30 September 2024:
“Culture is what happens here.” In other words, everything that happens. This means not only what we actively do, but also what we (passively) allow to happen. True to the saying: “You are not only responsible for what you do, but also for what you allow to happen.“
16 September 2024:
I have just started reading the first book on the Shingo Model: “Discover Excellence – An Overview of the Shingo Model and Its Guiding Principles”. And, what can I say: it’s not because of the tools. A fool with a tool is still a fool. It’s about the culture of the company. I’ve seen companies fail with the best tools. Whether it’s Jira (an IT project reporting tool) or an EXCEL list. It was always the attitude behind it, “the trappings“, that decided whether the company would be successful with it or not. And: Forget about trying to control your employees … unless you want to ruin your company.
From the book mentioned above:
“The good news is that you’ve already identified the problem,” Dr. Plenert continued. “Your problem isn’t that the tools you’ve been given aren’t good tools. It’s not that the tools aren’t working. The problem is that the tools by themselves don’t offer sustainability. So the real question we should ask is, ‘Why don’t these tools maintain the performance improvements that they demonstrate on a temporary basis?’ A second problem is that each solution temporarily fixes part of your performance problems. But none of them fix all the problems.”
9 September 2024:
I’m currently reading a paper on the connection between Lean, Lean Six Sigma, etc. and Sustainability. the authors conclude that there is a “weak link between the Sustainability and the Lean philosophy”. Surprise! Surprise! Lean etc. are – if done correctly – already sustainable by themselves, there is no need to build in “sustainability”. Not understanding leads to cargo cult …
Do you know what cargo cult is? Cargo cult means imitating behavior without understanding the meaning behind it. It’s easy to observe with small children 😉 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult
2 September 2024:
It is clear that the focus for the survival of companies is first on their economic viability, and once the economic needs are met, the next step is to achieve operational excellence. This requires doing the right things right. It’s like real life: If I do the wrong things, no matter how hard I try to do them perfectly, they remain wrong. Therefore: always reflect first on whether you are doing the right thing before you try even harder. If something isn’t working, then do something else instead of trying harder.