Initial rebuild

Definitions/5S.md

@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#intendedProcesses #lean
+
+5S is a five-step methodology for creating a more organized and productive workspace: **Sort, Straighten, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain**. 5S serves as a foundation for deploying more advanced lean production tools and processes. 5S goes hand in hand with [[STOW]]. 5S is geared towards optimizing the physical space in the work place to improve quality, safety, and efficiency.
+
+![[Pasted image 20230113113703.png]]
+
+The 5 steps of 5S each accomplish the following:
+
+ 1. Sort: Identify and separate items that are needed from those that are not. Discard or relocate anything that is not necessary or required for the task at hand.
+
+2. Straighten: Arrange the items remaining in logical order, making sure to provide easy access to frequently used items.
+
+3. Shine: Clean the space and keep it free of clutter and dirt.
+
+4. Standardize: Create systems and practices that ensure the workspace remains organized and efficient over time. This can include labeling items, creating processes for maintaining cleanliness, etc.
+
+5. Sustain: Monitor the workspace regularly to ensure it remains organized, efficient, and safe. Make sure to communicate changes or improvements to all users of the workspace so they can follow them as well.

Definitions/Accountability.md

@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# Accountability
+This [[article]] talks about #accountabilty in terms of things in the workplace.
+
+When accountability is properly in place, the following things are true:
+
+- There is an official record of who was supposed to do what, when, and under what circumstances.
+- There is a log or record kept confirming whether or not the person did the thing.
+- Somebody else is confirming that record or log, so a person can't just bullshit it.

Definitions/Buffer Time.md

@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+Buffer time is a variable amount of time a task is expected to take that accounts for occassional situations the operator must respond to.
+
+## How to identify and understand buffer time
+Imagine you ask somebody how long it takes them to take out the trash. They tell you it takes 5-10 minutes. You ask them why it takes 10 minutes sometimes instead of 5 minutes, and they tell you that sometimes the trash is overflowing and it has to be picked up before it can be thrown out.
+
+That's an example of buffer time: it's extra time around the basic task that's because of a variable in how the work is done.
+
+Here's another example: when a person needs to ask their supervisor a question sometimes it takes only a minute and other times it takes 15 minutes. The reason is because sometimes they don't know where the supervisor is, so they have to search for their supervisor.

Definitions/Craftsman Method.md

@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+A Craftsman Method refers to doing work in a way that one person does the whole process from start to finish, usually without any helpers.
+
+A Craftsman Method is often the way a new process or project is tested to figure out the basic way to do the job, especially if the work is complicated or involves a lot of critical thinking.
+
+If we decide to continue doing such a job longterm or scale up the project by bringing in more work, we try to move away from using a Craftsman Method because it is harder to scale and more error prone.
+
+Let's talk about some of the reasons we do that.
+
+First of all, a Craftsman Method is often used because a customer has some kind of problem they're willing to spend a lot of money to solve. If we're able to make a profit solving their problem with a Craftsman Method, we start to check how many other people would pay for basically the same thing. Often we find the person who first asked us for a solution is willing to spend more money than most other people. In other words, if we want to expand the solution and offer it to more people, we have to find a way to make it more affordable.
+
+If it doesn't seem like many other people are willing to pay to have the problem solved, that means it's kind of a dead end for the company. It doesn't make sense to keep devoting resources to the project unless it's extremely profitable and we have nothing better to do. We want to focus instead on solving problems that more people will pay for.
+
+Another reason has to do with having a [[single point of failure]]. We are setting ourselves up for failure if only a small group of people understand how to do the work or success depends on the work being done perfectly every time. In the past we've conducted several experiments where we tried having 2 or 3 people use the Craftsman Method on the same project at the same time. What we learned was no matter how much we communicated and tried to standardize, each of the people produced different, inconsistent results. In some of these tests we used people who were otherwise considered top performers in the company. When shown the results of their work, they all agreed the customer would probably be upset or confused by the differences in their work. This is not to mention that the craftsman method makes attendance issues an even larger problem because if one of the people is absent, late, or wants to take a vacation the customer is automatically pissed off.
+
+## What to take away from this article
+We place a high value on people who can use a Craftsman Method to explore a new process and then move on to a different problem. People who can do that are frequently promoted, given raises, bonuses, and other rewards. The key indicator of success is that either we quickly figured out the project doesn't make sense to keep doing or we figured out a more repeatable method because lots of people will pay for the same thing if it's more affordable.
+
+On the flip side, people who gravitate towards using the Craftsman Method for a single project long-term are usually a bad fit for our business model. Regardless of their work ethic, personality, or anything like that, such people don't usually thrive with us. They would be better off starting their own small business (and we think they should). The reason is more or less that we don't have the money and resources to gamble that they will eventually figure out how to scale the work and make significant money. However, if they're honest and forthright about their passion for the particular problem they're solving, we are very supportive of them branching out on their own to create their own company.
+
+At the time of writing, that is going on with [[Dorian McGruder]] in regards to computer repair. We have one customer who needs computer repair occassionally, and Dorian used a Craftsman Method to do it. The customer has been very happy with the results. However, we haven't seen a clear way to scale computer repair to other customers. Meanwhile, Dorian's attitude and critical thinking have high value on other projects in the business. He's working on launching a computer repair and custom PC business as a side gig while still working with us.
+
+#radicalTransparency 
+
+## Why is a Craftsman Method more error prone?
+Mainly because people aren't perfect. As a person grows more tired their own ability to notice how tired they are degrades. With one expert doing the work start to finish without anyone to assist or catch mistakes, errors will *always* happen. That is less of an issue when the work's being done for a customer who has a burning desire for a solution.
+
+Usually, the initial customer(s) for a new project are surprised any solution whatsoever exists. The problem has been driving them nuts for so long they are essentially irrational about finding some kind of solution. Therefore, they're willing to pay top dollar to even test if the problem can be solved, and they are much more forgiving about mistakes or problems.
+
+This is also the reason we avoid offering Craftsman Method solutions to new customers as their first project, unless it's *not* expected to be an ongoing need. It's because if a new customer is asking us for something like that, they are probably irrational and it's a good indicator their business isn't healthy. Many of the times in the past we tried helping a customer like that, they ended up wasting our time, money, and sanity.
+
+Take for example [[long term storage]] customers. Most of the time people asking for long term storage are acting irrationally. They only need LTS because they can't sell their products fast enough. A lot of the time people ask for LTS they have no idea how long they'll need storage because they have no idea how to improve sales of their merchandise. [[Stefan Wingen]] is an example of this. He bought way more inventory than he actually could sell and over the course of 2+ years he hasn't found any real solution. It could be argued we should help him find a way to sell it. However, he doesn't do any other project with us, so we choose to focus on the needs of other paying customers with more repeatable work.

Definitions/Decision capacity.md

@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+Making decisions takes information and planning, and a person or organization can only make so many decisions at a time. Decision capacity is a reference to this, but it's not a great word to use without context because it makes the underlying problem opaque.
+
+For instance, if somebody says we don't have the decision capacity to do that right now, the problem could be lack of information, lack of time, or just feeling burnt out... all of which require different solutions.

Definitions/Double Handling.md

@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+This article explains the concept of "double handling", including how to identify it and what to do about it. This is important because a lot of people hear "double handling" and make incorrect assumptions about what it means.
+
+The following elaborates on what is and isn't considered double handling in a warehouse or production environment.
+
+## What is Double Handling?
+
+Double handling is a term used to describe the unnecessary and inefficient shipment or movement of goods or products within a warehouse or production environment. In general, double handling occurs when goods are moved more than once before reaching their destination, leading to additional cost and time inefficiencies.
+
+
+## What isn't Double Handling?
+
+Necessary and efficient activities such as shipping, receiving, quality control checks and stock counting do not count as double handling. These activities are necessary for warehouse operations and should not be regarded as double handling.
+
+## Examples
+
+### Stacking deliveries on the floor might be double handling
+Imagine you are unloading a truck and you stack the packages on the floor. Later on, the packages will have to be moved somewhere else. Normally, it would be better to put the packages directly on a movable appliance like rolling racks, carts, or pallets so they don't need to be picked up a second time before than be moved to the people who need them.
+
+### Sorting SKUs by stacking items on the floor might be double handling
+Imagine you are opening several boxes of products to sort the contents by SKU and then repackage them into cases. If you do that by opening every box and stacking the items on the floor, you are probably double handling. As a more efficient alternative, you could instead open one box at a time on a table, sort each item, and put it into a box for that SKU.
+
+
+How to Identify Double Handling?
+
+To identify double handling in your warehouse or production environment, look for any unnecessary movement of goods that may be occurring. Questions you can ask yourself include: 
+- Are there any areas where goods could be moved more efficiently? 
+- Are there any processes that require more than one person to move a product from one place to another? 
+- Is the route that products take through the warehouse long and winding? 
+- Is there a lack of clear pathways between different parts of the facility? 
+- Are workers moving goods further than they need to before they reach their destination? 
+
+
+What Can Be Done About Double Handling?
+
+Once you have identified areas where double handling may be occurring, there are several steps you can take to reduce it: 
+- Streamline processes by finding ways to move

Definitions/Fulfillment.md

@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+Fulfillment referers to picking, packing, and shipping products to be sent to another destination.
+
+Included with fulfillment:
+- Packing products for safe shipping to their destination;
+- Applying up to 2 customer-provided labels to each package;
+- Applying up to 1 customer-provided paper insert;
+- Nothing that requires opening or modifying an actual product.
+
+For example, if a customer wants us to send out 100 coffee mugs, and each mug is already individually bubblewrapped or boxed, then it's Fulfillment. If they need us to perform the bubble wrapping or whatever *before* it can be shipped, then it is Prep. The reason for this is that customers are *supposed* to provide Prep instructions we're able to carry out during (or shorlty after) the receiving process. They are not supposed to wait until they want to ship the products.

Definitions/Iranian Satanism.md

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+Iranian Satanism is a term coined by Jason Thistlethwaite and Ty Steiman to describe self-sabotaging behavior that is conducted in a zealous or almost fanatical manner.
+
+It has to do with a niche of people in the Middle East who seek supernatural powers from demons, and they believe that attracting the demons requires debasing themselves. They do things like roll around in piles of feces or starve themselves, acrue major debt, or other things that are obviously not good ideas... and they do it anyway.
+
+In our context at work, Iranian Satanism is a euphemism for when people are doing something that makes their own job more difficult for no apparent reason, especially if they keep doing it anyway after it's pointed out.

Definitions/Montecarlo Simulations.md

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+A Monte Carlo simulation is a computerized mathematical technique that uses probability distributions and random numbers to simulate an outcome. It is used to analyze a variety of different outcomes, from predicting the future performance of stocks and investments, to assessing the risk of certain decisions. Monte Carlo simulations can also be used to model physical phenomena such as weather forecasting and climate modeling. The main advantage of Monte Carlo simulations is that they allow for the modeling of complex systems which would otherwise be too complex or costly to solve analytically.

Definitions/Observability.md

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+# Observability
+This article explains what #observable means in the context of processes, tasks, or steps.
+
+Observability means it is easy to see whether or not a task is being performed without needing to spend effort on it. A step is observable when a person can tell what's being done (or not being done) by simply looking at something from a distance.
+
+For example, if all supervisors were supposed to wear a particular kind of shirt, it would then be observable who they are. Someone could tell who's a supervisor from across the room without asking anyone.

Definitions/Prep.md

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#definition
+Prep refers to making modifications to products before they can be sent somewhere. It might include things like bubblewrapping, bagging, kitting, bundling, etc. In many cases, the modifications to the product are to comply with the policies of a retail outlet or store. In other cases, it is essentially producing a new product by combining several things together.
+
+Prep is closely related to the concepts of [[crossdocking]] and [[light manufacturing]].
+

Definitions/QC Report.md

@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+![[qcReport.png]]
+QC Reports are an efficient, pseudononymous way to submit feedback or report issues within the company. You can quickly and easily submit a QC Report by clicking the icon shown in the picture above.
+
+## Benefits to QC Reports and how to use them the right way
+There are several benefits to raising issues or feedback, and they are a core part of our stance towards radical transparency.
+
+QC Reports can be seen and read by everyone who works here, and they wind up inside [[Redmine]] where we can track who is dealing with them, chat back and forth about them, and track whether they've been resolved.
+
+### Don't use QC Reports for private or sensitive subjects
+Don't use QC Reports for anything that is highly personal or private, or for complaining about someone's behavior. This is because everyone in the company is able to read them, so using QC Reports for that kind of thing can have unwanted results. Instead, for those kinds of things you should email hr@ldrprep.com.

Definitions/SLA.md

@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# Service Level Agreement (SLA)
+An SLA outlines what is included for a particular kind of work we do for a customer by definining timeframes, pricing, etc.
+
+Our default SLA for customers consists of what is currently advertised on our website and marketing materials at the time we started doing business with the customer.

Definitions/Toxic Performance.md

@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+[[Toxic Performance]] is when an employee's high performance is causing unecessary problems for other people working around them. Put another way, the employee feels like they don't need to follow rules or be mindful of coworkers because their performance is so high. If this isn't caught and handled it confuses and frustrates other staff who don't understand why the toxic performer is permitted to continue what they're doing. It quickly leads to morale issues, attendance problems, mistakes, and other issues.
+
+A person who is engaging in Toxic Performance should be given [[Counselling]] at the first sign of the issue to try to figure out why they think their actions are acceptable. Otherwise, other staff will become frustrated and confused that nothing is being done about the toxic performer. It can hurt morale, and lead to attendance problems, mistakes, and other issues if it's not addressed.
+
+Toxic performance can be hard to detect from just looking at what work is finished. There are other ways to detect it's going on.
+
+## They want your job
+Put simply, a toxic performer is trying to get you fired because they think that's the best way to get a raise or stabilize their income. They're convinced their ways of working are the best, so they don't need to do anything except throw everyone else under the bus.
+
+The kinds of things a toxic performer may do start small while they are testing the limits of what they can get away with. Then, they will start sabotaging coworkers in minor ways that are easily overlooked. As this progresses, the overall performance of the team declines. Meanwhile, they are often at the center of a rumor mill that's designed to keep people engaged in gossip and goose chases. In a typical case, the toxic performer finds every excuse possible to speak with more senior management without their supervisor present. They will try to make it obvious to certain coworkers though.
+
+This has the effect of amplifying the rumor mill. Coworkers may believe rumors the toxic person starts because they've seen the person speaking with senior management. Likewise, senior management may be fed false or inaccurate information about why the team's performance has declined. They may also discourage coworkers from reporting issues through the proper channels because "they just fire people who do that" or "they don't listen" or "I'll talk to them about it for you".
+
+## What causes a toxic performer?
+Generally speaking, lack of management. There isn't enough supervision in place to notice what the toxic performer is doing. It typically starts when an employee with high performance begins breaking or bending rules but nobody does anything about it. Most often, if anyone does notice, the toxic performer will have a plausible excuse that they misunderstood a rule or didn't know about it. Usually, the situation will be a seemingly trivial case of a more serious issue. Basically, the person is mapping out what they can get away with and who will pay attention.
+
+This might not even be intentional or malicious. It could simply be that a person thinks their performance is really high and that's the reason nobody enforces simple rules.
+
+### Annoying behaviors tolerated because of performance
+When a manager is afraid to confront an employee about unwanted behaviors because "what would I do if this person quit?" the door is open to toxic performance.
+
+## How to detect a toxic performer
+A Toxic Performer wil often exhibit certain characteristics or behaviors.
+
+### Bending or breaking trivial rules
+They break or bend the rules in small ways that seem like they're so trivial it's not worth addressing it.
+
+They start to rationalize the rules shouldn't apply to them because of their performance.
+
+For instance, maybe employees in your area are supposed to use resealable drink containers. The toxic performer more or less ignores this rule or invents their own exceptions to it. In another case, it's SOP for employees to send notice through [[Homebase]] if they'll be late to work. The toxic performer directly texts the supervisor instead.
+
+### Bragging about a particular metric
+A toxic performer may loudly brag about a particular metric of their work, usually whatever metric is easy for them to make really high. They will often find ways to bring up their performance in situations where it's not important or it's off topic.
+
+### Rumors and throwing people under the bus
+Toxic performers sometimes honestly believe their way of doing the work is the only right way. As such, they will nitpick and complain about coworkers or even managers, often making unfounded accusations. Their own internal thought process is that they should be in charge because of their performance, but since nobody can see that, the best solution is getting other people in trouble.
+
+For example, let's say there was a team conversation about safe lifting techniques. The toxic performer thinks this is a waste of time and shouldn't apply to them. So later on, they spread the rumor that the supervisor is an alcoholic or that a coworker is peeing on the floor in the bathroom.
+
+This can be a tactic to distract management from noticing the toxic person's behaviors because management is busy investigating the accusations or doing damage control about the rumors.
+
+### One-directional feedback or suggestions
+A toxic performer may be a motormouth with suggestions or feedback about how the work should be done... but they're not open to hearing any feedback about it or anyone else's ideas.
+
+For example, we might be talking about how the company needs to make more money or do work more efficiently. In the toxic performer's mind they're already doing the work the best way possible, so everyone should listen to them.
+
+### Indirect identification
+There are some indicators of a toxic performer that have less to do with the person and more to do with other people in the workplace.
+
+#### Social capital builders appear
+Look for people who used to have acceptable performance but now seem more interested in being well-liked. These are folks who know their performance is below acceptable, so they focus on building social capital in order to continue collecting paychecks.
+
+This tends to be a sign of toxic performance. The reason being, the social capital builder's performance is being affected by the toxic performer, but they haven't been able to solve the problem. For example, maybe the toxic performer is constantly blasting loud music that distracts this person from their job and causes mistakes. They don't bother complaining the management about it because the problem is so obvious they assume management doesn't care. So instead, they are extra friendly to coworkers, step in to do favors like run errands or clear trash, or they might bring people food. Whatever it is, they're doing stuff that's not actually their job in order to make other people like them.
+
+#### Attendance issues surrounding a particular area
+If a particular team or area starts having a lot more attendance issues than what's normal elsewhere in the company that can be a sign of a toxic performer. Basically, the people are waking up thinking "fuck this, I don't want to deal with that bullshit today" so they're late, absent, etc.  It may actually *be* affecting their health, too.
+
+For instance, stress does effect people's health. If somebody used to enjoy working here, but now they hardly ever feel a sense of accomplishment because of the toxic performer they are likely to get sick more often and have other attendance issues.
+
+#### Generalized insubordination, shadow processes, or backsliding
+It starts to seem like updates to processes or methods never seem to stick in a particular area. No matter how simple a suggestion or change is, it always seems to revert back or get twisted somehow.
+
+This can be a sign a toxic performer is working in that area. Remember, they're convinced their performance is the highest it could possibly be. As such, they will tend to subvert new policies or processes that conflict with the way they think the work should be done.
+
+The other way this can appear is through a [[Shadow process]], where an unofficial, undocumented process is followed by people in an area without any management approval. This may indicate a situation where the toxic performer had suggestions management disagreed with, but they are essentially bullying coworkers into implementing their ideas anyway.
+

Definitions/Water Spider.md

@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+A water spider or ”_mizusumashi”_ in Japanese is a person who has a prescribed set of tasks to keep materials in stock at the point of use in production areas and reduce [[Buffer Time]] of regular production activities.
+
+A water spider's purpose is to handle the replenishment tasks so the production-oriented personnel can focus on revenue-generating activities.
+
+They should make their rounds the same way and perform replenishment tasks identically each and every time. They take finished goods from the work area, drop [[kanban cards]], refill bins from central locations, and remove waste materials. All of these tasks keep the operators in their work areas and keep production flowing.
+
+## Warnings about using water spiders
+
+- A water spider might not perform their role full-time, but it's critical for them to make their rounds at regular, expected intervals.
+- Water spiders move between different areas with different leadership, making standardization much more important. Visual guides and nomenclature must be standardized for water spiders to function well. For example, [[5S lists]] should be standard in each area the water spider will operate.
+- During their rounds a water spider should only do their prescribed tasks. There is a tendency for managers to think of water spiders as secondary to production, which can tempt managers to assign water spiders additional tasks. Don't treat a water spider as an excess person or a floater.
+
+## General tasks of a water spider at LDR
+A water spider should circulate the whole production floor on a set interval, stopping in each key production area to handle any replenishment needs. In between intervals, the water spider should be focused on [[STOW]].
+
+The water spider is expected to circulate the production floor on a regular basis and resolve the following issues at each production area:
+
+- Make note of low supplies or consumables, such as tape, packing materials, printer paper, etc. and replenish low supplies.
+- Monitor the central distribution point of supplies for low quantities and report them to the [[Quality Manager]].
+- Break down boxes and remove trash.
+- Replace spent racks/bins with new ones.
+
+
+

Definitions/good standing.md

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+In various places our docs talk about employees being in good standing. This article explains what we generally mean by that. The following things are true about an employee in good standing:
+
+- They haven't been subjected to any corrective actions in over a year and they've worked with us long enough for that to mean something;
+- They don't have any pending or unresolved investigations or grievances involving them;
+- They're well known for delivering valuable work while consuming a minimal amount of company resources.
+

Definitions/work stop.md

@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+---
+alias: workstop
+alias: work-stop
+alias: zero-production
+---
+
+A work stop is when productive activity ceases because of unplanned or unwanted events, particularly those that could be avoided or handled a better way.
+
+It is a broad term, and not every type of work stop should be handled the same way. The main thing is to notice when they happen, think about what caused it, and do what we can to reduce similar events in the future.