
Problem Solving With the Board of Directors
Management teams run the company, and the board of directors provides governance and direction to do so. That seems simple enough to maintain some role clarity. A useful guiding phrase, repeated often by those with board experience, is “noses in, fingers out.” The meaning of that phrase is that you,
Read More
Steps to Running an Effective Book Club
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
Read More
Decision Making Is About Process, Not Outcomes
I happened to be watching the NFL playoffs recently. The game was going into overtime, and a coin toss determines who gets the ball first. This was the clip, and listen to what the announcer says at the end… Watch Here For those not wanting to watch, he said “the
Read More
The 3-legged 5 Whys
When I wrote the book “People Solve Problems,” I approached the book in a tool-agnostic way. As far as the book is concerned, I don’t particularly care which problem-solving tools you are using. However, tools do still matter (which I also make clear in the book). Here’s a tool that
Read More
Lean Whiskey Episode #32
Episode 32: “Employee Engagement Beyond Buying Them Pizza, or Bourbon” In Episode 32, Jamie Flinchbaugh and Mark Graban have a first…comparing two similar whiskeys from the same distiller. In this case, family-owned Willett and their Willett Pot Still Reserve bourbon and the Johnny Drum bourbon. We definitely both have our
Read More
Integrating the Voice of Many Coaches
Most people get coaching from multiple people, whether it be on their work, on their career, or just within problem-solving. How do you decide which coach to listen to? Well, that’s the wrong question, and in this video, I explain why. Watch here: https://youtu.be/B5PpWaVX9vs
Read More
Happy Heuristics Podcast Episode #4
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
Read More
Should Your Lean Journey Include Certification?
This article was originally published in March 2021. I’ve been asked to help dozens of clients with their lean certification plans at some point in my engagement. How should we design our lean certification program? This is often the question presented to me. Before you get to design, you
Read More
What Refereeing Has Taught Me
Those who know my teaching and coaching also know that I love to draw examples from my long tenure as a soccer coach. First, the examples are very relatable even if you aren’t a fan of soccer. Second, I am a fan of soccer, having been involved at some level
Read More
Insights By Jamie January 2022
Insights by Jamie January 2022 Rethinking Employee Engagement in 2022 Employee engagement, at all levels, has always been an important topic for organizations. Now, the topic has climbed to the very topic of critical business variables, as I stated in IndustryWeek’s Outlook 2022. For many, engagement isn’t
Read More