Here we are again ladies and gents, I just got home from the gym after a day that put the temperature around 115 with the heat index. With that being said, today brought its own set of challenges that required compassion and creativity. Well I was passing out popsicles and gatorade. To all of you who are in management at any level, $50 worth of popsicles and gatorade will yield dividends beyond belief. Yes it has to come out of your own pocket, and yes you have to do your own work passing it out. Though the report that is built and bridges constructed with this is beyond your wildest dreams. For it is times like this that you get to take a few minutes with each of your direct reports and ask questions. Oh here we go again, the people and questions route. Going to Gemba, asking the right questions from the individuals who do the work to collectively come up with improvements. Folks, I can't stress this enough. You must engage your people on a personal level, otherwise you are looked at as an authority figure vs an advocate for them and more so an advocate for Lean.
I know you all are thinking, yeah you harped on this topic in your last post. I will admit I did, but I'm going to hit it once more that Lean is a people based system.
So let's get to the prime cuts of steak that were on the table today. My team and I decided to 5S a tool laden table. Not just any table but a table without order, without rhyme or reason, total chaos. How it got this way is neglect, plain and simple. The important thing is the 5S process we went thru and the sustainment measures my team and I put in place to prevent this from happening again. Anyone can clean up, anyone can move some dirt around, it takes some common sense to understand that we need to prevent it from happening again. What also must be considered is the saftey aspect of having an unkept work area. For instance how many times are we going to leave these heavy tools lay around that can roll off the table and break our foot. We all know there is an assigned place for them yet it is just faster and easier to leave them out right? Consider the pain and suffering that a broken foot will cause, workmans comp, possible lawsuit, etc. See where I'm going with this. Yes, wearing my risk mitigator hat I want to reduce risk.
Look what happens when we save time not looking for stuff and utilize that time doing things that are value added. Productivity ensues. Ok I have to admit, I totally didn't come up with that comment. My personal Yoda added that as we were discussing the 5S process and what my wins were today.
I also must pay tribute to Paul Akers and his Kaizen foam. That stuff is better than sliced bread and is highly versatile when using it to secure all sorts of objects in drawers. Don't forget the label maker as well.
To close todays post I'd like to tell everyone to remember that a filthy and unorganized workspace is unproductive and unsafe. Rudimentary observations... yeah I know but next time you are out and about in your laboratory aka *job, look around and just see what is going on. Are flat surfaces catching all sorts of junk, are areas in need of order? Be honest with yourself when making these observations and remember this is a growing experience. Growth starts from within.
Monday, August 25, 2014
Sunday, August 24, 2014
People your most unused resource
So here we are once again attempting to walk the talk of a Lean culture. Saturday I had the chance to work another 60 hour week and get into my lab to practice. Why do I like Saturday's so much? Let me inform you. Saturday nobody is around. Yes it is a day filled with manufacturing product, yet there is a different vibe in the air. Most of the time I have an "A" team who are the cream of the crop and enjoy what they do. Not only do I have the cream of the crop, there isn't any "senior team" individuals around to poke their noses into our skunkworks of an operation. Yeah, I know we shouldn't be a skunkworks, yet when my team and I are allowed the true latitude to search out the best decisions for the problems we face the creative juices start flowing.
As a front line supervisor it is so easy to just implement a solution to a glaring problem and be done with it. Though we have to think, is this truly the best way to go about solving issues? Pushing vs Pulling comes to mind. Oh no, here I go again sounding as if I know more than I do. I'm learning that to develop a Lean problem solving culture it is all about asking the right questions when observing a problem.
Saturday I noticed a rather large bottleneck in an assembly area. This disturbed me and I knew the answers to these problems because, well.... I just know. Then reality sets in, do I really know the best answer and would acting as an authority figure be the best course of action. My personal Yoda has people skills coupled with an understanding of Lean implementation that has led her to prominence within the Lean world. I being just a lowly padawan, well I've got a metric ton to learn before I can even begin to play at her level. Though a voice meanders thru my head, "Now, Cowboy... what problem are you trying to solve?" Ahh... yes it is all coming to the forefront. It is a flow problem and who better to ask than those having the problem, yes goto Gemba.
With this master jedi inspired insight, I walk to the line with the issues and start my line of open ended questioning using the What vs How. Yes, the what vs. how line of questions prevents your workforce from feeling as if they are being attacked rather than you coming to help them solve OUR problem. I gather up the individuals working on that line and begin my questioning. Using humor and also my listening skills. What WE decided was the line was unbalanced for the work being done. Yes... you heard that right. We the front line troops proved those pesky engineers wrong. WE redistributed workload, I even time studied assembly at certain stations that were causing the bottleneck and compared them against the SOE's those demonized engineers claimed was right and true.
The end result of this was a successful and productive day which could have turned into a disaster. Why was it a success, I listened to the individuals doing the work, I engaged the people, We decided on a solution, We did our own PDCA, ran the proposed model and BOOM!!!! To quote Borat "Great Success!!!!!" Now all grandstanding aside I have a very valid point I'd like to make here. We may be the "boss" We may even be the engineer in charge of the project/line/design. What we must always remember to do is keep the individuals doing the work actively engaged in the entire process, for it is they who are the technical gurus when it comes to assembly. They can show you how to shoot screws and tell us whether this layout is conducive to repeatable results. Yes, you may guffaw at me for being somewhat naive in not pulling out the manager hat vs the coach hat, but hey I'm just a cowboy on a Lean journey trying to get it right. Yes there will be hiccups in my methods, there may be some great stories of success. What we all need to remember is that Lean is a People based system and if we become self-righteous and indignant shutting out that side of things, blaming the people vs. the process we as leaders have achieved nothing, and possibly built animosity between ourselves and our workforce.
There you have it, a win for Saturday. More like a total win for Lean on Saturday, as bringing Lean to a culture devoid of Lean methods requires me to be an ambassador. Wow... an ambassador who doesn't know much yet is trying to teach at the same time. Gee... maybe there is a role for me in Washington as I don't think those individuals know muda from shineola.
Thanks for stopping by to read this post, as I learn with each new day what it really means to be a Lean practioner.
As a front line supervisor it is so easy to just implement a solution to a glaring problem and be done with it. Though we have to think, is this truly the best way to go about solving issues? Pushing vs Pulling comes to mind. Oh no, here I go again sounding as if I know more than I do. I'm learning that to develop a Lean problem solving culture it is all about asking the right questions when observing a problem.
Saturday I noticed a rather large bottleneck in an assembly area. This disturbed me and I knew the answers to these problems because, well.... I just know. Then reality sets in, do I really know the best answer and would acting as an authority figure be the best course of action. My personal Yoda has people skills coupled with an understanding of Lean implementation that has led her to prominence within the Lean world. I being just a lowly padawan, well I've got a metric ton to learn before I can even begin to play at her level. Though a voice meanders thru my head, "Now, Cowboy... what problem are you trying to solve?" Ahh... yes it is all coming to the forefront. It is a flow problem and who better to ask than those having the problem, yes goto Gemba.
With this master jedi inspired insight, I walk to the line with the issues and start my line of open ended questioning using the What vs How. Yes, the what vs. how line of questions prevents your workforce from feeling as if they are being attacked rather than you coming to help them solve OUR problem. I gather up the individuals working on that line and begin my questioning. Using humor and also my listening skills. What WE decided was the line was unbalanced for the work being done. Yes... you heard that right. We the front line troops proved those pesky engineers wrong. WE redistributed workload, I even time studied assembly at certain stations that were causing the bottleneck and compared them against the SOE's those demonized engineers claimed was right and true.
The end result of this was a successful and productive day which could have turned into a disaster. Why was it a success, I listened to the individuals doing the work, I engaged the people, We decided on a solution, We did our own PDCA, ran the proposed model and BOOM!!!! To quote Borat "Great Success!!!!!" Now all grandstanding aside I have a very valid point I'd like to make here. We may be the "boss" We may even be the engineer in charge of the project/line/design. What we must always remember to do is keep the individuals doing the work actively engaged in the entire process, for it is they who are the technical gurus when it comes to assembly. They can show you how to shoot screws and tell us whether this layout is conducive to repeatable results. Yes, you may guffaw at me for being somewhat naive in not pulling out the manager hat vs the coach hat, but hey I'm just a cowboy on a Lean journey trying to get it right. Yes there will be hiccups in my methods, there may be some great stories of success. What we all need to remember is that Lean is a People based system and if we become self-righteous and indignant shutting out that side of things, blaming the people vs. the process we as leaders have achieved nothing, and possibly built animosity between ourselves and our workforce.
There you have it, a win for Saturday. More like a total win for Lean on Saturday, as bringing Lean to a culture devoid of Lean methods requires me to be an ambassador. Wow... an ambassador who doesn't know much yet is trying to teach at the same time. Gee... maybe there is a role for me in Washington as I don't think those individuals know muda from shineola.
Thanks for stopping by to read this post, as I learn with each new day what it really means to be a Lean practioner.
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
The Base Hits
So as I started my routine as I do everyday, I was thinking to myself. What have I done in the past week? It is Wednesday, I usually give a "state of the dept." address every Wed. morning yet, I wanted to do something different. I'll toss all the efficiency, productivity, utilization, etc... numbers aside and engage my staff. What pray tell did I do. Well I have a "Lean Concepts" whiteboard that sits right behind my desk out in the middle of the manufacturing floor. I pick basic principals of Lean, and put them on the board for a month. Within this month we track and engage the principal that we are doing. Recording data, running the PDCA cycle etc. Is it working? I would say yes. How so? My staff are starting to engage and come up with their own ideas and bring them to me. Why are they seeking answers to their problems? I'll tell you why... I've learned a thing or two in life. Most of the lessons I've learned are the hard fought lessons we all learn from failure. Listening to peoples problems and giving them an answer has always been easy. What I failed to do was teach them to identify their problems, and bring me a solution. Really simple stuff right? Wrong... I was failing to listen to what was being said, I heard their problems and would default to working the problem in my own mind thereby acting as an enabler.
I will credit all of the prior paragraph to my uber builder/banker tendencies. If any of you have ever taken the Taylor Protocol CVI, you will be familiar with this. I am an uber builder/banker with a nice dose of innovator. But to quote Yoda, "Merchant exists not in this one". Yeah that means I need the extra special coaching session on smiling at things and do not frown when things do not go your way. So knowing Lean at its core is a people based system, I have to continue to run my own PDCA on the way I address things, as sometimes just the wrong frown or wording of a question can shut down an individual and destroy the bridge you were building. Jeez.... nobody informed me that I actually have to continue to improve myself. I thought all I had to do was manage process, increase thru-put, you know put stuff in boxes and make money. How wrong I was and sometimes still am.
When we shut down our lines of communication with our staff, how in the world are we supposed to get the input needed from this people based system? We don't and that in turn imparts its own set of failure points to the equation.
What has been working for me this week though is mindfullness. Yeah I'm gonna go all eastern religion on you folks but just listen to me. When things are going south and we as leaders are not getting the desired result, we must center ourselves before we goto Gemba. Oh there I go sounding like I know what I'm talking about again. Believe me it is much easier said than done. When you see Joe and John screwing around and not making quota due to their excessive habit of jaw jacking A3 the problem. My goodness more Lean jargon I may or may not understand. Fishbone diagram the issue out and add in Mother Nature. Is the environment not conducive to work, would rotation schedules every 2 hours break the monotony and keep the staff engaged and productive?
Yeah I've rambled a bit in this post and rightfully so. I think I've made a few base hits this week thus far. Nothing major, nothing earth shattering, yet I made solid and sustainable change. The biggest being realizing that my staff needs me, but I need my staff. They are the subject matter experts and by ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS, we as leaders can better make the right decisions for our respective organizations.
I will credit all of the prior paragraph to my uber builder/banker tendencies. If any of you have ever taken the Taylor Protocol CVI, you will be familiar with this. I am an uber builder/banker with a nice dose of innovator. But to quote Yoda, "Merchant exists not in this one". Yeah that means I need the extra special coaching session on smiling at things and do not frown when things do not go your way. So knowing Lean at its core is a people based system, I have to continue to run my own PDCA on the way I address things, as sometimes just the wrong frown or wording of a question can shut down an individual and destroy the bridge you were building. Jeez.... nobody informed me that I actually have to continue to improve myself. I thought all I had to do was manage process, increase thru-put, you know put stuff in boxes and make money. How wrong I was and sometimes still am.
When we shut down our lines of communication with our staff, how in the world are we supposed to get the input needed from this people based system? We don't and that in turn imparts its own set of failure points to the equation.
What has been working for me this week though is mindfullness. Yeah I'm gonna go all eastern religion on you folks but just listen to me. When things are going south and we as leaders are not getting the desired result, we must center ourselves before we goto Gemba. Oh there I go sounding like I know what I'm talking about again. Believe me it is much easier said than done. When you see Joe and John screwing around and not making quota due to their excessive habit of jaw jacking A3 the problem. My goodness more Lean jargon I may or may not understand. Fishbone diagram the issue out and add in Mother Nature. Is the environment not conducive to work, would rotation schedules every 2 hours break the monotony and keep the staff engaged and productive?
Yeah I've rambled a bit in this post and rightfully so. I think I've made a few base hits this week thus far. Nothing major, nothing earth shattering, yet I made solid and sustainable change. The biggest being realizing that my staff needs me, but I need my staff. They are the subject matter experts and by ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS, we as leaders can better make the right decisions for our respective organizations.
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Who am I?????
Howdy folks, as this is my new blog to document my Lean journey let me tell you a bit about myself. I'm a front line manufacturing supervisor. Yup a real bona fide front line guy trying to change culture, mindset, and operations all by himself and this is my way of documenting my journey of bringing Lean to the world.
Now yes this is my 3rd career in life, and I come from a medical background where life and death are real obstacles to overcome and sense of urgency takes on an entirely new meaning when SOP's should be followed. I have enough formal education behind me that one could even call me an academic. Guess what??? I'm in school once again working on an engineering degree. More paper to add to the collection I suppose. Yet to be taken serious in manufacturing one must be an engineer? No? You don't believe me? Surely you jest... Believe me I have a few letters behind my name, yet all my worldly experience can't cure the blindness of some. So to kick open a few doors, I'm picking up an engineering degree to get accepted into the club of, "He is an engineer, he has to know what he is talking about."
Enough with the formal education and lets talk hobbies. I shoot, I hunt, I fish, and I put people half my age to shame in the gym. So yeah you could say I'm a high speed low drag type that just can't seem to get enough of pushing the envelope. Oh did I mention I don't sleep? Yeah another curse of being a Type A. Reading blog after blog and book after book, trying to simmer it all down into a palatable stock that the masses will buy into and implement. Yes kids, the pull vs push methodology of Lean concepts. Learn it, Live it, and by all means preach it to the world.
Speaking of preaching to the world, my people skills have come a long way. I've been referenced as many things, being a salesman for things has never been one of them. This is my current quest, the people aspect of Lean and how listening coupled with effective questioning will serve a much better purpose than yelling and screaming at Joe six pack who is making tons of scrap due to a lack of training.
I have a personal Yoda in this journey so my progress may be quicker than I expected or you expected. Possibly I may crash and burn, but.... I seriously doubt that as I "Lead The Way". Some of you will get that comment some won't. I must also warn I am well read and make very situational specific references from time to time, that is the nerd in me. If you don't get it or question my sanity in my methods by all means ask me what on earth I'm doing. As this is not only my journey, but the journey of my team and the wins and losses we have together. My teams may change, but The Goal is the same, hint hint to you nerdy types that have read that book. FYI that was the first book ever given to me by this wild eyed mechanical engineer who told me, "You need to read this, it will help you understand the stupidity of the suits".
In closing of this first initial post, I'd like to thank my soulmate for challenging me to do this.
Now yes this is my 3rd career in life, and I come from a medical background where life and death are real obstacles to overcome and sense of urgency takes on an entirely new meaning when SOP's should be followed. I have enough formal education behind me that one could even call me an academic. Guess what??? I'm in school once again working on an engineering degree. More paper to add to the collection I suppose. Yet to be taken serious in manufacturing one must be an engineer? No? You don't believe me? Surely you jest... Believe me I have a few letters behind my name, yet all my worldly experience can't cure the blindness of some. So to kick open a few doors, I'm picking up an engineering degree to get accepted into the club of, "He is an engineer, he has to know what he is talking about."
Enough with the formal education and lets talk hobbies. I shoot, I hunt, I fish, and I put people half my age to shame in the gym. So yeah you could say I'm a high speed low drag type that just can't seem to get enough of pushing the envelope. Oh did I mention I don't sleep? Yeah another curse of being a Type A. Reading blog after blog and book after book, trying to simmer it all down into a palatable stock that the masses will buy into and implement. Yes kids, the pull vs push methodology of Lean concepts. Learn it, Live it, and by all means preach it to the world.
Speaking of preaching to the world, my people skills have come a long way. I've been referenced as many things, being a salesman for things has never been one of them. This is my current quest, the people aspect of Lean and how listening coupled with effective questioning will serve a much better purpose than yelling and screaming at Joe six pack who is making tons of scrap due to a lack of training.
I have a personal Yoda in this journey so my progress may be quicker than I expected or you expected. Possibly I may crash and burn, but.... I seriously doubt that as I "Lead The Way". Some of you will get that comment some won't. I must also warn I am well read and make very situational specific references from time to time, that is the nerd in me. If you don't get it or question my sanity in my methods by all means ask me what on earth I'm doing. As this is not only my journey, but the journey of my team and the wins and losses we have together. My teams may change, but The Goal is the same, hint hint to you nerdy types that have read that book. FYI that was the first book ever given to me by this wild eyed mechanical engineer who told me, "You need to read this, it will help you understand the stupidity of the suits".
In closing of this first initial post, I'd like to thank my soulmate for challenging me to do this.
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