Continual Improvement is one of the hallmarks of the Toyota Way because the mindset and efforts never go away, continual is forever. In my quest to offer the broadest range of solutions to today’s economic requirement that we do even more with the same or fewer resources I am regularly attending education courses and reading material that help me help my clients. The Toyota Way by Jeff Liker offers extensive insight into the practices that propelled Toyota to be one of the best made and most frequently purchased automobiles. These practices are also ensuring that the company continues to be healthy while the American counterparts are getting economic aid and facing bankruptcy.

The Toyota Way is my 3rd or 4th read on Lean – the Toyota systems of production also called TPS (Toyota Production System). This books offers the great measure of Lean Basics generally called the 5 Ss and 7 Wastes. It also covers the mindsets and culture in eye-opening detail. One of the most long-last thoughts that I learned is that Toyota does not think of shareholder return as its #1 mission. It’s #1 mission is to create a company that employs the right people for very long (and often their whole career) and is thereby profitable for generations.

This is a must read & re-read for those interested in continual improvement and/or lean. The thoughts are provoking, the timetable  implement drawn out, and some ‘take now’ action surface for Lean in the Office as well as Lean in the Factory.  Oh, and the results are also continual – continually great!

It’s the time of year when baseball teams are in Spring Training so that they’re ready for the big season. Your kids are part of the home team and they need spring training too. This weekend take some time to train them on jobs around the house they can do. Why would you want to do that? Well here are some vivid reasons:

• You can use the Spring Training analogy to get them excited.
• Young kids just want to be with you and don’t see folding dish towels or wash clothes as a job so long as they can do it with you. This develops good habits when it’s still fun.
• You support their family with the work you do, there is no reason for you to carry so much of the load. Training your team to participate helps lighten your load, prepare your kids to be independent and gives you time to do more fun things together
• Tasks can be brief but still make a difference. Just as using 10 minutes before leaving for tennis by writing a thank you note gets it done, gives us a sense of doing the right thing, and fills otherwise hang time giving kids a few small tasks to do every day adds up.

Sandra Felton, author of Neat Mom, Messie Kids has a comprehensive list of what kids can do at what ages. Here is a sampling that might surprise you:

Ages 2 or 3

• Feed and water pets

Mark Sanborn wrote a powerful little 112 page book that catches the spirit of someone who puts passion in his job and impacts his customers in the most positive way. The book is The Fred Factor. The main character is Fred – an unassuming man. Fred’s job could be argued as one of the most repetitive and possibly boring – he delivers mail. Yet, Fred’s approach to the work is to be customer focused and happy.

We read about the ways that Fred’s actions demonstrate his passion. He checks on customer’s travel schedules, ensures that the mail he leaves would not tempt a bad guy, and stops and talks to his customers. Imagine that – 10 minutes conversation during which your mail deliverer finds out a little bit about you though you’ll only be in each other’s lives for 5 or maybe 10 years.

Fred is a real man. Sanborn creates an acronym with F R E D (Find, Reward, Educate, Demonstrate) to guide managers on hiring and workers on putting the passion in their lives and make a difference in the world. Each of the F R E D factors is illustrated and explained in easy-to-understand manner and translated into action. Companies that use the Fred Factor to create a common vision and language for motivating, serving, and performance will have a vivid path to success. People who incorporate F R E D factors into their outlook on their jobs will have growing joy in what they do.

I give this book a strong recommendation in favor. (Did you notice I rarely use the space here to dis a book? My philosophy is that there are too many good books to waste space with negative ones!)

As we look forward and see all of 2008 stretch in front of us you might be interested in hearing the top 10 ways the folks at the new Success Magazine suggest you can achieve success. We love lists and friends that share great ideas with us. So here is their list:

1. Decide to be Successful – Success is not a dream, hope or fantasy; it is a decision.  Make the decision to change, improve and act on your ambitions.
   
2. Design your Best Year Yet – As an architect would design a skyscraper, write out the goals, plans and actions it will take to achieve the life you want to live.
   
3. Identify Your Passion – What are your unique interests, talents and gifts?
   

I have to confess that I’ve been holding out on you. The World is Flat is my favorite book of the year and this is the first time I’m writing about it. This is a book I read in the winter (January) and re-read over the summer because it speaks clearly to the world we live in. And, it projects vividly the world that your kids, and you, will be operating in. Thomas Friedman wrote this in 2005. He has updated it twice since then, "Because [he] can." Friedman illustrates that we’re in the world of printing on demand, for example, and has updated his book to incorporate answers to questions that readers of the earlier versions have asked. So, if you’re buying the book, be sure to get the ‘Updated and Expanded Edition.’

Friedman first introduces the 10 flatteners then expands on them. A selection includes: outsourcing, the fall of the walls, the Web, and advancing technology. You will say, "Oh, yes, I see that all around me," as you go through the flatteners. Friedman continues and applies the flatteners to the countries of the world. The view he gives includes economics, politics, and job prospects (this key if you have high school aged kids). He boldly addresses issues such as protectionism and skill sets.

Don’t miss the section on ‘dirty little secrets’ where Friedman exposes where he sees Americans as ‘on the fence’ in succeeding or failing to make it in a flat world. (see chapter

Friedman continues with ways the Flat World can save developing and struggling countries, conflict (war) prevention through interdependency, and what could go wrong as things progress toward complete flatness.

Be prepared to have your perspective of the world challenged and expanded. You will be held captive by Thomas Friedman’s outlook and words.

For more information on Thomas Friedman go to: http://www.thomaslfriedman.com/ .

How many books do you have cluttering your shelves that you are going to read someday? Is there a pile of books near your favorite chair waiting for you to pick one up and crack the cover? Have you converted to listening to audio books during your travels so that paper books are somewhat replaced? How much money are you spending on books that are gathering dust?

Most of us would answer those questions… loads, yes, sometime, and a lot. That is I own loads of books and want to read them, yes there is a pile of books waiting for me to get started, audio books are a regular part of my commute, and those books around my house are worth a lot of money.

A year that I left a corporate position I spent a chunk of time analyzing where my personal money was spent and a measurable percentage was spent on books. Spending nearly a thousand dollars in one year could be justified by learning for my job – it’s cheaper than going back to school. Reading is a great pleasure. And, that’s only 40 books or so – less than one per week and a cheap luxury.

However, most of the books that I bought were not terrific. Good information, yes. But once through the thing,  it was never going to be opened again. Keeping them here would start to become clutter. So I generally passed them on.  After my analysis I created my own policy for book purchase, keeping, and use. Perhaps it would help you manage a book mess so here it is:

1. Borrow books from the library. My library has a system where I can reserve it from home. I receive an email when it arrives at the branch and I dash over to pick it up. The 15 minute walk is a good way to clear my head and get a bit of exercise.  Or, I drive by when I’m out doing other things, forgo the fitness and have my books in minutes.
2. If a book from the library is terrific – buy it.
3. Use the book case in my office to limit the number of books I keep. When the shelves are full, a book must go to make room for one to stay. That’s my bookshelf pictured here.
4. Read the book in the 3 weeks that it’s on loan from the library. If you’re taking longer than that to get through it that duration is a clue that it’s not got your interest.
5. Buy books that you want to write in. You might never read it a second time but the simple act of writing and making notes in it might mean the material is more meaningful to you.
6. Do not buy on impulse. Just because the big box store has a title that appeals, don’t grab and go. Put it on your someday list and if you think about it again, buy it later.

Peter Drucker wrote the book The Effective Executive in 1966 – fifty-one years ago. What could a fifty-year old book have to say this is relevant today? Loads! In fact, all five of Drucker’s major points are viable today and often referred to in fresh material. I read the Effective Executive after listening to a number of Business Week Podcasts. Each podcast ends with a quote of management guru Peter Drucker. I figured he must be good.

Drucker says that Effective Executives:

1. Know where their time goes.
2. Focus on outward contribution aka results.
3. Build on strength and minimize focus on weaknesses – their own and their people’s.
4. Concentrate on a few major areas where superior performance leads to outstanding results.
5. Make effective decisions rooted in divergent views. They do their homework.

Beyond each of his major points Peter Drucker offers examples to support learning the habits that lead to effectiveness. His examples range from the public sector to the private sector and on to the military (a few too many military for my interest). His vision is wide. The points are reinforced and illustrated well.

Drucker concludes that there is "There is nothing exalted about being an effective executive. Yet, effectiveness allows uncommon performance by common people." That’s perfectly synched with our goals at the Productivity Café – simple things that lead to effectiveness that result in success – achieving satisfaction in the many facets of your life.

Read the little book. Extract the points that speak to you and enjoy getting more of the right stuff done.

Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi illuminates what I didn’t learn attending public high school, the local swim club, a selective college or even in my first couple of jobs. He starts with the premise that who you work, network, and play with will impact your happiness and success in life (his emphasis is on the business success side of that statement). And, Keith continues, making connections so that your life is rich, productive professionally, and contributes to community can be done consciously, purposefully, and with class. In fact Ferrazzi supports that networking should be done as a deliberate and structured part of career and life development.

My opinion briefly: "Read this book – it’s a quick investment of time with a long-term payoff." Like our favorite, Getting Things Done by David Allen, the concepts in the book are easy to grasp yet challenging to implement and develop into a robust practice. It will take time to get networking a natural and routine.

Keith Ferrazzi is a living implementation of his recommendations. He’s his word in action – not theory untested though reasonable. That alone gives it kudos from me.

The Long Tail by the editor in chief of Wired magazine, Chris Anderson, is a gem! Anderson highlights the impact of the digital age on creating, selling, and distributing products. His observations and research are presented clearly so that I found myself saying, "We’ll that’s obvious once you put it that way! Thank you, Mr. Anderson!" The key premise in the Long Tail is that the digital age is moving the world from a big hit society to a multiple hit one. In other words, more selection for more people with more access. The Long Tail is literally the area in a demand curve that is beyond the head. In Mr. Anderson’s illustration, it’s the yellow part of this curve:

Anderson supports his assertions with an abundance of stories from familiar companies including Google, Rhapsody, and Lego. When he makes his points and links them to these recognizable enterprises they are driven home. The bottom line to me: choice and opportunity abound beyond any time in history. 

People who will find this book interesting include: marketers, consumers, bloggers, internet marketers, business leaders and manager, those interested in economics and generally curious readers.

Copy This by Paul Orfalea (PO) is an astonishing collection of stories, business concepts, and life philosophy. Paul is the man who established the first little Kinko’s copy shop and expanded it to more than 1,500 stores and tens of thousands of co-workers with annual sales in the billions.

Very important to Paul’s bio are a few poignant things:

• Paul is dyslexic and ADD or ADHD. That is, he reads as little as he can get away with and he moves and thinks at the speed of light.
• Paul’s cultural inheritance pre-disposed him, or trained him early, to be a team player.
• He’s an emotional firecracker in the good way and the challenging way.
• Paul’s Mom was a key component of his development as a businessman, investor, and person.

By the way, Kinko’s was Paul’s nickname in his teen years.

I am in awe of the wisdom that Paul showers abundantly throughout this book. The concepts in it would help someone in building a business, parenting, managing money and more. I especially appreciate how PO credits his mom with instilling many things that served him throughout life. "Save! Be on Time! Is that expense deductible?" To me that’s inspiration to be a conscious influence on the kids around me.

Paul invested, diversified, and at the time of writing the book, teaches at a University and established a money management firm with nearly $1,000,000,000 under management. That’s his re-purposing his life after Kinko’s.

PO tells us that resilience, fortitude, and analytic thinking are key factors to his success. He was considered retarded for a time until it was discovered that he could think and do complex math ~ he just couldn’t read. That represents just one of the obstacles that Paul overcame due to his resilience. Getting turned down for some opportunities simply directed him to find others.

Paul advocates playing games – monopoly, poker, and others as ways to train for business. Understanding specific financial measures, reading people, and thinking of alternative actions are some of the outcomes from such diversions.

If you have anyone in your life with ADD or ADHD or dyslexia, this book will encourage her to feel that those are not reasons to fail but opportunities to succeed via unorthodox and personal efforts. It will also help you understand that traditional teaching methods, grades, and behavior are not necessarily the keys to success. You may be more tolerant of those differences after this read.

Bottom line: Read this book!