A weekly newsletter about letting the workplace speak
Issue 20/Volume 2                www.VisualWorkplace.com                 May 20, 2015
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Visual Thinking Inc.

Upcoming Events
Visual Workplace/Visual Thinking Seminar
Tobyhanna Army Depot
Tobyhanna, PA
Tuesday, June 2
SOLD OUT
Friday, June 12
12:00 - 1:30pm Pacific
Visual Leadership:
Principles/Tools 
with Dr. Gwendolyn Galsworth

$75 per person or group

Visual Workplace Assessment
Alcon
Irvine, California
June 12-13
Visual Workplace Presentation
Beijing, China
June 30-July 8
Visual Workplace Trainings
Ilfov, Romania
October 2015
On Sale in May
W ork that Makes Sense
Suite 1: Basics   
Three dynamic learning modules from our
WTMS eLearning Training and Implementation System

Learn how to get started with Visuality in YOUR WORKPLACE:

Module 1:
Basics of Visuality
Module 2:
Visual Building Blocks
Module 3:
Implementation Tool Box

Modules priced separately are $500 each.

Through May 31, you can buy Suite 1
(regular price $1400)
for only  $1,100 USD

 
Did You Know...
Dogs are not as colorblind as you think. Jay Neitz at the University of California, Santa Barbara, confirmed that dogs actually do see color, but many fewer colors than normal humans do. They see the colors green, yellow and orange as yellowish, and they see violet and blue as blue. Blue-green is seen as a gray.

The most popular colors for dog toys today are red or safety orange. However red is difficult for dogs to see. It may appear as a very dark brownish gray or perhaps even a black. When your dog can't find his toy, it may be your fault for choosing a toy with a color that is hard to discriminate from the green grass of your lawn.
From the Editor:  Memorial Day
"Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in service of the United States of America. Over two dozen cities and towns claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day. While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it's difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. 

 

Regardless of the exact date or location of its origins, one thing is clear - Memorial Day was borne out of the Civil War and a desire to honor our dead."

--from usmemorialday.org 

 

All of us at Visual Thinking Inc. wish you a safe and happy holiday weekend! 

 
Cindy Lyndin
Editor-in-Chief
Visual Radio:  
Making The Six Core Questions Visual

Listen to Gwendolyn this 
Thursday at 10am (Pacific) on
 
This Week's Episode
Making The Six Core Questions Visual
   

Who'd argue with the old saw: "There's no such thing as a dumb question"? Gwendolyn Galsworth, your host at Visual Workplace Radio--that's who! Recognizing questions exert a powerful pull for information sharing, this week she points out that runaway questions are a BIG workplace problem. The same questions are asked time and again-and their answers exist only in the minds and mouths of others. As a result, the only way we can find out WHAT and HOW MUCH we are supposed to do, HOW and WHEN we are supposed to do it, WHERE the materials/reports/patients are that are part of this-is to find someone and ask them. Sometimes that person has the answer. Far too often he does not. So you ask another person, who may not know either. The questions chain gets longer, spreading like a contagion through the company. Interruptions become a way of life. Info deficits rule the bottom line, instead of profit. Listen as Dr. Galsworth presents the Six Core Questions and tells you how to use them as a cure.

Feature Article
How Visuality Aligns: The Difference Between Data, Information & Meaning 
by Gwendolyn Galsworth   

From sales to design, procurement to planning, fabrication to processing, receiving to pack and ship, and at all points in between, information is the lifeblood of work and all the activities and functions that support work.

 

In the vast majority of companies, accurate, complete, timely, relevant information is unattainable or simply too hard to come by-and the truth is even harder to locate. That is not to say there isn't plenty of data. Data abounds. Data can be found everywhere-in qualityreports, SPC graphs, management briefings, in team meetings, and weekly and annual reports. Data floods the workplace.  

 

But compiling data is fruitless if the data is not translated into information and the information is not translated into meaning. It is meaning that we are after.  

 
Read More

1.  A willing individual in a company without workplace visuality 
 
2.  A bunch of willing individuals in a company without workplace visuality
 
3. The same workforce in a company with workplace visuality--aligned and empowered.
Thought for the Week
In a world without visual devices and visual mini-systems, operators and maintainers alike are forced to rely on memory or costly trial-and-error to fill in for information deficits. The result is long changeovers, long repair lead times, lost production, unhappy customers, and a demoralized workforce. Visual solutions put an end to all of that and refocus us on more advanced questions, such as: What is the highest level of equipment effectiveness we can achieve?
And the Visual Fail Prize Goes To...
Have you seen a Visual Fail that made you laugh?  Send the image to [email protected],
and we'll put it here and credit you with the funny find!
Visual Poem/Puzzle
Visual Tricks and Treats
One for the holiday weekend
Great signs, clever visual devices, artistic or humorous graffiti. If you find one to share, send the image to [email protected]