Ray Bradbury – “The Small Assassin”

Just try having kids and raising them after reading that one!
You’ll never look at them the same way.
Ray is really a genius and I like his work.

Now go back to your toddlers

Is it dangerous to do lean when others aren’t

If you happen to work for a company that does not follow lean principles, is it dangerous to apply lean processes yourself?

For the sake of the discussion, let’s assume you run a division with ten people. You have a fixed budget and a mission to fulfill. Together with your staff, you device better ways of interacting with your customers and you are now able to do the same amount of work with eight people.

In a company following lean principles, you would be allowed to redirect those two people to different work, to other challenges. In those conditions, improvements and innovations would be used by the people for the people. For the benefit of all.

In a company run by spreadsheets, what would happen? Your budget would get cut by the equivalent of two people. You might end up having to fire those people.

See where I am going?

Nowhere.

And that is a common direction for many companies.

Planned Abandonment Session

Before you start anything new, it is often necessary to stop doing something else. Unless you do that, you will soon hit the final frontier: There are only 24 hours in a day, and you can’t make use of them all. At least not productively.

Eliminate what? Distraction, Waste, Rework, Nuisance, Trouble, Administration, Movement. Well, you’ve got the picture. Eliminate something that does not add value to your life. And yes, sleep has a great value, so don’t plan to skip on that.

Peter Drucker suggests to plan on a regular basis a “Planned Abandonment Session” during which you systematically assess what you do and see what you can stop.

This concept of eliminating something, preferably some kind of waste is also linked to the Lean methodology.

So my advise is start your planned abandonment session ASAP.

Choose wisely before making donations

We all feel the urge to make donations to relief funds after major catastrophic events. Scammers and thieves around the world know it and they use it.

By all means verify that the organization is legitimate before committing any money.

If you are unsure, just stick to the Red Cross.

IBM to make corporate donation of US$1m to Japan’s relief and recovery effort

[Disclaimer: I am employed at IBM Belgium]

IBM will make an initial corporate donation of up to US$1 million in technology and services to Japan’s relief and recovery efforts. We are reaching out to major nonprofits and the public sector in Japan to determine how best to deploy this contribution and utilize the talents of IBM employees in Japan’s recovery.

IBMers worldwide also are encouraged to make cash donations to disaster relief organizations such as the Red Cross.

I am proud be an IBMer !

Follow me on Twitter

Follow me on Twitter at @pygenot.

Japan devastation leaves me speechless

I’ve been struck by the reports and pictures I see from Japan. There is so much pain, so much tragedy. Yet out of it, I see the courage of the firefighters, of the policemen, of all the people who help the distressed.

To check the extend of damages and losses, check out those links:

1. NY Times Interactive Map
2. ABC News Before/After Pictures
3. CNN Map impact of Tsunami and Earthquake

All my prayers  and thoughts go to Japan.

La course – quatrième jour

Hier, j’ai entamé la deuxième semaine de mon programme d’entraînement. Après un échauffement de six minutes, sous forme de marche rapide, j’ai couru trois séries de deux minutes espacées par cinq minutes de marche.

Ma fille m’a accompagné et a bien suivi le rythme.

La course – troisième jour

Aujourd’hui, je me suis entrainé avec ma fille. Elle a six ans et est pleine d’énergie. Nous avons effectué le même programme qu’hier.

A ma grande surprise, elle s’en est très bien tirée. J’espère qu’elle m’accompagnera encore sur mes parcours.

La course – deuxième jour

Pour ma deuxième journée de course, j’ai répété le même programme que la séance précédente.

A l’issue de l’entrainement, j’avais un peu mal aux muscles. En tout cas à ceux qui ne sont pas sollicités naturellement lorsque je marche. Ou lorsque je nage.