What are some tips for developing high-performing Teams?

Most the work we do pertains to project-based process improvement initiatives. Basically, we facilitate problem solving rapid improvement Events (RIE) aka “Kaizens” using client Teams. I see lots of different team interactions from the Executives that bring us in, and I believe understanding basic guiding principles can help in completing successful projects while developing high-performing […]

Sustaining Performance without Hovering

Sustaining Performance without Hovering As a consultant, I am constantly challenged with providing sustainable process improvement performance. You may have heard of the “Hawthorne Effect”, an experiment with one interpretation being: people perform better when they are aware they are being observed.  Knowing this, we can leverage several simple tactics to sustain this effect without […]

Developing a Roll-out Strategy for OEE Implementation

Developing a roll-out strategy for any kaikaku (transformative) level initiative may seem like a difficult task. There is a visual method that I have used over the years that lets me put the pieces on the paper (PowerPoint) and move them around to see if it makes sense. Depending upon the situation you are in […]

What Is Your Single Best Advice For Problem Solvers?

I get asked this question quite often and feel there is no trouble in sharing one of my top “secrets” to successful problem solving. My answer is this: “Challenge every assumption!” Without a doubt the most common oversight I see is that people that are tasked with solving problems in organizations believe that the employees […]

How to Select the Right Project for Improvement?

Whatever business you may be in, there is a constant pressure to improve, and rightly so. How to go about it is the difficult part. First, understand what value you bring to your customers and any competitive advantage you lack or would try to build. Think in simple terms such as time-based and quality-based improvements. […]

Old-School Managers: You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here

The Avoidable Fate of Old School Management and Change Averseness I had the opportunity to visit several steel client prospects over the past week. I was fortunate to come across one that had experience with process improvement as delivered in a strategic perspective, or at least understood the tactical approach and its limited but effective […]

What is Kaizen? APO’s Quick Primer on Improvement… pun intended

Kaizen 101 Kaizen is a term used by practitioners to mean a variety of things. But what does it really mean? What is the essence of Kaizen and what types of initiatives does it create? I will give you my take on Kaizen as a LEAN Six Sigma practitioner and consultant to various companies across […]

LEAN/Six Sigma… LEAN Six Sigma… What happened to our Continuous Improvement?

I see a lot of mid-sized companies that have a LEAN Manufacturing team, and/or old vestiges of Lean Six Sigma. There are several problems that I observe: Lean is poorly implemented or not understood Six Sigma was abandoned for lack of time to commit to projects or inability to understand the application of statistics and […]