It's Episode 49 of the Lean Whiskey podcast with Jamie Flinchbaugh and Mark Graban!

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Mark shares tales of his holiday / study tour trip to Japan. Since we start with the whisky (like scotch, note the lack of an ‘e’), and Mark’s opportunity to visit bottle shops, his favorite whisky bar, and even a whisky museum, along with the many samples he had a chance to try along the way. He brought one home, an Ichiro’s Malt Wine Wood Reserve, which he was able to find for a fair price (and also a ridiculous one), and it was the featured bottle for Mark’s pour. Jamie used Hibiki Japanese Harmony, a good entry-level Japanese blended whisky that is both easy to find and relatively affordable.

Mark and Jamie then discussed the Japan Study Tour itself, organized by Katie Anderson. This included Isao Yoshino as a co-host and Toyota alum, and another Toyota retiree sharing his story as well. It included trips to Toyota suppliers and Japanese food manufacturers, including Ina Foods. There were many themes, including providing an environment where employees have the opportunity to speak up, the benefits of a long-term view including a 100-year calendar, and a focus on employee development as a primary goal.

Mark also introduced a word he learned about similar to kaizen and kaikaku, and that word is kaiteki which means comfort for the employee. We also discuss the benefit of study tours in general, including Jamie’s long-ago effort to organize one for the continuous improvement team at DTE Energy.

They finish by talking a bit about Thanksgiving, including how Lehigh University football won the Patriot League and went on to the FCS playoffs and also lost very heavily to Northwestern in basketball. I guess you can’t win them all. Happy Thanksgiving, and Cheers!

• Jamie’s pour: Hibiki Japanese Harmony
• Mark’s pour: Ichiro’s Malt Wine Wood Reserve
• Jiro’s Sushi Restaurant (Sukiyabashi Jiro)

• Katie Anderson’s Japan Study Trip
• Podcast feed at LeanWhiskey.com or leanblog.org/leanwhiskey or jflinch.com/leanwhiskey

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In Episode 48 of the Lean Whiskey podcast, Jamie Flinchbaugh and Mark Graban begin by comparing two whiskeys from the same distillery.

OOPS! We recorded this in October... and I released it via YouTube and my blog. But it somehow ended up stuck in "Draft" unreleased status on the podcast. That's why we had two episodes released in the same week...

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Mark selected Woodford Reserve, and had a pour of both the Double Oaked (which we both agree is underrated) and their Historic Barrel Entry, a nod to production methods in the past. Jamie selected Southern Distilling after a recent visit to North Carolina. He poured their heated bourbon, the Paragon Bottled-in-Bond, and their Double Rye, a surprisingly smooth drink at 95% rye.

Mark and Jamie repeat their “lean coffee modified for whiskey-sipping speed” approach of covering multiple topics. All three topics were prompted by Wall Street Journal articles.

The first was whether AI was overhyped. The article focused on the return on investment, but we spend more time on both the organizational and individual approach of experimentation and learning.

We then explored the trend (although more anecdotal than a large data trend) of “unbossing”, which hopefully doesn’t become a new term. Individuals further into their career are wanting to give up managing people due to the burden and stress of the role. We explored a bit of “what is the problem we are trying to solve?” with exploration of spans and layers, too much bureaucracy, and just needing more focus on growing people.

Finally, we tackled an increase in fatalities and injuries from failure to use proper lockout tagout procedures. These should be fundamental, habitually focused processes. Lack of training and lack of enforcement are some of the causes, and increased turnover throughout and past the pandemic is a contributing factor, as is a cultural focus on output over safety. We explore a bit of the history, importance, and some possible steps forward.

We end by sharing what books we’ve been reading. A book and a glass of whiskey aren’t a bad combination. Cheers!

• Jamie’s whiskeys, both from Southern Distilling Company, are their Paragon Bottled-in-Bond and their Double Rye
• Mark’s whiskeys are both from Woodford Reserve, featuring the Double Oaked and the Historic Barrel Entry
• Is AI overhyped? from the Wall Street Journal
• The trend of ‘unbossing’ from the WSJ
• Factory Workers Are Dying Because Machines Aren’t Being Turned Off from the WSJ
• What we’re reading now, 4 books:
  • India: A History
  • Homecoming: The Path to Prosperity in a Post-Global World by Rana Foroohar
  • The Psychological Safety Playbook, and watch for a future episode of My Favorite Mistake featuring one of the authors
  • Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn by Katie Anderson
• Podcast feed at LeanWhiskey.com or leanblog.org/leanwhiskey or jflinch.com/leanwhiskey

Please review us and follow or subscribe on your favorite podcast platform!

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

Please review us and follow!