lean

Many organizations have formed teams dedicated to the work of Lean, Continuous Improvement, OpEx, or whatever other term you prefer. These teams range from large centralized teams to distributed resources, to sole individuals. Regardless of the size and structure of the team, goals likely have to be set. While one

Tools are great, but it’s behaviors that drive real lean transformation. Here’s why most lean efforts struggle and how to create lasting change by focusing on what people actually do rather than just what they know. Download the Lean is About Behaviors White Papers Here

The First Lean Coffee Talk: Starbucks, Honeywell, Tariffs, and Toyota   In Season 2, Episode 1, we introduce the new name and slightly new format of Lean Coffee Talk, formerly known as Lean Whiskey. Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh are just as passionate about their coffee beverages as the whiskey.

Episode 50: “The 50th and Final Lean Whiskey, or is it?” Lean Whiskey will transition to a new brand Lean Coffee Talk, so stay tuned for more episodes from Mark and Jamie In their 50th and final episode of Lean Whiskey, hosts Mark and Jamie announce a significant transition, revealing

Episode 45: “Crossover event: Just-in-Time Cafe and Lean Whiskey” In Episode 45, Jamie Flinchbaugh and Mark Graban join the Just-in-Time Cafe team of Elisabeth Swan and Tracy O’Rourke as a special nod to their 100th Episode, while also having a chance to toast Mark’s accomplishment of 250 episodes of My

Episode 44: “New Year’s Resolutions, just not Dry January. Boeing makes one too” In Episode 44, Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh get back together for this first episode of 2024. Since we’re not doing Dry January, we go right into the whiskey first by talking about old bottles including one

I witness this breakdown in critical thinking far too frequently. Just because a person or an organization is highly respected and capable, does not mean that we should judge all of their decisions, actions, and opinions based on that respect. We should be skeptical. We should challenge. After all, Aristotle

No matter what your profession, everyone should consider at some point in time a personal work retreat. For me, it is usually about research and writing. Certainly, almost all of People Solve Problems was written across multiple retreats up to the mountains. Bill Gates would take his “think weeks” away

Happy Heuristics is a podcast about using rules of thumb, decision criteria, or heuristics to help leaders operate with speed and effectiveness in a complex and uncertain world. Podcast partners Jamie Flinchbaugh and Jeff Grimshaw explore specific heuristics, one theme at a time, that you can either adopt or use

A long time ago I was running an off-shift in operations. Late at night, we didn’t have any resources coming to train the team, and so if we wanted to learn, we were on our own. We began reading and applying books, beginning with two books from Kiyoshi Suzuki, The