This 4-day interactive Lean Leader workshop will cover the relationships between lean tools, organizational leadership, and organizational culture. By exploring these relationships and practicing the skills we share each day, your leaders and your organization will begin behaving and thinking “lean”. While the workshop emphasizes tools and techniques, significant time will be spent on how […]
Leader Standard Work for LEAN LEADERSHIP
By Christian Wolcott
What is your standard as a Manager or a Leader? Some insight; in vibrant, progressive organizations that strive to integrate continuous improvement with running the business, you need to be both an effective manager and leader fundamentally becoming a Lean Leader. The challenge is creating a standard that comprises both sets of skills and approaches. […]
Value Stream Mapping in the Office
As a manufacturer, you’ve most likely used many of the lean tools to help you eliminate waste and variation in your processes. Organizations sometimes struggle on how to improve processes in the office environment, because you cannot easily see the “waste”. Information is passed from department to department, many times waiting on people’s desks to […]
Lean Yardstick
By Steven Hirt
Thinking about how the Lean Business System and its principles can influence your business is paramount and a key component of establishing your True North. Lean, although filled with tools, is by its very nature a people system. At its very foundation is respect for people. This does not mean just “being nice”, it means […]
Industry 4.0
Leadership of any organization is charged with determining ‘its’ future – where it is headed, how to address it and when – whether to come in early, late, or miss it. Scott Anthony, a Harvard professor once said: “Signs suggesting the looming need for transformation aren’t always obvious, and they are never unmistakable until it’s […]
Paint Your People Gold
By Christian Wolcott
People closest to the work have the best ideas of how and what to change. Let’s examine this simple yet powerful statement. First people, which ones are we talking about? The employees. Which employees? The hardworking folks that directly handle and build the products and provide the services your customers receive. They are the people […]
Creating a “One Company” Culture
By Steven Hirt
In meeting with a new president of a company over a cup of coffee this morning, it dawned on me how hard creating a “one company” culture really is. Reflecting over my years of helping organizations envision, develop and execute strategy, I considered how difficult it is to make these simple words reality. I don’t think […]
Developing Problem Solving and Coaching Skills
Do you have more problems than problem solvers? Do you have a lack of coaches to develop problem solvers? Is too much time spent on firefighting, not enough time to solve problems? Then this workshop is for you. Learn how TIDI Products is creating sustainable long-term improvements without creating “work-arounds” or adding additional burden to […]
Kaizen Décor
By Christian Wolcott
I was traveling last week and overnighted at a swanky hotel at my client’s suggestion. It was new, modern in that glassy, sanitized way with lots of hard surfaces, funky furniture with music cooler than traveling really is playing in the lobby. After checking in I walked the long moody, hallways with helter skelter carpet […]
Standard Work – MN Continuous Improvement Consortium event
Standard Work is repeatable, safe and reliable operations, with all tasks organized in the best known sequence using the most effective combination of people, material, machines and methods. In essence, it is the single best documented recipe for accomplishing work. It builds on tribal knowledge and best practices, tips, tricks and workarounds that hard-working people […]