There is an abundance of symbolism in the phrase “passing the baton”. Taiichi Ohno used the analogy of passing the baton to explain the cooperation that should exist between employees, as in a relay race, each gauging the other’s need and self-adjusting to accommodate a smooth passing of the baton. The baton in this case… [Read more…]
October 20, 2011
I’m just returning from a brief sojourn that included: Marrying off my older daughter, Christine, in Disneyworld, followed by A short vacation for our younger kids, and then, A short illness and trip to the hospital for me. No relationship between the third event and the former two is implied, but their sequence afforded me… [Read more…]
September 27, 2011
Before Shigeo Shingo’s chicken there was another well-known fowl by the name of “Chicken Little.” Do you remember the story? Struck on the head by a falling acorn, Chicken Little concludes that the sky is falling and so decides to warn the king as well as everyone else he meets on his way to the… [Read more…]
September 26, 2011
A thoughtful comment to my last post reminded me of one my favorite Shigeo Shingo stories. The writer, who will be at our upcoming conference, expressed concern that only persons who have already bought into continuous improvement tools and philosophy will be at the conference. If you haven’t already read my response to him, you… [Read more…]
September 21, 2011
Gross numbers reflecting American productivity can be misleading. When American companies outsource production, the labor “expense” is replaced with the “asset” of inventories purchased elsewhere. While this results in a gross statistical improvement to labor productivity, its overall impact on economic strength is insidious. Consider, for example, these two graphics in particular for the period… [Read more…]
September 16, 2011
In 1985, when I transferred to an operations role I inherited a production-only suggestion program. I recall that we received sixteen ideas that year of which one was awarded $1,600 calculated as a percentage of one year’s savings. The remaining ideas did not make the cut. So I asked employees for feedback. To my surprise… [Read more…]
September 14, 2011
America’s form of government, borne out of an ideal of freedom and equality, has, for all of our short-term criticisms, been the object of continuous improvement since its founding. Adapting to social and economic changes, population shifts and growth, technological, environmental and natural resource challenges, what seems to be an immovable inertial monument is actually… [Read more…]
October 28, 2011
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