It’s been a busy few weeks for me filled with great learning and travel! But all of this “doing” also means that I haven’t been able to keep up with writing.
I’m about to jump on a trans-Pacific flight alone with a two-year old and five-year old, so as you might imagine, blog writing is not going to happen on the flight.
I wanted to give you a highlight of posts to come, which I’ll share from some of my top tweets the past few weeks. You can follow me on Twitter (@kbjanderson) to get more real time insights, photos and articles that I enjoy.
Visit to a Tokyo hospital
I had a follow up conversation with the Medical Director of Quality Improvement and one of the business managers of Quality a few weeks ago. It was a great exchange about quality and process improvement in both Japanese and Western hospitals.
@MarkGraban I just shared my copy of "Lean Hospitals" with a Japanese hospital. They are eager to learn. Japan-US #lean knowledge exchange!
— Katie Anderson (@kbjanderson) March 3, 2016
You can read about my previous visits to this hospital, including my discussion about healthcare quality and leadership with the President and attending the hospital’s Quality Committee.
International Lean connections
Over the past 48 hours I’ve meet up with Lean practitioners from Spain, Poland, Italy, Germany, and Japan!
It was great to meet so many new people from around the world who share my passion for developing people, and I really enjoyed being back in the gemba to learn from Japanese manufacturing organizations.
Gemba visits with Langas Group
Thank you to the Langas Group from Poland who invited me to join their Lean study trip this past week. And thank you to them to extending the invitation to my friend at Toyota mentor Mr. Yoshino on my request!
24 hours of #lean learning in Nagoya with 5 nationalities! Thank you to Langas Group from Poland for invitation. pic.twitter.com/e3jRvFXAak
— Katie Anderson (@kbjanderson) March 17, 2016
I was only able to join for 24 hours, but it was a fabulous experience. I jumped on the Shinkansen (90 minutes from Tokyo to Nagoya) in time to meet Mr. Yoshino and join the Polish group for dinner.
On a Shinkansen to Nagoga to join a Polish #lean study trip, visit 2 companies and meet up w/ Mr. Yoshino! #gemba pic.twitter.com/9hLHedaLO8
— Katie Anderson (@kbjanderson) March 16, 2016
Yesterday, we visited Toto (the toilet makers) and AVEX (a high precision instrument supplier). I was very impressed with both companies and look forward to having time to write so I can share more of my take aways.As I’ve written before, they might not call themselves “Lean”, but they have a deep practice of developing people, kaizen, and visual management.
Toto
At Toto, we had three different interpreters working simultaneously – Polish, Italian and English!
If the top goals of company are clear, employees will be motivated to do their best to improve and contribute to goal. -Toto #kaizen #japan
— Katie Anderson (@kbjanderson) March 17, 2016
Japanese simultaneously interpreted into Polish, Italian and English. #gemba #Kaizen gemba tour to Toto today. pic.twitter.com/Zk15C7kPLI
— Katie Anderson (@kbjanderson) March 17, 2016
Toto's 3 top policy goals: good employee, good company, good product. Work on all 3 at same time. #lean #gemba #Japan #kaizen
— Katie Anderson (@kbjanderson) March 17, 2016
Sushi boat lunch
Visual management at sushi restaurant in #Japan. Color codes indicate your table's order on conveyor. #lean #kaizen pic.twitter.com/CfQ2Z9LsDI
— Katie Anderson (@kbjanderson) March 17, 2016
AVEX
Meshi (business card) exchange. Poland #Lean study trip in#Japan. Many blog posts to write now to share learning! pic.twitter.com/0PKQQzSnjI
— Katie Anderson (@kbjanderson) March 17, 2016
Examples of visual systems at Japanese company. Daily production, problems, and #kaizen. #lean #japan pic.twitter.com/yXvYT7vJsc
— Katie Anderson (@kbjanderson) March 17, 2016
"Don't be content w/ current condition. If you don't keep changing, company will eventually go bankrupt." -Japanese company chairman #lean
— Katie Anderson (@kbjanderson) March 17, 2016
Always many shoe changes in Japan. Outdoor -> Indoor -> bathroom. Cleanliness is priority. pic.twitter.com/F9QgNvsY4n
— Katie Anderson (@kbjanderson) March 17, 2016
Back to Tokyo to meet with Rafa from Spain!
After the tours, I got back to Nagoya in time to meet Rafael Lucero, who was visiting Japan from Spain. Rafael is putting together a Lean study trip to Japan for Spanish audiences this August! I was able to introduce him to Mr. Yoshino and I am going to help make connections with hospitals in Japan.
You can read about Rafael’s planning trip to Japan on his blog.
Capping off a fabulous 30 hours of international #lean connections in #Japan. Great to have dinner with @rafalu0! pic.twitter.com/DuV42TFjzT
— Katie Anderson (@kbjanderson) March 17, 2016
Looking forward to dinner at causal Japanese robataya. #Tokyo dining! pic.twitter.com/ewTAibaBDd
— Katie Anderson (@kbjanderson) March 17, 2016
Lean teaching and coaching in the U.S.
And now it is time to fly to the United States!
I’ll be spending time with family, as well as working with one of my healthcare clients and teaching a Lean Coaching class with my friend and mentor Margie Hagene. One of our topics will be how to ask more effective questions.
Note – if you are in Japan, I’ll be teaching a one-day version of this course in April through Temple University. (See tweet below for link).
How can you ask more effective questions? Register for leadership class I'm teaching 4/23 in #Tokyo https://t.co/WKNGb8YLtH
— Katie Anderson (@kbjanderson) February 25, 2016
