Lean Coffee Talk (formerly known as Lean Whiskey)

Highland Park Scotch, What is the Point of Lean During a Rare Pandemic?

Mark Graban, Jamie Flinchbaugh, and Tom Ehrenfeld
https://www.leanblog.org/whiskey21
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 the Lean Enterprise Institute. We all enjoyed tasting some Highland Park scotch, with Tom trying it for the first time, Mark opening a new bottle, and Jamie getting towards the end of a bottle. 
We talk about what new things we’ve been up to, with Mark winning with some California-based parasailing. We finish the discussion by talking about our favorite things about fall, with pumpkin spice lattes (or pumpkin-flavored whiskey) being a disqualified answer. 
We spent the bulk of the discussion exploring how companies can and should use lean during the pandemic, and even whether lean is valid under such conditions. We begin by talking about businesses such as United and Delta and how they can deal with such a black swan event in the COVID-19 pandemic. Delta had revenues last quarter of $3B, but lost $5.4B. But what are they going to do, sell their planes? To whom? Movie theaters can’t pay their rents, but what will landlords do, rent their space to another movie theater? There are major challenges that many industries face that will struggle with either long-lasting or even permanent shifts in their markets. Can lean help? Is lean enough? This is what we wrestle with on a Sunday night over a glass, or two, of scotch.  
Our guest Tom Ehrenfeld
The discussed LEI podcast with Dan Heath 
Jamie’s yoga app, Down Dog Yoga
Tom’s viewing of The Criterion Channel 
Highland Park - Scotch whisky from the Orkney Islands (less known region -- remote islands)
Tom and Jamie drink the 12-year-old Viking Honour while Mark cracks open a bottle of Valknut
Article on how United Airlines is dealing with the pandemic
The Wall Street Journal article we discussed that misplaces blame on how hospitals struggled with the pandemic 
Podcast feed at LeanWhiskey.com or at leanblog.org/leanwhiskey or at jflinch.com/leanwhiskey 
Please review us and subscribe!

Live from the Colorado Lean Network Summit, Affordable Whiskeys

Mark, Jamie, Katie Benik, and Jen House
http://www.leanblog.org/whiskey20
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 events proceedings. Joining us as co-hosts are CLN members Jen House (also a board member) and Katie Benik. We took some questions, shared what people were drinking in the chat, and had our own chat about what we’ve learned from the Summit.
We started by sharing our whiskey selections in the “budget-friendly” category. We certainly had some variation, ranging from Buffalo Trace to Skrewball. Those watching weren’t forced into our theme, so we had more adventurous and elaborate selections from our audience. 
The first takeaway that we discussed was from Deondra Wardelle’s talk, and the challenge of shifting from micromanaging controlling manager to a leader who encourages people to experiment, take action, and learn. We then talked about the theme of respect for people, a key lean tenant, and how hard people find it to be specific about how it is applied. We then turned to Renee Smith’s point of replacing fear with love and providing psychological safety. We concluded talking about Dan Markovitz’s points about framing problem statements. 
In wrapping up, we shared information about CLN’s charity project, Community College of Aurora’s Unity Scholarship to open more opportunities for future Black leaders to reach their highest potential. CLN matched the first $500 donated, and Jamie and Mark are matching the next $500 in donations. The donation channel is open through October 16th. 
And finally, our fun question: what’s your favorite lean-related word, but for a silly reason? The answers included muda, poka-yoke, verschlimmbesserung, and queuing. So get this podcast out of your queue and give it a listen! 
Colorado Lean Network’s 2020 Virtual Lean Summit
Co-hosts Jen House and Katie Benik
Mark’s ZERO hat giveaway for World Patient Safety Day 
Our whiskeys included Buffalo Trace, Elijah Craig Small Batch, Kirkland Blended, and Skrewball Peanut Butter whiskey
Jamie’s blog post on myths of respect for people 
Mark’s post about verschlimmbesserung 
The scholarship for the Community College of Aurora
Podcast feed at LeanWhiskey.com or at leanblog.org/leanwhiskey or at jflinch.com/leanwhiskey 
Please review us and subscribe!

Mark Graban & Cliff Hazell: Amrut, Uncle Nearest, and Some Tweets

Mark Graban and Cliff Hazel
http://www.leanblog.org/whiskey19
For Episode #19, Mark Graban is joined by a new guest host, Cliff Hazell. Mark and Cliff first met years ago in Austin at the Lean Coaching Summit, where they shared some Garrison Brothers whiskey and talked about Lean, Deming, coaching, and such.
So today, Mark and Cliff share a drink — Amrut whiskey from India for Cliff and Uncle Nearest 1856 Tennessee whiskey for Mark. “Uncle Nearest” is a new brand that's named after Nearest Green, the slave who taught Jack Daniels how to make whiskey (read more about that here).
Watch the video version of the episode
You can check out our YouTube channels, Mark's here and Cliff's here (Flight Levels Academy)
Amrut Whisky
Uncle Nearest Whiskey
Cliff on Twitter
Cliff on LinkedIn
Flight Levels Academy
 

Just the Two of Us (Mark Graban & Jamie Flinchbaugh), Islay Scotch & More

Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh
https://www.leanblog.org/whiskey18
In Episode 18, Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh return to our tried and true format of “just the two of us”, although that won’t last long as Mark will soon have a guest co-host and then we will record an episode live as part of the Colorado Lean Network Summit. Jamie decides to move to the porch, a “proper” whiskey drinking spot in contrast to his office, which might be a new standard (at least until winter). 
In this episode, we begin by remembering the life of Bill Hanson, who is a co-founder of MIT’s Leaders for Manufacturing program, now called Leaders for Global Operations. Mark and Jamie are both graduates. As we toast Bill’s contributions, we begin sipping our whiskey selection, each choosing a scotch from Islay. Mark is drinking Ardbeg Ultimate 10 Year and Jamie is drinking 16 year old Lagavulin.
In the News, we start by talking about Mark’s blog takeover by Deondra Wardelle, who has collected a series of authors to write under the hashtag #rootcauseracism. We continue further to explore articles about asynchronous work. The pandemic has forced many to change their work, leading some to just work harder with less effective and efficient work structures, while others are redesigning how they work leveraging asynchronous work as the pivot. 
We also explore the frequent questions that Mark and Jamie receive asking for how companies solve problems, and explore both the proper mindset and framing of benchmarking. We invoke a little Jeff Goldblum from Jurassic Park on the value of earning knowledge for yourself. We finish with a discussion of the books we are currently reading. Until next time, cheers! 
Remembering MIT’s Bill Hanson
Colorado Lean Network’s 2020 Virtual Lean Summit
Ardbeg 
Ardbeg’s Space Whisky
Lagavulin 16 Year Old
Ron Swanson makes a brief visit to Lagavulin 
Leanblog.org’s #rootcauseracism
www.leanblog.org/RCR 
Randall Pinkett’s 7 Myths of Racial Equity 
What If Working From Home Could Be Different To How It’s Been Until Now?
Slowing Down to Speed Up – Effective Asynchronous Communication for Teams
What Remote Companies Can Teach About Asynchronous Communication
Jeff Goldblum’s Jurassic Park lecture on earning knowledge
Jamie and Mathtech’s series on Reimagining Government 
Book: The Invincible Company
Book: The Map of Knowledge
Book: How To Be An Anti-Racist 
Book: Stamped from the Beginning 
Podcast feed at LeanWhiskey.com or at leanblog.org/leanwhiskey or at jflinch.com/leanwhiskey 
Please review us and subscribe!

Show Firsts: 3 People (Jim Huntzinger), 2 Pours, 3 Keynotes

Mark Graban, Jamie Flinchbaugh, Jim Huntzinger
http://www.leanblog.org/whiskey17
In Episode 17, after not doing an episode of Lean Whiskey in almost two months, Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh try all sorts of firsts. We had three people, with Jim Huntzinger of Lean Frontiers joining us. We all drank the same whiskey. We used two different whiskies. We talked about 3 different keynotes. OK, so they aren’t groundbreaking firsts, but it was new for our show. 
Jim Huntzinger joined us after an aborted attempt in March for Jamie to do an in-person episode during a planned visit to Lean Frontiers headquarters. We had planned on sampling some of David Meier’s whiskey. Since that didn’t happen, we decided to invite Jim to join Mark and Jamie and sample the same whiskey. Fortunately, Mark and Jamie had the same bottles at home. We all shared and enjoyed Glenns Creek Distillery’s Cuervito Vivo and Cafe Ole. 
We talked about a range of lean topics. TWI, or Training Within Industry, came up in a discussion about Delta’s approach to asking passengers to wear masks. We talked about Lean Frontier’s upcoming virtual workshops and some featured keynotes. Lean Coaching Summit features Deondra Wardelle who has coached others in professional groups ranging from schools to churches using kata and helped them to success. Watch for Deondra to take over Mark’s blog for a week in August. We explored Jim’s own mini-keynote on Advanced Lean, and how the arc of lean learning often brings you back to the fundamentals, just applied in a more rigorous way. And we finally return to David Meier and his forthcoming work on applying standardization where there appear to be none. 
We finish the episode sharing a bit of our different office experiences and improvements while working from home. We hope you enjoy the episode, and we toast all of you on your lean learning journey. Cheers!
 
 
Episode #17 Show Links:
 
Here are some links from the show: 
 
About our guest Jim Huntzinger and his organization Lean Frontiers
Mark’s first podcast with Jim Huntzinger in Episode #8, but Jamie beat him to it with Episode #5
Mark’s post about how Delta asks people to wear masks and its relation to TWI
Patrick Graupp’s handwashing video via TWI 
Our two whiskey pours were both from Glenns Creek Distillery, starting with Cuervito Vivo and finishing with Cafe Ole
The upcoming virtual Lean Coaching Summit and its keynoter Deondra Wardelle
The forthcoming Lean Accounting and Management Summit and its mini-keynote Jim Huntzinger on Advanced Lean
Next year’s TWI Summit in Europe and the US that David Meier will talk about building standards
 
Find the podcast feed and past episodes at LeanWhiskey.com or at leanblog.org/leanwhiskey or at jflinch.com/leanwhiskey 
 

Relocating Coast to Coast, Making Cocktails, and Covid

Episode page: http://www.leanblog.org/whiskey16
In Episode 16, Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh take a little longer than usual to get to the lean talk. Our whiskey topic was cocktails, which takes longer to make (and apparently talk about) than pouring neat whiskey into a tumbler. Mark made a Boulevardier and Jamie made an Old Fashioned. We discuss bar tools and stirring versus shaking (sorry Mr. Bond, see the links below). See, we talked about process.
We also explore Mark’s experience in traveling coast to coast in his move from Orlando to LA, and share a little more on what we’ve both been up to. For our In the News article, we explore the grand experiment of working from home, and what it means for businesses, technology, culture, and jobs. We even explore how Kainexus is dealing with it as a company. It may possibly be that the grand experiment leaves a greater lasting impression than the virus itself. 
We spend a little time exploring a listener's question on how lean thinking can help us deal with larger complex problems, such as reopening the economy. And we close by answering a question more about gratitude, which is what surprising good thing has come from our shelter-in-place time? Cheers!  
Jamie has been working on launching a new program, the JFlinch Learning Lab. You can see the announcement in his newsletter here and you can sign up for his newsletter here.
Mark is launching a new podcast with Value Capture honoring the legacy of the firm’s founder, Paul O’Neill. The podcast is called Habitual Excellence, which you can find here.   
Jamie’s cocktail was an Old Fashioned with Glenn’s Creek Distillery’s Cuervito Vivo and homemade maple simple syrup 
Mark’s cocktail was a Boulevardier with Michter’s Straight Rye, Campari, and Cocchi sweet vermouth
Mark and Jamie debate (well, we actually agree) on whether we should shake or stir, but the right bar equipment is important, such as Mark’s jigger. 
Shaken or stirred. As a fun bonus, here’s every James Bond saying “shaken, not stirred”, and West Wing’s President Bartlett mocking James Bond. 
In the news, we’ve talked about this grand experiment (with thousands of embedded smaller experiments) called “working from home”. Here’s an early article exploring China who went first, an interesting piece from Fast Company, and something from CNBC about how work will be affected. I also mentioned virtual working expert Sacha Conner.  And here’s Kainexus’ blog post about their remote work from March. 
Podcast feed at LeanWhiskey.com or at leanblog.org/leanwhiskey or at jflinch.com/leanwhiskey 
Please review us and subscribe!

Shelter-in-Place & Drink Local; Proper Handwashing Instructions

View the episode at http://www.leanblog.org/whiskey15
In a special live-to-YouTube Episode 15 of Lean Whiskey, Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh begin their week by catching up, drinking whiskey, and talking shop.
This episode was an experiment both in video recording the episode and in streaming it live to get viewer participation and questions. We didn't have a large audience, but those who showed up shared what they were drinking and asked some great questions. 
We used shelter-in-place as our whiskey selections, with Mark in Florida and Jamie in Pennsylvania, we chose local to drink tonight and enjoyed them both. Both selections prove that not all good American whiskey comes from Kentucky.
We discussed questions ranging from whether we are looking at the right metrics during coronavirus, to what lean resources should be doing right now, and more. And if you stay around until the end, you get to hear about LEGO Masters competitions and attacking garbage cans! 
Episode #15 Show Links:
Here are some links from the show: 
Watch the video version of the episode
You can check out our YouTube channels, Mark's here and Jamie's here
Jamie's whiskey selection: Dad's Hat Bottled in Bond Straight Rye Whiskey
Mark's whiskey selection: St. Augustine Distillery Florida Port Finished Bourbon
Patrick Graupp's video on using TWI (Training Within Industry) on washing hands 
 

Coronavirus, Supply Chains, and Just-in-Time; Adding Water to Whiskey

Episode page
In Episode 14 of Lean Whiskey, Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh finish off another weekend by catching up, drinking whiskey, and talking shop. 
In whiskey, we explore the idea of adding water to your whiskey. Rather than take the tradition as fact, the lean thinker must seek an understanding of cause and effect. We find some of the research, and perform our experiments to validate that it actually works. 
We move on to a more serious topic, coronavirus or Covid-19, and its impact on your supply chain. We avoid any exploration in the medical advice category, but focus on a key question that comes up any time there is a massive supply chain impact: does Lean just-in-time approach strip out too much inventory? In addition to exploring this question, we expand on it by examining how companies deal with the less predictable risks such as this health crisis. 
We move on to explore a nearly timeless question from a listener:
"We've led a grass roots lean initiative at my company for the past couple of years.  It has been successful, but we are struggling to take it to the next level and get buy in from upper management. Upper management is slow to change and set in their ways.  Any advice on how to 'sell' this internally?"
Mark and Jamie break this problem down for how you can examine it in your organization. 
We finish by talking about our different approaches to presentations, with Mark reducing word count and using pictures to tell the story, and Jamie dropping slides altogether. We equally agree, however, that you must know your stuff if you're going to get in front of an audience. 
Episode #14 Show Links:
Here are some links from the show: 
Why adding water to whiskey matters (Forbes)
NPR's take on adding water to whiskey
Angels' Share water dropper we both used (thanks to Jamie for the gift!)
Mark's first selection, Garrison Brothers Cowboy Bourbon 
Mark's second selection, Longrow Cabernet Cask 11 Years Peated Campeltown Single Malt Scotch 
Jamie's selection, Glenfarclas 21 year old
Marketplace's article about just-in-time and the effect of coronavirus
Mark's blog post about this article:
https://www.leanblog.org/2020/03/covid-19-dont-blame-toyota-or-just-in-time-for-your-risky-supply-chain-strategy/ 
 

Don’t Drink Pacific Northwest Whiskeys While Standing in Ohno’s Circle?

Episode page: http://www.leanblog.org/whiskey13
In Episode 13 of Lean Whiskey, Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh reconnect in their first joint episode this year, after a couple weeks of guest hosts. Our last episode together was filled with Grinches, gremlins, and glitches, so it was nice to both be in a proper recording location and be able to focus on the conversation and the whiskey. 
Our whiskey selections were on the theme of the Pacific Northwest, a growing region for whiskey. Mark's Westland American Single Malt Whiskey really specializes in using Oregon ingredients, including 5 different malts. Jamie's McCarthy’s Oregon Single Malt Pot Distilled Whiskey seeks a more Scotch-like style, with importing both barley and peat from Scotland. 
Our "In the News" segment was more like "From the Archives," as we pulled out an article from 2002 from AME Target Magazine titled Ohno’s Method: Creating a survival work culture by Jinichiro Nakane and Robert W. ("Doc") Hall.
This article is filled with nuggets that deserves a thorough read, as it explores the work of Taiichi Ohno, often referred to as the father of the Toyota Production System. We explore lean as a culture, whether a survival culture is necessary, how much lean depends (or not) on the country’s culture, and how fundamentally Ohno created a coaching environment to bring both empowerment and enthusiasm to the workplace. 
We take a listener question on how to organize front-line supervision, as this topic connects quite directly to the issues discussed in the Ohno article. We close the episode with another fun question in the “get to know us” category, where we explore career paths not taken. 
Episode #13 Show Links:
Here are some links from the show: 
Jamie's selection, McCarthy's Oregon Single Malt Pot Distilled Whiskey from Oregon
Mark's selection, Westland American Single Malt Whiskey from Washington
Article: Ohno's Method: Creating a survival work culture by Jinichiro Nakane and Robert W. Hall

Canadian Whiskey, the Ups & Downs of Healthcare, and a CEO Thrown Under the Bus

http://www.leanblog.org/whiskey12 
In Episode 12 of Lean Whiskey, Mark Graban is back and he's joined by a friend from the Lean healthcare world, Ryan McCormack. Jamie will be with Mark for our next episode. You might know Ryan as the creator of the awesome "Operational Excellence Mixtapes" that he sends out via email and he also allows to be posted here on the blog.
Ryan, like Mark, started his career in manufacturing and then transitioned to healthcare. After working for a hospital in Winnipeg, Ryan is now OpEx manager for an insurance company. The guys first met through Mark's visits to Winnipeg through the Catalysis Healthcare Value Network and they've shared many a conversation, a whiskey, and laughs at the Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit and other events.
In the episode, they share and chat about Canadian whiskey. They discuss two news articles -- one about E.D. waiting times (and the need for Process Behavior Charts) and another about an Ontario hospital CEO's "gemba time" that ended up getting her criticized by employees and in the press. They also share some "Lean pet peeves" and a funny story or two from Ryan's career.