Practicing Lean

If you'd like to purchase this through Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/B089T7CHW9/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-200205&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_200205_rh_us As always, all royalties will be donated to the Louise Batz Patient Safety Foundation.

Thanks for listening! http://practicinglean.com https://louisebatz.org

Summary written by Cameron Stark, author of Chapter 12

Bio: Lesa Nichols has spent over two decades guiding organizations to improved performance by applying the principles of the Toyota Production System (TPS) and Lean. As a key leader for Toyota North America, she led teams to analyze and solve the toughest operational problems within Toyota, including the preparation and launch of new vehicles, plants and production methods. After leaving Toyota, Lesa spent four years helping clients of the Greater Boston Manufacturing Partnership (GBMP) to achieve successful enterprise-level improvements. In 2013, Lesa created her firm, Lesa Nichols Consulting (LNC). Currently, she and her team help companies understand how and why to utilize principles of TPS and Lean as a competitive operations management system. Lesa lives in Louisville and can be found at [Lesanicholsconsulting.com](http://Lesanicholsconsulting.com) as well as [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesanichols).

Bio: Jamie Flinchbaugh is a lean advisor, speaker, and author, who has advised over 300 companies on their lean journey, from the board of directors and C-Suite to the front-line. He is a co-author of *[The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Lean]( http://amzn.to/2bNmujC)*. You can find him online at [JFlinch.com](http://www.jflinch.com).

Bio: Mike Leigh is the President and Founder of OpX Solutions, LLC, a consulting company that specializes in helping manufacturers and other organizations pursue Operational Excellence through leadership development and process improvement. Mike has spent most of his 30-year career in various operational leadership roles. Prior to starting his own business, he worked as a manufacturing leader and a Lean leader for General Electric, building industrial gas turbines and wind turbines for the energy industry. Before that, Mike served 10 years on active duty in the US Navy, specializing in surface warfare and nuclear propulsion. He eventually retired from the Navy Reserve as a Commander. Mike has a B.S. degree in Computer Engineering from the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and anan M.S. degree from Troy State University in Human Resource Management. He also qualified as a Nuclear Engineer in the US Navy. Mike and his family live in Roanoke, VA. You can contact him at mike@opxsolutionsllc.com, or [connect with him on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/leighmichael1).

Andy Sheppard helps businesses to transform their manufacturing operations and serves as a technical advisor to Lean specialists. He is the author of “The Incredible Transformation of Gregory Todd: a Novel about Leadership and Managing Change.” (http://amzn.to/23gUgQk)

Bio: Harvey Leach is an independent management consultant based near Oxford, England, where he works with a group of close associates. He supports clients by applying his experiences of Lean thinking, change management and leadership development to help them solve complex operational problems and grow their internal capability to identify and implement improvements. Prior to moving into consultancy in 2004, Harvey spent 27 years with Rover Group and BMW Group, where he gained an impressive reputation for implementing improved ways of working in every team he managed or was part of, covering areas as diverse as Product Development, New Product Introduction, Production Planning & Control and Production Strategy. Alongside this, he acted as a trainer for a number of internal programmes to grow the organisation's Lean capability — Total Quality Improvement, Leading Management and Coaching for Performance. Since 2004, Harvey has applied and developed the skills he acquired to support clients in a range of industrial and public sector organisations, covering both operational and administrative areas. In addition to leading and facilitating improvement programmes for clients, he has developed and delivered a range of highly acclaimed public and bespoke training programmes.

Bio: Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Cameron Stark graduated in medicine from the University of Glasgow in 1985. After working as a junior doctor in medical and surgical posts, he spent four years working in Psychiatry in the West of Scotland. Stark then trained in Public Health Medicine and has been an NHS Consultant since 1996, first in Ayrshire and then in the Highlands. He has professional qualifications in Psychiatry and Public Health and postgraduate degrees in Risk, Crisis and Disaster Management (University of Leicester) and in Public Health (University of Glasgow). With research interests in public health, mental health and quality improvement, Stark has published over 50 papers in peer-reviewed journals. He has written four previous book chapters, co-edited three academic books and co-authored a recent book on the psy- chology of soccer coaching. He trained as a Lean Leader with Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust, and now coaches staff who are learning about Lean in NHS Highland. Stark is responsible for the quality assurance of Lean training materials used in NHS Highland and works with their Kaizen Promotion Office manager to arrange events and develop training. Away from work, Stark is married with three children and lives in Inverness, Scotland.

Bio: Joseph E. Swartz is the Administrative Director of Business Transformation for Franciscan Alliance, a group of 14 hospitals in Indiana and Illinois. He has been leading continuous improvement efforts for more than 20 years, including ten years in healthcare. Joe is a co-author of the book Seeing David in the Stone: Finding and Seizing Great Opportunities81 (Leading Books Press). Joe has also co-authored the book, *Healthcare Kaizen: Engaging Front- Line Staff in Sustainable Continuous Improvements82, with Mark Graban, which was awarded the 2014 Shingo Research and Pro- fessional Publication award. He also co-authored *The Executive Guide to Healthcare Kaizen83 (Productivity Press). Joe consulted from 1993 to 2005, working in automotive engineer- ing, semiconductor manufacturing, industrial product manufactur- ing, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and aerospace assembly. Joe studied Electrical Engineering at Cleveland State University as well as Management at Purdue University, where he graduated as a Krannert Scholar for academic excellence in their master’s program. He lives in Indianapolis, Indiana with his three children.

Bio: David works at Johnson & Johnson Canada, the largest consumer healthcare company in Canada, and part of the Johnson & Johnson family of companies. David started his career in the telecommunications sector, working at Research In Motion, and has worked in Lean and Six Sigma in the telecommunications, construction, automotive, consumer packaged goods, and healthcare sectors in Canada and globally since 2003. David has a BASc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Waterloo, an MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University, and his Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt certificate from Villanova University. David and his wife Cindy currently reside in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with their son.

Sadly, Sam passed away suddenly and tragically in 2018... Bio: Samuel Selay is the Continuous Improvement Manager within his organization in the Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton. He has worked in the field of supply chain and logistics for the past 12 years. For the last six years, he has managed his organization’s Continuous Process Improvement/Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Program. During this timeframe, he has facilitated/mentored 28 completed LSS projects or kaizen events. Additionally, he mapped and stan- dardized 36 processes, conducted 90 process audits, and imple- mented his organization’s Quality Management System, resulting in a 20% reduction in shipping defects. Along with project leadership, he has instructed and certified 481 employees as LSS Yellow Belts and 121 employees as LSS Green Belts. He is a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt from the University of San Diego, a certified Logistics Technician (CLT) from the Manufacturing Skills Standards Council, and a certified ISO 9001:2008 Internal Auditor from the World Wide Quality Network. He holds a BS in Management Studies from the University of Maryland University College and an MBA in Management and Strategy from Western Governors University.

Bio: Bob Rush currently is a Lean Manufacturing Group Leader for Tesla Motors in Fremont, CA. Bob has over 35 years of op- erations experience and has had over 25 years of Lean practice. His experience is in companies ranging from startups to Fortune 100 companies, and title levels that ranged from shipping clerk to VP of operations. In addition to Tesla, some of the companies he has worked with, and for, include Hewlett Packard, JDS Uniphase, and Idex Corporation. His journey includes ten years of consulting experience, where he had only himself to blame if things didn’t work out. His Lean journey started with World Class Manufacturing, which led to Lean manufacturing, where he was fortunate enough to learn kaizen events from the Shingijutsu Consulting group. He continues to work with a love of kaizen as a way of life and has led more than 500 kaizen events over the course of his practice of Lean. He has been trained that respect for people is the most critical pillar of Lean and he shows it with all people that he works with. Bob lives in San Jose, CA with his wife and two of his four sons. Connect with Bob on LinkedIn71. Note from Mark Graban: I noticed Bob’s posts on LinkedIn under the banner of “Lean observations from an old guy.” The stories and tone completely reminded me of what we’re doing in this eBook, so I asked him if I could edit the posts and share them here. Thanks, Bob!

Harry Kenworthy has authored articles on Total Quality in Quality Progress and Purchasing magazines and several articles in Government Finance Review: “Getting Started with Lean”60, “A Guide to Starting the Lean Journey”61, and “Blending Agile and Lean Thinking for More Efficient IT Development”62. He worked previously in several manufacturing organizations, serving as process engineer, general foreman, operations manager, division manager, group vice president, and lastly as vice president of manufacturing. Harry has worked in industries including copper & brass rolling, tube and bar mills; printed circuit boards; custom plastic molding; and his last tenure was 26 years at Rogers Corpo- ration which served a variety of markets and technologies. He was responsible for the Rogers worldwide Lean Six Sigma effort and left to devote full time to his consulting firm in 2004. His consulting organization, QPIC, LLC63, focuses on clients im- plementing Lean Management Systems in over 20 states with state government agencies, counties, cities, and large K-12 school systems. Harry has a B.S. in Materials Engineering from Rensselaer Poly- technic Institute (RPI), and an M.B.A in Finance from Syracuse University. Harry and his wife Elaine reside in Connecticut. This chapter is excerpted from his upcoming book: Lean Government Now - We Can Do This!

Bio: Jamie Parker practices Lean and is passionate about learning and sharing Lean leadership. She has 15 years' experience in operations management/leadership across retail, service, and manufacturing environments. Jamie serves as an internal coach to her organization's operations managers across the country while supervising P&L and operations management responsibilities for six commercial print plants. Jamie expresses a passion for helping leaders break the habits of traditional management approaches to create environments primed for team member fulfillment. [Connect with Jamie on LinkedIn](http://www.linkedin.com/in/jamievparker). Learn more about the book project: www.practicinglean.com and please donate to the Louise H. Batz Patient Safety Foundation (www.louisebatz.org).

I've known Michael Lombard for maybe ten years and it's been great to see him make the transition from Lean manufacturing to being a healthcare executive... here is his chapter. To learn more about the book, including how to buy it, go to www.PracticingLean.com. To learn more about the Batz Foundation, their incredible Batz Guide publications for patients, and to donate, visit www.louisebatz.org. Thanks. Bio: Michael Lombard, MBA, PMP, is a seasoned leader in Lean Healthcare, currently serving as Chief Executive Officer of Cornerstone Critical Care Specialty Hospital of Southwest Louisiana. He has a track record of helping hospitals and other care providers radically improve performance through continuous improvement. His specialty is enabling leaders, from the front-lines down to the c-suite, to develop strong Lean Management habits through proven coaching techniques. Above all, Michael is a lifelong learner, always looking to apply lessons learned at work and home as a father and husband. You can find him on Twitter as [@MikeLombard](https://twitter.com/mikelombard).

Bio: Paul Akers [describes himself](http://2secondlean.com/) as an "entrepreneur, business owner, author, speaker and Lean maniac." Paul is founder and president of [FastCap LLC](http://www.fastcap.com/), based in Ferndale, WA. FastCap is an international product development company founded in 1997 with over 2000 distributors worldwide. A prolific inventor, Paul holds U.S. and international patents. His company, FastCap, launches approximately 20 new innovative products per year and has won the business of the year award in 1999 and 2010. Paul and his wife, Leanne, have built FastCap from their garage into a multi-million dollar company in 13 years. In 2011, Paul wrote his first book about Lean Manufacturing, [*2 Second Lean*](http://2secondlean.com/books). In 2015, Paul published his latest book [*Lean Health*](http://2secondlean.com/books), which you can download as a free PDF. Read his full bio online - [PDF](http://2secondlean.com/bio).Learn more about Practicing Lean -- how to buy the book and how to donate to the Batz Foundation, via www.practicinglean.com.

Welcome to chapter 3... when I put out a call for contributors through my blog and social media, Nick Ruhmann was the first to step forward... To learn more about the book, including how to buy it, go to www.PracticingLean.com. To learn more about the Batz Foundation, their incredible Batz Guide publications for patients, and to donate, visit www.louisebatz.org. Thanks. Bio: Nick Ruhmann is the Director of Operational Excellence for Aon National Flood Services, Inc., a subsidiary of Aon plc, the leading global provider of risk management, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human resources solutions and outsourcing services. Nick has been working in the insurance industry since 2012, however he began his career in manufacturing working for automotive supplier Tenneco Inc, and the medical technology company, Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) Nick has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Southern Illinois University, lean manufacturing program certificate from the University of Michigan and a certification in "TRIZ" from the University of Kaiserslautern, Germany. Nick and his wife currently reside in Montana with their two children. He can be found on Twitter as [@Kaizen_Krazy](https://twitter.com/kaizen_krazy).

To learn more about the book, including how to buy it, go to www.PracticingLean.com. To learn more about the Batz Foundation, their incredible Batz Guide publications for patients, and to donate, visit www.louisebatz.org. Thanks. Chapter 2 written and read by Mark Graban. www.MarkGraban.com. Mark Graban is an internationally-recognized consultant, published author, professional speaker, and blogger. He builds upon a deep education in engineering and management with practical experience working with executives and frontline employees in multiple industries to synthesize and practice methods including Lean management, continuous improvement, statistical methods, and people-centered leadership approaches. Mark is author of the Shingo-Award winning book Lean Hospitals: Improving Quality, Patient Safety, and Employee Engagement. Mark is also co-author, with Joe Swartz, of Healthcare Kaizen: Engaging Front-Line Staff in Sustainable Continuous Improvements (also a Shingo recipient) and The Executive Guide to Healthcare Kaizen. His most recent book is Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More. He is also the founder of www.LeanBlog.org, producing blog posts and podcasts. He serves as a consultant to organizations through his company, Constancy, Inc and is also a Senior Advisor to the technology company KaiNexus. He has focused on healthcare improvement since 2005, after starting his career in industry at General Motors, Dell, and Honeywell. Mark has a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern University and an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering and an M.B.A. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Leaders for Global Operations Program.

To learn more about the book, including how to buy it, go to www.PracticingLean.com. To learn more about the Batz Foundation, their incredible Batz Guide publications for patients, and to donate, visit www.louisebatz.org. Thanks. About Mark Graban: Mark Graban is an internationally-recognized consultant, published author, professional speaker, and blogger. He builds upon a deep education in engineering and management with practical experience working with executives and frontline employees in multiple industries to synthesize and practice methods including Lean management, continuous improvement, statistical methods, and people-centered leadership approaches. Mark is the author of the Shingo-Award winning book Lean Hospitals: Improving Quality, Patient Safety, and Employee Engagement. Mark is also co-author, with Joe Swartz, of Healthcare Kaizen: Engaging Front-Line Staff in Sustainable Continuous Improvements (also a Shingo recipient) and The Executive Guide to Healthcare Kaizen. His most recent book is Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More. He is also the founder of www.LeanBlog.org, producing blog posts and podcasts. He serves as a consultant to organizations through his company, Constancy, Inc and is also a Senior Advisor to the technology company KaiNexus. He has focused on healthcare improvement since 2005, after starting his career in industry at General Motors, Dell, and Honeywell. Mark has a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern University and an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering and an M.B.A. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Leaders for Global Operations Program.

Hi, I’m Mark Graban… I’m the editor of an anthology book called “Practicing Lean: Learning How to Learn How to Get Better… Better." I’m wrote the first two chapters and invited others – some people I’ve known and some I had just met – to write a chapter with their own thoughts and reflections. This isn’t a book about how to “implement Lean” – this is a book about practicing… which means learning from mistakes and hopefully not repeating those same mistakes over and over. I published Practicing Lean as an ebook… it’s available in the Amazon Kindle and Apple Books stores. You can also buy a paperback from Amazon. 100% of proceeds are being donated to a nonprofit, the Louise H. Batz Patient Safety Foundation. We’ve raised over $4000 so far for this important cause. Oh, and we created an audio book version, thanks to the volunteered efforts of a professional voice over artist, Sam Leigh. Her dad, Mike Leigh, wrote chapter 15. Sam reads all of the chapters except for mine, which I read myself. We’ve sold some audio books through LeanPub.com along with the eBook version, but I thought putting the chapters out here as a podcast might inspire more people to go buy the book and possibly donate to the Batz Foundation. To learn more about the book, including how to buy it, go to www.PracticingLean.com. To learn more about the Batz Foundation, their incredible Batz Guide publications for patients, and to donate, visit www.louisebatz.org. Thanks.