blog.
Using Lean to Save Time and Money
The Lean methodology is the most common sense approach for saving time and money. Taiichi Ohno, a Toyota executive in Japan in the 1940s and 1950s, developed Lean in the Toyota Production System. This system became the foundation for Lean manufacturing but quickly spread to other sectors. It is a valuable framework for businesses across various industries. Lean’s core concept is maximizing customer value while minimizing waste.
The Evolution of Ideas: Tracing Themes Across My Trilogy
Pursuing a fulfilling and purpose-driven life, I embarked on a transformative journey, writing three insightful books that have shaped my understanding of wealth, time, and productivity. Each book in the Beyond Success series—Considerations in Making Money, Acquiring Time, and Lean Productivity and Efficiency—has played a pivotal role in moulding my perspectives and influencing how I approach these crucial aspects of business and life.
Christmas Season Rush - The Before, During and After
As someone well-versed in “doing” Christmas to the nth degree for many years, I can tell you it’s exhausting and financially draining. For example, pre-COVID, we used to have dozens of people for Boxing Day dinner; this was after making dinner for around 15 family members on Christmas Day. But allow me to clarify, please.
A Recession is Looming: What Does This Mean For You?
The first warning sign of an impending economic downturn often emerges in rising inflation. We know we’ve hit inflation when we see prices rising. For example, you have likely noticed gas and grocery store price increases. To gauge the extent of these price fluctuations, experts rely on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to measure inflation, which calculates the changes in prices we pay for goods and services.
Exploring the True Meaning of Prosperity
In “Considerations in Making Money,” I delve into waste in organizational processes, the importance of employees in corporate profits, the need to streamline operations, and so forth. However, perhaps the more interesting take on profits is whether money truly makes us happy.
There’s Something About Money
Do you have enough money? I wish I could say that I did, although I certainly don’t—but some days I suppose that I do.
How much money is enough? And who or what precisely quantifies “enough money?”
If you are the quantifier, how do you know when you have enough?
Capitalizing on Strengths
Do you feel “stuck” in a job? Even before the workday is done, can you hardly wait to get out of the office? If so, you may be in the wrong job.
Feeling stuck may be a sign that you are not using your strengths on the job. If you aren’t using your strengths, resentment builds and frustration ensues. Not only that, you are not being productive on the job – think “deadwood” and you’ll get the idea! Let me explain…
Before You Buy That New iGadget
Recent promos for the latest new technology gave me pause. And it should give you pause, too.
There is no doubt that we are a society of “must-have-the-latest-new-toy,” but have you thought about what happens to your old technology – those smartphones, laptops, printers, and other energy-emitting devices that you no longer wish to use? What is your old technology doing to Mother Earth?
Improving Productivity by Working from Home
Does working from home improve productivity? A Stanford University study of a Chinese travel agency concluded that it does.
The Competitive Edge
What’s your competitive edge? What makes you or your business the “one” to beat?
If you’re like most businesses, you probably say that you’re good at what you do or that you’re better than anyone else in your craft. That’s all well and good, but why should clients care?
Off Target
When Target came to Canada in 2011, not only were consumers surprised that the retailer opened up over one hundred stores across the country, but so was the business community. To do such a “big bang” approach, you either know what you’re doing or you’re taking a major risk. Unfortunately for Target, its major risk did not pay off.
The Lightness of Black Friday
According to Kevin Roose of the Daily Intelligencer, Black Friday is “a nationwide experiment in consumer irrationality, dressed up as a cheerful holiday add-on.”
It's hard to disagree with Kevin's assertion!
Service - Now!
When you’re in line waiting for service, how long is too long?
Studies show that on average, waiting more than three minutes is too long. And customers that wait more than three minutes? There is a strong likelihood that they are dealing with the only available service provider. If customers have choices, they will leave.
This is not good news for providers of service.
Types of Clients
Let’s face it. There are clients and then there are clients. The great clients (or customers) are those that are ready, willing, and able to work with experts to achieve organizational efficiencies.
And then there are clients who fall short on anything from initial meeting to following through with an expert’s recommendations – these latter clients are wasting not only the expert’s time, but their own, as well.
As experts in our various fields of work, we have all run into a variety of clients. Here are some of the more common types – if you’re a client, maybe you see yourself in one or more of these descriptions:…
Value and Billable Hours
Why do companies and individuals still insist on billing for services “by the hour?” If you are tracking billable hours, you are not being efficient. And, even worse, you are not providing the best possible service to your customers.
When companies focus on billable hours, it may be to the exclusion of other important activities, like building capacity to better serve customers.
Government Spending: A Cause of Inefficiency
We often hear that government is inefficient:They spend too much, they take too much time to provide services, they do not provide quality services, they have too many checkpoints, and so on. But who or what is government? Are employees not the heart of any organization?
Contrary to popular belief, employee performance is not the problem when it comes to efficiency. There are many very industrious and efficient employees in any industry, including government.
The root of inefficiency in government relates to money. More specifically, because governments do not spend their own money, inefficiency can be a serious problem.
Value: Defined
Lots of people are talking about value these days – especially in light of Lean culture.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary provides eight definitions for “value.” The definitions relate to market price, luminosity, and denomination. From a business perspective, value is related to market price and the customer’s perception of a fair return on an exchange.
Thriving or Surviving?
What is your worst case scenario? What will you do if: (a) you are unable to prevent it from happening, or (b) you are unable to mitigate the outfall from its actual occurrence?
What if the worst possible thing happens during your project, in your company, in your life? What will you do if you cannot prevent the thing you thought you could prevent?
It’s true. Sometimes even the best thought-out plans and prepared-for scenarios are beyond our control.
Kaizen to the Rescue
Successful organizational improvement initiatives depend on successful follow-up and maintenance. To this end, a very effective continuous improvement approach is Kaizen—“change for the best” or “good change.”
Kaizen is a Lean methodology that includes a set of activities applied continuously to all functions in an organization. What sets Kaizen apart from other improvement methodologies is that it involves all employees in the organization—from the CEO to the front line workers.
And it is easy to apply in any type of organization and to all processes within the organization.
Measures of Control
Several recent experiences force me to the same conclusion: Organizations that place many controls on their processes do so because their processes are flawed in the first place. Let me give you an example…