Month: May 2020

So, I was playing one of those games on my mobile phone. You know the ones. You match coloured symbols in a row, and they explode in a satisfying spray of hues, like a mini firework display.

I say I was playing it today. I might have also been playing it yesterday. It’s possible that I might have had a little go the day before that too. Alright, you forced it out of me, I am on a disturbingly high level. I have invested far too many hours in this endeavour. I may need help.

Or so I thought.

Because today I realized why I have been playing it. I have been teaching myself lean all along. That is my story, and I am sticking to it. And here’s why.

Firstly each level sets a goal. It is clear what you need to do to achieve “good” and move to the next opportunity.

That goal is bound in an element of “time.” In the sense of the game, each level has a maximum number of moves that you can make to complete. If you run out of turns before you achieve the goal, then you fail.

If you know the target, let’s say collect fifty pink pieces, and the timeframe, say twenty-five moves, you can calculate your takt. To finish the level Just-In-Time, you need to average two pieces every step.

With this in mind, you can work out if you are ahead of target, just about right, or behind the curve. Perhaps you need to get some support in the form of special combos to get back on track, or need to buy expensive extra moves from your limited stash of coins? If you fall behind takt, it may incur costs to catch back up!

Now, I hate incurring additional costs, so I begin to guard my process steps. I ask myself, how does the move I am about to make support my goal? Is it aligned to the target, or is it a move just for the sake of playing? If the action does not support the goal, then I discard it. Waste means I have to do the same work but in less time.

Are you with me so far?

Next, there is a basic set of standard steps that I can use. There is an element of poka-yoke here. If I make a move that is outside of the standard, the system will not let me proceed. I must work out what I was doing wrong, learn, and take another course of action.

Sometimes the game gives me a new set of rules to follow. Maybe it introduces a piece that operates differently or has some property that will help.

How do I know how to react to this new thing? Well, the game shows me. It shows me, then allows me to go through the process myself. Now, I’m not about to say that the game is giving me TWI Job Instruction, but I do feel at ease when approaching the new situation!

And then, there is the end of the level — that divine moment of winning or losing.

If I lose, guess what? It’s not a problem! A fictional butler pops up, commiserates with me, and offers me the chance to have another try. Only this time, I am wiser. I have already seen the pitfalls. It is the ultimate expression of PDCA. So no, I was not wasting time. I was going through another iteration towards success. Failure is not failure if you are learning.

If I win, and I reach my target early, the level stops. It does not allow me to collect additional pink pieces just because I have time.

The target is fifty. I stop when I collect fifty; it is as simple as that. There is no danger of ever over-producing and building up inventory.

The system does not allow it.

Of course, the cunning among you may say that the whole thing was a waste of time. This notion might be accurate, but if I didn’t have a purpose, how could you know?

Without a clearly defined purpose (note, we are not using the word “target,”) anything that keeps me busy seems to be alright.

But if we see this game playing activity in the light of a purpose, then we can make a sound and easy judgement.

My purpose, at this time, is to finish the lean book that I am writing. Does this gameplay support this target? Of course not! So I should seek to reduce or eliminate this activity. On the other hand, though, if I have done an excellent job of writing this article, it turns out that it actually might underpin some sort of lean journey!

I, like many millions of others, use Twitter.

Like many millions of others, I could probably be a lot better at it.

The “Twitter Growth Blueprint – Everything You Need To Know” by Rob Knowles, is a fantastic training video that lifts the lid on some amazing tips and techniques.

Rob begins by establishing his credibility to facilitate such a learning journey. Rob has certainly packed a lot of social media know-how into his impressive curriculum vitae. I started with the confidence that I was going to learn a good deal, and I was not disappointed.

The course was very well structured. At the moment, you can access it in one chunk, but I can foresee Rob splitting it into three separate lessons, so get in quick to receive it at the current price and single-purchase format.

The sections are well signposted and maintain a good flow. To begin, Rob asks you to consider things like your bio and username. There are some simple and actionable tips here, but it is easy to see their power in hindsight. One tip, around your photo, flawed me in its simplicity, but it was followed by a “Yes! Why wouldn’t you do that moment.” The course is full of “a-ha” insights, like these.

Next, Rob takes you onto the structure of your tweets. Now, hands up all those who just type something out and trust to luck? Yes? Well, I am going to lower my hand now, as it is making it difficult to type. But Rob was able to supply me with nine ways (yes, nine) to make my tweets more appealing, even if they had precisely the same content. If you are wondering why you don’t get many replies, likes, or retweets, check-in and challenge yourself to see where you could improve and gain that all-important momentum.

Finally, Rob shares his tips for getting yourself seen on the Twitter Platform. Again, he kicks off this section with a piece of pure gold, and certainly something that I had never even considered. There is no rocket science to this or any of the other techniques, but it is the simplicity and elegance that leaves you stunned.

Overall, I would look at this course as a sound investment. Unlike other training guides about social media, this offering contains real, easily actionable steps. You don’t need to be an expert, and you don’t need to begin from a foundation of having a large account.

The slides are refreshingly clean, as are the explanations. It’s also nice to see a presentation where the trainer is not merely reading out slides. This adds to Mr. Knowles’ credibility and authority on his subject matter.

The price point is just about right, especially is you consider offsetting it against the budget for any paid promotions that you might run. Rob is shining a light on great ways to achieve real, sustainable organic growth, with methods that often outstrip costly advertising. I looked upon my purchase as a proactive cost-saving.

I thoroughly recommend this course for anyone wishing to improve their performance and return on Twitter. I shall definitely be applying all of what I have learned, and I know you will too. What’s more, and here is another bonus, it’s fun!

Good luck out there!

To learn more about and purchase this course, please follow this link.

To follow Rob on Twitter, please follow this link, or follow @robmknowles.

To follow me on Twitter, please follow this link, or follow @simondgary

To buy my book “Kaizen Your Life,” which describes how to use Japanese Continuous Improvement Techniques to get the most out of every day, please visit the shop.

There are many books in lean which are regarded as classic texts. “The Toyota Production System – Beyond Large-Scale Production” by Taiichi Ohno, is a book that has influenced so many.

One could argue that without this work, books like ” The Machine That Changed the World” or “Toyota Way” would not exist.

What becomes clear from reading this book is that the Toyota Production System (TPS) rose out of necessity. Furthermore, each development was the response to a need or a problem. TPS did not emerge from a stunning blueprint, all in one piece. Instead, it developed over decades of trial, error, and iterations of the PDCA cycle.

TPS was also meant to be a uniquely Japanese Production System. In America, the land of mass-production and mass-consumption, the demand was for a few types of cars in large quantities. The Japanese domestic market was quite the opposite. The home market called for a wide variety of vehicles, in small amounts. This single fact was one of the elements that shaped the first round of problems.

Kiichiro Toyoda had already realized that Just-In-Time (JIT) would be required to enable this degree of flexibility in adding customer value. To facilitate a vision of “many variants in small quantities,” parts not needed for what was on the final assembly line simply could not be made.

In support of the level-loaded model mix, the presses could not longer produce runs of a single part. But wait? Weren’t the changeover times prohibitive? Four decades of set-up reduction followed.

Kiichiro’s predecessor, the wonderful Sakichi Toyoda, had previously perfected the Automatic Loom in 1926. This loom could “make a decision” and stop when a thread had snapped or ran out. This innovation was the beginning of jidoka, or “autonomation with the human touch.” Alongside JIT, Jioka became the second pillar of TPS.

The more you read, the more you realize that TPS was something of a perfect storm. It was shaped by events such as the Korean War (1950-1953) and the Oil Crisis of 1973. But more than anything, it was moulded by a fundamental resolution to reduce waste, wherever it was seen.

Like many evolutions of history, so many things that had to fall into place for TPS to exist.

The courage of Ohno’s superiors was one. In a way, these individuals are some of the real heroes of the piece. They allowed Ohno to experiment and to do things that seemed counter-intuitive. The adoption of Kanban was one such addition. Who would introduce a system that directed people to stop when the required number of parts were reached? Why not just keep going? It didn’t make sense!

In times of high growth, Ohno’s work was not overly transparent. Everyone was making plenty of money, and everything that was manufactured was being sold. Ohno needed adversity to show that his approach was meritorious. Global events, such as we have already described, brought attention to the benefits of TPS. Again, those who managed Ohno allowed his continued experiments even when mass production, in a high growth economy, seemed prudent.

Another element that is of interest is that TPS grew as Ohno developed. To begin with, he could only apply it to his own machine-shop, where highly-trained workers ran multi-process banks of machines. As he rose, Ohno had the opportunity to use his evolving system at a plant level, then finally across the entire Toyota business.

To me, this clearly underlined the need for management support when implementing lean across an organization. Without the connectivity that only senior management can facilitate, lean efforts will be nothing more than floating islands of believers. Lean must be everyone, everywhere, every day, in a management-led environment of learning and respect for people. Ohno wanted to see the change, so he was the change. His growing seniority was an absolutely vital factor in success. Even then, nothing happened overnight.

Ohno was an avid learner. One delightful aspect of the book is Ohno’s respect for Henry Ford, and the former’s desire to learn from the master car maker. The author includes some tremendously interesting extracts from Henry Ford’s book “Today and Tomorrow.”

One can see that the thinking of Ohno and Ford were not diametrically opposite. Ohno even asserts that Ford would have eventually uncovered the pillars of TPS by himself, as he senses the natural path of the Ford method. Ohno further argues that subsequent Ford leaders misinterpreted the mass-production ethos of the Ford system and that something akin the TPS was designed to be Mr. Ford’s eventual destination. Alas, we shall never know.

“Toyota Production System” was a book I approached with the desire to learn and reflect, and I was definitely not disappointed. But my lean roots have been shaken a little, and this is a wonderful thing!

If TPS was a gradual evolution and reaction to a unique set of circumstances and problems, why should an exact facsimile work for us?

There are many reasons why lean fails within companies. One can be the zealous application of the TPS system, without understanding why each method was originally applied. But as long as we share the DNA of problem-solving and eliminating waste, we shall be fine. TPS is an example, not a template.

As Taiichi Ohno undoubtedly did, we must be steadfast in our belief of success and find our own way.