Gwendolyn Galsworth

Coach, author, and speaker

Visual Thinking / Visual-Lean® Institute

Gwendolyn Galsworth, Ph.D., has been implementing visuality for more than 30 years. She’s focused on codifying the visual workplace concepts, principles, and technologies into a single, coherent sustainable framework of knowledge. Galsworth founded Visual Thinking Inc. in 1991, and in 2005 she launched The Visual-Lean Institute where in-house trainers and external consultants are trained and certified in the Institute’s nine core visual workplace methods. Two of the seven books Galsworth has written received the Shingo Research and Professional Publication Award.

Sun, 02/01/2009 - 12:55
The Six Core QuestionsYour window on struggle
Tue, 04/10/2018 - 12:03
The six core questions you see below are a window to help us understand why we struggle at work. Why? Because the answers to them are missing! The remedy is to first notice that—to notice the motion caused by those deficits. Then remove the motion…
Use Motion As a Lever: Become a Scientist of Visual ImprovementHunting for the symptoms of missing information
Tue, 02/13/2018 - 12:02
It’s easy enough to make a visual device—or borrow an idea for one from something you saw in a book or at another workplace. Reproducing other people’s ideas (as long as you say thank you) is a positive, and it can keep you going for a while. But…
Ideas: Growth in Both DirectionsProtect ideas and the people who think of them
Wed, 11/29/2017 - 12:03
We are fast approaching the time when companies realize and are ready to accept the astonishing power of empowering people, and the remarkable changes that can result. Yes, people as a resource for ideas is at the core of a transformed work…
Visuality: A System of Systems Hidden in Plain SightVisual information sharing is the platform on which lean happens
Wed, 10/11/2017 - 12:00
When James Womack and Daniel Jones published Lean Thinking in 1996, they offered the world a book that collected the core principles of a key operational model. Though not stated directly, they created a profile for the Toyota Production System (…
Where Visuality Is the Only ChoiceFlow can happen through an effective implementation of workplace visuality—even when pull can’t
Wed, 08/30/2017 - 12:03
What's the big difference between visual and lean? Answering that question brings us closer to understanding our premise for the short series I began in issue 23 of The Visual Thinker (May 27, 2017), with the article, “Lean Alone Is Not Enough.”…
The Single Biggest Problem in Communication...... Is the illusion that it has taken place
Mon, 07/03/2017 - 12:03
The one complaint—the one problem—that nearly every company puts at (or very near) the top of its list of challenges is communication. George Bernard Shaw, the famous Irish playwright, sets us straight on this when he said: “The single biggest…
The Invisible EnemyRuler of the nonvisual workplace
Thu, 05/18/2017 - 12:01
There is an enemy in your company, and it’s invisible. You can’t see it because it literally is not there. Yet its impact is massive on every level of the enterprise, from boardroom to marketing to operations to the field staff. And the only way we…
The Biggest Obstacle: Leading vs. ManagingThey each have a central role to play, but sequence matters
Tue, 04/18/2017 - 12:03
The year: 1989. Florida Power & Light had just won the Deming Prize, Japan’s national quality award, and became the first overseas company to do so. There were a lot of high-flown speeches in the aftermath and deservingly so. But for me, what…
Nothing Changes if Nothing ChangesTeaching isn’t the same as learning
Wed, 03/01/2017 - 12:02
One of my favorite sayings is, “Nothing changes if nothing changes.” The reverse is also true: If nothing changes, nothing changes. Perfect! So I was more than a little surprised recently when I visited a company that had made a sizeable investment…
The Barracuda Leader: Hungry. Always Hungry.Visuality and lunch
Tue, 01/03/2017 - 18:13
The barracuda is an ambush fish, capable of speeds of 25 mph and feared by all but killer whales and sharks. If confronted by one of those enemies and there is no place to hide, the barracuda simply attacks. Whether hunting or escaping, the…