Lean Roundup #132 – May 2020

A selection of highlighted blog posts from Lean bloggers from the month of May 2020.  You can also view the previous monthly Lean Roundups here.

Innovation is Inefficient Problem Solving (even Simon Sinek says so) – Jamie Flinchbaugh says the best problem solving involves learning, experimentation, failure, detours, and none of that is efficient.

What Lean CEOs Know That Typical CEOs Don't – Dan Markovitz surveyed nearly 100 CEOs from a wide variety of companies and multiple industries about their feelings of overwhelm to see if there was anything to learn from how they dealt with their managerial burdens.

Make Time to Improve  - John Hunter says leaders must find a way to make sure time is devoted to improvement.

What is Breakthrough? – Pascal Dennis challenges thinking of what we think a breakthrough is.

Classical Management Cycle – Bob Emiliani says people need to better understand classical management and just how great a force it is at resisting or rejecting fundamental change in business and society.

Deepening the Lessons of Crisis – Kevin Meyer explains lessons are being taught by the coronavirus outbreak, but it’s important to use them to analyze the broader perspective.

What Are Hypothesis Tests and Why Should We Care? – Coronavirus Edition – Ron Pereira adapted a module from Gemba Academy’s School of Six Sigma into text to shed some light and basic understanding of what these terms mean that we hear in the news.

What Does Leadership Look Like? – Steve Kane speak about Lean leadership and why we do what we observe our leaders doing.

Akio Toyoda Articulates Toyota Way Principle #15 – Jon Miller explains that Toyota Motors CEO Akio Toyoda is starting to question some of his company’s long-ingrained practices.

Metrics from the Perspective of the Customer – Kevin Meyer says talk to your customers, understand them and how they define value, and align your metrics to appropriately measure that value from their perspective.

Problem Solving the Whole or the Pieces? – Jamie Flinchbaugh explains how we enable and empower broad problem solving while minimizing the risk of solving the parts inconsistent with the needs of the whole.

When Is The Best Time To Implement Profit Sharing? – Orry Fiume shares ten elements of a successful profit-sharing plan from experience.

Pursuing Dreams, Facing Reality – Richard Sheridan shares a letter he sent to his fellow teammates, and captures a courageous and productive approach towards confronting the many challenges we are all now facing.

Keep Calm and Manage Stably: Akio Toyoda’s Response to Crisis - Jeffrey Liker & John Y. Shook discuss how Akio Toyoda’s remarks reaffirmed the remarkable nature of the company, leaving us with confidence that Toyota will continue to serve as an inspiration, even as the world continues to change in unpredictable ways.

Ask Art: Does Lean Really Work Beyond Manufacturing? – Art Byrne explains how Lean works in any type of business, including all sorts of non-manufacturing organizations ranging from health care to financial services.