Regardless of how well you track tangible metrics in your workplace, neglecting underlying emotions has enduring costs, says Susan David, author of the best-selling book Emotional Agility. Many performance gaps are partly caused by human factors—underlying conditions that don’t necessarily show up on Pareto charts, yet have as much relevance and bearing on business outcomes as other common gaps that are identified as problems to address. Join this WLEI podcast for a wide-ranging conversation about the need to acknowledge and “manage” emotions as a means of developing broader agility for your work team.  

"What will the world look like when Covid-19 recedes, and what role will Lean play? According to Lean Pioneer Dan Jones, Lean can play a key role in shaping the emerging economy in numerous ways—not simply boosting performance of legacy assets of mass production, but also helping to scale up new technologies much faster through several generations with user feedback. “Most significantly, it can mobilize the creative contribution of everyone, including users, to develop very different and sustainable systems for the future.”

Tune in to this conversation between Dan and WLEI Podcast Host Tom Ehrenfeld for an engaging conversation into the potential role of Lean as we move into and beyond this current age.

Download a transcript of the interview here. And check out this Lean Post adapted from Dan’s talk."

"What is the role of a lean leader, and what is the humbling daily work that goes into this task? How can one humbly assume the very ambitious role of leading others in earnest lean practice? And how does one prepare for heroic actions by creating a steady cadence of productive daily habits? These are the types of questions explored by Karen Gaudet in her new LEI book titled Steady Work. Tune in to her podcast with Tom Ehrenfeld here." 

“We should shift more of our energies upstream personally, organizationally, nationally, and globally. We can and we should stop dealing with the symptoms of problems again and again, and start fixing them." So writes author Dan Heath in his terrific new book Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen, which has just been published. 

This conversation between LEI editor Tom Ehrenfeld and Dan explores the practical applications of the upstream mindset, and; given the timing, explores how upstream thinking is all the more relevant in our current pandemic. Please listen in, and stay tuned until the final minutes of this podcast: Dan makes a special offer to all you listeners!

In his talk from the 2018 Designing the Future summit, Rivian COO and LEI Senior Advisor Jim Morgan discusses how Lean Product and Process Development (LPPD) serves as an enterprise activity that can engage the entire organization and improve operations and growth. LPPD's principles and practices will result in better products, argues Morgan, who shares the following key ideas:

*People first

*Understand—then execute

*Design new value streams

*Create a framework of success

*Constantly learn and improve

*Establish an effective management system

Tune in here to listen to the full podcast of his presentation about creating a shared future. And download a transcript of this talk here.

Read more from Jim by checking his previous articles:

Creating New Value and A Lesson in Fundamentals

Are You Building High-Performing Teams?

Product Focus=Customer Focus

The Relentless Pursuit of Perfection

TPS 2.0?

Also check out his book Designing the Future

Finally, learn more about the 2020 DTF summit

In times of crisis, lean offers a stable approach to healthy work. Furthermore, as Jim Womack notes in this podcast with Tom Ehrenfeld, foundational lean practices such as just-in-time supply chains are not—and have never been—liabilities in a time such as today’s coronavirus outbreak. Misguided stories about the woes of JIT are as misguided today as they were when they appeared during avian flu, SARS, and other legitimate medical events that required large supplies of emergency goods. Womack also talks about the lessons to be found in Karen Gaudet’s book Steady Work as they relate to having a stable work environment that enables people to not think about the work—but to already have that mindfulness built in, so they can simply serve other humans in the moment, at a time of great need. 

Listen to this conversation on the LEI podcast here.

Related articles/content:

• Jim Womack’s 2006 essay Just In Time, Just In Case and Just Plain Wrong.

Spoiler alert! The food you just ate is not fresh. It was "sourced" longer ago than you'd imagine. And since that time, it's been handled in batch after batch. The same can be said for many lean transformations - one batch of improvement activity after another. Zingerman's Mail Order has been reducing batch sizes for 15 years, acting as a sort of "model line" for the entire food industry. Tom Root and Josh Howell discuss ZMO's lean transformation and their many lessons learned, searching for useful takeaways for you the listener.

If you do not yet know the company Rivian you will undoubtedly know it very soon.

• Podcast teaser video

Andrew Lingel, President of United Plastic Fabricating, discusses leading lean transformation of a family business through knowledge, grit, and outrage.