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In Episode 11 of Lean Whiskey, Mark Graban gets a rest, and Jamie Flinchbaugh co-hosts along with long-time friend and colleague Susan Pleasant, who was first a client and later a partner.

Susan brings 30 years of operations experience, and has consulted for 12 years, first at the Lean Learning Center and now with SPleasant Consulting. Jamie and Susan met for dinner last year at the IndustryWeek conference in Pittsburgh at a whiskey bar and restaurant, where Susan was introduced to Dalmore, which became our theme for the whiskey for the episode. 

We discuss an experiment at Microsoft in Japan with a 4-day work week, which actually had the effect of increasing productivity. We explore the value of the experiment, the relationship between a person and their work, and how to measure output for a range of different types of work. 

We also explore a listener question about how a lean organization sets goals, as many individuals and organizations are still in the mode of setting goals for the year. We finish the discussion by returning to whiskey and discussing why it's the drink of choice for both of us. 

Here are some links from the show: 

• Susan's whisky, the Dalmore 15