eBook published on A3 Problem Solving
We are still very proud of our book, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Lean, that has done very well over the past few years. The book publishing world is changing, very rapidly. I’ve had one of the big publishers ask me about doing another book. I’m not ready for that yet. But it also begs the question: is that where I should be publishing?
And so we come to my latest project: A3 Problem Solving: Applying Lean Thinking.
It’s my attempt to do two things: (1) provide some useful content to people organized in a way that I hope will help them with their development and application of lean, and (2) experiment and learn more about what digital-only publishing looks like.
I’ve published this on Leanpub.com. It’s a neat platform and you can buy the book and download it to your Kindle, to iBooks, Nook, or just as a PDF. But, it’s an ebook, meaning this is not a full-length book just in digital form. It’s shorter than that (65 pages counting the stuff at the beginning and end to be specific).
As a part of the experiment, you set the price! Yes, this is a great feature of Leanpub. I can set a minimum and a suggested, and you set the range based on your perceived value and your attitude and your situation. Broke college student? Pay the minimum – less than a latte. Going to make the most of it? Pay the suggested price. It’s entirely up to you.
I request to things of you.
1. Buy it. Read it. Apply it. (sure, it’s that simple, right?)
2. Please give me feedback. It doesn’t matter if it’s about the buying experience, or the content, or my hairstyle (trust me, I’ve heard it all). I really want to use this as an experiment, and that won’t work without your feedback.
Visit the following link to purchase A3 Problem Solving: Applying Lean Thinking
Further research question: what topics would like me to consider for future ebooks?
I like this little book for a lot of reasons. Jamie let me take a peek at it a couple of weeks ago.
One is the e-pub format. I’m ready for it. I’m surprising myself in the last couple of years by reading more things electronically and fewer on paper, thanks to the laptop and the fact that we have never gotten around to putting our printer on our home wifi. With my new iPad, I’m traveling much lighter when I leave the house, and my back appreciates it. The length of A3 Problem Solving might have made me felt shortchanged in a print format, but is perfect for e-reading.
Jamie introduced me to the A3 method many years before it became so widely talked about, and it became immediately useful. The version he used with beginners was much simpler than what we use now. Basically, take a big sheet of paper, fold it into four quadrants, unfold it and put a title at the top. Where are we? Where do we want to go? What stands in our way? What are we going to do about it?
In the new book, Jamie deftly avoids the silly debate over format and advises using what works for your situation. Focus on the content and analysis, paper-and-pencil work, talking to team members, and applying the thinking. Wise words.
Another thing I love about Jamie’s books and teaching is freedom from jargon. He uses English rather than Japanese terminology, saving the whole process of trying to explain Japanese terms. All due respect to those who have been long immersed in the Japanese way and who can show the real and untranslatable subtleties in the terminology, a lot of people who need to learn lean speak English and need to learn fast and pragmatically. Five or ten years down the road, learn more, but you need to experience things in a simplified manner first.
I would not say the book is oversimplified, though there’s only so much you can do in 65 pages. Right at the start Jamie reminds us that it is lean thinking, not the tools, that are important. He emphasizes that the A3 method is only as good as the support it gives people in thinking about problems.
One quibble: In the introduction, Jamie says he will avoid labeling the method as “A3 thinking” but will call it what it is, lean thinking, but then he goes on to talk about A3 thinking through the rest of the book. “A3” is one of the worst terms adopted by the lean community, right after “lean.” You might as well call it big-piece-of-paper thinking. But it has stuck, so we are sentenced to having to tell the whole paper-size story every time we start introducing the idea. Another important lean concept begins with a barrier to learning. Not Jamie’s fault, though. [end of rant]
I strongly recommend you pick your price and download the book. After you read it, it will be easy to carry around on your electronic device of choice so you can refer to it when you need a refresher.
Great job, Jamie!
I like this little book for a lot of reasons. Jamie let me take a peek at it a couple of weeks ago.
One is the e-pub format. I’m ready for it. I’m surprising myself in the last couple of years by reading more things electronically and fewer on paper, thanks to the laptop and the fact that we have never gotten around to putting our printer on our home wifi. With my new iPad, I’m traveling much lighter when I leave the house, and my back appreciates it. The length of A3 Problem Solving might have made me felt shortchanged in a print format, but is perfect for e-reading.
Jamie introduced me to the A3 method many years before it became so widely talked about, and it became immediately useful. The version he used with beginners was much simpler than what we use now. Basically, take a big sheet of paper, fold it into four quadrants, unfold it and put a title at the top. Where are we? Where do we want to go? What stands in our way? What are we going to do about it?
In the new book, Jamie deftly avoids the silly debate over format and advises using what works for your situation. Focus on the content and analysis, paper-and-pencil work, talking to team members, and applying the thinking. Wise words.
Another thing I love about Jamie’s books and teaching is freedom from jargon. He uses English rather than Japanese terminology, saving the whole process of trying to explain Japanese terms. All due respect to those who have been long immersed in the Japanese way and who can show the real and untranslatable subtleties in the terminology, a lot of people who need to learn lean speak English and need to learn fast and pragmatically. Five or ten years down the road, learn more, but you need to experience things in a simplified manner first.
I would not say the book is oversimplified, though there’s only so much you can do in 65 pages. Right at the start Jamie reminds us that it is lean thinking, not the tools, that are important. He emphasizes that the A3 method is only as good as the support it gives people in thinking about problems.
One quibble: In the introduction, Jamie says he will avoid labeling the method as “A3 thinking” but will call it what it is, lean thinking, but then he goes on to talk about A3 thinking through the rest of the book. “A3” is one of the worst terms adopted by the lean community, right after “lean.” You might as well call it big-piece-of-paper thinking. But it has stuck, so we are sentenced to having to tell the whole paper-size story every time we start introducing the idea. Another important lean concept begins with a barrier to learning. Not Jamie’s fault, though. [end of rant]
I strongly recommend you pick your price and download the book. After you read it, it will be easy to carry around on your electronic device of choice so you can refer to it when you need a refresher.
Great job, Jamie!
I like this little book for a lot of reasons. Jamie let me take a peek at it a couple of weeks ago.
One is the e-pub format. I’m ready for it. I’m surprising myself in the last couple of years by reading more things electronically and fewer on paper, thanks to the laptop and the fact that we have never gotten around to putting our printer on our home wifi. With my new iPad, I’m traveling much lighter when I leave the house, and my back appreciates it. The length of A3 Problem Solving might have made me felt shortchanged in a print format, but is perfect for e-reading.
Jamie introduced me to the A3 method many years before it became so widely talked about, and it became immediately useful. The version he used with beginners was much simpler than what we use now. Basically, take a big sheet of paper, fold it into four quadrants, unfold it and put a title at the top. Where are we? Where do we want to go? What stands in our way? What are we going to do about it?
In the new book, Jamie deftly avoids the silly debate over format and advises using what works for your situation. Focus on the content and analysis, paper-and-pencil work, talking to team members, and applying the thinking. Wise words.
Another thing I love about Jamie’s books and teaching is freedom from jargon. He uses English rather than Japanese terminology, saving the whole process of trying to explain Japanese terms. All due respect to those who have been long immersed in the Japanese way and who can show the real and untranslatable subtleties in the terminology, a lot of people who need to learn lean speak English and need to learn fast and pragmatically. Five or ten years down the road, learn more, but you need to experience things in a simplified manner first.
I would not say the book is oversimplified, though there’s only so much you can do in 65 pages. Right at the start Jamie reminds us that it is lean thinking, not the tools, that are important. He emphasizes that the A3 method is only as good as the support it gives people in thinking about problems.
One quibble: In the introduction, Jamie says he will avoid labeling the method as “A3 thinking” but will call it what it is, lean thinking, but then he goes on to talk about A3 thinking through the rest of the book. “A3” is one of the worst terms adopted by the lean community, right after “lean.” You might as well call it big-piece-of-paper thinking. But it has stuck, so we are sentenced to having to tell the whole paper-size story every time we start introducing the idea. Another important lean concept begins with a barrier to learning. Not Jamie’s fault, though. [end of rant]
I strongly recommend you pick your price and download the book. After you read it, it will be easy to carry around on your electronic device of choice so you can refer to it when you need a refresher.
Great job, Jamie!
Wow this came just in time! I was literally in the process of hitting “buy” on my Amazon cart to get the book “Understanding A3 Thinking” (from a3thinking.com). By further curious coincidence, just yesterday I finally managed to overcome the quirks of the sme.org site to buy the PDF version of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to Lean which I’m now reading on my iPod.
Feedback:
I’m all for the digital format, and I appreciate the price. There’s nothing lean about dead trees. Imparting knowledge is the value-added component of a book for me.
I appreciate being able to download multiple formats so I can read it on my iPod, my laptop, or any other device. I also appreciate not having to wait 3-7 days!
In terms of the content: so far I’ve just looked at the preview, but I like the reminder that it is about the thinking that goes into it, not the form. The little I did read has already helped set me straight on some things about A3s- use pencil, not a computer.
I’ve actually only done one A3 so far and unfortunately it was on a project that I’ve been working on for a while already, so I ran afoul of some of the “Don’ts”- I already had a solution in mind, and I just wanted to use the A3 form for the sake of using a lean tool. It did force me to think hard about defining the problem and root causes.
All that is to say, I expect this book to be a valuable resource in refining my approach to using A3s. We are just setting up our “Innovation” branch (which I know is also a mistake, having a centralized change function rather than making it part of everyone’s job) and we want to find a good approach for outlining and defining our projects, so I’m looking at A3s as an option for that.
Wow this came just in time! I was literally in the process of hitting “buy” on my Amazon cart to get the book “Understanding A3 Thinking” (from a3thinking.com). By further curious coincidence, just yesterday I finally managed to overcome the quirks of the sme.org site to buy the PDF version of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to Lean which I’m now reading on my iPod.
Feedback:
I’m all for the digital format, and I appreciate the price. There’s nothing lean about dead trees. Imparting knowledge is the value-added component of a book for me.
I appreciate being able to download multiple formats so I can read it on my iPod, my laptop, or any other device. I also appreciate not having to wait 3-7 days!
In terms of the content: so far I’ve just looked at the preview, but I like the reminder that it is about the thinking that goes into it, not the form. The little I did read has already helped set me straight on some things about A3s- use pencil, not a computer.
I’ve actually only done one A3 so far and unfortunately it was on a project that I’ve been working on for a while already, so I ran afoul of some of the “Don’ts”- I already had a solution in mind, and I just wanted to use the A3 form for the sake of using a lean tool. It did force me to think hard about defining the problem and root causes.
All that is to say, I expect this book to be a valuable resource in refining my approach to using A3s. We are just setting up our “Innovation” branch (which I know is also a mistake, having a centralized change function rather than making it part of everyone’s job) and we want to find a good approach for outlining and defining our projects, so I’m looking at A3s as an option for that.
Wow this came just in time! I was literally in the process of hitting “buy” on my Amazon cart to get the book “Understanding A3 Thinking” (from a3thinking.com). By further curious coincidence, just yesterday I finally managed to overcome the quirks of the sme.org site to buy the PDF version of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to Lean which I’m now reading on my iPod.
Feedback:
I’m all for the digital format, and I appreciate the price. There’s nothing lean about dead trees. Imparting knowledge is the value-added component of a book for me.
I appreciate being able to download multiple formats so I can read it on my iPod, my laptop, or any other device. I also appreciate not having to wait 3-7 days!
In terms of the content: so far I’ve just looked at the preview, but I like the reminder that it is about the thinking that goes into it, not the form. The little I did read has already helped set me straight on some things about A3s- use pencil, not a computer.
I’ve actually only done one A3 so far and unfortunately it was on a project that I’ve been working on for a while already, so I ran afoul of some of the “Don’ts”- I already had a solution in mind, and I just wanted to use the A3 form for the sake of using a lean tool. It did force me to think hard about defining the problem and root causes.
All that is to say, I expect this book to be a valuable resource in refining my approach to using A3s. We are just setting up our “Innovation” branch (which I know is also a mistake, having a centralized change function rather than making it part of everyone’s job) and we want to find a good approach for outlining and defining our projects, so I’m looking at A3s as an option for that.
Karen, always so thorough and thoughtful. And a good editor. Thanks for catching my own quibble. I will work on fixing that.
Daniel, I appreciate the comments. For the record, if you want to dig further, I do recommend Understanding A3 Thinking. I know both the authors and it will go deeper than this ebook.
The first 24 hours produced some interesting stats. 31 copies were sold. I was curious how many people would pay the minimum. But here’s the VERY interesting thing. More people paid MORE than the suggested price than paid the minimum. I never would have expected that. I’m of course humbled and appreciative. One person paid 3+x the suggested price. The people paying more than the suggested price more than made up than those who paid the minimum. It’s only 24 hours and by no means a complete experiment, but this is an interesting situation to watch.
Karen, always so thorough and thoughtful. And a good editor. Thanks for catching my own quibble. I will work on fixing that.
Daniel, I appreciate the comments. For the record, if you want to dig further, I do recommend Understanding A3 Thinking. I know both the authors and it will go deeper than this ebook.
The first 24 hours produced some interesting stats. 31 copies were sold. I was curious how many people would pay the minimum. But here’s the VERY interesting thing. More people paid MORE than the suggested price than paid the minimum. I never would have expected that. I’m of course humbled and appreciative. One person paid 3+x the suggested price. The people paying more than the suggested price more than made up than those who paid the minimum. It’s only 24 hours and by no means a complete experiment, but this is an interesting situation to watch.
Karen, always so thorough and thoughtful. And a good editor. Thanks for catching my own quibble. I will work on fixing that.
Daniel, I appreciate the comments. For the record, if you want to dig further, I do recommend Understanding A3 Thinking. I know both the authors and it will go deeper than this ebook.
The first 24 hours produced some interesting stats. 31 copies were sold. I was curious how many people would pay the minimum. But here’s the VERY interesting thing. More people paid MORE than the suggested price than paid the minimum. I never would have expected that. I’m of course humbled and appreciative. One person paid 3+x the suggested price. The people paying more than the suggested price more than made up than those who paid the minimum. It’s only 24 hours and by no means a complete experiment, but this is an interesting situation to watch.
Hi Jamie,
Thanks for publishing the book and good luck with the leanpub experiment.
I bought the full copy and found it a very useful read. As a self certified lean novice I found this text helped release a few mental blocks on how to get started and practically apply A3 thinking. Would echo Daniels comments, the don’ts in this book are very helpful.
My sense is this book fills a gap between general lean materials (which typically devote a chapter to A3) and the more in-depth – and expensive –
publications available.
A recommended read for anyone who is serious about applying A3 thinking properly in the workplace.
Anyone
Hi Jamie,
Thanks for publishing the book and good luck with the leanpub experiment.
I bought the full copy and found it a very useful read. As a self certified lean novice I found this text helped release a few mental blocks on how to get started and practically apply A3 thinking. Would echo Daniels comments, the don’ts in this book are very helpful.
My sense is this book fills a gap between general lean materials (which typically devote a chapter to A3) and the more in-depth – and expensive –
publications available.
A recommended read for anyone who is serious about applying A3 thinking properly in the workplace.
Anyone
Hi Jamie,
Thanks for publishing the book and good luck with the leanpub experiment.
I bought the full copy and found it a very useful read. As a self certified lean novice I found this text helped release a few mental blocks on how to get started and practically apply A3 thinking. Would echo Daniels comments, the don’ts in this book are very helpful.
My sense is this book fills a gap between general lean materials (which typically devote a chapter to A3) and the more in-depth – and expensive –
publications available.
A recommended read for anyone who is serious about applying A3 thinking properly in the workplace.
Anyone
Jamie – I’m a bit late to the discussion, but I’m really excited to see you also experimenting with the LeanPub.com approach and self publishing.
Will you consider trying “lean publishing” (as the guys there define it) but publishing a project incrementally?
They discuss this in the podcast we recently did:
http://leanblog.org/140
Jamie – I’m a bit late to the discussion, but I’m really excited to see you also experimenting with the LeanPub.com approach and self publishing.
Will you consider trying “lean publishing” (as the guys there define it) but publishing a project incrementally?
They discuss this in the podcast we recently did:
http://leanblog.org/140
Jamie – I’m a bit late to the discussion, but I’m really excited to see you also experimenting with the LeanPub.com approach and self publishing.
Will you consider trying “lean publishing” (as the guys there define it) but publishing a project incrementally?
They discuss this in the podcast we recently did:
http://leanblog.org/140