As the end of the year looms, I'm beginning to think about catching up with my intentions for 2018 and recommitting or re-evaluating these for 2019. Today I came across an amusing but oh so pointed reminder about how our plans are only set in stone for about a minute after we make them and … Continue reading Intentional Living – Why a plan is not going to be enough for 2019
Author: the lean minimalist
Minimalism – I can’t believe we ever had that many toys
Recently I was going through some old phone photos and videos. They were from a few years ago when my younger daughter was still a toddler. Taken in our old, supersized house, I was staggered to see the amount of toys we had all over the place. It was in no way a small house … Continue reading Minimalism – I can’t believe we ever had that many toys
The Three Essential Things Every Company Needs for a Successful Lean Transformation
The pursuit of perfection in systems and processes has been the key theme of my career for twenty years. Now I’ve read a ton of books, lean books, theory of constraint books, books about how to combine theory of constraints and lean and don’t even get me started on books about six sigma. But earlier in my career I found that not one of those books gave me any pointers on how to move a company from one state to another in terms of culture, or how to create momentum. For sure, I knew about Value Stream Mapping, PDCA cycles and Just in Time but what I was lacking was the secret formula to making lean or any other methodology really work.
The Most Exciting Thing
As we have gotten closer and closer to the end of the first stage, our team has started talking about what happens next and which areas of the process will be worked on next. The resulting plan is so exciting that we all feel like something wonderful is just around the corner.
A Year of Living Intentionally
I think the real lesson I’ve learned this year is that despite the obstacles, the chaos and the general randomness of life, attempting to live intentionally creates a solid, reassuring theme through it all.
Minimalism – Letting Go of Organised Hoarding
For years before I started to pursue minimalism as a way of life I was a champion organised hoarder. I could satisfy my need to be on top of things by making sure that everything was labelled or in it's assigned container. Whole days were spent putting things in order when it all got out of hand, which of course it always does when you live with someone else who has better things to do than keep everything just so.
Clear that Desk! – Tips on achieving a more minimalist, lean workspace
Earlier this year I wrote a post about managing workplace clutter and my own personal quest for a minimal ‘lean’ workspace. At the time, I wasn’t sure how easy my seriously pared down workspace was going to work out. Would I be buried under clutter a few months later, or constantly frustrated by having nowhere to put anything?
