Flinchbaugh

In Part 1: The evolution of lean, we explored how our insight into lean has evolved. In this part, we explore why behaviors are so important to lean. The most important aspect of lean evolution has been the acknowledgement of the role of behaviors as central to a lean organization.

While attending the Summit on Lean Leadership by Lean Frontiers in partnership with the Lean Leadership Academy, I was leading a discussion on the lean board of directors. Coming out of the conference, I will produce a paper outlining some of the key thoughts. We discussed 3 aspects of the

Our friend from Gemba Academy, Ron Pereira, recently interviewed me for his Gemba Academy podcasts. Here’s a brief synopsis of what is covered.   Jamie’s lean career history (2:42) The quote that has inspired Jamie for over 15 years (4:08) Jamie’s definition of a Lean Leader, and why it’s a

Although I’m a bit behind on many things, The Lean Edge asked a question that I’m just now getting around to answering. Is highlighting problems stressful and increased pressure on workers? There is a major difference between tension and stress, and this difference when not understood causes tremendous problems. Leaders

Tuesday I was the featured speaker at Morris Midwest‘s Morris Madness customer open house. Morris features Okuma and Tsugami machine tools. Although many of the slides won’t mean much without the words that go with them, here is my presentation. The show was well done. It was almost like a

I read plenty of disturbing statements about lean, but I read one recently that really caught my attention because it seemed to rip the core of lean out of lean, and then almost claim credit for putting it back in. I was reading a copy of AME’s Target Magazine from

My latest column for Industry Week, Lessons from the Road, titled Decisions about Making Decisions has been posted. Here is the intro:   One of the most important domains within organizations that lean too infrequently injects itself is decision-making. The who, what, when and how of decision-making is ultimately one

This post originally appeared on The Lean Edge: The question asked is “Are work standards individual or collective?” Standardization is a very difficult topic for most people in lean. The difficulty starts with a past practice and perception that standards are something we give people to force them to do

Many of you know that I love Aesop’s Fables to present timeless lessons, and write about how they connect to lessons in the lean journey. This fable is titled: Hercules and the Waggoner   “A Waggoner was driving his team along a muddy lane with a full load behind them, when the

The principle of Respect for People has received greater attention in the lean community over the past several years. Books, blogs, and speeches have all given attention to its importance. Both companies and customers are made up of people, and the best profits and processes in the world are not