Last week Mark Graban published a podcast on his website LeanBlog.org that we recorded recently about how living in Japan has shaped my perspective a Lean thinker and practitioner.
I always enjoy talking with Mark and exchanging thoughts about Lean practices around the world. This is the second podcast that we’ve recorded together. The first was recorded back in October 2015 – check it out too.
Register to win a free book and daruma!
As Mark and I discussed at the end of the podcast, readers of his and my blogs have a chance to register to win a FREE copy of Mark’s book “Lean Hospitals”, plus a daruma doll that I brought back from Japan.
The giveaway has ended – congratulations to Charles Platt for winning!
If you miss out on winning, you can sign up for the workshop I’m running before the annual LEI Lean Transformation Summit in March 2017, “Coaching for Development – Structured Coaching Using A3 Thinking.” I’ll be giving away a few smaller darumas to some lucky participants!
Mark’s book Lean Hospitals is also available for purchase from Amazon.
Podcast overview
Mark and I became friends many years ago though our shared professional passion about developing other people as lean thinkers and improving healthcare.
Mark has been an huge supporter of my blog both from a technical end, such as advice on platforms and plugins, and content, such as our shared interests in Japan, Lean and healthcare. I owe him many drinks in thanks the next time we see each other, which appears to be at the Lean Healthcare Summit in Palm Springs this June – anyone else planning on being there?
Mark is the author of Lean Hospitals, the founder of the Lean Blog, and my co-faculty at the Catalysis.
In the podcast we covered topics such as:
- The first podcast we recorded back in October 2015
- How Japanese culture and thinking is not https://kbjanderson.com/a3-thinking-for-personal-development-part-3/necessarily the same as Lean culturhttps://kbjanderson.com/a-reminder-from-a-recent-visit-to-japan-lean-is-not-inherently-japanese/e and thinking
- My belief that Lean is a countermeasure for limiting human and cultural traits regardless of our native culture
- My mentorship and friendship with Isao Yoshino, a retired 40-year Toyota executive and one of John Shook’s first managers at Toyota
- How Ashikaga, the self-proclaimed “5S Mecca of the World”, uses the concepts of joy and revitalization to their interpretation of 5S, and how a family-run company in the town has brought joy and whimsy to a factory environment
- My surprise that Lean practices in healthcare in Japan are really just beginning.
Podcast Resources
Mark has also put together a great summary of the podcast that is available on his website and has published a supplementary article from our podcast on LinkedIn titled “Katie Anderson on Whether “Lean” is Easier or More Difficult in Japan”.
Listen, comment, sign up to win and subscribe!
Please share your feedback, comments and questions!
And don’t forget to CLICK HERE to register for a chance to win Mark’s book and a daruma from Japan.
