Waterfall to Lean, With Agile In Between

A Journey in Software Project Management

SUMMARY

Training Within Industry's Job Instruction provides a method for assuring that Standard Work processes are operationalized into the everyday employee work interactions.  Supervisor's are taught how to teach their area's jobs so that the workers can efficiently and predictably execute the work while practicing 5S work habits.

SUMMARY

• America was the global manufacturing leader.
• Process & Productivity were paramount.
• Social technologies are defocusing.
• We need to apply process thinking to information and innovation.

Necessity is the mother of Invention. – Anonymous.

Problem

I have always struggled with note-taking.  Since college, I've been using the paper method for taking notes and have a 'method' for identifying different types of notes, e.g. actions, questions, ideas, etc.  But the thing that has always alluded me is 'how to capture the actions in notes' and make sure I do them and not forget.

Problem

In 1987, at the University of Nebraska, my engineering career had its beginning.  As a celebration of that moment (and after I had gotten a job - which is important), I bought my first new car, a 1987 Chevrolet Camaro Sport Coupe.  Perhaps because I just graduated from engineering school, I kept a mileage log, carefully recording every mile each time I filled up with gas.  And then I got married, had two kids.  Guess what happened to the Camaro when the first child came into our lives?  Life got busy, and the mileage log was left behin

Turning an Email into a Task

When an email enters your inbox and it requires an action you can easily categorize it, add it to your task list and get it out of your inbox. Simply right click on the email, find the Defer tab and click 'To Task'.

There are many factors in deciding an organization’s success or failure.  Many are outside of their control, e.g. significant economic changes or catastrophic weather events.  However, many factors are certainly within an organizations’ control, e.g. selecting and operationalizing a successful strategy, hiring and developing the right people, and defining and executing their work efficiently and effectively.  In fact, the better the organization operates, the less the external factors affect it.

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Summary

The Six Sigma Black Belt approaches problems using disciplined problem solving methodologies. One such approach called DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control) focuses on reducing process variation and defects. Regardless of what approach is used, the problem Definition and Measurement phases are most critical to avoid foolish effort in Analysis, Improvement and Control resulting in much pain by fixing the wrong problem.

DMAIC Refresher

For those who are not familiar or need a refresher, here is a summary of the DMAIC process steps.

Summary

By following a structured and disciplined methodology you can achieve a deeper understanding of the root causes of any problem. The “5-Whys” Root-Cause-Analysis (RCA) methodology was invented by the founder of Toyota, used in their manufacturing process, and continues as one of the tools in the modern lean methodologies tool kit.