KaiNexus: Continuous Improvement, Leadership, and More

KaiNexus has a webinar series called Ask Us Anything, in which our CEO and Co-founder Greg Jacobson and Mark Graban, our Vice-President of Improvement & Innovation Services and founder of LeanBlog.org, join forces to answer questions KaiNexus webinar listeners ask. In this post, we will look at two questions and answers from a recent webinar.

I have been debating with myself over whether to use the word conceptions or misconceptions in this post. I decided to go with conceptions because I do not know whether these frequently held beliefs are accurate or not within your organization. We do know from countless conversations with our customers that they are devastating to a culture of improvement whether they are true or not. Here is how you can combat them, in either case.

Any good continuous improvement platform empowers you to improve in any way you see fit, rather than forcing you to subscribe to one particular methodology. That means people use the software to support a ton of different types of improvement work - including improvement-related certification classes.

If you’re using the Six Sigma methodology to create change and sustain continuous improvement in your organization, you’re likely using, or will use, DMAIC (pronounced "de-may-ick"). DMAIC is an acronym that outlines a framework for identifying and challenging sources of waste, poor quality, and inefficient processes and then looking for opportunities for improvement. DMAIC is best used when an existing product or process fails to meet performance expectations or otherwise leaves customers unsatisfied. You can read more about what DMAIC is and about steps involved on our blog, but for those of you who are finding DMAIC challenging you may want to check your organization isn’t making these five big DMAIC mistakes.

Mark Graban and Dr. Greg Jacobson address your questions on: - Getting front line staff to embrace Kaizen and continuous improvement as a win/win - Getting leaders and executives to buy in to continuous improvement - What's your process for planning a kaizen event?

Tracking the impact of a continuous improvement program is one of the most difficult challenges that an incoming consultant may face. As difficult as tracking impact is, it is also one of the most important metrics to measure. Organization leaders want to see a return on their investment of a consultant and being able to capture the results of the improvement program is the easiest way to do so.

Behind every improvement technique and tool, there is a winning spirit. There is no downside to the ideas that processes can always be made better and that positive change is the business of everyone. But today we are going to focus on one common improvement tool, the idea board, and make the case that there is a better way. After all, why would the force of Kaizen not be applied to improvement itself?

Gemba walks can be one of the most enjoyable and powerful learning opportunities for leaders, but only if they are done in a way that promotes learning and avoids creating tension between managers and frontline staff. I have written about Gemba walks before, but I wanted to delve deeper into what NOT to do on Gemba walks. If your Gemba walks aren’t going as well as hoped, or if they are causing tension on the front lines, be sure you are not making any of these mistakes:

Hosted by KaiNexus and Mark Graban In this webinar, you will learn: - What creativity is (and isn't) and what service excellence is (and isn't) - Why changing behavior first leads to mindset changes, not the other way around! - How to develop creative problem solving and critical thinking skills in daily 15 min coaching sessions - How using creativity combined with The Toyota Way to Service Excellence principles delivers peak service experiences for customers About the Presenter: An experienced lean consultant, coach and practitioner, Karyn is the coauthor, with Jeff Liker, of the Shingo Award-winning The Toyota Way to Service Excellence: Lean Transformation in Service Organizations. Focused specifically on services, Karyn has worked with small, medium and large organizations in sectors as diverse as insurance, financial services, HR, transportation and retail. Using her unique Practical Creativity(TM) approach, Karyn teaches people how to combine creativity with Toyota Way/lean practices to ensure that businesses continuously deliver the peak service experiences that retain current customers and attract new ones. Karyn is a practicing artist, with an MFA in Sculpture and lives in Naperville, Illinois with her family.

As you can probably tell from reading this blog or others about the Lean approach to business management, most of what is written about the subject is applied to manufacturing and healthcare organizations. We know, however, that its application is not that limited. We have clients in technology, education, agriculture, professional services, and more. One sector that is starting to embrace the Lean approach with increasing enthusiasm is construction. We have been delighted to see a new level of interest from leaders in the field. We thought it might be useful to share some of the questions we get asked most often about Lean construction.