Stuff I’m Reading, May 1, 2012
Here are links to some varied articles I’ve read recently that might be of interest on a number of Lean related topics: NFL Draft – Player Names on Jerseys (Lean Blitz) – Chad Walters shares how the NFL got player…
Here are links to some varied articles I’ve read recently that might be of interest on a number of Lean related topics: NFL Draft – Player Names on Jerseys (Lean Blitz) – Chad Walters shares how the NFL got player…

Dr. W. Edwards Deming famously said that managers can’t hope to motivate employees, as they can only hope to not demotivate them. I wrote about this in my post “If management stopped demotivating their employees…” Deming had a chart that…

As the main days of the men’s NCAA basketball tourney (“March Madness”) start Thursday, here’s a topic that might make for fun Lean discussion at work or something that you might possibly bore people with at a tourney watching party…

Here’s a funny little story I saw on ESPN today (Nicklas Grossmann reveals extra ‘n’). Apparently when former Dallas Stars’ defenseman Nicklas Grossman entered the league in 2006, it was assumed his name was spelled Grossman with one ‘n’ (see…

This is a hot sports news story today, as I woke up to hear ESPN’s “Mike and Mike” talking about Milwaukee Brewers slugger (and reigning National League MVP) Ryan Braun’s 50-game suspension being overturned. Braun had been suspended for testing…

Mark’s Note: Today’s post is a second guest post from a new blogger, Chad Walters. His first post appeared last Friday. I was happy to be able to meet up with Chad to share some local Dallas BBQ while he…
When it first came out, I was a big fan of Michael Lewis’ book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game about the Oakland A’s major league baseball team and the unorthodox approach they took to building a team (under…
Mark’s Note: Today’s post is a guest post from a new blogger, Chad Walters. Chad and I share a strong interest in sports — me as a fan and Chad as somebody who is working to bring Lean thinking to…

At first I thought this post was stretching this week’s blog theme of applying Lean principles in everyday life, but I think it actually does fit quite well, at least for those of us for whom sports is a part…

People in healthcare know that miscommunications are a major cause of errors and patient harm. There was a strange footnote to game 5 of the World Series, where the Texas Rangers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2. A miscommunication led…

I loved the book Moneyball by Michael Lewis, but I haven’t seen the movie yet (I hear it’s good — Edit: It was GREAT). To me, it was a story about being forced to go against conventional wisdom to come up…

tl;dr: When a leader yells, people learn fear–not lessons. True coaching means helping others learn from mistakes instead of punishing them. Whether on the football field or in the workplace, the best leaders build confidence, not compliance. I was happy…