Thanks everybody for reading my blog here in 2020. I released 21 “Lean Blog Interviews” podcasts, up from 14 the same period last year (and two data points are not a trend!). I was also happy to continue the “Lean…
Joining me again for Episode #365 is Dan Markovitz, now a five-time guest (but he doesn’t get a special jacket like SNL). You can find past episodes here. The reason for getting together was to chat about his latest book,…
I normally love the public radio program “Marketplace” and have listened to it (on radio or as a podcast) for 15 years or so. But, I was very disappointed with this recent piece, which you can read here: “Just-in-time” manufacturing…
TL;DR: A “not quite perfect” pint at the Guinness Storehouse shows how standard work, quick problem-solving, and relentless pursuit of perfection play out in real life–far beyond manufacturing. I’m writing this on Tuesday morning in Dublin, Ireland, where I have…
tl;dr: I recently returned from my first visit to Brazil, where I spoke at a Lean Six Sigma conference, led a workshop on Process Behavior Charts, and visited two organizations applying Lean principles. From churrascarias to Gemba walks, this trip…
We have a new guest host for Episode #8 of Lean Whiskey. I’m joined by my friend and colleague Cristal Totterman and we’re drinking gin today on her recommendation… so this is “Lean Gin.” We’re also enjoying what Cristal calls…
This past weekend, an old friend came down from Michigan to spend two days in the Dallas area. Amongst the activities and catching up, we went bowling — something I did a lot of as a kid and something my…
Lee Iacocca, the former CEO of Chrysler, passed away on July 2. Ross Perot, founder and former CEO of EDS, also passed away a week later. In reading about him recently, I learned Perot didn’t like to be called “H.…
Thanks everybody for reading my blog here in 2019! It’s been an interesting year on the blog, as usual, and I appreciate you taking time out of your busy lives to read and participate in the discussion. I hope this site will continue…
TL;DR: A non-standard calendar layout caused me to book the wrong tour date. When the same mistake happens repeatedly to different people, it’s not a personal failure–it’s a system design problem. Standardizing calendars and using mistake-proofing (poka-yoke) reduces errors far…
Ever since I started podcasting in 2006, I’ve been using a company called “Hipcast” to be the “hosting” company for the podcast audio files and feeds. For those of you not familiar with podcasting, that’s the website where I upload…
Formerly Lean Whiskey — Lean Coffee Talk is a practical podcast on Lean leadership, operational excellence, and organizational culture–hosted by Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh. Each episode delivers clear, thoughtful conversations that help executives, managers, and improvement leaders apply Lean…
