Improving Forward

New Post has been published on https://pjneyman.com/not-everybody-comes-out-brothers-but-we-are-all-brethren/

not everybody comes out brothers, but we are all brethren.

just a little insight into veterans

2/505 Airborne Infantry Regiment

New Post has been published on https://pjneyman.com/tempo-ride/

Tempo Ride

Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/P9Zu7EvNE6

New Post has been published on https://pjneyman.com/?p=1477

Piddling Around the Riverfront on a Warm Winter Evening

Travails along the Ohio.

So, I thought to myself, the wise thing to do before crossing the creek is to unclip.

Sure, staying clipped in on the down went well, but there was a muddy bank on the other side.

So, naturally — half-way through the creek — I clipped in….because I wanted the extra umph up the muddy bank.  And if I fell, so what?….it’s just mud.

Shortly after, I bogged down in the mud, and at a stop, fell onto my left side.

And of course, my knee and my elbow found the only two large rocks on the bank, under the mud.

Good news: my shoes and my phone are waterproof, as advertised.

~ Photos by Patrick Neyman

New Post has been published on https://improvingforward.com/?p=31

Lean is Implemented Ineffectively Most of the Time

As a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, I find LEAN to be an invaluable tool.

Like Six Sigma, Lean contains a toolbox of templates, recipes, and best-known practices.  Also like Six Sigma, Lean is most commonly used incorrectly.

Most Lean-certified practitioners use their Lean handouts or guidebook as a final solution, rather than a set of guidelines to arrive at the proper path to a solution.

Worse yet, this is how they critique others: whether they know the keywords in Japanese. 

As soon as I hear someone throwing those words around — and I hear it all the time — I am 95% certain they just don’t get it. 

Using words people don’t readily understand is counter to the Lean philosophy.

This is a time for a lot of growth in Lean, so the market is saturated with junk

…just like every growth period.  Everyone wants to get on the bandwagon and brag about how great they are…..by using those Japanese words.

It’s a market filled with people selling themselves, speckled with the rare person who truly has incorporated a lean-type philosophy in their daily lives.

The U.S. Military and Veterans

Who is the greatest user of Lean:  The U.S. Military.

I discovered this to be true as I applied those learnings to Electrolux, Framatome, Babcock & Wilcox, Virginia Tech, Intel and Tyco Electronics.  At the latter two companies, I was formally trained in Lean and Six Sigma because of my natural talents….those I learned from the U.S. Army.

I wish executives realized how valuable Veterans are, and how un-knowledgeable those with a quick certificate and years of bad practice are.

Lean leadership ranks

The Lean Directors and Lean VPs I have encountered are those un-knowledgeable people that judge only on buzzwords because that’s all they know. 

Then the worker gets left behind, along with the shareholders and the customers.

Who is responsible?

Of course, leadership.  But more so, culture.

Pressure comes from above to have immediate results, rather than performing properly planned and coordinated projects that would lead to permanent change.

Leadership is near-sighted because the stock market and shareholders are near-sighted.

The executive is there to be the glue between them and the workings of the company itself.

Executives need to be educated

  Author: Patrick Neyman

    This is an opinion piece, based on my observations.

New Post has been published on https://pjneyman.com/?p=1469

Executives and Management Break Lean (and six-sigma)

The State of Lean, from improvingforward.com.

In corporations and institutions of all sorts, the phenomenon of well-meaning leaders hindering and destroying excellent programs.  Profits, jobs, and the economy all suffer.

Lean is Implemented Ineffectively Most of the Time

So True!!!

Lean and Six Sigma are implemented in hazardous ways nearly everywhere.

New Post has been published on https://pjneyman.com/?p=1458

Memories of California

Video Photo Collage of my time in California, featuring Patrick, Julia, and Misu