Posted by business901 on January 26, 2010
This weeks Business901 podcast, featured Karen Martin the co-author of The Kaizen Event Planner: Achieving Rapid Improvement in Office, Service and Technical Environments
. Karen shared so much new information that I have split the podcast in 3 parts of 20 minutes each. These podcasts are a wealth of information on Kaizen Events and a great companion to her book. A lot of "How to" was explained.
One of the first questions I asked Karen in the interview: 
Joe: So when you say that they run numerous Kaizen Events, actually, I noticed one thing on your website where you said a typical organization of a hundred people, only have four Kaizen Events a year. So, a Kaizen Event is different than a continuous improvement process or your weekly meeting for continuous improvement process. What is the difference?
Karen: Yes. Good question. Kaizen Events are a formalized, structured approach to making rapid improvement, whereas, really, what the goal is of any organization is to develop a Kaizen culture. In a Kaizen culture, improvement happens continuously. It happens without the need for the type of formalized process that involves a tremendous amount of planning, and really, quite a bit of effort. In fact, Kaizen Events can be quite painful for an organization because of the number of people they have to pull off their regular jobs and sequester them for two to five days. They should be reserved for the most intense types of improvements that need to be made.
What some organizations do, and one of the criticisms of Kaizen Events, is that they'll get hooked on Kaizen Events and only make improvement during a formal event. That's not at all the intention of a Kaizen Event. So, I view them as a good way to indoctrinate an organization into the improvement process and teach the skills.
In fact, you'll hear Kaizen Events referred to as Kaizen Workshops and Kaizen Blitz. The workshop term reflects the deep learning that occurs in a Kaizen, if it's well facilitated. So, it is true that there's a risk that organizations can become dependent on Kaizen Events and use them for all improvement and never really evolve into a Kaizen culture.
But, I do believe Kaizen Events offer a very good first step. Often, for many, many years, I think, non‑manufacturing organizations, in particular, can benefit from Kaizen Events.
This helps get the culture embedded into the DNA of the organization, the whole concept of continuous improvement.
Related Blog Posts:
A Kaizen Event is one of the most popular ways to rapidly improve a process and make the gains stick. Or is it?
A Preview to Kaizen Week
Posted by business901 on January 18, 2010
A recognized senior executive leader and business consultant, Roy Osing knows what it takes for businesses to survive in today s chaotic times and achieve extraordinary levels of performance. With over 30 years experience creating and building businesses, he possesses an in-depth knowledge of what it takes to immunize organizations from failure and catapult their performance to extraordinary levels. Osing is an accomplished speaker and presenter. He presents his ideas in a compelling and entertaining style that captivates and motivates audiences.
How is your book different than other business books?
There are three aspects of my work that I think make it unique in the highly competitive business book market.
First, it is a practical ‘how to’ book not just a theoretical approach. My book shows the reader how to implement the concepts that I advocate in very simple terms. It is a book at “playing field” level, not at the 50,000 foot level. From my observation, most other business improvement literature discusses the theoretical appeal of taking a particular course of action but doesn’t really give the reader a specific roadmap to follow to successfully implement them in their organization.
Second, the ideas I present to the reader have been ‘road tested’ in the real world. I have successfully implemented them in businesses varying in size and complexity. As experience shows there is a big different between an idea that conceptually should work in an organization and an approach that actually does work in the human dynamics that pervade every human enterprise. My readers can be confident that if they choose to go down the BE DiFFERENT path success awaits!
Third, my book is different from others in that the BE DiFFERENT ideas I advocate include all of the critical functions of an organization. I offer ideas to thrive and survive in the areas of business strategy development, marketing, sales and customer service. Most books that I have seen focus on a specific area of expertise, like marketing for example, and give the reader a vertical slice of high level guidance. My book, on the other hand, provides in handbook fashion detailed guidance in each of the critical functions of an organization; possible only because of my broad background as a successful business executive.
I hope you enjoy the Business901 podcast.
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Posted by business901 on January 11, 2010
Dr. Sami Bahri was my guest this week on the Business901 Podcast. In 1996, Dr. Bahri read "Lean Thinking” by James Womack and Daniel Jones, and started implementing Lean Management principles in his dental office. He is the first dentist known to utilize Lean Management techniques to continuously improve the delivery of quality dental care. Dr Bahri has been called “The Leanest Dentist on the Planet.” This implementation has benefited patients, employees, dental laboratories, suppliers, etc. In 2006, Bahri Dental Group provided the same amount of dental treatments as 2005, but needed 40 percent less resources, thanks to the application of “Lean Dental Management.”
In March of 2009, Dr Bahri wrote Follow the Learner: The Role of a Leader in Creating a Lean Culture
, published by the Lean Enterprise Institute. He lectures nationally and internationally to share his experience on implementing lean management in the dental practice.
Posted by business901 on January 5, 2010
I had the pleasure of interviewing Dave Irwin of the Center for Lean Learning and co-author of a soon to be released book titled “The Perry Story”.
An excerpt from the podcast: “I really come at it from a perspective of alignment and focus first. On one hand, you're helping leaders learn a different model of leadership so that they can understand how to engage the people on their teams, empowering them. That is usually a pretty foreign thought, but as we work with the leaders, they begin to understand that and use it. On the other hand, we need to look at if you're empowering a person, I always feel strongly about the fact that that person needs to have some understanding of where the company is going. What is the expectation?”
Dave brings a wealth of experience and expertise to The Center as well. The focus of his consultancy is on the human factor. His emphasis includes leadership coaching, team development, leading change, Lean leadership, creating a continuous improvement culture and strategic planning. Dave’s passion comes from a belief that a successful Lean implementation centers on a leader’s ability to achieve a clear vision and direction for his/her organization, then bring it to life through a process that insures each level of the company has the opportunity to understand, then restate the vision and direction as it relates to their area of responsibility, creating alignment throughout the organization. This process creates an understanding of what needs to be done and will empower your people to accomplish it.
