Lean Consultants, Larry & Mike, were on campus again this past week. During there visit, they facilitated a very memorable training exercise with our Lean facilitators. It involved each facilitator choosing a “Lean Tip” from a sheet of over 50 tips that Mike has collected throughout the years and relating that tip to their Lean training experience thus far. Here are some examples of the tips:
- Team members will become “lean thinkers” at different times; keep moving forward, sharing successes and lessons until you hit the tipping point for true culture change.
- Fairness and respect for all are cornerstones.
- Do not attempt changes/improvements without the input of affected stakeholders.
Kari Pietrzyk, Event Associate in the MUB presented on the tip, “the greatest risk is not taking one.” Here is her take:
“The greatest risk is not taking one. We would never learn if we never tried. We have to take risks to go further in our personal lives, like having children or starting a new job. Inventions would have never happened. There would be no airplanes, automobiles of computers. Life is full of risks, we need to choose wisely, to which ones will take us further and which ones will stop us in our tracks. We can learn from our mistakes or choose to ignore them. Every mistake is one step closer to doing something the correct way. I believe Lean is all about taking risks. To accomplish any task requires some risk. To make a process better also requires a risk.”
