Presented by Kevin Meyer from Gemba Academy. Hosted by Mark Graban and KaiNexus. In this webinar you will learn: The fascinating overlap between Lean and Zen. How to use that overlap to calm everyday chaos. How to become more productive by identifying and optimizing the best part of your day. How to grow as a person - and a leader.

1. Presenter: Kevin Meyer
Gemba Academy
Kevin@GembaAcademy.com
@Kevin_Meyer
Personal Leadership
At the Nexus of Lean and Zen
Host: Mark Graban
KaiNexus
Mark@KaiNexus.com
@MarkGraban

2. Agenda & Logistics
• Presentation (40-45 minutes)
• Your Questions (10-15 minutes)
– Use the GoToWebinar
Meeting Panel to
submit a question at
any time
• Recording link and slides will be sent
via email
– Also see the "Handouts" feature in GoToWebinar

3. 30+ years…

4. 1000+ videos, 2000+ organizations
GembaAcademy.com

5. • A very brief introduction to Zen
• The nexus of Lean and Zen
• Applying to personal leadership
• Optimizing the best part of your day
• How to grow as a person, and a leader

6. Lean…
You’ve learned about this in the last
100+ podcasts. Key point: it’s not
about tools…

7. A very brief introduction to Zen…

10. • A focus on the here and now – the present
• Awareness – act & think with intention
• Search for truth
• Meditation to create awareness
• A return to the original core of Buddhism
Zen

11. The nexus of Lean and Zen…

13. Kaizen and Zen
• Zen: the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese
禪 (dʑjen) (pinyin: Chán), derived from the
Sanskrit dhyāna (ध्यान ), which can be
approximately translated as "meditative state".

14. Ensō
• Open, indicating
the opportunity
for improvement
while striving for
perfection

15. “Be a lamp undo yourselves.” - Buddha
• Don’t just accept - test everything against your
experience.
• Accept what works, discard what doesn’t.
• Compare to perfection
– Benchmarking can lead to copying without
understanding circumstance.
Seek to Understand

16. Beginner’s Mind
• “Observe… without
preconceptions and with a
blank mind.” Taiichi Ohno
• “In the beginner’s mind
there are many
possibilities, in the expert’s
mind there are few.”
Shunryu Suzuki

17. Minimalism

18. Observation of True Reality

19. Focus on the Present
• Deeply understand the current state
before making changes
• Kata…

20. Reflection

21. Balance & Harmony

22. Humility

23. Applying to personal leadership…

24. Reflection
• Daily
• Monthly
• Quarterly
• Annually
• What worked, what didn’t?
• What should I stop doing?
• What did I learn?

25. What’s Your Why?
• Define your personal why?
• Principles: define the uncrossable boundaries
– Religious
– Family
– Ethical and moral

26. Develop a Personal Hoshin Plan
• Deeply understand the current state
• Identify a future state
• What are objectives you can achieve in 3
years?
• What goals can be set for this year?
• What is the next step, or experiment – kata?
• Who can be a coach or mentor?

27. Align and Eliminate
• What projects or activities don’t align with
your hoshin plan?
• Just say no
• Simplify

28. The Intentional Routine
• Intention is critical.
• Reflection turns habits
into intention.
• Routine, like standard
work, is to set a
baseline from which
improvement
happens

29. Declutter and Minimize
• 5S
• An intention for everything…
• The ”lean home”
– Less storage
– Eliminate doors
– Reduce horizontal surfaces
– Kanban?

30. Optimizing the best part of the
day…

31. The Hour of Power
• Reflect on what is your most productive time.
• Protect it.
• Optimize it.

32. The Big Three
• Decide what three tasks will be done each day.
• Reflect on performance at the end of the day.

33. Remove Distractions
• Pomodoro Method
• Clean desk

34. Journal
• Big Three
• Reflection – daily,
monthly, quarterly,
annually
• Notes
• The power of writing by
hand…

35. How to grow as a person,
and a leader…

36. Continue to Learn
• The best leaders are the best learners…
– And distillers
– And appliers
– And teachers
• Read, engage, debate

37. Do Something Different

38. Explore the World

39. Living is the constant
adjustment of thought to life
and life to thought in such a
way that we are always
growing, always experiencing
new things in the old and old
things in the new.
Thus life is always new.
- Thomas Merton

40. Kevin Meyer
kevin@kevinmeyer.com

41. Webinars On Demand
http://www.kainexus.com/webinars

42. KaiNexus Podcast
http://www.kainexus.com/podcasts

43. KaiNexus Blog
http://blog.kainexus.com

44. Next Webinar – May 16
• Taking Improvement Boards Digital:
How Leading Companies are
Improving Visual Management
– Dr. Greg Jacobson and Mark Graban
http://www.kainexus.com/webinars

45. Thank you!
• Web:
– www.kainexus.com
• Past Webinars:
– www.kainexus.com/webinars
• Social media:
– www.twitter.com/kainexus
– www.linkedin.com/company/kainexus
– www.facebook.com/kainexus
Kevin Meyer
Kevin@KevinMeyer.com
@Kevin_Meyer
Mark Graban
KaiNexus
Mark@KaiNexus.com
@MarkGraban