Clearing Out the LeanBlog Backlog

Sometimes, I have a collection of news stories or links that I either don't have time to blog about, assume you don't have time to read about, or don't really merit a full blog post. So my "WIP" of "draft" posts or links I've set aside grows.

I'll try to do this more often -- clearing out the backlog. What do you think of this type of post? Better to do a post like this on Mondays? Fridays? Saturday?

• A friend of the Lean Blog, Jean Cunningham, is giving a webinar on Lean and IS/IT systems on March 20 (via IndustryWeek)
  
  
• Following up on my surprising praise of American Airlines, they also made another improvement. You no longer have to, as the passenger, request for an upgrade TWO separate times for a given flight (in advance and then again at the airport). AA must have had some extra room in their IT budget last year to make these customer-friendly, time and motion-saving improvements.
  
  
• AA also got slapped by environmentalists for the "waste" of sending a flight across the pond with just five passengers on it. They also allegedly had empty oxygen tank on a flight that may have allegedly contributed to the death of a sick passenger. Allegedly. Major process error or greedy lawyer? Who knows.
  
  
• More companies are going Lean in Wisconsin, in the neighborhood of ThedaCare.
  
  
• A nice post from Matthew May: Elegant Solutions: Don't Pay for Grades
  
  
• GM CEO Rick Wagonner received a 33% raise after the new labor contract with the UAW was focused on slashing hourly rates. Not cool. Where is the leadership? The raise makes up for the 50% pay cut that Wagonner had taken previously in 2007, putting his salary back at $2.2M a year (plus incentive comp).
  
  
• The software company Intuit seems to be really into Lean and the Toyota Production System based on their job postings, including this one.
  
  
• Article by H. Thomas Johnson on the problems with "Lean Accounting." "Management by Financial Targets Isn't Lean; American industry must erase lean accounting before it destroys lean management." Wow, how do you really feel, Dr. Johnson?
  
  
• A virtual gemba walk of sorts with a retail store manager (from back before Christmas). What percentage of their time is spent on being a supervisor, manager, or leader and what percentage is just spent doing stuff or being a higher-paid "doer?"
  

Who can say "LeanBlog backlog" ten times fast?

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