2016 Lean Management Conference Wroklaw Poland

Here are copies of the four presentations I presented earlier this month at the 2016 Lean Management Conference in Wroklaw Poland. Over 450 people attended the conference and the feedback was quite positive. I delivered the opening keynote presentation on Leadership Shaping Principles in addition to learning sessions on Toyota Kaizen Methods and The Four Types of Problems. My n...
Read More

Is it Genba or Gemba?

I get quite a few e-mails every year pointing out errors I have made in spelling and punctuation in various speeches or blog posts. And for the record I sincerely appreciate the feedback so I can correct the oversight or error in question. The most common e-mail (by far and away) every year is the suggestion that I have misspelled the lean phrase "Gemba" because I have instead ...
Read More

LEI 2016 Transformation Summit

I was asked to give a talk at the recent LEI Transformation Summit in Las Vegas on the topic of "4 Types of Problems" and ways to address each type. The content will be published in a book by LEI later this year. In the mean time for those who asked here is a pdf version of the presentation.  Thanks to all who attended and the positive feedback.  The link below should enable yo...
Read More

Lean Conference Brazil 2015

I'll be one of the key note speakers in Brazil this month at a major lean conference in Sao Paulo. The conference theme deals with improving during slow economic times. There will be a mix of attendees from various industries and service sectors. During my 90 minute presentation I will talk about the importance of leadership thinking and "shaping" routines required to drive res...
Read More

Lean Coaching Summit: 4 Types of Problems

I gave a presentation at the 2015 Lean Coaching Summit in Seattle Washington earlier this summer. The contents deal with establishing a logical frame work for various types of problems and coaching routines overall. The contents are part of a workbook I am collaborating on with John Shook and the Lean Enterprise Institute. We hope to have it ready to publish by the end of this ...
Read More

Dynamics of Problem Solving

Here is a response I gave over on the Lead Edge to a question about problem solving, the scientific method, and cooperation across departments. This particular questions asks why it is so hard to cooperate across functions to solve problems by using the scientific method. Not the exact wording but close enough for short discussion. Problem solving via any method (scientific ...
Read More