There are four purposes of improvement: easier, better, faster, and cheaper. These four goals appear in the order of priority.
A relentless barrage of ‘why’s’ is the best way to prepare your mind to pierce the clouded veil of thinking caused by the status quo. Use it often.
The best approach is to dig out and eliminate problems where they are assumed not to exist.
Lean is a way of thinking- not a list of things to do.
Improvement usually means doing something that we have never done before.
The most dangerous kind of waste is the waste we do not recognize.
Unless you change direction, you will end up where you are headed.
When you buy bananas all you want is the fruit not the skin, but you have to pay for the skin also. It is a waste. And you the customer should not have to pay for the waste.
It’s only the last turn of a bolt that tightens it – the rest is just movement.
Are you too busy for improvement? Frequently, I am rebuffed by people who say they are too busy and have no time for such activities. I make it a point to respond by telling people, look, you’ll stop being busy either when you die or when the company goes bankrupt.
Those who are not dissatisfied will never make any progress.
Even the greatest idea can become meaningless in the rush to judgement. To gauge an idea as feasible we must cut our ties to the status quo and find the balance between constructive criticism and judgment. Within that balance we will uncover crucial input for making our ideas a reality.