The value of standard work is clear: improved productivity and quality. With standard work, the process is well documented, its yield is high, its cycle time is rock solid, and everyone has been trained to do it. It worked well once, so we do it again and again.

We’re all aware of the consequences of paying too much.

Engineers don’t know how to reduce part counts.

It’s planning time. It’s time to define the projects, the resources, and the timelines for next year’s work.

Everything boils down to problem-solving—everything. New technology, new products, new processes, new business models, new markets, new behaviors, new company culture, innovation—it’s all problem-solving.

Manufacturers vigorously seek out best practices because they can improve metrics, such as stock price, sales and profitability. There’s only one problem: Best practices are the actions that solved yesterday’s problems.

The schedule-at-all-cost message has been made too strongly.

The ratio of goodness to cost is value.

There’s nothing worse than solving the wrong problem. It’s bad on many fronts—consumption of valuable resources, mislaid expectations of company leadership, and frustration of the solvers.

Too many projects, too many tasks, too many deliverables. At every meeting, work is piled onto our full plates with the implication that none will fall to the floor, like an all-you-can buffet but with expandable plates.