Posts Tagged ‘problem solving’
Date: 04 Apr, 2011
Posted by: David Adams in: Leadership | Lean | Operational Excellence | Uncategorized
Give Those Tired Old Lean Tools a Rest… This is a picture of a process map where the different colors represent information and service (think product) flows as well as value-added or non-value-added steps in the process. If you were a casual observer watching me work with this multi-disciplinary team of engineers, detailers, leaders and craftsmen, you may think, “This guy is doing a Kaizen Event.” But, I’m not. In fact, this is a picture from Week 5 of a Quality Control (QC) Circle meeting. If you ask the team what they are doing, they’d simply reply, “Problem...
Below are photos that we took at Eaton Corporation in Aurora, Ohio. There, we completed 2 days of Problem Solving Training which included but was not limited to a balanced scorecard overview, problem solving sheet training, problem solving sheet management (via the problem solving board), and how to facilitate a daily meeting using prompts and problem solving sheets. Photo Eaton Photo 2 Eaton
30 Second Coaching | Problem Solving Board Management What is 30 Second Coaching? 30 Second Coaching is a fast and fun resource for learning how to apply Operational Excellence ideas where you work. This video series is a quick way to engage Operational Excellence, lean, leadership, and problem solving ideas. This week’s 30 Second Coaching topic: Topic: How do I manage problem solving sheets on the problem solving board? More information about this 30 Second Coaching topic: Once you are using problem solving and have a problem solving board in place, your team needs to know how to use and...
Direct Observation | Stand Here The Power of Direct Observation - the Three Gs I am constantly reminded of the importance and power of using direct observation or what the KCOE System calls the Three Gs: Go and see, Get the facts and Grasp the situation. As a father of four, I often shoot from the hip and make decisions without a good grasp of the situation. Let’s face it: it is a lot easier to say “no” than to deal with the effects and stress of saying “yes”. Still, if my mandate is to train my kids up in the way they should go, I often set aside my mandate for my personal gain...
Continuous Improvement Model There is little doubt that there are many opportunities for Continuous Improvement in the US Healthcare System, but we need a Continuous Improvement Model that reliably sustains change. There is, however, significant resistance to achieving Continuous Improvement using a model of multiple employee involvement. In this blog I want to share one experience of using a team Continuous Improvement Model in healthcare. Straw Man in Continuous Improvement Model Continuous Improvement Model in Cardiovascular Surgery In a recent engagement, KCOE coaches and mentors taught...
One of my former CO OP students came to visit me last night. We had an excellent time catching up. During one part of the discussion, he lamented that his current position often tries his patience. He is a very relationship-oriented person who naturally and easily keeps relationships flowing. So, it strikes him as “odd” that some people don’t relate well to him simply because he is a supervisor. His dilemma is one that is timeless and that is found right where the work is being done: the classic divide between “management” and the “workers”. The dilemma reflects a gap between...
MEDRAD Problem Solving Story Here’s a note about Ken and how daily meetings are raising problems less than 24 hours later versus over a month from the time of the problem. When do you know about problems? Do you find out about quality errors days or weeks after the produce has come through your team? Check out the story about MEDRAD and Problem Solving below . . . So we’ve been coaching daily meeting and problem solving on a production floor near Pittsburgh for sometime now, and another light bulb went off for the team. How familiar does this situation sound: Ken was receiving reports,...
One of the most common “push backs” I encounter as an Operational Excellence coach is when we first introduce simple, individual, “five why” problem solving. I encourage my teams by telling them not to worry about solving problems; I tell them to just fill out problem solving sheets. Lots of them. Shortly, a top leader will take me aside and tell me that I really didn’t mean that…did I? Of course I did! Why would I want them to solve problems when the organization doesn’t have a simple, standard problem solving tool? How will we ever make quantum...
