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Ready for a culture change? You might think so, but when it comes to culture change what often gets overlooked is that you can’t just create a culture. You need to shift away from your current culture to the new culture. This starts with identifying both the behaviors you want

A couple of years ago, my friend Mark Graban asked me to contribute a chapter for his book Practicing Lean: Learning How to Learn How to Get Better… Better. The book, audiobook, and ebook have been popular and recently Mark decided to create a podcast from the book content. It’s

In the very first episode of Lean Whiskey, Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh, longtime friends, lean thinkers, and whiskey enthusiasts, join forces to enjoy a casual conversation — mostly about lean and a little bit about whiskey. In Episode 1, which we labeled as a “wet run” instead of a

How do you match your flow rate to your customer demand rate when you are executing unsteady or unpredictable work? Is it even possible? The answer is yes. Watch my video and learn how to use this lean method and eliminate waste.

Originally Posted: by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 09-29-09 If lean is about anything, it is about solving problems both large and small. Becoming a world-class problem-solving organization takes time. It requires learning new skills and developing the culture to truly invest in problem-solving as a daily practice. But as you begin

Trust is an important precondition for lean success, but it’s not as easy as asking people to trust you. You must take deliberate actions to build trust. In my latest column for Industry Week, I share the systems I use to build trust-based cultures. I have developed and tested these

While engaging outside resources for your organization certainly has its benefits, you need to be careful not to fall into the pitfall of over-reliance on these lean resources. Believe it or not there can be too much outside help. Watch the video to find out what happens when you rely

What do your lean journey and The Wizard of Oz have in common? More than you might think. In my latest Lessons from the Road column, I take you down the Yellow Brick Road of lean and share with you the similarities in the two journeys. In the article we

We use the word lean as a descriptor for many things, the problem with this is it becomes very generic and becomes attached to anything positive or good within the organization. In this video, I explain why putting everything good you do as a business under the umbrella of lean

I have worked with hundreds of companies on their lean journeys and want to share with you some of the pitfalls and challenges businesses experience. Here are three things to avoid as you continue or start your lean journey.  Watch the video for a deeper dive into each pitfall. Lean