Whether practical, profound, or humorous, the guidance that your best mentors provided was just what you needed, just when you needed it during your personal lean journeys.
What follows are the replies to the question we asked: “Think of the best mentor/coach you’ve had on your lean journey. What did he or she do to help you become a better problem solver?”
Other coaching resources:
“The two best mentors/coaches I had were quick to look for team members’ strengths and to utilize team members where they could contribute the most. They never made anyone feel as if they did not have anything to contribute. Plus they ensured the team(s), i.e. the process owners, worked to improve their process using their ideas and fixes. The mentor/coach guided the team(s), worked to better the team’s understanding of process improvement and the tools used, but never came up with the solution. They assisted the team(s) to discover the true performance gaps and let the team(s) follow through using the A3 methodology.”
“I have worked with other mentors/coaches who dismissed others’ ideas and/or thoughts. It was very clear they did so because those ideas/thoughts did not agree with the direction they wanted to take. It was as if the team was there to validate the mentor’s/coach’s/facilitator’s process improvement skills, not for the mentor/coach/facilitator to assist the team through their process improvement journey.” – Dalia Lopez, six sigma black belt, GE
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“My first mentor/coach started me off with a gemba walk through the plant on my very first day. It was a great experience. He followed up with handing me a copy of ‘Andy and Me‘ and told me to read it and prepare a report and be ready for a presentation to my team Leaders the very next week. It was within a two week period that I was hooked on the gemba walk and the power of observation. To this day,…I have to be out ‘on the floor’ every minute possible in my day. It is my passion. Thanks to my mentor/coach!” – Thomas Ligocki, owner, Lean System Solutions
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” My best mentors were all my Japanese trainers at Toyota (TMMK) plant, they taught me how to go and see, look at processes, and engage and involve people by respecting their ability to think! Best lessons ever! I’m thankful!!” – Tracey Stamper Richardson
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“The best for me was Allen Ward, the brief coaching and introduction of LAMDA [Look, Ask, Model, Discuss, Act], trade-off curves, and set-based design are still some of the most interesting concepts in lean beyond TPS’.” – Stefan Bükk
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“Watching the flow, talking to the workers on the gemba.” – Terry Eklund
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“You’re missing an opportunity here. I’ve found that you often learn as much from a bad coach (or facilitator) as from a good one. What did or does the person do that left you shaking your head and saying ‘I’ll never do that!’?” – Doug Maynard
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“The best mentor I have had on my lean journey placed me in environments and on projects that allowed me to interact with all types of people. He pushed me to my limits knowing that even if I would struggle and fail, it would be a learning experience for me. Although we were both working to make our company world class in lean, he also was determined to teach me as much as he could. He allowed me to work on a variety of different projects in the company, continued my lean education and was always there when I had a question. If I had a question or was in a situation and needed advice, he always had an open door. He would ask questions that would make me think; things that I wouldn’t even think of. He’d get me to think outside the box and he allowed me to try things to see if they would even work. I cannot say enough about this guy. Even to this day, even though I don’t work with him anymore, he is there for me when I have questions. He’s an overall great guy; a people person, going out to the floor and working with the operators. He’s the type of mentor/coach/leader/professional I want to be!” – Britt C.
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“Making me use the PDCA cycle and insisting on everything being illustrated in a ‘story’ (A3) format. ‘Writing’ a problem statement was not enough. It had to be in a picture, sketch, etc. with key points highlighted. The act of illustrating gave me a deeper understanding of the issue. It was also much easier to communicate the issue to others.” – Will Grimes
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“We had lots of one sided conversations that mainly included him saying: ‘Why?’ ‘Are you sure?’ ‘How do you know?’ Then ‘What’ and ‘So what?’. Very Japanese and absolutely brilliant.” – Helen Jackson, Development Consultant, Develop Your, Ltd.
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“I have strived to be the best at any job I have had, and to be the most productive. I would push myself to do better, make the numbers, and try to beat my last productivity scores, with the least amount of mistakes. I did not connect with co-workers because I found this distracting. I came to work to work, do my job to the best of my ability and go home.”
“My supervisor would always give me high remarks at my one on ones, and I would be the achiever at the end of the year for the group and I was acknowledged for it. After two years of this my supervisor asked me to take 20 percent of my day, share what I did with others on the team, and coach them on how to improve their abilities. My first thought was NO way. My numbers will go down, I will not be the high achiever, which means failure to me. How could I take time out of my day to help others, and why would I want to connect with the group, that would only slow me down? Those were the thoughts going through my mind and I shared that with my supervisor.”
“He told me that we are a group, a team. Currently we had a few people that excelled, a few team members that were far below the average, and then we had the average within the group. He stated that if I could set a side 20% of my day to help others, in the end we would be far more a head as a team in our numbers. I should support those who needed help, and help them gain the knowledge needed to grow, and be more productive.”
“His coaching was that he wanted to see my numbers fall; he expected my numbers to fall, as he would expect the team’s to grow because I was going to be the support member. That was very hard for me to accept. I had to be part of the team as a vocal member, coach them, and continue to do my work.”
“Over a year, my supervisor would coach me on how to coach. The most important lesson was to listen. Listen to what other would say, process what they said, repeat what they are asking to be clear on what the question was. Answer their question, and ask did they get an answer that would help them. If not, ask them to repeat the question and go through all those steps again until they are satisfied with the answer.”
“That was great coaching. But I believe the best coaching he gave me was to leave my desk and support the team. I thought I was being the most productive as being the busy bee worker, when actually the best way for me to be productive was to support the team. I learned I enjoyed helping others in the group and training them on the product as needed.”
“Had it not been for this supervisor, I would still be that busy bee worker, not connecting with a team. I find I enjoy my work day far more today, then I did before his coaching.” – Cherie Denn
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“He showed me the picture of a small child looking in awe to a red balloon: ‘that’s what we need to be: surprised and in awe of what we do, even indignant in some cases. Always ask why, and keep asking it, as small children do..'” – name withheld on request
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“I joined Toyota Georgetown as planning manager for the plant startup. This position had a lot of interaction with site President Fujio Cho. Mr. Cho was a great teacher and very patient as well. I believe he demonstrated that he understood Western culture better than most Westerners. Elevating problems for assistance to be solved is good. He taught the importance of everyone supporting the value adder and how it should be done. He helped me understand the concept and importance of Standard Work as well as strategic planning and executing the plans.”
“In addition he developed the culture that all people are trained in problem solving and put their problem solving training to work full time real time.”
“When I made the observation that the Toyota Production System goes well beyond the walls of the plant he replied that I was beginning to learn.”
“Other memorable ideas I will always remember
1. The highest quality system drives the lowest total cost and then you work on cost savings.
2. The Toyota Production System is applied industrial engineering and common sense.
3. Toyota is as good as the weakest supplier so we must help our suppliers get better.
4. No problem is a problem since you miss all of the opportunities around you.
5. A problem is a difference from the standard or expectation. The bigger the difference the bigger the problem. Then you take the problem that is the most critical to the people and the company.
6. Productivity and improvement must always be done since we are on a lifetime path with no end. If we stop our competitors will run us over” – Ronald Turkett, president, Ann Arbor Technologies Group, LLC
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“My sensei told me: Claudio you say a lot of things and looks like you know but I will trust you only when i see you DOING the things you say you can do, since that moment I always do instead of saying, however the action say more than a thousand words isn’t it?” – Claudio Fernandez
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