wmarhel
15th April 2009, 08:51 AM
There is a guest blog post by Andrew (Drew) Dillon titled Time for Deep Lean (http://leanconnections.com/2009/time-for-deep-lean#more-545). Drew is one hell of a smart guy. He reads, writes and speaks several languages; as well as having spent an extensive amount of time as a translator for the likes of Shigeo Shingo during the course of his visits to the U.S., and many books on the Toyota Production System (TPS) from Japanese into English. He's also an especially skilled teacher on TPS.
The first two paragraphs alone shed some interesting perspective on the current economic situation:
Strange things happen in a crisis. Consider, for example, that some companies, in retrenchment mode, are cutting back on investments that not too long ago they were eager to make in learning and implementing the principles of the Toyota Production System. At least part of the market for improvement seems to be shrinking, in other words, at precisely the moment when just about everything in the marketplace seems to need improvement.
This is more than just strange. After all, Toyota’s management system was forged as a response to severe economic hardship, its basic mindset tempered by the threat of catastrophe. Circumstances have changed over the years, of course, but the Toyota system has proven to offer a potent and strikingly reliable way to survive-and even thrive-against fierce competition, in hard times as well as good. Its signal strengths - relentless cost cutting, commitment to people and dedication to long-term vision - are made for crisis.
It's worth a few minutes to read the entire post.
Wayne
The first two paragraphs alone shed some interesting perspective on the current economic situation:
Strange things happen in a crisis. Consider, for example, that some companies, in retrenchment mode, are cutting back on investments that not too long ago they were eager to make in learning and implementing the principles of the Toyota Production System. At least part of the market for improvement seems to be shrinking, in other words, at precisely the moment when just about everything in the marketplace seems to need improvement.
This is more than just strange. After all, Toyota’s management system was forged as a response to severe economic hardship, its basic mindset tempered by the threat of catastrophe. Circumstances have changed over the years, of course, but the Toyota system has proven to offer a potent and strikingly reliable way to survive-and even thrive-against fierce competition, in hard times as well as good. Its signal strengths - relentless cost cutting, commitment to people and dedication to long-term vision - are made for crisis.
It's worth a few minutes to read the entire post.
Wayne
