5S

What is 5S?

S represents 5 disciplines for maintaining a visual workplace. These are foundational to Kaizen and a manufacturing strategy based "Lean Manufacturing" concepts. 5S is the starting point for improvement activities that ensure our company’s survival.

The 5 disciplines are:

1. SORT - Remove all items from the workplace that are not needed for current operations. Leave only the bare essentials.

• Targets excess inventory, obsolete items, quality defects, unneeded tools / equipment.
• Will use red tags, local and central red tag holding areas; Account for discarded items.
• Take before and after pictures.

2. SET IN ORDER – Arrange needed items so that they are easy to find, use and put away.

• Consider motion economy.
• Use painting, outlining and signboard strategies, Visual 5S.

3. SHINE – Sweeping, wiping-off equipment, painting & assuring everything stays clean.

• Create 5S schedules for painting.
• Must create cleaning inspection checklists.
• Create current and future shine targets.

4. STANDARDIZE – Method to maintain the first 3 disciplines (sort, set-in-order, shine)

• Prevention steps for clutter-suspension, incorporation, elimination.
• Integrate 3S duties into regular work with 5S job cycle charts, 5 minute 5S, visual 5S activities.

5. SUSTAIN – A top-down support of the ongoing 5S process. Must create the conditions to support 5S

• Allocate time.
• Create awareness.
• Provide a structure.
• Show support.
• Offer rewards and recognition.
• Encourage training/participation.

The 5S's are about doing the basics. They provide a foundation on which to build other quality activities. With a tidy, disciplined environment, you can see many of the things which need further attention. Companies that live in chaos, no matter how fashionable it is these days, spend a lot of time in unproductive activities. This is not to say that chaos does not have its place—in creative situations where you want to think out of the box, chaos can be a welcome friend. But the truth of most companies is that a very large proportion of activities could benefit from more control rather than more chaos.

Implementing the 5 Ss requires full cooperation of all involved. This in itself is an amazingly powerful activity. When people realize that these simple activities have such power, and that by implementing them well, the workplace becomes a more pleasant place, the principles will get more enthusiastically embraced.

Leadership

"The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership."

If this were a litmus test, the majority of CEOs would fail. One, they build so many barriers to upward communication that the very idea of someone lower in the hierarchy looking up to the leader for help is ludicrous. Two, the corporate culture they foster often defines asking for help as weakness or failure, so people cover up their gaps, and the organization suffers accordingly. Real leaders make themselves accessible and available. They show concern for the efforts and challenges faced by underlings, even as they demand high standards. Accordingly, they are more likely to create an environment where problem analysis replaces blame.

By - General Colin Powell - Chairman (Ret), Joint Chiefs of Staff

What have you done today to develop the leader in you?

Leadership is a relationship

• Leadership is about a relationship between leader and follower. It is therefore defined by the impact the leader has on people and activities around him or her, rather than simply the skill set or competencies that the person has. Leaders need to engage people. This is about listening hard to people - understand their issues, desires, stories, moans. Build trust by being the first to trust in them.


• Remember that followers have huge power in the leadership relationship: if they choose not to follow, you are not a leader. But also remember that as a leader you should be prepared to follow at times. Leadership is not a position it is a relationship, so everyday with every relationship, consider what you need to do at that moment - lead or follow?
  Leadership occurs at all levels within organisations


• Leadership is not confined to the top team in an organisation. Acts of leadership can happen throughout an organisation, from top to bottom. Non-managers as well as managers can be leaders. Leadership is expected in managers but not confined to managers. So it is therefore beyond hierarchy. As someone looking to lead this means being prepared to ask senior managers to follow you. Provide direction upwards, give guidance where it is appropriate. Do not always look to follow senior managers, just because they are senior.

• Similarly, be prepared to follow other people, wherever they sit in your organisation. If they are inspiring you to action or providing clarity where there was otherwise a blur, take the role of follower and support that leader. By providing support you make them 'lead' and with it you move both you and your organisation forward.

Leadership is dynamic

• Leadership is dynamic. Different people can take the lead at different times. Leadership is what is appropriate at the time and for the purpose in hand. If you are a leader who insists on leading all the time, you keep the relationship two-dimensional. By being prepared to follow at times will make the relationship three-dimensional.


• It is hard work being a leader all the time - all day, every day. But if you truly trust other people, the basis of the relationship you have with others, you will provide opportunities to bring out the leader in them. To do this, consider stepping back, taking the follower role, be moved by someone else, be inspired by them, and show that you have. This sharing of the leadership role builds both motivation and helps deal with the practicalities of work.

Leadership needs to be authentic

• Work every day to find what is authentic to you. Leaders need to find their own way to lead, to clarify what they stand for and what they truly aspire to be and to achieve. People who fail to be genuine, fail in their leadership. As a leader you need to work day in, day out at finding the best way that you personally lead. This means working everyday to understand who you are and what is important to you. Don't try to motivate people just because you think you ought to if you are not interested in knowing what turns each individual on or off.


• The easiest way to lose credibility is to say one thing and do something else. Everyday it is important to work at delivering your promises. And if you fail to deliver, accept this as a reflection on yourself, so that you can in future be more authentic. You may try to copy other people that you admire. Don't forget that you are a unique individual in unique circumstances. Not everything anyone else does is right for you and for the leadership relationships you have.

Leaders take us to new places

• Leadership is all about travelling on a journey from one place to another. It is about looking towards new horizons. It is about being able to create and inspire new visions, a need to change, overcoming barriers, winning hearts and minds, building cohesion and celebrating success. Every day, consider the next step you are taking on your long journey.


• It is also about seeing where we have come from, to understand the line of trajectory and to appreciate culture and meaning in others. Only when we really understand where we come from do we really appreciate where we are going. So spending time each day to consider the past, helps to maintain a sense of perspective.
  

Leadership is something that has to be worked on each day. What have you done today to develop the leader in you?

Leadership

Being responsible sometimes means ticking people off

Good leadership involves responsibility to the welfare of the group, which means that some people will get angry at your actions and decisions. It's inevitable, if you're honorable. Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign of mediocrity: you'll avoid the tough decisions, you'll avoid confronting the people who need to be confronted, and you'll avoid offering differential rewards based on differential performance because some people might get upset. Ironically, by procrastinating on the difficult choices, by trying not to get anyone mad, and by treating everyone equally "nicely" regardless of their contributions, you'll simply ensure that the only people you'll wind up angering are the most creative and productive people in the organization.

By: General Colin Powell - Chairman (Ret), Joint Chiefs of Staff

Visualising impossible

Truth

An SMS chat that changed my life

An SMS chat that changed my life - Article published in Times of India.
This article is really worth reading and makes life different.

God: Hello. You called me.
I, Me, Myself: Called you? No, who is this?
God: This is God. I heard your prayers. So I thought I will chat with you.
IMM: Sure, I pray. Just makes me feel good. Actually, am busy now. In the midst of something, you know.
God: What are you busy with? Ants are busy, too.
IMM: Don't know. But I can't find free time. Life has become hectic. It's rush hour all the time.
God: Sure. Activity gets you busy. But productivity gets you results. Activity consumes time. Productivity frees it.
IMM: But I still can't figure it out. By the way, I was not expecting YOU to buzz me on instant messaging chat.
G: Well, I wanted to help you resolve your fight for time by giving you some clarity. I wanted to reach you through the medium you are comfortable with.
IMM: Tell me, why has life become so complicated?
G: Stop analysing life. Just live it. Analysis is what makes it complicated.
IMM: Why are we then constantly unhappy?
G: Your today is the tomorrow that you worried about yesterday. You are worrying because the act of worrying has become a habit. That's why you are not happy.
IMM: But how can we not worry when there is so much uncertainty?
G: Uncertainty is inevitable, but worrying is optional.
IMM: But then, there is so much pain due to uncertainty.
God: Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.
IMM: If suffering is optional, why do good people always suffer?
God: Diamonds cannot be polished without friction. Gold cannot be purified without fire. Good people go through trials. With that experience their life becomes better, not bitter.
IMM: You mean to say such experience is useful?
God: Yes. Experience is a hard teacher, though. She gives the test first and the lessons afterwards.
IMM: But still, why should we go through such tests? Why can't we be free from problems?
God: Problems are Purposeful Roadblocks Offering Beneficial Lessons to Enhance Mental Strength. Inner strength comes from struggle and endurance, not when you are free from problems.
IMM: Frankly in the midst of so many problems, we don't know where we are heading.
God: If you look outside you will not know where you are heading. Look inside. Looking outside, you dream. Looking inside, you awaken. Eyes provide sight. Heart provides insight.
I Me Myself: Sometimes I ask, who am I, why am I here? I don't know the answers.
God: Seek not to find who you are, but to determine who you want to be.
IMM: Sometimes not succeeding fast seems to hurt more than moving in the right direction.
God: Success is relative, quantified by others. Satisfaction is absolute, quantified by you. Knowing the road ahead is more satisfying than knowing you rode ahead.
IMM: Sometimes I ask, who am I, why am I here? I don't know the answers.
God: Seek not to find who you are, but to determine who you want to be. Stop looking for a purpose as to why you are here. Create it. Life is not a process of discovery but a process of creation.
IMM: How can I get the best out of life? God: Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear.
IMM: Sometimes my prayers are not answered.
God: There are no unanswered prayers. At times the answer is NO.
IMM: Thank you for this wonderful chat. I'll try to be less fearful.
God: Keep the faith and drop the fear. Life is a mystery to solve, not a problem to resolve. Life is wonderful if you know how to live.

Success Vs Happiness

Beauty Of Mathematics

Beauty of Mathematics !!!!!!!

1 x 8 + 1 = 9

12 x 8 + 2 = 98

123 x 8 + 3 = 987

1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876

12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765

123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654

1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543

12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432

123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321

1 x 9 + 2 = 11

12 x 9 + 3 = 111

123 x 9 + 4 = 1111

1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111

12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111

123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111

1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111

12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111

123456789 x 9 +10= 1111111111

9 x 9 + 7 = 88

98 x 9 + 6 = 888

987 x 9 + 5 = 8888

9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888

98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888

987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888

9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888

98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888

Brilliant, isn't it? And look at this symmetry:

1 x 1 = 1

11 x 11 = 121

111 x 111 = 12321

1111 x 1111 = 1234321

11111 x 11111 = 123454321

111111 x 111111 = 12345654321

1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321

11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321

111111111 x 111111111 = 12345678987654321

Now, take a look at this... 101% From a strictly mathematical viewpoint:

What Equals 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%? Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%? We have all been in situations where someone wants you to GIVE OVER 100%. How about ACHIEVING 101%? What equals 100% in life? Here's a little mathematical formula that might help answer these questions:

If:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Is represented as:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.

If: H-A-R-D-W-O- R- K 8+1+18+4+23+ 15+18+11 = 98%

And:

K-N-O-W-L-E- D-G-E 11+14+15+23+ 12+5+4+7+ 5 = 96%

But:

A-T-T-I-T-U- D-E 1+20+20+9+20+ 21+4+5 = 100%

THEN, look how far the love of God will take you:

L-O-V-E-O-F- G-O-D 12+15+22+5+15+ 6+7+15+4 = 101%

Therefore, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that: While Hard Work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will get you there, It's the Love of God that will put you over the top!

Slow Down Culture

An interesting reflection: Slow Down Culture

It's been 18 years since I joined Volvo, a Swedish company. Working for them has proven to be an interesting experience. Any project here takes 2 years to be finalized, even if the idea is simple and brilliant. It's a rule.

Globalized processes have caused in us (all over the world) a general sense of searching for immediate results. Therefore, we have come to posses a need to see immediate results. This contrasts greatly with the slow movements of the Swedish. They, on the other hand, debate, debate, debate, hold x quantity of meetings and work with a slowdown scheme. At the end, this always yields better results.

Said in another words:

1. Sweden is about the size of San Pablo , a state in Brazil .

2. Sweden has 2 million inhabitants.

3. Stockholm , has 500,000 people.

4. Volvo, Escania, Ericsson, Electrolux, Nokia are some of its renowned companies. Volvo supplies the NASA.

The first time I was in Sweden , one of my colleagues picked me up at the hotel every morning. It was September, bit cold and snowy. We would arrive early at the company and he would park far away from the entrance (2000 employees drive their car to work). The first day, I didn't say anything, either the second or third. One morning I asked, "Do you have a fixed parking space? I've noticed we park far from the entrance even when there are no other cars in the lot." To which he replied, "Since we're here early we'll have time to walk, and whoever gets in late will be late and need a place closer to the door. Don't you think? Imagine my face.

Nowadays, there's a movement in Europe name Slow Food. This movement establishes that people should eat and drink slowly, with enough time to taste their food, spend time with the family, friends, without rushing. Slow Food is against its counterpart: the spirit of Fast Food and what it stands for as a lifestyle. Slow Food is the basis for a bigger movement called Slow Europe, as mentioned by Business Week.

Basically, the movement questions the sense of "hurry" and "craziness" generated by globalization, fueled by the desire of "having in quantity" (life status) versus "having with quality", "life quality" or the "quality of being". French people, even though they work 35 hours per week, are more productive than Americans or British. Germans have established 28.8 hour workweeks and have seen their productivity been driven up by 20%. This slow attitude has brought forth the US 's attention, pupils of the fast and the "do it now!".

This no-rush attitude doesn't represent doing less or having a lower productivity. It means working and doing things with greater quality, productivity, perfection, with attention to detail and less stress. It means reestablishing family values, friends, free and leisure time. Taking the "now", present and concrete, versus the "global", undefined and anonymous. It means taking humans' essential values, the simplicity of living.

It stands for a less coercive work environment, more happy, lighter and more productive where humans enjoy doing what they know best how to do. It's time to stop and think on how companies need to develop serious quality with no-rush that will increase productivity and the quality of products and services, without losing the essence of spirit.

In the movie, Scent of a Woman, there's a scene where Al Pacino asks a girl to dance and she replies, "I can't, my boyfriend will be here any minute now". To which Al responds, "A life is lived in an instant". Then they dance to a tango.

Many of us live our lives running behind time, but we only reach it when we die of a heart attack or in a car accident rushing to be on time. Others are so anxious of living the future that they forget to live the present, which is the only time that truly exists. We all have equal time throughout the world. No one has more or less. The difference lies in how each one of us does with our time. We need to live each moment. As John Lennon said, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans".

Congratulations for reading till the end of this message. There are many who will have stopped in the middle so as not to waste time in this globalized world.

Note: This is a story picked up from friend of mine.