Flinchbaugh

This is the thought process behind the reactions from managers more often than the words are actually spoken. Even if it were true, does that thought process help you improve? Does it help them? No, it just deteriorates the situation. Of course Forrest Gump had the ultimate response: “Stupid is

I am working on my next Leading Lean column and as usual, found myself really constrained by the word length limits of the column. I am writing on the topic of developing a lean education plan. Of course, this probably deserves to be turned into an ebook based on how

  Did you lose your job? Were you anticipating doing so? Are you just looking for a better opportunity? I don’t think it will surprise anyone to know that in 2009 I had more people I know looking for a job than ever before. The list got so long that

Many of you many know that I’ve been writing a monthly column for Assembly Magazine which you will find inside the back cover. The column, titled Leading Lean, is meant to explore issues and advice for those helping their organizations move forward on the lean journey. You can find all

For 79 rounds, John Hunter of Curious Cat Blog and various guest hosts have issued the Management Improvement Carnival, a roundup of interesting blog posts for the month. I am proud to take responsibility for #80. Although I definitely leaned on some of my favorite bloggers, I also thought I

What happens when your team gets together to discuss strategy? Do you make clear decisions? Earlier this week there was a great post blog post on Entrepreneur.com by Tim Berry. Tim is one of my favorite bloggers about entrepreneurship and startups. This post was titled 5 Simple Obvious Truths About

  How do you get started on the lean journey? Many organizations struggle with how to get started. They see this monumental journey ahead of them and there is so much to do, but where to start? I think a small and simple way to get started is just to

If you want to learn how to cook, who do you learn from? You could learn from the restaurant critic with their insight on what’s good and what’s not, or your could learn from a chef, who knows how and why to make the meal. I received a great question,

Over on the Lean Blog Mark Graban wrote a post titled Innovation Is as Innovation Does? Besides channeling Forrest Gump, this makes a great point. Innovation is an outcome, but without a process we won’t get it. And that process includes culture, skill, systems, methods, and so on. Mark makes

Direct observation has been an under-appreciated aspect of lean for most of its life. It has gotten a lot more attention in recent years, unfortunately, this is thanks in part to the use of jargon, such as gemba and genchi genbutsu. For those of you who know me, you know