jflinch

When people talk about a lean journey, they say the word “journey” as if they understand it will take time to change a culture, however, their behavior often reveals they don’t have the relentless patience will actually take to create change.  We talk about the effort required to changing culture but

Innovation means different things to different people. It also unfortunately means different things to different organizations. Organizations can get trapped in their traditional views on innovation, and it is time to adopt a wider view of what innovation can and should be.      

Many, if not all organizations (including governments and non-profits) are having to change to deal with the multiple crises of 2020. Some of those changes are positive, some negative, and some a matter of life and death. But, are you trying to change at the right level? Many are only

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

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