2020

This will certainly read a little different from my typical blog posts, and even my typical book reviews. It’s not even a business or leadership book (or is it?). I recently read The Map of Knowledge, and there are some important perspectives to take away from a book such as

I’ve had conversations with numerous advisory clients this year about the role of the Chief Engineer. To be clear, I don’t generally advocate that an organization install this role. It is heralded in the lean product development community as a key aspect of such a transformation. Other than having clear

Episode 21: “What is the point of lean during a rare pandemic?”   In Episode 21, Mark and Jamie return to our regular casual format of open discussion over a drink, this time joined by Tom Ehrenfeld, well known to the lean community for his writing and editorial work with

Effectively and efficiently generate knowledge through lean product development. Ask someone in product development what they produce, and they will likely say specs, tests, drawings, models, and other such artifacts. But those are only artifacts. They are manifestations of what you are truly producing, which is knowledge. Knowledge of what

What does trust have to do with product development? I have written quite a bit about product development, and also about trust (for links, see the bottom of this article). But what do they have to do with one another other than the fact that one is important and the

Do you have a group of people leading lean? Whether formal or informal, there is often such as group particularly early in the lean journey (meaning the first several years). I get a lot of questions by email, some by clients and others by readers. Many are two specific to

I recently read The Invincible Company, the latest in a series that began as Business Model Generation. This very much depends on that first book. But if you’re currently rethinking your strategy and business model, then this book might be for you. The Invincible Company: https://amzn.to/3kIX2xt Business Model Generation: https://amzn.to/3mHjOaY

Robert Fritz is the person who best articulated the concept of creative tension which I brought into the lean community as a perspective that in many ways personifies the lean thinking process. Because the book that exposed this concept to the majority of people is The Fifth Discipline by Peter

Episode 20: “Live from the Colorado Lean Network Summit”  In Episode 20, Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh join the Colorado Lean Summit live and host a virtual happy hour while discussing the first couple days of the event’s proceedings. Joining us as co-hosts are CLN members Jen House (also a

Especially now, if your company has been disrupted by the pandemic, or you’re looking for new strategies to grow into the situation, people are thinking about new products, services, and value propositions.  Most companies think about what they already have, what they are already doing, and just focus on better