When starting out with Lean Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) – Less is More
In a post I wrote earlier this year, I talked about the key pitfalls of visual display boards and some tips for avoiding them. I briefly mentioned what I believe […]
Cookies will not hold me back forever. How even slow progress is still progress when it comes to Minimalism
Do you ever feel that you aren’t as minimalist as you could be? Have you had moments of guilt because you bought that extra throw pillow just for the amazing colour and texture, not because you really need a new throw pillow. For shame! Just kidding. The minimalist journey is a long one and often filled with times of slow progress and setbacks just like any other change.
Lean Leadership – The importance of having a clear target vision for your lean transformation.
One of the key pitfalls that companies fall into as they embark on a lean transformation is failing to establish a clear vision of what lean will look like when implemented in their business.
Minimalism is the absence of excess – how a change in perspective is fueling my weight loss journey
As I have pursued my weight loss journey I have assessed the quantity and quality of the food I eat and have realised that for years I have been over consuming. I did not stop and consider how much was right for me, I just assumed that whatever was in front of me was the right amount. I didn’t accept that I would need to make radical changes to clear the excess from my life.
Minimalism – My kids can’t mess up what doesn’t exist
My children are naturally attracted to leaving their toys, books, cups and pretty much everything on any surface or shelf in the house that’s available. The solution we accidentally stumbled across, apart from encouraging them to be less messy in the long term, was the effect of reducing unnecessary surfaces from the house.
Intentional Living – How I have used a key business method for improving my focus on personal growth
What I didn’t expect was that I would suddenly see how I could use these same techniques to gain focus and improve the implementation of my personal growth strategic plan and figure out how to take my goals and turn them into tangible actions and ultimately results.
Improve your 5S culture by lowering your standards
By setting a perfect standard we can sometimes make the standard impossible to realise. It's much better to set a realistic standard that requires some improvement to achieve but doesn't necessarily ask for perfection all at once.
Lean Leadership – How culture grows through empowering people to change their own processes
As I watch our team members explain how they or their team personally changed their own work processes for the better, I am reminded both of how far the culture has come in nearly three years and of the truth that lean culture grows out of the empowerment and commitment of people.
Minimalism – How my kids benefit from spending their weekends off the grid
In a previous post I talked about my family’s intention to spend more time in nature, living off the grid. Since then, we’ve spent a lot of time at our small piece of paradise and I’ve observed a number of developments in my two daughters since they’ve had ‘more of less.'
Minimalism – The art of furniture weight loss
The process involved in losing furniture weight is actually pretty simple and comes about through a few easy steps:
Minimalism – Food, Mindfulness & The Dalai Lama’s Cat
I think the answer lies in a more minimalist and mindful approach to food like the monks in the Dalai Lama's Cat. If I begin to consider food as something that should fit in with my values and beliefs, my mindset starts to change.
Intentional Living – 5 4 3 2 1, then move forwards
If you’ve been following my blog you’ll know that I’ve struggled a bit with motivation this year and have been slowly working to overcome this. Today I came across what […]
Minimalism – Eight days of silence
As the days passed I started to notice a pattern of the things I was using regularly in the house; bathroom, bed, dining table, couch, kettle, a plate, a few cups and so on. This led of course to realising all the things one person doesn’t use when living alone. The expression, ‘rattling around’ suddenly became real to me. I was ‘rattling around’ our downsized house
Minimalism – De-cluttering the ‘Hidden Items’
From the outside looking in, the whole concept seems simple. And yet, there I was on a recent rainy weekend, surrounded by a pile of random crockery, struggling to let it go out of my life. The reality is, handling items that have been part of your life can bring back memories and the emotions that arise can make it hard to let go.
Intentional Living – Breaking free of a results driven life
Plagued by a vague feeling that I wasn’t achieving, but with no proof available either way there were only two choices. I could stick to the plan, find ways to motivate myself and focus on moving forwards in blind faith or I could choose to do nothing, knowing I was making a deliberate choice not to move forwards. Without external feedback, there is no false hope that by some miracle, changes would happen. There is only following the process, or not.
Lean Leadership – The obligation to empower
To these leaders, the message is simple. If we waited for others to be doing improvement as a condition for us to do improvement, we would never do improvement. We can only improve ourselves and our own processes and set an example for others. How do we encourage others to improve? By setting the example.
Intentional Living – Focus on process actually requires focus…who knew?
If it wasn’t for this two month commitment to focusing on process, it is unlikely that I would have come to this conclusion. I would have measured my results, found them wanting, reset and just carried on and on, not getting into the details of why I wasn’t succeeding.
