59 - Bob Miller, "Shingo Prize"

Episode #59 of the LeanBlog Podcast is here and our guest is Robert Miller, Executive Director of the Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence. We are discussing the Prize, some of the recent changes made in its criteria, and some future directions for the Prize named after Dr. Shigeo Shingo, of Toyota Production System fame. www.shingoprize.org is their website.

If you have feedback on the podcast, or any questions for me or my guests, you can email me at leanpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave a voicemail by calling the "Lean Line" at (817) 776-LEAN (817-776-5326) or contact me via Skype id "mgraban". Please give your location and your first name. Any comments (email or voicemail) might be used in follow ups to the podcast.

58 - Steven J. Spear, "Chasing the Rabbit"

Episode #58 of the LeanBlog Podcast brings us Steven J. Spear as our guest. Spear is a Senior Researcher at MIT, a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and is the author of the new book Chasing the Rabbit: How Market Leaders Outdistance the Competition and How Great Companies Can Catch Up and Win. Today, we talk about he started studying Toyota and his new book, which includes examples from many high-performing organizations in manufacturing, healthcare, and other industries - fascinating reading.

If you have feedback on the podcast, or any questions for me or my guests, you can email me at leanpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave a voicemail by calling the "Lean Line" at (817) 776-LEAN (817-776-5326) or contact me via Skype id "mgraban". Please give your location and your first name. Any comments (email or voicemail) might be used in follow ups to the podcast.

57 - Alfie Kohn, "Punished by Rewards"

My guest for LeanBlog Podcast #57 is Alfie Kohn, an author and lecturer in the fields of education, parenting, and human behavior. His books include Punished By Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other Bribes and The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing. I reached out to Alfie after there was some very good discussion on the blog about Chicago Public Schools giving incentive payments to high school students earning A's, B's, and C's. Many of the arguments that Alfie makes are reminiscent of Dr. W. Edwards Deming and can be applied, more generally, to many organization settings where rewards and incentives are used. I hope you find this interesting and thought provoking. If anything, the Dr. Deming fans will want to listen to the end of the Podcast where Alfie does a dead-on impression of Dr. Deming. To read more articles, Alfie's website is http://www.alfiekohn.org/ .

For earlier episodes, visit the main Podcast page at www.leanpodcast.org, which includes information on how to subscribe via RSS or via Apple iTunes. The podcast is available there in MP3 or AAC formats.

56 - John Shook, "Managing to Learn"

Episode #56 of the podcast is a discussion with John Shook, one of my absolute favorite people in the Lean world. The few times I've seen John present or had the chance to chat in person, I've learned more in that amount of time than from anyone else, so I'm thrilled to have him here. John has a new book, published by the Lean Enterprise Institute, about the "A3" problem solving process called Managing to Learn: Using the A3 Management Process to Solve Problems, Gain Agreement, Mentor, and Lead. John also has a new blog on the LEI website, which is exciting to see. In the podcast, we discuss the story behind the book and some thoughts on how to get started with A3 thinking from scratch in your organization.

If you have feedback on the podcast, or any questions for me or my guests, you can email me at leanpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave a voicemail by calling the "Lean Line" at (817) 776-LEAN (817-776-5326) or contact me via Skype id "mgraban". Please give your location and your first name. Any comments (email or voicemail) might be used in follow ups to the podcast.