Tag: journey

Sep 15 2019 2019-09-15 2019-09-15 NoComment by Andreas

Gemba Walks by James P. Womack

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Today I have added a book to the book section that I highly recommend!

One of the greatest challenges when it comes to Lean is to adapt the thinking of the iterative continuous improvement was to problem solving. In my opinion this is aided by examples from the real world. It is important though not to see them as guides of how to do but rather ideas on how to approach a problem, how to think in the face of challenges.

Of all the books I have read so far this is one of my favourites. We get to come along with James P. Womack on his journey of going to the Gemba and seeing for himself. A valuable insight in to one of the more known students of Lean.


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Sep 02 2019 2019-09-02 2019-10-01 NoComment by Andreas

The journey is hard

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Sometimes the journey of learning any new skill is hard. But in my opinion it’s worth it. The hardships and challenges is part of the process and is what ultimately helps you attain new knowledge and wisdom. This is expressed very good in these two quotes.

“If this Lean stuff seems easy you’re probably not doing it.”

James P. Womack

“If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you.”

Zig Ziglar


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Sep 01 2019 2019-09-01 2019-09-01 NoComment by Andreas

Always do YOUR best

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When talking to people about work and improvements they often comment that they don’t know this or they don’t know that.

In the spirit of Kaizen it is important to remember that you improve yourself in increments just as you improve the process or the product. Strive to better yourself by challenging yourself and always try do to your best. Over time your knowledge and capacity will increase step by step.

Maya Angelou expressed this idea beautifully and as you know by now I am real sucker for good quotations.

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

Maya Angelou

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Jan 08 2019 2019-01-08 2019-01-08 NoComment by Andreas

A new section has been added

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I want to share a passion of mine, reading. Over time I will be adding more books that I recommend for other students of Lean.

First out is the classics, The Toyota Way and Lean Thinking. These are the books that really got me going and woke my thirst for more.

If you have any recommendations for me you are free to post below.


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Jan 02 2019 2019-01-02 2019-01-02 NoComment by Andreas

Some inspiration for the new year!

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I have recently had a passage of rough times in my life and this help me focus and move on.

“Try and fail, but don’t fail to try.” – John Quincy Adams

Also, as I get on with my journey I strive to grow and learn, to take the next step on my journey. This have become my passion. As part of this I am experiencing that coaching other is an excellent way to develop my own skills.

“The one exclusive sign of thorough knowledge is the power of teaching.” – Aristotle

Happy New Year to you all!
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Jun 03 2018 2018-06-03 2018-06-03 NoComment by Andreas

Where would I begin today?

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I am, as you might have guessed, partway on my journey. So far I have experienced and tried some of the tools of Lean and I have tried my best to live the philosophy of continuous improvement and respect for people (or humanity). My way has been anything but straight and it has taken me longer than I feel it should to get where I am today. But if I where to start again today, where would I start?

I have given this a lot of thought and there are a lot of choices. One way I know many do start is through 5S and it is really the first real hands on contact I had with Lean. But I am not convinced this is the best way to get started.

Setting things in order is always a good thing, but from what I remember the problem for me was that there was no depth to the thinking, and thus it was a bit of a waste. Since understanding was not there it was almost insurmountable to actually maintain this order.

Where I think I would start is with PDCA (Plan-Do-Check Act). It is a beautiful way to do anything and it will give you guidance through having a proper plan, by carrying through and analyse the results, comparing them to what was expected. With this you learn to see a new dimension of what you have done or are about to do. Most important , you can actually turn any situation to a valuable lesson. No matter if you have succeeded or failed there is always something to be learned. Through PDCA you have a framework for this.

With this said, my next step from PDCA would be 5S but done with a proper PDCA dimension. Before you start to remove anything. Make sure you have the full picture. In a factory it might not be as easy as just removing things and put them into a red tag quarantine area. If you remove things used by others but not yourself you are not being respectful and you are not being efficient. This will result in things being removed and returned and maybe removed again. This will be pure waste. Also it will make coworkers to distrust the tool. Doing informed work will get the respect of coworkers and be appreciated by most. Now, I am not saying there should be no red tag area but I am saying it should be used when the team decides and not when a single operator decides so.


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May 23 2018 2018-05-23 2018-05-23 NoComment by Andreas

How did I first get into Lean?

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When I first came in contact with Lean, I was working at a factory within the automotive industry. I must admit that at first I didn’t get it at all. It seemed to be used only as a tool to downsize and to lower the number of people needed on the production line. This lead me to get a very bad first impression. Also it was not really involving the workers of whom I was one so it was hard to get a grip of what it was all about.

As time went on I started to pick up on things that lead me to think there was something more to this Lean. I decided that I had to learn more, I wanted to know what the reasoning was behind what I saw.

Since I had learned that Lean was originally from Toyota, it seemed that Jeffrey Likers The Toyota Way was a good place to start. The short of it is that I was hooked immediately. The next book was Lean Thinking by Jim Womack. Again, it really opened my eyes to a whole new world. At this point I didn’t really know who any of the famous Lean-thinkers where but as it happens I had picked a good starting point.

Now began the journey to learn from the real world and to get everything I had read in perspective. To be honest this turned out to be very hard. What I had read and what I saw was not really matching up. At first I got confused but soon realized that most people around me knew as little or sometimes even less than I did about Lean.

The first line managers used a lot of expressions in Japanese but I don’t really think they knew fully what was behind them. This was evident it the way it was applied and presented to us on the factory floor. I decided that if I was to become more familiar with Lean and to understand and practice it fully this would be something I needed drive myself.

In the following year I read a lot, listened to podcasts, listened to colleagues and talked Lean. With every conversation and with everything I read I grew as a person and as a Lean thinker. However it was a hard journey, I didn’t really have backing from my manager or my surroundings. The joy of learning and developing skills made it worth every effort and I realized that if my current employer wasn’t going to utilize my newly found knowledge I might have to find someone who did.

This was but the first chapter of my journey to learn about and practice Lean.


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