A selection of highlighted blog posts from Lean bloggers from the month of August, 2011. You can also view the previous monthly Lean Roundups here.
How do you approach an idea? – Jeff Hajek talks about the difference between a bad idea and thinking something is a bad idea and the importance of not missing opportunities.
Create Urgency Without Foul Play – Liz Guthridge explains 3 actions to make messages about urgency stick in your organization.
3 Things You Can Do When Your Manager Doesn't Support Continuous Improvement – Ron Pereira shares 3 insights to continue down the Lean journey when your boss doesn't support Lean.
Strategy or Slogan? – Joe Ely shares two examples that illustrate the benefits of a clear strategy.
Mura and Muri-So Critical, So Forgotten – David Kasprzak explains the importance of eliminating Mura and Muri from the Gemba not just Muda.
Supplier Integrity – Matt Wrye shares an example of respect for people that illustrates the need for supplier integrity which is more about partnering than competition.
Cycle Time Reduction: Use Little's Law – Pete Abilla explains why production efficiency decreases with a significant surge of orders and how to improve it.
The Best or Nothing – Mark Hamel explains the balance between seeking perfection and a bias for action when doing kaizen and how to make it all work.
5 Reasons for 5s – Chris Paulsen explains the benefits of doing 5S in your plant or workplace.
Stop Placing Blame and Understand the Why – Matt Wrye reminds us it isn't important who creates the issue but it is important to understand why the issue occurred.
What are Mental Models? – Al Norval explains mental models, or the lenses we use to see reality, a reality that can be distorted by our thinking.
4 Ways to Eliminate "That's Not My Job" Thinking – Mike Wroblewski explains why and how to eliminate the negative thinking of "that's not my job."
6 Leadership Habits for Effective Tiered Meetings – Mark Hamel provides some tips to make your tiered meetings effective and engaging.
What is RFTOT? – Dragan Bosnjak explains what Right the First Time on Time metric means and why it is important.
Mapping Performance Metrics: A Guide – Pete Abilla explains a process to map your performance metrics so that they are actionable, make sense, and bring meaning to the everyday efforts of the employee.
Dear "Lean Six Sigma" Crowd - Lean is about Quality, too – Mark Graban debunks a common misconception that Six Sigma is about quality and Lean is not.
Resistance to Change – Pete Abilla lists common resistances to change and provides effective countermeasures.
No Wiggle Room – Bruce Hamilton explains what happens when we use words that have wiggle room like excess and how they limit our ideal true north thinking.
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. I thought that it would be appropriate to hear directly from Pascal about his thoughts on The Remedy. In this video Pascal explains the premise of The Remedy, what big company disease is, the remedy to big company disease, and why to focus outside the factory. I hope you enjoy. 
I recently finished reading 
, depicts the adventures of Lean-thinking protagonist Tom Papas and his mentor, Andy Saito, a retired, reclusive Toyota executive. The Remedy follows senior leaders Tom Papas and Rachel Armstrong, a new character, at a desperate automotive company as they try revolutionizing the operations at the company. Tom is charged to implement a Lean management system across an entire platform, the Chloe, a breakthrough "green" car. The future of the company is at stake. Although some in upper management are dubious, Tom converts much of the organization to Lean thinking, and he saves the day by eliminating waste. Tom and Rachel, supported by Andy regain the trust and respect of the customer. 
