What question will you ask today? Questions are the basis for improvement. Many times we approach our job as if all the questions have been asked and answered. That’s human nature. You work on a problem. Come to a solution which eases the pain or gets a favorable result. You implement it. It becomes the way you do it. To continually question the status quo is a discipline to consider. Most people are creatures of
Along with wasted time and material, wasted motion is a key target for lean operations. The work done in our plants of building pallets and fence, sawing wood and operating lifts and loaders is demanding. When the day is done, our teammates have handled thousands of pounds of material, driven thousands of nails and moved many thousands of feet of material. It makes sense to look at how we do things and cut down on
To be “lean” as a company is to find anything that doesn’t add value to our product offerings and eliminate it. Some experts describe it this way: Find waste and eliminate it. Wasted time, wasted material and wasted motion don’t add value. Thus, it isn’t lean. Let’s take time, for instance. Do you see places where time is wasted? If we have 1,300 employees averaging nine hours a day, that amounts to 182 million minutes
“Lean” is about making progress. You identify an area where waste is occurring or that can be improved. You decide that you want to improve it. How do you get started? Teresa Amabile wrote a book called The Progress Principle. She says there are seven catalysts for creating momentum: Set a goal. Having a target to aim to achieve has a way of making the team pay collective attention. Allow autonomy. People support what they
A “lean” company puts processes in place that cause them to improve. While it can be a project, it also is a way of operating. It’s a method for improvement. I look at our company as hundreds of pieces that depend on each other for success. Every day each of us touches something that changes material into something we sell or helps people get their job done or helps us get paid or hundreds of
Sometimes it takes severe pain and discomfort before we initiate necessary change. In most cases, before there was severe pain, there were signs of a problem developing. For a variety of reasons it doesn’t get addressed: You don’t want to be an alarmist. You aren’t certain you are right. You are afraid your news won’t be received well. So, by not addressing it, things worsen over time. Before long, what could have been handled preventively
One of the most effective lean techniques we can use is asking “why?” five times. The wisdom in the technique is that it causes a pause for consideration. It also stops us from leaping to the first conclusion when studying a problem or an opportunity. I’ve been studying a bit about how people solve problems. Turns out that the brain works toward solutions using one of two paths. One calls on “gut” decisions made upon
I was listening to a guy talking about making cities better. He was describing how cities let big things sometimes get in the way of getting anything done. This was the example. Kids like playing in spraying water, especially when it’s hot. We’ve seen the spraying water systems. Amusement parks have them. Expensive parks have them. The systems are cool. Well plumbed. Sometimes have colored lights to make them look cooler still. Expensive to be
Are you “lean”? We talk about creating a “lean” company all the time. But, to accomplish that mission, every single person needs to embrace the mission. I’m writing this as a bit of a confession because I realize that I don’t always walk the talk. For instance, my office isn’t as 6Sed as it should be. If I scan my work area, there’s significant sorting and straightening that should take place. That being said, I’ve
I stood in a long airport security line today. It was an unbelievable cluster of inefficiency. As I stood there (almost an hour), I observed a bunch of things that could have improved the process. Some very practical, some probably not so practical. I’m sure hundreds of people missed their planes. As I stood there, I began to consider our lean efforts. One, there is great value in “going to Gemba.” As I said, there
PalletOne Inc.
Company President, Howe Q. Wallace
Since 2005, he has been sharing his thoughts on the organization, leadership, and communication in an online daily note to teammates called Daily with HQ.
“Everything you want is on the other side of ‘hard’.” – CJ McCollum, NBA player McCollum is a story of overachievement. He was undersized. Played college basketball at a non-descript school. Was a long shot to be an NBA player but worked his way to being a first-round draft pick and was a solid star in his 10th year in the league. I heard him describe his approach to the game and his development on a podcast called
PalletOne leaders “happen to the world.” What does that mean? A PalletOne leader is confident. Each situation creates an opportunity for service and contribution. We are talented and put those talents to work. We see those around us as having talent. We seek to unlock it. We realize that we can be called upon to take the initiative to improve things at any moment. We act when the situation calls for it. We inspire through
“Weep, trust, pray, think, shift, hope, grow. Ways to handle suffering.” – Tim Keller Tim Keller was a preacher from New York City. He passed away in 2023. I followed him on Twitter because he tweeted profound thoughts like the one above. You don’t exit life without tough things happening to you. It’s a fact. None of us are exempt. In specific order, Keller gave us seven verbs to consider when challenged: Weep – It’s
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