Lean Roundup Edition #57 - February, 2014

A selection of highlighted blog posts from Lean bloggers from the month of February, 2014.  You can also view the previous monthly Lean Roundups here.

Supplier Collaboration – John Szoke explains the importance of supplier collaboration and how to go about doing it.

What's the Problem? – Bill Waddell says the way managers define problems are an indication how they will support Lean thinking/improvement.

How Peyton Manning Demonstrates PDSA – Chad Walter explains the concept of PDSA with a sport example of a quarter back in football.

Toyota Kata “A3 Problem Solving” – Mark Rosenthal discusses A3 and the improvement kata with Mike Rother, Jeffery Liker, and Jenny Snow-Boscolo.

6-Sigma - A Common Cause of Failure – Gregg Stocker shares signs that a lean deployment is being driven by a 6-sigma focus instead of Lean.

Jumping to Improvement – Matt Wrye talks about using direct observations to gain improvement.

Better Than Best Practice – Tom Stoffel says the true “best practice” to implement is to create an environment where teams quickly analyze a problem when it occurs; this means digging in and learning from how things happen when they do not go as ideally planned.

Lean Accounting – Just another vehicle for managing by the numbers? – Bill Waddell shares his thoughts on the dangers of management by numbers.

Visual Management and “Go See” Leadership – Leancor provides four tips for effective visual management in warehousing and distribution.

Reader Question: Pros & Cons of Observing in the Workplace -  Mark Graban explains the importance of having coworkers observing not just managers or consultants.

One of the first aims should be to develop people to use a systematic process for improvement – Jeffery Liker explains how to start Lean by sharing types of Lean deployments and says learning is the only way.

Start with a ‘model line’ so that leadership can learn to see and solve problems – Steven Spear says exceptional performance depends on exceptional learning dynamics.

What Makes Great Coach? – Al Norval describes the PDCA cycle that makes good a coach in the context of an example with a golf coach.

The Missing Link - Dwayne Keller says the most overlooked part of Lean is the management system required.

What is a Kata? – Hakan Forss explains the Lean term Kata and how you learn a new habit.

The Thinking Behind Toyota's Hiring Process - Tracey Richardson shares competencies that Toyota looks for when hiring and explains why you should too.

Managing By Not Wandering Around – Chet Marchwinski says there is more to management than walking around, you must have a purpose.

My Top 10 Lessons Learned from Practicing the Toyota Kata Approach – Michael Lombard after about six months of real-world application including several hundred coaching cycles has some lessons learned that he'd like to share.

Lead Lean by Being Lean – Jim Luckman says leaders must lead transformation my example and shares some ways to be inspirational.

Starting The Leadership Journey – Dan Jones explains from experience his approach to starting Lean by developing problem solving capabilities.

Effective Leaders Tackle Challenges Systematically – Dario Spinola explains the scientific, systematic approach to improvement that is Kata.