Dear Gemba Coach,

I’ve been interested in lean for over two years now, and can’t quite understand why after 20 years there are still so many points of view, and no apparent single message under the lean banner. What are your views on this?

Dear Gemba Coach,  

My company has put an employee of the month program and other related efforts to reward good behavior. So why does it feel so bad?

Dear Gemba Coach,

Operator morale has suffered terribly since we implemented cell manufacturing, and the ideas that kaizens generate have been weak. Would you please share your insights on this situation?

In business, as in sports, we like to compete. We believe competing can benefit everyone. “Everyone” means everyone – not just the “winners.” Competing is a way for us to focus our energy, to focus our efforts on improving. That improvement usually comes a little at a time. Sometimes we experience breakthroughs while at other times we suffer steps backwards. But, that’s okay. We can still focus on moving forward, on making things better.

Dear Gemba Coach,   What is the best lean way to understand VALUE (in terms of what our customers want)

Dear Gemba Coach,  

What is the best lean way to understand VALUE (in terms of what our customers want)?

Dear Gemba Coach,

My company already has a deep rooted lean culture.  However, it would seem that the next evolution would be in my department, Research & Development.  Do you have any suggestions on how to take lean tools from process improvements such as kaizen, 5S, etc. to new product development?

How do we get started with standard work? The literature seems to say there can’t be meaningful kaizen without standards, but although we have procedures for everything, they seem very far removed from “standards.”  I think I see what we need to do but the job seems daunting!

Dear Gemba Coach,

We work in a low-volume/ high-mix process with component machining and assembly. Our OTD is somewhere between 70% and 80%. We’ve invested heavily in value-stream mapping and kanban, but can’t seem to improve our delivery. Any advice?

In my last letter I alluded to a common view in the Lean Community – shared by the broader business community at large – that promotes the notion of the heroic leader, riding a stallion into a troubled situation issuing directives and saving the day. "The leader must lead" the dictum goes. Well, yes, the leader must lead. But, what does that mean?