.S.S.  Consuming Lunch and Simple Socializing.

That sounds just like the reason most people go to all day classes, doesn’t it?  Get a free lunch and because either friends or people you want to know are going.

Here is one last very short clip of Frank’s definition of Six Sigma is

Have a great weekend!

Thanks to MyFlexiblePencil

Over the last few weeks, David Kasprzak at the MyFlexiblePencil blog has featured some of my posts.  The last one posted today.  Here are the links to the three he featured:

Stop Blaming and Understand the Why

Automating Daycare

The Importance of Respect for People

I appreciate the exposure to David’s readers.  If you have not visited his blog, I would recommend you do.  There are lean insights as well as great observations from daily life.

Automating Daycare…Just Like Manufacturing

The other night while I was watching TV I saw this Geico commercial.  I thought this was very funny.

I couldn’t believe someone would think about using robots in a daycare setting.  Then it hit me why this was so funny.  I have seen this time and time again in manufacturing so it was something I could relate to.

Have we gone so far as a society with trying to automate our manufacturing plants, car washes, even a drink dispenser at McDonald’s that everyone can relate to the daycare scenario?

The commercial is funny because it is ludicrous.  We would never consider this a viable option.  We want a human to interact with our children so they can adjust to their needs and solve problems that come up throughout the day.  We value having the mind that is attached to the hands and feet of the daycare workers.

So, why don’t we value the minds attached to hands and feet in a manufacturing environment?  In my career, I have come across many people that want to develop a “lights out” facility.  I even worked for a manager that was driven by the idea of a “lights out” facility.

We should value the minds of workers in all industries, from daycare to manufacturing.  Without their minds, how do expect to come up with improvement ideas?  How can the company continue to get better if everything is automated?  Just because it is automated does not mean it isn’t wasteful.  The perfect example is a conveyor belt.  All a conveyor belt does is automate the waste of transportation.  That conveyor belt isn’t going to come up with any ideas on how to eliminate or reduce the waste of transportation.

Automation can be a good thing.  We should consider robots and automation in environments that are dangerous for humans to work in (e.g. a continuous running paint booth or handling hot steel).  Computer automation can help calculate something that is value added and may take days for a human to calculate in a matter of minutes or seconds.

Unfortunately, a lot of engineers feel they need to automate everything in site to prove their value.  Having an engineering degree from Purdue University, I don’t feel the need to do this.  My first thought is how should the process work and then would automation add any value to that improved process.

So the next time you are confronted with an opportunity to automate something ask yourself, “Is this a daycare situation?”