Lean dwelling

Recently Bob Cremin, CEO of Esterline Technologies, was a guest lecturer in my IT & Innovation class. Two things stood out to me about his philosophy of management:

• He treats his employees as knowledge workers rather than expendable drones, and often incorporates their ideas for workflow improvement. He trusts his employees to learn from their mistakes (which will inevitably occur), and to contribute their experiential knowledge to the firm.
• He's a big believer in lean manufacturing: simplifying operations and eliminating clutter.

Somewhere over the course of midterms, much mysterious detritus has accumulated about my apartment. So, inspired by Mr. Cremin's approach, I've been tidying things up, to make my home environment more conducive to distraction-free learning.

I'm not quite done yet, but I can already feel my stress level reducing. Somehow, cleaning house seems to clean out my mind as well.

Tags: business lean manufacturing Esterline clutter