You talk about the different numbers of simulations you have, and one of them is the Mouse Trap game, which is probably one of your more popular ones I would think. Can you briefly describe it? I know it’s on your website, and someone can read about it, but just tell me what it is and what’s the benefit from an instructional standpoint to go through it? -jd
Jamie: Sure. Well, the Mouse Trap experience, it is one of our more popular simulations. It’s based on the long-standing board game Mouse Trap. So we leverage this three-dimensional contraption that makes Mouse Trap what it is as a platform for experimentation, and the way we run it, it’s nice and short. It’s about 90 minutes, and it’s not a manufacturing process. It’s not a business process. It’s a board game. So the folks that sit in manufacturing simulation and say, well I am in the business process, and so that doesn’t apply to me and vice versa. Well, this is Mouse Trap. So it doesn’t apply to anybody so get over it and just focus on the learning.
It’s pretty easy to immerse yourself in, but the idea is we run people through a process where we get to some…without getting into any tools, some basic fundamentals of improvement: the idea, like understanding current state first, the idea of small step experimentation, changing one thing at a time, standardization, and the ability to structure the work.
These are some basic fundamentals that regardless of what tools you have, apply for continuous improvement, and so we basically try to weave some of those fundamentals into a short, high energy, fun learning process that applies…we’ve had it with doctors and brain surgeons and engineers and high school students.
So, all sorts of different folks because again, it’s based on the board game Mouse Trap, so the learning can apply to anybody.
Related Podcast and Transcription: Lean Training Tips
Jamie Flinchbaugh is a co-founder and partner of the Lean Learning Center in Novi, Mich., and brings successful and varied experiences of lean transformation as a leader, practitioner and facilitator. Under Jamie’s leadership, the Lean Learning Center has become one of the most recognized and premiere lean providers in the world.
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