John Shook, chairman and CEO of the nonprofit Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI) will deliver a presentation on “Creating a Problem Solving Culture” to the Iowa Lean Consortium (ILC) on October 2, 2012, at the Vermeer Global Pavilion in Pella, IA.
The session is part of a two-day forum of presentations, roundtable discussions, and workshops on how companies and organizations can create collaborative problem-solving cultures.
His remarks will include the role of coaching in a company practicing lean management. “If individual and team performance can be improved to the levels we witness in Olympic sporting events, can’t the same methods or dynamics of improvement be applied to improvement at work? And, if so, what is the role of the coach to support these outcomes?” asked Shook.
Lean Problem Solving
Shook’s address will be followed by roundtable discussions where attendees can share lessons learned and challenges faced in creating a place where everyone tackles problems and develops solutions through teamwork.
On Wednesday, October 3, Shook and LEI Director of Strategy and Operations, Mark Reich, will facilitate a workshop on Hoshin/Strategic Planning: How to systemize the strategic planning process across functional areas, involving dialogue between senior managers and project teams. The day also will feature workshops on:
- Improvement Kata: How to make process improvement more sustainable and continuous
- Optimizing Flow in Office and Service Processes: Learn how to apply lean strategies in non-production areas
Registration for Tuesday is free for ILC members and $250 for non-members. Registration for a Wednesday workshop is $125 for members and $250 for non-members. For non-ILC members, registration can be applied to ILC membership dues upon joining within 30 days of the event. Registration is open online at the ILC site.
Iowa Lean Consortium
The ILC is a dynamic, member-driven nonprofit dedicated to advancing lean in all sectors of the economy. It is a leading resource to Iowa companies who seek to improve their organizational effectiveness and efficiencies. The ILC is for executives to front-line managers, and beginning to advanced practitioners. In addition to manufacturing and consumer product companies, lean initiatives are successful across all industries including healthcare, education, government, and service.
Lean Enterprise Institute
Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc., was founded in 1997 by management expert James P. Womack, Ph.D., as a nonprofit research, education, publishing, and conference company with a mission to advance lean thinking around the world. We teach courses, hold management seminars, write and publish books and workbooks, and organize public and private conferences. Visit LEI at https://www.lean.org for more information.
John Shook
Lean Enterprise Institute Chairman and CEO John Shook learned about lean management while working for Toyota for nearly 11 years in Japan and the U.S., helping it transfer production, engineering, and management systems from Japan to NUMMI and subsequently to other operations around the world. He is the author of Managing to Learn and co-author of Learning to See and Kaizen Express. His article “How to Change a Culture: Lessons from NUMMI”; Sloan Management Review, January 2010, won Sloan’s Richard Beckhard Memorial Prize for outstanding article in the field of organizational development.