It all starts with a Vision!

In this weeks podcast The Aroma of a Good Vision, I asked Ari Weinzweig, CEO and co-founding partner of Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor, MI to share the “secrets” that have helped take Zingerman’s from a 25-seat, 4-person start up to a nationally known, $40,000,000-organization employing over 500 people. He said it all starts with a Read More …

Standard Work and Customer Focus Together

In next week’s podcast with Steve Bell, the founder of Lean IT Strategies LLC, we discuss more than just Lean IT. We ended up talking (see the excerpt below) through much of the podcast on the context Lean seems to have; the ability to adapt while staying firmly rooted in its principles. Joe:  Does it Read More …

Lean and ROWE, Friend or Foe

David Kasprzak, of the popular blog, My Flexible Pencil was interviewed in the Business901 podcast, Does Lean solve some problems for ROWE?. This is a transcription of the podcast. ROWE stands for  Results-Only Work Environment. It is a revolutionary new way of working that gives employees more responsibility and accountability for their work and the Read More …

Value Chain Thinking, not Rocket Science

However, The majority of businesses struggle to apply it and when they do they often fail. There are some simple tips that senior managers should consider before taking the plunge – don’t try and do it alone (collaboration means sharing the journey – where to go and how to get there), don’t try to do Read More …

Lean Sales and Marketing Summit is Quickly Approaching

In preparation for this Dwayne Butcher of the hosting organization, Lean Frontiers wrote this in a recent newsletter: Marketing activities such as developing promotion programs, branding, developing ads and writing copy are seen as creative processes that don’t lend themselves to systematization without losing the ability to think outside the box. Most efforts to improve Read More …

The Other Half of the Lean and Sales Marketing Summit

I am honored to be included on the same agenda with noted author, speaker, and lean pioneer Bill Waddell. On April 17th, Bill will be presenting Aligning the Entire Organization to Achieve the Sales Strategy. In most traditionally managed companies Sales and Marketing are treated as an independent entity tasked with increasing sales volume – Read More …