lean journey

Episode 29: “Yellow Cards, Coffee Cocktails, and a Barrel Down the Drain”  In Episode 29, it’s been a little while since Mark and Jamie got together for Lean Whiskey. We catch up on what’s new, which includes Mark’s new certification with distinction with the WSET Level 2 Spirits certification, and

Coaching is a very personal thing. Some coaches are more driven by their intuition. Some coaches are more driven by a process. Where do you fall on that spectrum? This is a question I ask participants in our coaching workshop. There is no right answer, but there are limitations based

Coaching means many different things to different people and within different organizations. Often I find someone believes they are coaching when in fact they are just sharing their experiences and points of view at opportune moments. I remember one executive I was coaching, who is now retired, saying “People can’t

PDCA, or “Plan Do Check Act”, is perhaps one of the most well-known concepts in lean and continuous improvement. Not the most understood, but well known about. Anything this ubiquitous and broad is with understanding its historical use and origins. I love diving into histories like this; read economics and

Episode 27: “Lean Coffee: Pour Over Edition”  In Episode 27, Mark and Jamie switch things up a bit with a morning recording of the show. While we could have just started our whiskey early, instead we decided to switch to a beverage that shares much of the same culture, craft,

The easiest strategic choice is to just keep doing what you’re doing. Stay the course. And sometimes that’s also the right choice, but when it is the wrong choice, it often sneaks up on you. By the time a current or future competitor makes you irrelevant, it is likely too

A famous, but false, anecdote about entrepreneurship is when George W. Bush told Tony Blair that the problem with the French economy is that they don’t have a word for entrepreneurs. This would have been funnier if it were true, but this French word has grown in popularity over the

The future of work post-pandemic has been much anticipated and has caused legitimate concern for many. Working conditions for some have been improved, for others, it has been stressful. As for many, working conditions have been impossible as the unemployment numbers for women while kids learn remotely have demonstrated. Companies

What do you do when one of those little fires pops up? It’s not a big deal, it’s just a small problem. Put the fire out, move on to what’s next. After all, there are many important projects to complete. But of course, before you get to them, another fire

How do you set goals? Think about it. If you actually had to describe it, how do you do it? Most people that set them don’t really know. Something goes in both inside and outside their brain, and goals come out the other side. Last week I posted on Forget the