• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Bob Emiliani

Leadership for the Digital Age

  • About Bob Emiliani
  • Speed Leadership
    • Overview
    • About
    • Book
    • Workshops
    • License
  • Books
  • Improvement
  • Blog
  • Contact

Abnormal Conditions and Lean Oddities

August 3, 2015 by Bob Emiliani

Some Abnormal Conditions vs. Normal Conditions

Abnormal Condition Normal Condition
VP of Continuous Improvement All executives engaged in kaizen
Learn Lean using games and simulations Learn Lean by doing kaizen at the genba
Creating value stream maps in a conference room Improve processes via genba kaizen
Bronze, silver, gold levels for Lean achievement  Kaizen forever
Lean Six Sigma (and belts) Lean management (hands & brains, not belts)
 Estimating change-over time Measuring changeover time using stopwatch
Can be Lean without kaizen No Lean without genba kaizen
Layoffs due to Lean Job security due to Lean

And Some Lean Oddities

  • Leader standard work in the form of a daily to-do list is seen as acceptable (i.e. standard work without standard work combination sheets).
  • Lean movement leaders never understood genba kaizen and therefore largely ignored it. Tsk-tsk.
  • Lean tools, but not kaizen.
  • One CEO thought Lean was simply process mapping and process re-engineering.
  • Another CEO thought Lean was a nuance to six sigma.
  • Yet another CEO thought Lean meant cutting thousands of jobs, consolidated manufacturing operations, and relying more on outsourcing.
  • Executives think that Lean certifications mean people know what they are doing.
  • Many leaders think “continuous improvement” equals higher stock price.

Filed Under: BobEmiliani.com, Continuous Improvement, Lean Leadership, Real Lean v. Fake Lean, Respect for People

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Hiroaki Kokudai says

    August 10, 2015 at 9:55 am

    I was the MD of Gemba Research at Brazil, in 2010. When I was at Seattle-WA, Jon Miller office, during a annual meeting, I got your book, Practical Lean Leadership, and I loved it! I always learn with you! Thanks.

  2. Bob Emiliani says

    August 10, 2015 at 11:05 am

    Thank you very much. I am happy to hear you liked PLL. I think you will enjoy Speed Leadership as well!

Primary Sidebar

Blog Categories

  • BobEmiliani.com
  • Continuous Improvement
  • Conventional v. Lean Thinking
  • Funny Stuff
  • Kaizen
  • Lean Leadership
  • Lean Practices
  • Lean Principles
  • Lean Teaching
  • Lean Teaching Q&A
  • Lean Tools and Methods
  • Lean University
  • LeanProfessor.com
  • Question & Answer
  • Real Lean v. Fake Lean
  • Respect for People
  • Shared Learning Resources
  • The Back Story
  • Time Machine
  • Voice of the (Student) Customer

Footer

Contact Bob

[email protected]

Providence, Rhode Island

  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube

Goodies

Amazon Author’s Page

YouTube Channel

Faculty Home Page

Sign Up For News

Search Footer Widget

Cubic LLC
© 2021 · Bob Emiliani · Website by Ella J Designs