Gemba Tales Blog

Remember back when your math teacher told you to "show your work"?

Ritsuo Shingo, son of the great Shigeo Shingo, gave a keynote address during the 22nd annual International Shingo Conference this past week.

Let’s set the stage. The team has just completed what many call a flow kaizen – in which the focus is the flow of materials, patients, customers, etc. and information.

It's not quite on par with the 5 whys (heck, that's five questions, more or less), but "so what?" isn't far behind. It's a question that begs closure, as in, "what are we going to do about that?"

Kaizen opportunities are often best identified (and done) by those who do the work. This is critical if you're trying to create and sustain a kaizen culture.

Today's Wall Street Journal front page contained an article entitled, "Moment of Truth for Productivity Boom." The article reflected on the fact th