In Episode 47, Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh attempt another experiment in format, covering a range of quick-hit topics in the news rather than a single deep dive. As always, we welcome feedback.

Before we got to that, however, our whiskey theme was also new, or new to us: we each picked a whiskey we hadn’t tried before.

Jamie’s pick was Four Walls Irish American Whiskey, a celebrity whiskey from a group of stars from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, including Rob McElhenney, who famously co-owns Wrexham AFC, a 3rd tier football club in the UK, along with Ryan Reynolds.

Mark’s pick was inspired by his My Favorite Mistake podcast with the founder of Jeptha Creed with their Bloody Butcher’s Creed 4 Grain Bourbon Whiskey, made from Bloody Butcher red heirloom corn grown on their own farm.

In the news, we covered four topics.

First was Kentucky’s decision to decriminalize medical errors, which allows healthcare providers to focus on providing care the best method possible and not going to jail just for a mistake, lessons from the RaDonda Vaught case in Tennessee.

Next, while not really news, we discussed Jamie’s Forbes article about Hanlon’s Razor, including what a razor is, what it has to do with the lean principle of Respect for People, and how it can help choose a more productive path of action.

Third we explore the Labor Notes’ article declaring the end of lean production. Of course, we disagree, although both motivation and validly bad lean practices both contribute to their perspectives.

Finally, we cover a Wall Street Journal article titled The Jiggle Is Up, about how companies are defeating attempts to manipulate work with mouse jigglers. There is so much wrong here, from culture to process to metrics, that we start to unpack.

We finally end, with July being so hot seemingly everywhere, with our favorite summer refreshing non-whiskey cocktails. But, you’ll have to either listen to or skip to the end of hear our choices.

• Jamie’s pick: Four Walls Irish American Whiskey
• Mark’s pick: Jeptha Creed Bloody Butcher’s Creed 4 Grain Bourbon Whiskey
• My Favorite Mistake podcast featuring Jeptha Creed founder
• Kentucky decriminalizes medical errors
• More misunderstanding of lean
• Jamie on Hanlon’s Razor in Forbes
• WSJ on eliminating mouse jiggles as productivity
• Podcast feed at LeanWhiskey.com or leanblog.org/leanwhiskey or jflinch.com/leanwhiskey

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In Episode 46, Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh spend a lot of time talking about AI, but that still, as always, begins with the whiskey.

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We both asked ChatGPT to consider all our ingredients for making a whiskey-based cocktail, and to invent an original recipe. Jamie's is called The Bourbon Harmony, although there was a lot in there to try to reach harmony, and Mark's was called the Spiced Cherry Rye Cocktail.

The verdict for both drinks was that they were good, but probably wouldn't be made a second time. We had slightly different tactics in prompting ChatGPT to generate our recipes, which we discussed.

We then spent a little time recognizing the passing of Don Petersen, former CEO of Ford in the late 1980s. Peterson was very different from an automotive CEO at the time, disrupting many practices whose time had come. Most notably, he brought in Dr. Deming to help influence the transformation.

The discussion then turned into a deeper dive into how a lean thinker might look at artificial intelligence, machine learning, and more. This explored governance of AI, having good standard work and workflow design around AI usage, lessons of effective delegation while treating AI like an employee, when to use it, and even a few tips and tricks along the way. We saved the discussion of whether AI will be the end of humanity for when we might have a stronger cocktail.

Have AI design your new cocktail, make it yourself since AI can't do that, and sit down for this interesting discussion. Cheers, or in binary... 01100011 01101000 01100101 01100101 01110010 01110011

• Jamie's Bourbon Harmony recipe:
  • 2 oz Bourbon (used Elijah Craig Small Batch), 0.5 oz Lillet Blanc, 0.5 oz Aperol, 0.25 oz Drambuie, 2 dashes Orange Bitters, 1 dash Angostura Bitters, Orange peel (for garnish)
• Mark's Spiced Cherry Rye Cocktail recipe:
  • 2 oz Rye Whiskey, 0.5 oz Tart Cherry Liqueur, 0.5 oz Italicus, 0.25 oz Green Chartreuse, 0.25 oz Aperol, 0.5 oz Lemon Juice, Garnish: Lemon twist or a few cherries
• News of former Ford CEO Don Petersen passing away and Mark's blog post adding much context, including Dr. Deming
• GrantThornton's report on AI risks
• Jamie's YouTube video linking AI and problem solving
• Wall Street Journal on whether AI causes job loss
• Wall Street Journal on how AI changes jobs
• Podcast feed at LeanWhiskey.com or leanblog.org/leanwhiskey or jflinch.com/leanwhiskey

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In Episode 45, Jamie Flinchbaugh and Mark Graban join the Just-in-Time Cafe team of Elisabeth Swan and Tracy O’Rourke as a special nod to their 100th Episode, while also having a chance to toast Mark’s accomplishment of 250 episodes of My Favorite Mistake podcast and 500 episodes of the Lean Blog Podcast. This episode blended the two formats a bit, but you can be sure whiskey was one of those elements that we retained.

We each selected a cocktail to make. Jamie made his original recipe, the Black Forest Kiss. Since you can’t Google it, the recipe is 2 oz bourbon, ½ oz sweet vermouth, 1 oz Cherry Herring, 5 dashes chocolate bitters, and garnished with cherries. Mark made a Perfect Manhattan with walnut bitters. Elisabeth made Remember the Maine. Tracy was stuck with wine, but you’ll have to listen for the story as to why that was. We also checked in about the various books we’ve written, including Mark’s The Mistakes That Make Us, Jamie’s People Solve Problems, Elisabeth’s Picture Yourself a Leader, and the forthcoming 2nd edition from Tracy and Elisabeth of the Problem Solver’s Toolkit.

We shared our Hot Apps personal choices, which included Trello, Kainexus, Asana, and the combination of Evernote and Scannable. In the episode you’ll hear how we utilize these apps. We then turned our attention to podcasting, sharing our origin stories, what we love about it, and some mistakes that we’ve learned from through the process.

• Just in Time Cafe podcast
• My Favorite Mistakes podcast
• Lean Blog podcast
• People Solve Problems podcast
• Picture Yourself a Leader book
• The Mistakes That Make Us book
• People Solve Problems book
• Podcast feed at LeanWhiskey.com or leanblog.org/leanwhiskey or jflinch.com/leanwhiskey

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Notes for everyone on what’s below. Please add links for preferred website and books for the show notes (going both directions):

• Jamie
  • https://www.jflinch.com/
  • https://www.jflinch.com/people-solve-problems/
• Elisabeth
  • https://www.jitcafe.com/
  • https://elisabethswan.com/book/
• Tracy
  • https://www.jitcafe.com/
  • The new edition of the Problems Solver’s Toolkit will be released soon, but no link yet.
• Mark
  • http://markgraban.com/

https://www.mistakesbook.com/

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In Episode 44, Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh get back together for this first episode of 2024. Since we’re not doing Dry January, we go right into the whiskey first by talking about old bottles, including one very old one found at auction. We then did our own comparison tasting, with Jamie trying two different age statements of Knob Creek bourbon and Mark trying two different expressions of Glen Scotia scotch from Campbeltown.

Dry January is like a New Year’s Resolution that you don’t intend to keep past a month. We discuss New Year’s Resolutions and their reasons for failure. We relate all this to goals, hoshin kanri, SMART goals, systems, and small steps. So, if you’re still working on clarifying your goals or resolutions for the year, take a listen.

Boeing’s recent troubles with an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX-9 door plug falling out mid-flight was also discussed, including Boeing’s resolution / commitment to add more inspectors to the process. Will more inspectors and more inspections make a difference? If not, what will make a difference? We may not know the final answer, but we break it all down for you in this discussion.

We wrap things up with a little football talk, both the NFL and College. Cheers!

• Vintage bottle sold at auction, from York, PA
• Jamie’s selection: Knob Creek
• Mark’s selection: Glen Scotia
• NPR on abandoned New Year’s resolutions
• Jamie’s 2010 blogpost on goals
• Jamie’s 2021 short video on working with goals
• Boeing’s own updates on the 737-9
• On Senator Cantwell’s letter to the FAA
• Yup, University of Michigan wins the National Championship
• Podcast feed at LeanWhiskey.com or leanblog.org/leanwhiskey or jflinch.com/leanwhiskey

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In Episode 42, Jamie Flinchbaugh visits Mark Graban in northern Kentucky and they get to record an episode in person. This was the origin of the podcast series — getting together in person, enjoying whiskey, and talking about Lean stuff.

In the last episode, we did an experiment that was inconclusive — sometimes that's how it goes. We had moved the whiskey talk to the end of the episode, but since we had no firm evidence that it was better, we moved it back to the beginning.

Since we were together, Jamie selected something from Mark's shelf, the Boone County Amburana Wood, as it isn't something you'd regularly find on the shelf. Mark had received a special package in the mail from the Jim Beam distillery — two different expressions of Little Book — and so he did a side-by-side comparison.

They then discussed the GE Lean Mindset Event, held for employees, customers, and suppliers. The bulk of the speakers are available on a YouTube playlist.

We primarily discussed the discussion between Jim Farley, CEO of Ford, and Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber. We also discussed the conversation with Patti Poppe, CEO of PG&E (the primary power utility in California if you don't recognize the name). We explored the key nuggets from those speakers.

After the recording stopped, the conversation continued at the outstanding Prohibition Bourbon Bar in Newport, Kentucky, ranked as one of America's Best Bourbon Bars by The Bourbon Review (that's where the photo was taken… and yes, they allowed us behind the bar).

• Jamie's selection, Amburana Wood finished Bourbon from Boone County
• Little Book, the experimental expressions from Freddie Noe of Jim Beam
• The playlist for the GE Lean Mindset Event
• Mark's podcast episode recorded on-site with Jim Womack, Katie Anderson, and Jamie Parker
• California Burning, the book about PG&E mentioned by Patti
• Prohibition Bar in Newport, Kentucky, featured in The Bourbon Review
• Podcast feed at LeanWhiskey.com or leanblog.org/leanwhiskey or jflinch.com/leanwhiskey

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In Episode 41, Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh try a couple experiments, in the spirit of continuous improvement. You’ll first notice that we moved the whiskey talk to the end. The hypothesis here is that some people don’t want to hear the whiskey talk, so they can just exit the podcast when we finish the lean talk. We also used a different platform for recording, so it may affect your listening or viewing experience. We would really appreciate any feedback at all on these experiments.

In lean talk, we explore the question of whether lean can and should be forced. We examine this from different angles, including terms like accountability and quotas. We even evoke the words of Dr. Deming in the process. We quote Toyota’s Jamie Bonini who said “if the employees are upset by it, it’s not really TPS.” We explore 5S, audits, incentives, and more.

We finally get around to talking about the whiskey that we were sipping on during the episode. After all, this is kinda the point. For this episode’s theme, we are pulling the bottle off our shelf that is the least expensive, but still worth sipping on its own. Mark is drinking Benchmark, and Jamie went with Rebel. Cheers!

• Mark’s audiobook of The Mistakes That Make Us is now available
• Tennis’ Western and Southern Open
• The Michigan Lean Consortium, where Mark recently presented
• Mark’s famous Office 5S video
• Jamie’s whiskey… Rebel Bourbon 80 proof at $19
• Mark’s whiskey… Benchmark Bourbon 100 proof between $17-19
• Podcast feed at LeanWhiskey.com or leanblog.org/leanwhiskey or jflinch.com/leanwhiskey

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In Episode 40, Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh get back together after their in-person visit where they enjoyed the origins of this podcast: talking about lean stuff while enjoying some whiskey. We get to celebrate the launch of Mark’s new book, The Mistakes That Make Us, as well as Jamie’s new podcast titled People Solve Problems. We recap our in-person visit and some of the great whiskey we were able to try. And we taste one of the expressions we were able to try at the distillery, New Riff’s Straight Bottled-in-Bond Malted Rye.

We then pivoted to talking about pivots, starting with the example of how Instagram originally started as Burbn check-in app to share your drinking experiences with others. It then pivoted to photo sharing, and the rest is history. We compare and contrast other pivots, including Play-Doh, the pacemaker, Slack and Twitter, 3M Post-its, and a purple dye found when trying to cure malaria. We share some lessons from each of our books about how to enable and / or embrace the pivot when the opportunity presents itself.

We wrap up talking a bit about the book writing process, and the joys and pains that accompany it. Cheers!

• Mark’s book, The Mistakes That Make Us, is now available for purchase
• Jamie launched a new podcast, People Solve Problems, interviews based on his book
• Mark and Jamie’s analog in-person Lean Whiskey
• We visited Revival Vintage Bottle Shop, Prohibition Bourbon Bar, and New Riff Distilling
• Mark and Jamie both pouring the New Riff Kentucky Straight Bottled-in-Bond Malted Rye Whiskey
• Instagram pivoted from Burbn
• Instagram, or Meta, also recently launched Threads. You can find Mark here and Jamie here
• Making purple dye from a failed malaria drug
• Hold on Loosely by 38 Special on Spotify
• Podcast feed at LeanWhiskey.com or leanblog.org/leanwhiskey or jflinch.com/leanwhiskey

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