Scientific thought - PDCA/SDCA

I was recently working in Indonesia at one of the largest pulp and paper mills in the world. One evening we were invited to the company's continuous improvement awards ceremony.

On a quarterly basis they recognize kaizen teams that have excelled.

During a recent trip to the great state of Texas, I heard some down-home wisdom, “Before you season your food, why don’t you taste it first?”

A couple of weeks ago, a Wall Street Journal article covered how many folks are creating computer-generated cartoons. I thought, "Hey, I can do that!" Whether or not I should is a different matter altogether...

Well, I took a shot at a hopefully instructive animated cartoon around problem-solving and what I see as one of the biggest challenges to effective problem-solving.  Let me know if any of this seems familiar.

John, the Production Manager of a food manufacturing plant is having a good day.  At least until the Quality Manager bursts into his office:  "John, I can't believe that your operators can't put a seal on a jar."

John is surprised and replies, "What are you talking about, Steve?  We haven't had to put product on hold for seals for months.  I told the team that they better be careful when adjusting the sealer during the change-overs after the last issue."

Mark Graban has been gracious enough to allow me to guest blog on his