I love being a consultant. Having had the privilege of access deep within many companies during my career, it turns out that there are not many business problems that are unique. It’s fun to be the

fresh set of eyes on an issue, and do some observation, data gathering a...

Lean Enterprise or any other approach to Business Excellence starts with the needs of the Customer. Often, the customer is a set of stakeholders internal to your organization. These customers are essential for their buy-in and ongoing support of the changes that need t...

The situation was this.  An executive from company headquarters had just left, and it was time to repair the damage he had done with the staff and other employees during a two-day visit. Despite performance that was exceeding most operational metrics, he complained and...

A common objection I hear during initial conversations with clients is: “But you don’t have any experience in the (fill in the blank) industry.” My response is that a different type of experience is required. There are two broad reasons you might consider using a consu...

Anteriormente, escrevemos sobre os diferentes tipos de desperdício nos processos de negócios; basicamente, tudo o que não é definido como valor agregado na visão do cliente. Para ser um valor agregado, uma atividade deve ser feita corretamente na primeira vez, ela deve...

Um dos princípios do Lean Enterprise é encontrar e eliminar o desperdício. Desperdício é qualquer atividade que não seja de valor agregado. Neste post, definiremos valor agregado, desperdício, diferença entre classes e tipos de desperdício e, finalmente, fornecer exemp...

Previously, we wrote about the different types of waste in business processes; basically, anything that is not defined as value-added in the view of the customer.  To be value-added, an activity must be done correctly the first time, it must transform the product or se...

One of the principles of Lean Enterprise is finding and eliminating waste.  Waste is any activity that is not Value-added.  In this post, we'll define Value-added, define Waste, differentiate between classes and types of waste, and finally, provide examples across...

Last time, we talked about one application of process improvement application to Human Resources, based on a frustrating interview experience.  But there are other organizational functions that tend to have even more resistance to the scrutiny of process examination –...

“But I’m in HR/Sales/Real Estate (pick one).  I can’t define what I do. You can’t put me in a box.  It’s creative, and it’s different every time, depending on the situation.  It's all about relationships, not process. Lean Six Sigma doesn’t apply to me.”

I don...