 Reforming Project Management |
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Friday, May 21, 2004
Jim Womack in Great Form
Jim Womack, co-author of The Machine that Changed the World and Lean Thinking, joined Greg Howell and me and dozens more for a 75 minute concall. Right off the bat Jim teased us with his announcement that a new book is in the works to be published in the fall. No title as of yet, but he's dealing with the subject of lean consumption. What he means by that will have to wait. (I hope to offer a preview on this page.) We did record the session. You can listen by calling 405-244-4000, Box 199. The recordng will be available until the next teleconference. (Sorry for the first few minutes of confusion on the recording.) Jim acknowledged his inattention to the world of projects. Even so, he offered insights that are instructive to all of us attempting to do our projects more reliably and without waste. Two comments stood out for me. First, even the best intentioned companies struggle to accomplish a lean transformation. The "common sense" of economies of scale, mass production, and the pursuit of local productivity gains pervades. Second, just getting something started takes lean leadership -- someone with enough respect and clout bringing a sense of urgency -- otherwise you can expect just curious experiments. One of our questions was about the eighth waste. Jim and Dan Jones have been quoted as changing their view. Not so. In the first edition of Lean Thinking the authors called the eighth waste providing something that the client didn't value. In the second edition the authors spoke about the underutilization of human potential as a key concern. In no way did they intend to give the impression that they were abandoning the described eighth waste. Those are my highlights. Now let's hear from some of the other participants. Please leave your comments. Next up: Rob Galford and Anne Seibold Drapeau speaking about their book The Trusted Leader. Read this review. Mark your calendar for June 24th, 1:00 - 2:15 PM Eastern. If you haven't signed up for the series then do so now by visiting Conversations with Project Authors. I had the pleasure of meeting Rob at a breakfast session. Not only will the conversation be practical it will be provocative. Bad News Bears Repeating
Projects @ Work relaunched recently as an online only (for now) offering. Aaron Smith is the editor and publisher. In his commentary yesterday, Bad News Bears Repeating, Aaron claims we place too much emphasis on process and not enough on the people using the process. It's a nice piece worth your attention. Thursday, May 20, 2004
Trench Warfare -- Time to Get Serious about Planning
People are starting work before the tasks are ready to be started AND completed. Trenches are dug when excavators are available. Or, the work has gotten behind, so in an attempt to catch up people begin work without planning for it. Trenches stay open while the rest of the work is prepared. Everyday the trench is open the walls degrade. A trench is a hazard. Working in a trench is risky. Spreading that work over a series of days is significantly more dangerous than getting in and out on one day. That is compounded by similar poorly prepared tasks that are started around the trench. At some point there is a network effect. The confluence of small issues "tips" the site to a dangerous situation. Construction work is hazardous. We expose our workers unnecessarily to further hazard due to the failure of work not being prepared and other work not finishing reliably as promised. It's time to get serious about only asking people to do work that is in a condition to start and complete uninterrupted. Read Safety Everyday's construction safety in the news sideblog. Monday, May 17, 2004
Ask Jim Womack a Question
Pass along a question for our teleconference with Jim Womack. Leave a comment to this posting. We'll select questions to ask. We'll also report back here what Jim said. Of course, you can always join us and ask your question yourself. If you haven't signed up, then do so now at leader.halmacomber.com/project_authors.html. Sunday, May 16, 2004
Join Us for a Conversation with Jim Womack
Stop by the Lean Enterprise Institute to see what Jim has been doing. Visit the Archives for more postings |
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