A Toyota Group Leader spent two hours cleaning and organizing his desk that he had just moved out onto the floor. Read about how this left a lasting impression on one of his new employees.

As I approached the bridge, I could see floor trim scattered across the road and a man frantically trying to pick up the splintered fragments as cars zoomed by him. I quickly pulled over to offer my assistance to his plight. He looked at me, shook his head and in an exasperated tone said, “I think I need to go home and get back in bed… it’s been one of those days.”

During one of my early kaizens (I was serving as the Kaizen lead under the watchful eye of my sensei), we had uncovered what our team thought was the world’s most unsolvable problem, just slightly smaller than world hunger.

The first day of a Kaizen is mostly about getting a rock-solid grip on the “current state.” You are trying to guide the team to consensus on how things operate as they are, not as we wish they were. Typically during this process, you can also uncover where the gaps are within the current state and identify some of the problems holding the company, team, or organization back.

Making improvements is hard because it falls on leadership to set the tone. People will follow a good leader, so focus on yourself first and the rest will fall into place.

The problem is that these plants get so busy chasing these random issues, that they don’t realize that they are just chasing symptoms of the problems.  And usually, without some outside influence, there is no way for them to see the pattern. 

Most companies claim safety is important, but their actions aren’t reflective of that claim.

“Why don’t my employees bring me these problems?!” Joe the business owner asked me, exasperated.

The key to having a great plan is to consider what is next, and what we would do “if”. The magic lives in the word “if” is truly breathtaking.

One of the things I love most about working in Manufacturing is seeing all of the creative ways people and companies find to measure processes and performance.