A Factory of One

Traditional Work: How you work is probably how you worked.When I looked at that line in my notebook (after reading Daniel Markowitz's book, A Factory of One) I thought about the busy-ness that many people talk about as they relate to their workday. As you consider what you get done in a typical 8 or 10 or 15-hour shift, do you stop to consider HOW you get that work done?Over the 145 pages of this well-written - and well-documented - book Dan shows very specific methods you can use to apply "Lean Principles" (traditionally reserved for manufacturing and production lines to remove wasted movements thereby increasing overall productivity) to the "Knowledge Work" that keeps so many of us busy and focused on working overtime.I was pleased to see Dan write about Parkinson's Law of work: Namely, that the work you have will generally fill the time you have available to do that work. If something is due in a week, it'll take about a week. If it's due later today, well you get the point.The point of applying Lean Principles to improve personal performance is two-fold:1. Create a flow of working: so that once you get there, you stay there and produce something (a thought, a product, etc) of value2. Reduce the stress of wasted movements to focus on more meaningful activityIf you're thinking of getting this book, here's just one of the themes you can expect to explore while you're reading:Dan asks you to define your "value;" the value of your service or product to the market. Once you've identified that value, then you can work on making things as efficient as possible in order to make that value available to those that matter: clients, community, organization, family, friends, etc. Oh, it might be helpful to know how Dan defines value. I'm walking away with three indicators:What does the customer pay for?What are you doing to transform the product or the service?What activity seems to be done "correctly?"Of course, you'll walk away from reading this with your own ideas of what "value" means to you, your business, your work. I loved this prompt, though, as it made me think a bit longer about all those "extra to-dos" that have piled up around my own work station lately:"Should you do better what doesn't deserve doing in the first place?"Consider what you do, as an entrepreneur, manager, associate of the business you're in. What are the specific activities that you "do" that provide value? The ideas that Dan gives you on (a) how to think about those activities and (b) what to do to make those activities as efficient as possible may be exactly what you need to take not just what you do but HOW you do it to the next level. Imagine being MORE productive without having to buy new technology, hire more staff or change (radically) your business or product.What WILL you have to change? Your approach to work. To get you think about what that might look, sound and feel like, identify very specifically WHERE your time goes:fixingdelegatingwaitingover-doingreviewingre-doingexplainingetcOnce you identify WHERE your time, energy and focus is "spent" during the day, then it's time to apply Lean Principles to YOUR work. I hope you enjoy reading (and thinking about) this book as much as I did!

This book is a good contribution to the genre of books on personal productivity and efficiency. What makes it unique is how author Dan Markovitz combines concepts from the "lean" management literature (such as James Womack and Daniel Jones's book  Lean Thinking , which Markovitz cites repeatedly, and John Shook's  Managing to Learn ) with familiar concepts from the personal productivity literature (such as Kerry Gleeson's  Personal Efficiency Program  and David Allen's  Getting Things Done , neither of which I can find cited in Markovitz's book but from which he has apparently borrowed quite a lot). Then there are a few excellent concepts that seem to be Markovitz's own invention, such as "living in the calendar" and "calendar as kanban."A few reviewers have complained that Markovitz simply repeats what other writers such as Gleeson or Allen have already said, but that complaint overlooks what is unique about this book, namely its combination of two previously separate genres: lean management and personal productivity. Certainly readers who have read other books in either of these two genres will find some familiar concepts in this book, but the way Markovitz combines the two genres is original and not merely derivative.In particular, what distinguishes this book from productivity books by the likes of Gleeson or Allen is this book's relentless focus on customer value. This book does not preach efficiency for the sake of efficiency or only for your own peace of mind (as valuable as that may be); it preaches efficiency for the sake of your customer or client. Following lean management principles, Markovitz emphasizes that any activity that does not contribute value to your customer is waste, and minimizing that waste is the focus of this book: "First, you must define the value you create--not the work you do, but the value you're actually delivering for your various customers. Then, you need to be able to see the value as well as the waste in your environment. The tool of 5S helps you do this. And it helps you spot the problems while they're still small and inexpensive to fix. Once you've cleared out the waste, how do you produce value in the shortest possible time? This is done by creating flow in your work, so that you're able to do your job most efficiently... Making your work visible helps you allocate your time and attention to the right work at the right time. Finally, with the foundation for excellence laid, you can begin to do the really fun stuff: improving your own work processes..."I feel compelled to note that this is an introductory book; this book does not cover the more advanced topics in management and systemic thinking that entrepreneurs and leaders need to learn if they are to act most skillfully. But I suspect that if you haven't yet put into practice the basic concepts in this book, skillful execution of the more advanced topics is likely to elude you.

This book is rather interesting, and the only book I have found about applying lean to one's own life. However, I feel that it doesn't allow enough flexibility to cover everyone's work situations, and seems to narrowly focus on the stereotype of a white collar knowledge worker, even edging out closely related fields. I definitely recommend reading it, but think through the advice and organization systems it proposes before you implement them in your own life.

I was extremely happy with my book. I love it. Book was delivered right on time. So very happy with everything. Would purchase definitely from seller again.

Most of the time we are working hard to improve external problems and we take for granted the inside out prisma!

This really brings the key concepts of lean to a personal level. I implemented some of the examples and have already seen an increase in my own productivity. I teach improvement concepts, but I failed to recognise how wasteful my own work was.Many quotes and concepts from this book will be included in my next training sessions.The key message of this book is that lean thinking and process improvement is often done at a company level, but by doing it at a personal level you don’t have to be within a company that does improvement well (or at all). Read it now.

Das Buch von Dan Markovitz beschäftigt sich mit der praktischen Anwendung von Lean-Prinzipien und -techniken auf den eigenen ArbeitsplatzDen Anfang macht dabei die wichtige Frage, was überhaupt die eigenen Arbeitsaufgaben sind. Diese werden anhand einer Customer Value Map dargestellt. Darauf aufbauend, führt der Autor dann die Begriffe der wertschöpfenden und nicht wertschöpfenden Tätigkeiten und – natürlich – der Verschwendung ein. Er erläutert die Bedeutung des Gemba, also den Ort, an dem die tatsächliche Arbeit geleistet wird, im Rahmen der Lean-Philosophie und gibt dem Wissensarbeiter gleich die Aufgabe, an seinem Gemba, üblicherweise dem Schreibtisch, seine Zeitverwendung zu protokollieren.Im Anschluss wird das 5S-Konzept vorgestellt und sehr praxisnah auf einen Büro-Arbeitsplatz angewendet. Markovitz macht deutlich, dass es dabei nicht um das Aufräumen um des Aufräumens Willen geht, sondern dass 5S tiefergehende Ziele verfolgt.Das nächste Kapitel widmet sich der Herstellung des Arbeitsflusses (Flow). Hier geht es um die leidigen Themen dauernde Unterbrechungen, Multitasking und darum, für wiederkehrende Arbeiten Standardprozesse zu definieren, z. B. für die Behandlung des E-Mail-Eingangs. Der Autor führt hier auch die von Toyota stammende Metapher vom “Absenken des Wasserspiegels” ein und argumentiert, dass die Ressourcenknappheit (vor allem: Zeitknappheit) erst die Potentiale für Verbesserungen der persönlichen Arbeitsabläufe aufzeigt. In diesem Kapitel werden auch Checklisten als Hilfsmittel zur Standardisierung der Arbeit eingeführt.Das fünfte Kapitel behandelt die Visualisierung der Arbeit und stellt unter anderem Schattenbretter und Kanban Boards vor. Der Kalender wird hier ebenfalls aus der Perspektive des Kanban Boards vorgestellt, denn der Autor argumentiert, dass ein Termin im Kalender quasi ein Pull-Signal für die Erledigung einer bestimmten Arbeit darstellt.Das Kapitel sechs stellt standardisierte Arbeit, den PDCA-Zyklus und Techniken zur Problemlösung (Five Whys und A3) vor. Es werden einige A3-Beispiele gezeigt, die sehr praxisnah für den Büroarbeiter sind.Das siebte Kapitel rundet schließlich das Buch ab und enthält aus meiner Sicht als wichtigste Botschaft, dass man seine eigenen Arbeitsabläufe “leanen” kann und soll, auch wenn das Arbeitsumfeld ansonsten nicht “Lean-freundlich” ist.Das 177 Seiten umfassende Buch ist in einem sehr angenehmen Stil geschrieben und lässt sich zügig durchlesen. Es überzeugt durch seine große Praxisnähe und ist auch sehr gut für Leser geeignet, die bisher noch keinen Kontakt mit der Lean-Philosophie hatten. Ich kann es nur allen empfehlen, die der englischen Sprache mächtig sind und Interesse daran haben, ihre eigenen Arbeitsprozesse zu verbessern.

I had come across Lean at work only as a peripheral influence where other departments were using it. I knew that it could be very useful, but had never had the time or circumstances where I could test out my theories.This book shows you how you can use the techniques of Lean in almost any circumstances.I found it to be not only an excellent introduction, but also a good reference source and go back to it from time to time to keep me on the right track.I recommend this to all those who think they can still improve how they do things at work (although the principals are not limited to the working environment).