Number 102 – Learn To Use Jidoka Audie Penn, August 19, 2025February 7, 2026 Use jidoka (autonomation) to conduct projects. Practitioners: tactical, integrative, and strategic This is one of my favorite topex to discuss. Jidoka is associated with automation in machines that detect defects, shutdown to avoid producing a defective product, and alert the appropriate human being necessary to correct the abnormality. The challenge…
Number 77 – Establish and Integrate Standard Work Audie Penn, August 12, 2025February 7, 2026 Establish and integrate standard work across your value streams. Practitioners: tactical, integrative, and strategic The problem with standard work is the level of misunderstanding the term carries. The funny thing is we all have them, informally and unofficially, but we all use a standard in some way, shape, or form…
Number 58 – Iterations of Improvement Audie Penn, August 4, 2025February 7, 2026 Plan and lead multiple, inter-related improvement projects within a value stream, including iterations of improvement within a single area or portion of a value stream. Practitioners; Tactical, integrative, and strategic The two thoughts that surface first for me when I read this OpEx TopEx are multi-generation-project-plan, and George Koenigsaecker’s rule…
Number 40 – Seek and Provide Feedback Audie Penn, July 30, 2025February 7, 2026 Seek and provide frequent, if not constant, feedback. Practitioners: tactical, integrative, and strategic My recent client activity has been focused on strategy deployment, and so my initial thoughts regarding this feedback loop are aligned with the sponsor level. One specific situation involves a regional president and a COO making the…
Number 33 – Understand the Principles Audie Penn, July 22, 2025February 7, 2026 Ensure that people using lean tools understand the principles of lean. Practitioners: tactical, integrative, and strategic I frequently reference the rate of failure experienced in lean implementations. I also suggest that this failure is due to being incomplete in the implementation, and not simply incorrect. Today’s OpEx TopEx is a…
Number 175 – Lean Accounting Practices Drive Results Audie Penn, July 16, 2025February 7, 2026 Use and refine lean accounting practices to drive results. Practitioners: tactical, integrative, and strategic One of the most impactful endeavors I embarked upon was the study or lean accounting practices. Educated in accounting, I am familiar with GAAP, and so I was a bit leery at first glance, but Orry…
Number 48 – Flow Where You Can Audie Penn, July 11, 2025February 7, 2026 Create flow across an extended enterprise (from suppliers through customers). Practitioners: tactical, integrative, and strategic The idea of flow is often misunderstood. The idea gets tangled up with one piece v. batch, and encounters either/or thinking rather than both/and thinking. Flow where you can, push where you must. The first…
Number 42 – Share Best Practices Audie Penn, July 8, 2025February 7, 2026 Share ideas, information, and feedback, and encourage others to do the same. Practitioners: tactical, integrative, and strategic When we solve common problems, the next logical step is to share ideas, information, and feedback. What is it that makes sharing best practices so challenging? Could it be the way we approach…
Number 137 – The Strategy Deployment Chain Audie Penn, July 2, 2025February 7, 2026 Ensure the links in the strategy deployment chain are maintained and correctly structured. Practitioners: integrative and strategic What does it take to ensure the links in the strategy deployment chain are maintained and correctly structured? Building a process that defines the chains and structures them correctly is the first step. …
Number 29 – Participate in the OpEx Journey Audie Penn, June 26, 2025February 7, 2026 Actively support, promote, communicate, or provide resources for employees to participate in the OpEx journey. Practitioners; Tactical, integrative, and strategic The three practitioners show up in our OpEx TopEx again. The tactical practitioner, or project facilitator, can and does support, promote and communicate the importance of participation in the OpEx…