I just realized I was too busy to stop and recognize the “birthday” of the Lean Blog, as we turned “3” in March. I'm proud of the blog and very grateful for the constructive and friendly community that we have in the manufacturing and lean blogging space. I've made some good friends through the blog – those who comment on posts or email me, those who have contributed to the blog as writers, and other bloggers who collaborate with me.
In three years, I think the site has come a long way:
- The blog used to be the “Lean Manufacturing Blog” and looked like this (pretty sparse and ugly!). We're now just “Lean Blog” as the focus has shifted from manufacturing to the Lean and Toyota Production System concepts in general.
- Here's what I was blogging about in March 2005.
- The traffic numbers aren't the primary reason why I blog, but the # of daily visitors has grown from:
- 40/day in March 2005
- 200/day in March 2006
- 600/day in March 2007
- Still holding steady about 600/day, but we have more frequent spikes of over 1000/day, thanks to links from major business websites, like MSN Money.
- Added a podcast in July 2006 (www.leanpodcast.org) — now have 40 episodes.
- The blog is what helped lead to the opportunity to write my book (thanks, Dean!)
Here are previous “birthday” / “hansei” reflection posts from previous years:
As I've said before, blogging is a great way to learn and can be a great networking tool if you're willing to work at it. The NY Times had a good article on blogging the other day. If you have a niche you are passionate about, start your own blog, give it try. Thanks, as always, for reading and participating.
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Mark's new book is The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation.
He is also the author of Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More, the Shingo Award-winning books Lean Hospitals and Healthcare Kaizen, and the anthology Practicing Lean.
Mark is also a Senior Advisor to the technology company KaiNexus.
Congratulations on the anniversary. As a guy who dabbled in blogging for a short time, I fully appreciate the difficulty of putting out good material while working and living your life. I don’t know how you blog as prolifically as you do, but I’m glad you do!
This is an outstanding blog. Congrats on keeping up with it and it is nice to see the growth.
I am a new Lean practitioner and this blog has been invaluable in my learning.
Keep it up!
The Blog is a great resource for all of us. Keep up the good work. And good luck with the book – you were the right guy to write it.
Congratulations on the anniversary.
i am one of your readers.
your blog is so helpful and nice.
Keep it up!
Thank you for three years of enjoyment and education.
Fantastic achievement. In the spirit of hoshin kanri, what are your goals for 2009?
Good question, Jamie.
My one goal I have for 2008 is to build some community around my book, to give people a forum to talk about their efforts in bringing Lean thinking into hospitals.
Any other ideas for what I should be doing, for 2008 and 2009?
Mark, you do a great job. Your blog is always part of my regular morning routine. Keep it up! We don’t always agree, but if we did, that would be weird.
Congratulations on starting your fourth year, Mark. This blog is an invaluable pantry for “food for thought.”
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