Practicing Lean: Learning How to Learn How to Get Better... Better

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This is a book about practicing, learning, and sharing our experiences with the Lean methodology and the Toyota Production System. Doctors don't "implement medicine," they practice medicine. Lawyers don't "implement cases," they practice law. Shouldn't Lean facilitators, consultants, managers, and the like, also "practice Lean?" When most of us start with Lean, the practices and principles are new. We might struggle to make change happen. I know I did. Our initial clumsy efforts hopefully turn into proficiency and mastery over time. We shift from "doing Lean" to "being Lean" and teaching others how to be Lean. This book is a collection of honest and unvarnished first hand stories about learning, failing, and getting better at leading Lean transformation efforts. What mistakes have been made? What are the lessons learned? How do we "Plan, Do, Study, Adjust" our way to more effective Lean transformation models? Proceeds from the book will be donated to the non-profit Louise H. Batz Patient Safety Foundation. Disclosure: Mark Graban is on the board of the Batz Foundation. We have a diverse set of contributors who come from various industries - manufacturing, care, software, startups, etc. Authors include: Mark Graban Author of the books Lean Hospitals and care Kaizen, blogger at LeanBlog.org Nick Ruhmann Director of Operational Excellence for Aon National Flood Services, Inc. Michael Lombard Chief Executive Officer of Cornerstone Critical Care Specialty Hospital of Southwest Louisiana Paul Akers President of FastCap, author of 2-Second Lean and Lean Jamie Parker 15 years' experience in operations management / leadership in retail, service, and manufacturing Harry Kenworthy Expert in Lean government after a long career in manufacturing Bob Rush Lean Manufacturing Group Leader for Tesla Motors Samuel Selay Continuous Improvement Manager for the Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton David Haigh David works at Johnson & Johnson Canada, the largest consumer care company in Canada Joe Swartz Administrative Director, Business Transformation, Franciscan Alliance, co-author of care Kaizen Cameron Stark Physician and Lean improvement leader in Scotland Harvey Leach Principal Consultant with The Consultancy Company based near Oxford, England Andy Sheppard Author, The Incredible Transformation of Gregory Todd: a Novel about Leadership and Managing Change Mike Leigh President and Founder of OpX Solutions, LLC and former Lean leader at General Electric Jamie Flinchbaugh Lean advisor, speaker, and author, who has advised over 300 companies on their Lean journey Lesa Nichols Founder, Lesa Nichols Consulting and former Toyota leader The book also contains relevant posts from Mark Graban's LeanBlog.org.