Editorial
Reviews
From
the Author
This book can be useful to both
people who are very familiar with the Kaizen process and those entirely new to
the process. Experienced readers should just review Chapter Four: Tools and
Descriptions, first. Then they should look at the following chapters:
· Chapter Six: Make Kaizens Creative and Fun
· Chapter Seven: Amazon Fun Training Exercise
· Chapter Eight: Starbucks Fun Training Exercise
· Chapter Nine: Oil Change Fun Exercise
· Chapter Seventeen: Common Kaizen Mistakes
· Chapter Five: Kaizen Success Stories
Inexperienced readers are going to have to try to read through the book in
roughly chapter order. Do not try to read the book in one sitting. Take your
time to absorb and understand the Kaizen process. I recommend that you pay
special attention to Chapter Five: Kaizen Success Stories. The Kaizen tools
have been around for years.
As I stated in the introduction, this book may not be exactly what you are
looking for, but it does reflect my opinion of what can work when using the
Kaizen process. Change is always a tough path for many people. The Kaizen
process encourages small changes but often it can produce even more spectacular
results. I have repeated some points that I believe are important.
From
the Inside Flap
In his new creative book Kaizen
Kreativity (Oops) or Don't Be Afraid of Looking Stupid. I'm an Expert at It! author
Dr. Tom DePaoli offers an entertaining and creative approach to improving work
processes. He uses a variety of techniques including story-telling, imaginative
training exercises and ready to go outlines of PowerPoints on Kaizens. He
uses self-deprecating humor to recall the many times when he stumbled, when
trying to implement Kaizen events. The book also serves as a good desktop guide
to Kaizens with a wealth of information on how to organize for Kaizen events.
Dr. DePaoli shows that just using a few Kaizen tools can often result in
significant gains. The book will help both the novice and experienced Kaizen
leader.
He shows real life examples of teams that made great gains. By following these
stories the reader can gain a career's worth of experience in Kaizen events.
Like many good business leaders, the author places getting the trust of the
Kaizen work team first and foremost in his book. He emphasizes the intense
preparations for the Kaizen event. His book tackles common mistakes in the
Kaizen event, dealing with team bad actors and building a strong relationship
with the Kaizen champion. It provides elements of a desktop guide along with
suggestions on how to make the Kaizen tools exciting. This is a novel guide to
a Kaizen event.
"Above all don't be afraid of looking stupid! I'm an expert at it!
And it has served me very well."
From
the Back Cover
This book is dedicated to all the
people whom I have worked with and for in my career. The book is a summary of
many of the Kaizen lessons that I learned in my career. I have used a very
different approach in this book. It is an eclectic style, so be warned in advance.
Readers will find serious sections, humorous areas, and creativity-nudging
attempts. I believe in the Kaizen process and I have seen tremendous results
from its application. One never knows if the changes created will be slight or
colossal! This is part of the excitement of the Kaizen voyage.
I have woven together many of the lessons learned in this book to help you
avoid the numerous mistakes that I have made. I do hope the reader will gain
valuable insights from my Kaizen adventures. In order to protect some clients
and colleagues, I had to keep the Kaizen tools and results somewhat disguised.
I strongly believe in the Kaizen process so I hope the reader is not offended
by my fervor. I do realize that the Kaizen is not always the right tool for
process improvement and often fails when misapplied.
The book does serve as a fundamental field manual guide to Kaizens, but it
can't meet every need of every reader. Most of my Kaizen experience has been
with large and medium-sized corporations. However, the principles do apply to
small businesses.
I sometimes repeat what I consider important points about process improvement
principles for the reader. Be patient with this approach; reinforcement does
work. I really believe that Kaizens are a fine instrument for creativity in
organizations and should not be underestimated. The journey of Kaizen
discovery, although many times tedious and frustrating, can be great fun. Some
of this book is my attempt to make it fun for you. I hope that the reader en
joys the Kaizen adventure as much as I did. I will start with reinterpreting
the definition. Kaizen (ka-ee_sen) means a change for the better. This
is a philosophy of reducing waste while constantly improving the process. Small
changes are powerful. My Kaizen definition is a creative but structured
approach to improve a process, or to eliminate anything of nonvalue, by the
people who actually do the work.
This book is definitely my way of doing a Kaizen with my preferences. I
have found that using this approach has been the most successful for me and my
clients. This does not mean that other methods will not work. This approach has
been tested by me and seems to work well. I do urge you to adjust your approach
based on the culture of your organization!
Chapter two gives you various ideas on how to read this book depending on your
skill level and familiarity with the Kaizen concept. Please vary your Kaizen
approach based on your experiences and your organization.
Above all, don't be afraid of looking stupid! I'm an expert at it! And it has
served me very well. |
Contact Dr. Tom = thomasdepaoli@yahoo.com
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My Books link:
https://www.amazon.com/Tom-DePaoli/e/B003XSV1IQ
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