Exercises/Games

The Red Bead Experiment Still Matters — and Now It’s Online 0
- Exercises/Games, Lean in Practice
- June 10, 2026
One of the most memorable lessons in Lean and continuous improvement doesn’t come from a spreadsheet, a KPI dashboard, or a PowerPoint presentation. It comes from a bucket of beads. Dr. W. Edwards Deming’s famous “Red Bead Experiment” has been teaching leaders about systems thinking, variation, and management mistakes for decades. Today, thanks to Mark
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Five Lean Games Every Company Can Benefit From 0
- Exercises/Games
- May 18, 2020
In recent years, several training simulation games have been developed by academic and industry experts to support the teaching and learning activities of Lean philosophy. Using simulation games to teach Lean philosophy is an effective tool to convey the concepts. Games use multiple communication means and create engagement. More importantly, they help people to memorize
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Merry Christmas – The Neverending Christmas Card Factory 0
- Exercises/Games, Lean Fun
- December 26, 2016
I know Christmas is over but there is still something to learn from making Christmas cards. The following video explains Lean thinking principles from kids making cards for their families. Now this video is not too different than many others that explain the difference between the traditional push and a better pull manufacturing process. But
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5S Factory Game Teaches the Basic Benefits in a Fun Exercise 0
- 5S, Exercises/Games
- June 22, 2016
5S is a prerequisite for most other Lean tools. Well-implemented, 5S can open up entry points into flow and pull, equipment reliability, standardized work, and value analysis. 5S is a process and method for creating and maintaining an organized, clean, and high performance workplace. It enables anyone to distinguish between normal and abnormal conditions at a
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The Practice of Lean and the Marshmallow Problem 0
- Exercises/Games, In the News
- October 11, 2011
At the Northeast Shingo Prize Conference I had the pleasure to meet Mike Rother, author of Toyota Kata. If you haven’t read his book or reviewed his material online you are missing some valuable learning. During Mike’s presentation he talked about Lean as a practice of continuous learning through discovery and experimentation. This is what
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Change is Difficult 0
- Culture, Exercises/Games
- June 21, 2010
To survive and thrive, we must be prepared at a minimum to modify, adjust, adapt and then adopt. It’s a little like trying to go up the down escalator. Stand still and you can be assured of moving backwards, farther away from your goal. Change is necessary if organizations want to continue to improve and
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