Lean Roundup #95 – April, 2017

A selection of highlighted blog posts from Lean bloggers from the month of April, 2017.  You can also view the previous monthly Lean Roundups here.

Stop Jumping to Countermeasures – Gregg Stocker shares four basic questions to help people understand the importance of following a formal process based on scientific method to thoroughly understand a problem before jumping to countermeasures.

Why You Shouldn’t Call Yourself “Sensei” Or Make Others Call You That – Mark Graban shares thoughts titles like “expert” and why he dislikes them.

Team Size Matters, Reprise – Johanna Rothman explains why the size of the team in your organization matter from a communication viewpoint.

Building a Learning Organization? Concrete Questions to Let You Know How You Are Doing – Terry Howell shares 8 real world questions to ask to know if you are building a learning organization.

What is Courage & What’s It Mean for Strategy? – Pascal Dennis advocates that the practicing manager seek to develop courage in yourself and your team.

The Transformation is Everybody’s Job – John Hunter says transforming from old style management systems to those Deming proposed many years ago requires that everyone be engaged in that transformation.

Wacky Lean House – Bob Emiliani explains the flawed Lean Model from LEI and suggests it’s time for change.

Is Talent or Process Vital to Lean Success? It’s Not Really a Choice [Lessons from the Road] – Jamie Flinchbaugh asks if your processes get in the way of talent or leverage it.

How to Motivate a Team Resisting Continuous Improvement – Maja Majewski explains how to motivate a team resisting continuous improvement.

Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs! – Paul Critchley shares opinions on why signs are ineffective communication and that Lean encourages interaction.

What are the “Quick Wins?” Ask the People Doing the Work – Mark Graban says if you’re looking for quick wins all you have to do is ask the people who do the work.

Why Won’t Senior Leaders Attend My Lean Training? – Jon Miller discusses the question of why very few senior leaders attend training sessions on Lean or continuous improvement.

Faster than a Speeding Kanban... – Brent Wahba talks about the common factors within Lean adoption failures and how we may get a better start.

What Too Many Lean Leaders Forget about Gemba Walks – Darren Walsh says instead of learning about the work and finding and fixing problems, leaders latch onto random minor issues and jump to solutions.

The Importance of Prediction for Learning – Mark Rosenthal says the thing that distinguishes “scientific thinking” from “just doing stuff” is the idea of prediction.

Leading with Respect – Mike Orzen explains how to create a culture of trust, transparency, and teamwork in your organization.

Ask Art: Why do so few companies that implement lean do it successfully? – Art Byrne shares 7 major issues that prevent companies who implement Lean from being successful.