In Might 2024
A Lean Journey Weblog turned 15 and as I look again on how I bought began and who
influenced my journey I needed to revisit a earlier collection I began in 2012
referred to as the Meet-up. One of many issues I’m so keen on within the Lean neighborhood is
the final wiliness to share with one another.
I’ve realized a lot from my very skilled colleagues since I’ve
been an energetic contributor. Each month
I roundup the perfect Lean associated posts and articles I discovered notably
beneficial from these fellow bloggers and contributors. Every one has their very own
story and opinions to share.
The purpose of
Meet-up is present you a chance to fulfill some influential voices within the
Lean neighborhood. I’ll ask these authors
a collection of inquiries to study them, their classes, and get their
perspective on traits in trade.
At the moment, we Meet-up
with Jamie Flinchbaugh who I met via on-line running a blog neighborhood after I
began 15 years in the past. I learn Jamie’s fist e book “The Hitchhiker’s Information to Lean:
Classes from the Highway” which gave nice insights into my journey. We’ve met a
variety of instances over time at numerous conferences and have saved is contact on
numerous thought initiatives over time as he’s at all times making an attempt to study and interact
others. I believe you’ll discover his perception beneficial.
Listed below are his
solutions so you possibly can study extra:
1. Who’re
you, what group are you with, and what are your present lean-oriented
actions?
I’m Jamie
Flinchbaugh. I act as an advisor to executives throughout a wide-range of roles and
industries via my firm JFlinch. My engagements are referred to as ACT with Objective, the place
ACT is an integration of Advising, Teaching, and Thought-Associate. The bulk
of time lean is just not the subject, however the how, the place I assist folks suppose via
the most important choices and issues leveraging lean considering. A major
portion of my shoppers are change brokers, usually answerable for driving lean
throughout the group, during which case lean may be very a lot the subject. For a lot of
years I’ve produced sensible video programs particularly for the wants of my
shoppers, starting from downside fixing to tradition change to administration techniques,
and I’ve just lately made these out there to any firm by way of the Studying Lab product. And
alongside that journey I additionally wrote a e book and began a podcast, each
referred to as Folks Clear up Issues.
2. How,
when, and why did you get launched to lean and what fueled and fuels the
ardour?
The seed that
bought me going was a challenge I did the place I (a) noticed large waste that I used to be
primarily fixing for and (b) skilled what number of unchecked assumptions
nonetheless exist in work. I described that have in this video,
however it helped make me extra curious very early on about how we will enhance. As
far as a real introduction to lean, that occurred not a lot later at
Harley-Davidson the place I helped set up and enhance one of many first large-scale
pull techniques within the US. I realized lots about how a lot behaviors matter when
designing and executing a system, and that formed my considering for the remainder of
my lean journey. I described that have in a chapter I contributed to the
e book Working towards Lean.
My ardour is
all about folks, however maybe in two totally different however particular methods. First, giving
leaders who really need to construct a robust and resilient group a
path and a method to get there. Second, in constructing these organizations,
unleashing the ability of each individual, each day being to make enhancements and
remedy issues. There’s a lot untapped data, creativity, and simply plain
power on the market.
3. In your
opinion what’s the strongest facet of lean?
First, I believe
it’s the very concept of not being a sufferer. You don’t simply watch for the tide to
flip, you remedy the issue in entrance of you, irrespective of how laborious or how new.
Tsunami wipes out your provide chain? Go remedy that downside. Financial system tanks? Go
remedy that downside.
Second, I believe
that it’s not simply asking folks to be extra engaged however creating area to do
that. By that I imply that 80% of lean strategies and instruments are supposed to simplify
determination making, cut back drama, cut back friction, and so on. Why that has it’s personal
advantages, one of many major causes is that now now we have extra capability of
power and mindshare to make use of the remainder of lean considering to go do laborious
stuff.
4. In your
opinion what’s the most misunderstood or unrecognized facet of lean?
Maybe the
most misunderstood facet is that there’s one and just one method to do it. You
should as an alternative stroll the tightrope by sustaining the true intent and first
rules of lean, with experimenting and adopting new approaches and
considering. Simply including new instruments is unsuitable, in the event that they aren’t according to the
central concepts of lean. However sustaining these concepts however not letting something
contact them or by no means contemplating new approaches can be unsuitable. There’s a
steadiness, and we’re meant to remain uncomfortable as we discover that stress.
That’s the place the training and progress is discovered.
5. In your
opinion what’s the largest alternative for lean in at this time’s world? How can that
be achieved?
It’s the identical
alternative that existed after I began over 30 years in the past: how can we make it
extra accessible for folks to get engaged and begin their journey, with out
oversimplying it and throwing out the messy nuance and complexity the place a few of
the magic is discovered. I keep in mind a dialog with somebody who consider, means
again when, that the e book The Machine That Modified the World was simply Japanese
propaganda designed to assist American corporations destroy themselves. At the moment, whereas
there are fewer those that resist engagement, a number of the limitations to
engagement are simply as baffling and big.
Via
their solutions to those questions hopefully you’re going to get a way of the considering
behind those that are shaping the Lean panorama. I proceed to maintain
studying and fortunately with the willingness of those practitioners to share I
am constructive you’ll, too.
