Lean Whiskey: 20: Live from the Colorado Lean Network Summit, Affordable Whiskeys

Mark, Jamie, Katie Benik, and Jen House

http://www.leanblog.org/whiskey20

In Episode 20, Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh join the Colorado Lean Summit live and host a virtual happy hour while discussing the first couple days of the events proceedings. Joining us as co-hosts are CLN members Jen House (also a board member) and Katie Benik. We took some questions, shared what people were drinking in the chat, and had our own chat about what we’ve learned from the Summit.

We started by sharing our whiskey selections in the “budget-friendly” category. We certainly had some variation, ranging from Buffalo Trace to Skrewball. Those watching weren’t forced into our theme, so we had more adventurous and elaborate selections from our audience. 

The first takeaway that we discussed was from Deondra Wardelle’s talk, and the challenge of shifting from micromanaging controlling manager to a leader who encourages people to experiment, take action, and learn. We then talked about the theme of respect for people, a key lean tenant, and how hard people find it to be specific about how it is applied. We then turned to Renee Smith’s point of replacing fear with love and providing psychological safety. We concluded talking about Dan Markovitz’s points about framing problem statements. 

In wrapping up, we shared information about CLN’s charity project, Community College of Aurora’s Unity Scholarship to open more opportunities for future Black leaders to reach their highest potential. CLN matched the first $500 donated, and Jamie and Mark are matching the next $500 in donations. The donation channel is open through October 16th. 

And finally, our fun question: what’s your favorite lean-related word, but for a silly reason? The answers included muda, poka-yoke, verschlimmbesserung, and queuing. So get this podcast out of your queue and give it a listen! 

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