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Everyday Lean: Sunday School Edition
I’ve been a Sunday School teacher for high school aged kids for about six years. Initially I taught a class for Freshmen and Sophomores. When I first began teaching I was struck by how quiet the kids were in class. These kids were very vocal and lively during the gathering time, and the boys in particular had been lively as Jr High kids – even in class.
Initially I couldn’t figure out why this was. This happened during the same period of time I was becoming Lean Black Belt certified. In that training I was learning about silent brainstorming techniques, and the benefits of using them. And then one day it hit me: High school freshmen are like company new hires.… Read the rest
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Everyday Lean: Getting Buy-In
When I was Cubmaster of Pack 404 we decided to get new t-shirts made. Older Scouts (about two dozen) in the unit had a previously designed shirt, but our newer Scouts (more than forty) didn’t have one. This gave us the opportunity for change. And change always brings risk.
A t-shirt may seem trivial, but it ends up being a large part of a pack’s identity. The last thing we wanted to have was a scenario where parents had a negative reactions each time they saw their Scout in the pack t-shirt.
So, how do you prevent this potentially negative reaction? You get buy-in from those involved in the change. How do you get buy-in? You ensure everyone’s voices are heard.… Read the rest
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Everyday Lean: Cub Scout Kaizen
This was originally a LinkedIn article that I wrote back in June 2018.
I’m the new Cubmaster for my son’s Cub Scout Pack. The pack has had a bit of a bumpy year, with a bit of leader churn, and Hurricane Harvey impacted both our annual fundraising and recruitment. To help construct a better next year, I decided to implement some Lean principles into our annual planning process.
Pre-Work
The first thing I did was obtain the “Voice of the Customer” via some anonymous comment cards at a pack meeting. I used a modified SWOT analysis for parents, asking them to tell us what they thought were the pack’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities (for new activities and recruitment), and why we hadn’t had stronger participation at our District and Council events.… Read the rest