Irving, Texas saves $30 MIL using Lean Six Sigma

http://technorati.com/politics/article/texas-city-saves-30-million-by/


This is what I mean for Lean! Is is extraordinary and very reassuring. When I hear people saying that Lean cannot be applied in the Public sector, I get very frustrated. It is NOT true. We just need to have the right Leaders and anything is possible.
If you have time, listed to the podcast:
http://americancityandcounty.com/administration/lean-six-sigma

Time Flies!

Wow! It has been almost two weeks that I have not posted anything! This is probably "lean" because I had nothing to say and post something just for doing it, it would not have been lean!
So, I am now just saying .. wait for the next time!

Obama to Congress: Let's create 'effective, LEAN gov't'

This is a piece of President Obama's speech to the Congress, yesterday:

The point, the White House says, is not just making the government smaller but better by saving people time and eliminating bureaucratic nightmares. The idea for the consolidated business agency grew out of discussions with hundreds of business leaders and agency heads over the last several months.

Read more: http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20120113/POLITICS/120119938


Again, I am not in politics, but I think it is great that politicians are looking into this. Surely, it should have come earlier, but "better later than ever!"
Now, Implementation and Communication should be two major parts of his plan. Obama should constantly communicate his implementation strategy and stats should be open to everyone to evaluate. Something else very important, will be to develop Performance Measurements to track how the offices were doing, what the goal is and track the actual performance all the way through. With the transparency of this tool, everyone will realize the benefits of this choice.
This is even more true as we are talking about services paid by the tax-payer.


Also, something-else that should be considered, is that Lean will NOT work if the intent is to lay-off people. Lean will only work if those people involved in the merge will realize that their job in not at-stake, but that, with the change, they will be "moved" into a new position more suitable to their skill.
Good Luck Mr. President

ER

This past week was very interesting to me because I spent a couple of long nights in the Emergency Room: one for me and another one for one of my daughters.
In any events, I am now here .. healthy ... to talk about how Lean was my experience. 
While my visit to the pediatrician went very well, the link and communication between my doc and the ER was not very ... Lean. After spending 2 hours at the doctor's office to diagnose the situation, he realizes that he needed to send us to the ER. He calls the ER and tell them what was happening and that he was sending us to them. Now, my expectation, was that those at the ER knew what was going on ... instead NO. I had to re-explain the situation and they had to reassess my daughter. I really thought: "didn't my doctor just called and explained everything?"
In any event, once they triaged her we had to wait, wait and wait ... In all honesty, and a side for the wait, the entire experience going forward was very "lean": 

• there was someone updating us on the situation, every 5 minutes
• someone else was there to entertain the children
• someone else was going around to check if parents need anything
• once in the room, the all process was very quick, they tried to put us ad-ease ... they even gave a DVD player with Disney movie to watch.

I felt like they really cared about the "client" perspective.

What has been your ER experience?

Looking forward to hear your impressions.

7 Wastes That Will Add Value

I received this article as part of Leanovation, LLC Lean Newsletter January 2012 Issue. I thought it was a very nice article - Take this Pledge with me!
Leanovation - Newsletter January 2012

Here are 7 Wastes (Tom D. WIP) That Will Add Value Take a Personal Pledge to Perform these Wastes in 2012

Transportation:  Take a trip somewhere new to enjoy the unknown or travel to visit a relative or friend who you have not visited with in a while to share some memories and laughs. Overproduction:  When making a meal, make more than your family can eat and package the overproduction and deliver it to a neighbor in need. Motion:  Ask a child to play a game outside like; hop-scotch, jump rope, or a simple game of catch. This will be great exercise for you but also teach a child some simple outdoors activities that appear to be missing in today's high tech world. Defects:  Play a high tech game with a child, one that you have never played before (such as on Wii, X-Box, Nintendo, etc.) and enjoy and laugh at the many mistakes, errors and defects you create. Remember each mistake or error you create is really just another learning opportunity to improve. Waiting:  Take an elderly person to a doctor's appointment and sit in the waiting room for them, or offer to take their car in for an oil change and be willing to wait for the service to be performed. Inventory:  The next time your grocery store has a big sale (like buy 1 get 2 free), take advantage to stock up on inventory and drive it right over to your local food bank where many needy families can enjoy it. Processing:  Make 2012 the year you will take the extra time to manually process a "hand-written" note to individuals who deserve a thank you, nice job done or a simple appreciation note.

Strong America Now

And as many of you know, I am not into politics at all, but by searching on Google news on Lean Six Sigma, I came across this website. 
http://strongamericanow.org/

"Strong America Now is proposing that every department, agency and program in the federal government go through the waste elimination process, Lean Six Sigma. This process is a proven method of eliminating waste with a focus on speed and quality. Mike George, the founder of Strong America Now, is the pioneer of Lean Six Sigma. He estimates that at least 25 percent all government spending is waste that can be eliminated. With the skyrocketing national deficit, Strong America Now believes the president has a duty to look at eliminating waste. The group's plans to influence the next president to do just that." (StrongAmericaNow)
Strong America Now is really trying to do, in the Public Sector, what many private companies have done with extraordinary results.
I agree with the principles explained in this website and with its plan. They all make a lot of sense. Deficit, and Unemployment - for me - are the two major plagues of these last few years and we need to address them drastically.


These concepts relate, a lot, with what I am doing at work. Again, I promised not to talk about work, but I can share that the intention of our plan is to reduce the waste that relies in our day-to-day operations and focus on the Values we need to bring to the taxpayers.
Happy reading and please sign the pledge!