The famed actor and comedian Gene Wilder passed away this week at age 83. I think of him primarily as an actor from the classic movies from Mel Brooks, “Blazing Saddles” and “Young Frankenstein,” although he’s also known for many other…
Joining me for Episode #253 is Ash Maurya, author of the book Running Lean: Iterate from Plan A to a Plan That Works and his latest, being released this week, called Scaling Lean: Mastering the Key Metrics for Startup Growth. Ash is an entrepreneur…
As I mentioned the past two days (see my posts from Tuesday and Wednesday about “The Five Whys”), I was at the annual Lean Startup Conference in San Francisco. If this is all new to you, below are some of my posts…
There’s no magic about the number five. I’ve seen some people write that five is somehow a “magic number.” No, that’s not really the case. Ask why more than once, probably more than twice…
We don’t just ask why. We start by properly defining and clarifying problems. Jumping straight to Five Whys is like jumping straight to “Learn” in the Lean Startup Build-Measure-Learn cycle.
I’m going to be attending the Lean Startup Conference in San Francisco next month, as a “faculty member,” a moderator for a session, TBD, and maybe serving as a mentor. The organizers asked me to write a post introducing myself…
I’ve been intrigued by the “Lean Startup” movement since I first saw Eric Ries speak at MIT back in late 2009. I’ve read his book The Lean Startup, have attended a bunch of the conferences (speaking at two of them –…
The title here doesn’t refer to LinkedIn’s technology, their website, solving or causing problems. I’m referring to a post I wrote there the other day that has a Lean and Toyota angle to it. Click on the image to read…
Editor’s note (2026): In an era of AI, dashboards, and real-time data, Spear’s reminder still holds: information only matters if it changes behavior. TL;DR: Steve Spear argues that organizations deliver quality and value faster not by working harder, but by…
TL;DR: Lean works across factories, hospitals, startups, and services because it’s built on shared mindsets, not tools. These include customer focus, respect for people, going to the gemba, avoiding blame, solving problems at the root, and resisting “command and control.”…
Hi, Dr. Les Muda here. You might know me from DoctorMuda.com and my occasional “guest appearances” here, including the one post I was brave enough to write here at LeanBlog.org under my own name. Be sure to check out my new…
Last Monday, I had the chance to attend a Lean Startup event in Austin where Eric Ries announced the launch of a Kickstarter project for a new book. 10 days ago isn't much of