Lean Leadership for Ops Managers

We were really proud of the leader standard work “program” we collectively built. And then . . . it completely flopped. Hear this real-life practical example of how NOT to implement leader standard work. The best part is, the mistakes I’m sharing today were made by yours truly. If you haven’t listened to episode 29 with Mike Wroblewski yet, be sure to check it out. It will give you the lens to bet...

Leader Standard Work tends to be that thing on our “Lean to-do lists” that stays just out of reach for so many. But leader standard work doesn’t have to be so elusive. Mike Wroblewski, President of Dantotsu Consulting and  co-author of “Creating a Kaizen Culture”, shares: * What leader standard work is (and is not) * How the purpose of leader standard work escapes us at times * The first place to...

I’ll be honest, lately there are tasks I just don’t want to do. We've all been there, right?  My normal techniques to muscle through weren’t working. We're continuing our series on time, and when I have projects building up that I don't want to do I get stressed and lack motivation.  It was time to take action. I turned to LinkedIn to get your best advice on how to stop procrastinat...

Are you sabotaging your team's ability to manage time? It’s common for leaders to not have enough time for it all. Typically, this means leaders have to make difficult choices every day in how they will spend their time.  How do senior leaders impact how effectively and how aligned those choices are made? If you’re a leader of leaders, this is the episode for you. Get full show notes and more...

Have you ever wished for more time? As we continue with our series inspired by the interview in Episode 24 with Patrick Adams, today we tackle this common problem. I'm going to use the model of Toyota Kata , the Improvement Kata in particular,  and then we're going to talk a little bit about how we apply it to this problem like,” I just don't have enough time” or “I'm not spend...

Have you ever felt like you're drowning in your work and just trying to keep your head above water? How do you create the time to practice Lean thinking and working in your leadership role when it feels like there’s just not enough of it? Inspired by our conversation with Patrick Adams in episode 24, I'll be sharing 6 steps to get you moving in the right direction. Get full show notes an...

Ops Leaders, here is my question for you this week: when it comes to a continuous improvement culture, how do you assess where your organization is today and what to prioritize? That's exactly what we're talking about today with our guest, Patrick Adams. I'm so excited for you to join me for a conversation about lean culture with the author of Avoiding the Continuous Appearance Trap...

You know how sometimes you start something with certain expectations . . . and then you find that your biggest lessons (and your biggest wins) actually come from something different than you expected? This podcast journey has been that way to me. Raise your hand if you can relate! In this episode I hope that hearing about my wins and gains from podcasting will help you as you’re reflecting, planni...

As we start a new year, I wanted to build off of last week’s episode with Katie Anderson and share with you the Top 6 episodes of the podcast from 2020. As we go through the episodes I’ll also share powerful questions including one from my friend Sandi that I think you’ll enjoy. She recently asked on social media, “What can you do today that you were not capable of 12 months ago?”  Think about it...

We throw around the phrase “set intention” quite a bit, but what does that really mean? How is intention different from goals? And how can we use both intention and goals together? In this episode, I talk with Katie Anderson, author of Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn . We explore the differences between intention and goals, setting intention at different levels, and tactical steps to practice i...

December and this time of year are a season of generosity. Without diving into the origins or religious associations of the various winter holidays, there is a general sense of giving in the air during this time of year. And today I have a gift for you. Make a note of this link: www. ProcessPlusResults.com/free Give the gift of learning to others, by sharing this link with them (and you can grab t...

If you’ve listened to the podcast before you’ve no doubt heard me say that “Leadership is a Relationship”, but do you know what that means? It means some of the things you do to be a good leader can also serve you well in your personal relationships. Especially when we’re home for the holidays. This is often a stressful time for folks, and there’s no doubt that difficulties we’ve all faced this ye...

Are you ready to hear about rabbits and raccoons today? Surely you’re curious. As we approach the close of the calendar year, I wanted to do a little recap of my year, including the biggest lesson I learned and how it might help you, too. Let’s get started! Get full show notes and more information here: https://processplusresults.com/podcast/018

It’s important to remember during this holiday season that while work is made up of process, organizations are made up of people. And with people come emotions.  If you’re a team leader you should be aware of some of the struggles your team members might be facing during this time . . .  especially since the pandemic has likely increased the occurrences of struggle. So today, I’m going to walk you...

“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgiving, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” Gratitude definitely has a role to play in leadership because it can change how you show up. Today, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, we’ll be talking about how incorporating a gratitude practice into your work routine can literally change your brain and improve your...

Daily meetings. Huddles. Startups. Tiered Meetings. Standups. Whatever you call them . . . today we’ll talk with experts about how to execute and improve daily meetings. Many organizations use daily huddles as the core routine that brings them all together. But let’s be real - building engaging, effective, daily huddles that serve the greater purpose can be challenging to achieve. Guests Meredith...

Leadership is to serve and develop people through human interactions and relationships towards the achievement of goals that support purpose. So, if leadership happens through human interactions and relationships, what are those interactions? Today we’ll dive deeper into The 5 Leadership Interactions that collectively build your relationships with team members. When we create awareness of The Five...

What is Lean Leadership? You’ve heard me talk about this A LOT over the last 12 episodes but it’s time for a deeper look.  In today’s episode, I’ll break down what both Lean and Leadership mean to me, which then drives how I develop leaders. You’ll hear key components to consider when moving Lean Leadership beyond a buzzword to definable meaning. This is my living and growing definition. Things ca...

CEOs, COOs, and Operations Executives - this episode is for you.  In 2020, we learned some hard lessons and uncovered the need to build organizational agility. Lean provides a roadmap for us to get there, building the learning organization that can navigate in unchartered territory and innovate to sustain a competitive edge. But too often, our Lean efforts stall out.  In this Bonus Episode, you’ll...

Join me for a special conversation with Ron Pereira, co-founder of Gemba Academy. We both get pumped up as Ron shares his advice for Ops Managers on building your Lean management foundation. Ron walks through four routines that work together systematically to help you change the way you’re managing your operations so that you and your team can make work easier, better, and faster. After five guest...

Before we get into the three pitfalls and mistakes I want to share with you today, it’s important for you to know that I have fallen into every single one of them.  Building off of the mistakes in Episode 10, I wanted to share more Lean implementation hazards that might take you off track on your Lean journey - and what steps operations executives, managers, and leads need to do instead. I hope yo...

It’s time for you ops leaders and I to have a heart to heart on what I think is one of the top mistakes that ops managers make when they decide to use Lean thinking and working in their operation and leadership. If you’re just starting your lean journey, you’ll be happy you listened to this episode. Last week in Episode 9, I shared my thoughts on what I think Lean folks get wrong about ops manager...

If you’re an Ops Manager, you might not know what the Lean world has been saying about you… but I’m here with today’s episode to share a different viewpoint. I will share what I believe is the biggest misconception Lean practitioners hold about Ops Managers, Leaders, and Executives. We’ll talk about why I think this common thought is inaccurate, what’s actually happening instead, and what it means...

Today, I'm answering YOUR questions about Recognition. Is recognition always needed? How do I make saying “thank you” to my team less awkward? These are just some of the questions addressed in today’s Ask Jamie episode. This recognition unit was going to be a three-part series. That all changed once I received questions from listeners like you.   Today, I’ll share with you questions and answe...

What about recognition in the real world? You know, when we’re busy and have numbers to hit and issues to deal with. Join us for our first guest interview with Eric Wood as we explore recognition in Lean manufacturing. Eric serves as the Safety and Maintenance manager at a manufacturing company, where he leads a total team of 30, including both individual contributors and Team Leads. Eric will sha...