Lean Coffee Talk

Lean Coffee Talk is a podcast hosted by Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh — authors, speakers, and longtime leaders in the Lean community. Each episode explores practical ideas about Lean leadership, continuous improvement, organizational culture, problem solving, and customer value.

The conversations blend real-world experience from healthcare, manufacturing, technology, and service organizations with reflections on leadership, management mistakes, and what actually works when building high-performing systems.

Unlike scripted interviews, Lean Coffee Talk follows a flexible “Lean Coffee” format — a structured but open discussion driven by questions, observations, and current challenges facing leaders today.

Whether you’re new to Lean or deeply experienced, the goal is simple: share insights that help organizations improve faster, think more clearly, and create better outcomes for customers and employees.