Thursday, June 23, 2016

Visual management, kindergarten style

Toyota's lean operations system emphasizes making work and data visible inside the workplace. It part what's been meant by the term "visual management". It's an idea you can see in practice in any kindergarten. And no one has more fun with it than them!








Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Marilyn Monroe's lard and bacon order




Delivered to the Beverly Hills Hotel in March of 1960 when she was filming "Let's Make Love."


Monday, March 7, 2016

Michael Pollan on labeling

 "I think we should have a lot more transparency about food, not less. I think we should label food if it contains pesticides, but nobody is talking about that. It's really peculiar that if you're not using pesticides, if you're organic, you have to pay to put a label on declaring you aren't using pesticides. It should be the other way around."
For my money Michael Pollan one of the most considered food thinkers of our time. His insights are profound but also realistic, sensible. This comes from a brief interview by New York Magazine's Grub Street about his new Netflix documentary Cooked, which I'm watching now. If you haven't read his book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, I highly recommend it. 


Friday, March 4, 2016

Recent reading, design edition.



A comparison of Lush and Body Shop's website. Hat tip to Joseph Richardson.

An incremental design improvement, made over a weekend kaizen event, and the result is a machine that has outlasted four "improvements". A great article on why the B-52 is still the main big plane for the U.S. armed forces. 

Tuesday, January 12, 2016