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Get Lean and Prosper
Get Lean and Prosper features news, commentary, case studies, and instructions on Lean manufacturing methodologies and Lean transformation.
Bad News Not Flowing Up at Boeing?
Posted by Mark Graban
on July 3, 2009
Communications Woes Show at Boeing - WSJ.com: Non-aviation folks (and healthcare readers)… stick with me, this isn’t strictly a post about making airplanes. Isn’t it a fairly common dysfunction of organizations that bad news doesn’t flow up? This happens in manufacturing… an old boss at unnamed company (not GM) once typified this by saying (bragging really) tha ...... Read More
Comments (2)GM Dumps NUMMI Partnership with Toyota
Posted by Mark Graban
on July 1, 2009
After 25 years, GM ditches NUMMI tie-up with Toyota In the news: PRESS RELEASE: 2009-06-29 GM Media Statement Regarding GM’s Ownership Stake in NUMMI Attributable to Troy Clarke, president, GM North America “As part of its long-term viability plan, General Motors has decided that its ownership stake in the New United Motor Manufacturing Incorporated (NUMMI) joint venture with Toyotaw ...... Read More
Comments (0)Toyota Leaders Get a Lecture From a Toyoda
Posted by Mark Graban
on June 28, 2009
Toyota Names Akio Toyoda President, Apologizes to Shareholders for Losses This was rumored for a while, but Toyota has formally named Akio Toyoda as the next President. Yes, “Toyoda” with a “d” — that’s the family name. Back when Toyota starting making automobiles, the company name was changed from Toyoda to Toyota. Two reasons I’ve heard for that - ...... Read More
Comments (0)Another Bad Design Example
Posted by Mark Graban
on June 26, 2009
Badly designed pepsi machine, the graphics look like buttons … on Twitpic Let’s go with a light thought and topic for the day, considering there are sad examples of medical malfeasance and poor management oversight in the news. Following up on my last blog about hotel room lighting controls that were so confusing, they required directions, I found this picture in my recent archives. ...... Read More
Comments (0)It Might Be Bad Design If Instructions Are Required...
Posted by Mark Graban
on June 25, 2009
… or if it’s too easy to make mistakes. One of my favorite books of all time is Donald Norman’s The Design of Everyday Things. Not strictly a Lean book… even if you’re not a product designer, the book teaches great lessons about how controls should be intuitive and visual. I guess the one lesson is to “not blame” the user and, as Lean people, we sho ...... Read More
Comments (0)Alan Mulally's Mind Map Doesn't Include Lean?
Posted by Mark Graban
on June 21, 2009
Can Alan Mulally save Ford? - May. 11, 2009 Interesting story last month about Ford and CEO Alan Mulally. He’s a Toyota admirer and Lean devotee’ from his time at Boeing. FORTUNE magazine was allowed to share a diagram that Mulally drew up before the interviews. Click on it for a larger view (I couldn’t find it online, so I scanned it)… interesting that Lean/Ford Produc ...... Read More
Comments (1)LIFE Magazine August 1980 - Auto Manufacturing
Posted by Mark Graban
on June 19, 2009
I ended up having the chance to flip through a LIFE magazine from August 1980 and, given that was also a major recessionary period, it wasn’t huge surprise to see articles about joblessness and the decline of the auto industry in Indiana and the Midwest. You can click on any of these for a larger view that should be readable. Although that recession was of the more normal cyclical variet ...... Read More
Comments (0)Book Review - The Myth of Multitasking
Posted by Mark Graban
on June 18, 2009
The Myth of Multitasking - Dave Crenshaw I am long overdue on a review of this book, which I feel bad about because I really enjoyed it. Maybe I didn’t get to it because I was too busy multitasking… First off, this is written as a business novel. Lately, I have been really weary about business novels. For one, I’m not a novel reader and, since The Goal, the only business novel ...... Read More
Comments (0)My Daily Workaround: Deleting Commercial Emails
Posted by Mark Graban
on June 15, 2009
I had an epiphany the other day. It was one of those moments where I was pretty ashamed and was ready to turn in my Lean credentials. I spent too much time each day deleting the same emails from companies that I don’t read. Delete. Delete. Delete. I cringe to think about adding the time spent deleting emails from the Yahoo account that I’ve had and used as my primary email for 12 yea ...... Read More
Comments (3)NPR Does a Great Job of Covering Toyota
Posted by Mark Graban
on June 14, 2009
Following The Toyota Way, For Better Or Worse : NPR (listen or read) I’ll hand it to NPR, they generally do a much better job understanding and covering Toyota than the Wall Street Journal, NY Times, or Reuters. Tuesday, there was a piece that explored The Toyota Way and Toyota’s management system, much more accurately than the other media. The piece wasn’t a total Toyota love ...... Read More
Comments (0)Jim Collins on Leadership - "Like Lean"?
Posted by Mark Graban
on June 13, 2009
How the Mighty Fall: A Primer on the Warning Signs - BusinessWeek Jim Collins, of Good to Great fame, has a new book out called How The Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In. Excerpts were printed in a recent BusinessWeek (a magazine that’s printed weekly, unlike IndustryWeek, but I digress). Collins raises some interesting points about how a company’s success can breed a ...... Read More
Comments (0)"Worst Mistake" This Restauranteur Ever Made
Posted by Mark Graban
on June 7, 2009
Bonnell’s Fine Texas Cuisine is an outstanding local restaurant in Fort Worth TX that focuses on local food and wild game. Chef Jon Bonnell is highly rated and is written up in many publications. One article posted on the restaurant wall listed this tidbit: Worst business decision “Too many times, I’ve gone with the lowest bidder.” It seems that the chef has learned, ...... Read More
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