Latest Blog Posts
Learning to look at work from a Lean perspective has had the unintended effect of spilling over into the rest of my life. From critiquing neighborhood stop lights (I'm waiting too long at the red ones) to how I mow the lawn, I see things in terms of a continuous flow and a reduction of constraints. Recently I've started to think about …
We often associate complexity with sophistication and refinement. Be it a twin turbo inline, performance tuned sports car engine, a broad selection of niche product to choose from, or an elaborate process to follow, the world has grown more complex and tasks that used to be easy to perform are often no longer.
Amazon.com has listed our new book on their website. It is available for pre-order now with an estimated release date of March 30th.
I have noticed over the years that there are few books or resources for architects and engineers on the strategies and tactics of managing and producing projects. As far as I know, there are no books that apply Lean to that effort.
Effort is required to understand the issues affecting design and the models and documents that describe it. it is important to discern where subjectivity and opinion apply and where they do not.
The 21st Century may be remembered as the time when global connectivity became the norm bringing with it a tsunami of information. We are bombarded with daily email, text messages and many other forms of media. Smartphones track our moves and ping with notifications from apps clamoring for our attention.
I'm not trying to sell a particular recipe with step by step instructions for the best steak marinade. I am suggesting that steak tastes better with a good marinade and here are a few recipes I've tried.
Moral of the story: look for the Leanest, smartest way to work that meets the Standard of Care and make it the rule for day-to-day practice.
Several years ago, while waiting at O’Hare airport for a flight home, I noticed a dad with what I estimated to be, his 2-year old son, looking out the tall windows at the large wide body jet airliner parked at their gate. The sheer size of the jet was inspiring - but what intrigued me was the little boy who would slowly grow to become a full-sized man.
What is Lean Architecture?
Lean Architecture is the ongoing process of rethinking and improving architectural methodology. It is the pursuit of better work by applying Lean principles to every aspect of practice. It is about smarter information flow and understanding how we perceive and process information in order to be better communicators amongst ourselves and to the users of our services. It is identifying what adds value and reducing and eliminating what doesn’t.
Management
Southwest Airlines realized they made money when planes were in the air. An operation was developed around this idea and coupled with outstanding service. What can design professionals learn from this?
Delivery
Most buildings are unique, but the processes used to manage, design, and document them are mostly the same – or should be. These practices are open to improvement, and in many cases, drastic improvement.
3 goals
- Structure work to flow
- Reduce Variation
- Eliminate or mitigate obstacles to progressing the work
Why Lean?
Lean Thinking has become the terminology associated with best understanding and advancing processes in manufacturing, software development, management, construction, and healthcare. Other management philosophies worth noting are Six Sigma and the Theory Of Constraints.
Join us on March 11, 2024 at the SpArc Conference in Atlanta as authors Michael Czap, AIA and Greg Buchanan, AIA talk about the benefits of synthesizing Lean within the framework of current design practice, share practical tools and approaches, and the ultimate projected outcomes. Details on the Speaking tab…