You’d call me a student of Lean because for as long as I’ve been working, I’ve been trying to learn and promote the tenants of Lean Manufacturing.  I say student because I’m constantly learning more and even more often being humbled by how much i don’t know.

I think my biggest aha moment came when I discovered 2 Second Lean.  Paul Aker’s deceptively simple book drops the theory and academic pretense of most Lean tomes and replaces it with a simple magic formula for jump-starting a culture where engagement and improvement thrive.  Here’s the secret:  1) fix what bugs you. 2) share your improvements in quick 30-second videos.  Yup, that’s it.  Wanna see ours?

Okay, so maybe there’s more to it…but at its core I’ve discovered that the one indispensable element in Lean is team engagement;  making every single player at your company know that they can (and must) make their world a little bit better every day.  The rest all flows from there.

I’m not sure why I resisted the video part for so long…typical Canadian modesty probably.  I know my team also found it awkward at first to go on camera.  But if we’re going to compete on a big stage we need to practice singing louder.  So I’ve decided it’s time to take it to the next level and share our progress with the world.  My hope is that it will help us all improve and make our industry and our world a little bit better every day.  See our YouTube Channel for more.  Join the movement and post your own improvement videos!