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Steve Bell is a pioneer of Lean IT and Lean Digitization, applying principles and practices through a method-agnostic approach, drawing on a variety of disciplines— including Lean, Six Sigma, Agile, Scrum, Kanban, DevOps, Lean Startup, Kata, Design Thinking, ITSM, Visual Management (Obeya), and Strategy Deployment (Hoshin Kanri) —as appropriate to the culture and situation, to coach and support leaders to develop high-performance practices and organizational learning capabilities. He is the author of Lean IT, Run Grow Transform, Lean Enterprise Systems, and numerous other published works. In 2011 Steve was awarded the Shingo Prize for Research and Professional Publication. His career spans the evolution of enterprise-wide information technology, with hands-on experience in continuous improvement and innovation across most industries.
Steve and his partner Karen Whitely Bell are co-founders of Digital Lean Strategies, LLC (formerly Lean IT Strategies). Together they have co-authored numerous articles, and recently contributed a chapter on high performance management to Accelerate: The Science Behind DevOps, by Jez Humble, Gene Kim, and Nicole Forsgren PhD. They are currently working on their next book, on the Digital Lean Enterprise.
They are also co-founders of Lean4NGO (LinkedIn Group “Lean Thinking for NGOs and Nonprofits) whose mission is to make Lean Thinking accessible to humanitarian aid organizations, improving NGO operational efficiency (use of scarce resources) and effectiveness (improved outcomes) to benefit the three billion people living at the "bottom of the pyramid" on less than $2 a day.

With a consulting and coaching career spanning more than 20 years, Mike Orzen has gathered a unique blend of lean, IT, healthcare, and operations experience that he uses to coach organizations pursuing enterprise excellence. His personable approach and people-first philosophy has inspired leaders and empowered workforces to successfully apply conscious awareness, lean management, and enterprise excellence practices in many complex work environments.
He is the co-author of Lean IT: Enabling and Sustaining Your Lean Transformation winner of a Shingo Research Award, and The Lean IT Field Guide. He holds degrees from Stanford University, the University of Oregon, and is certified in management accounting, production and inventory control, project management, Agile, and Lean IT. Mike teaches with LEI, the Shingo Institute, and The Ohio State University Fisher School of Business.
... will have a permanent place in my bookshelf. In my ten-year study of high performing IT organizations, I’ve found that businesses rely on IT far more than they think. The impacts of poor flow from application development into IT operations can be devastating: ever-increasing cycle times and amounts of rework, and an ever-increasing amount of heroics required in IT operations to preserve the illusion of stability and reliability.
—Gene Kim, Chief Technology Officer, Tripwire, Inc.
There has never been a more critical time to improve how IT integrates with the global business enterprise. This book provides an unprecedented look at the role that Lean IT will play in making this revolutionary shift and the critical steps for sustained success.
—Steve Castellanos, Lean Enterprise Director, Nike, Inc.
Twenty years from now the firms which dominate their industries will have fully embraced Lean strategies throughout their IT organizations. Ten years from now those organizations will have started pulling ahead of their competitors as the result of Lean IT. Today this book will show those organizations the path they need to start out on. Will your organization be one of them?
—Scott W. Ambler, Chief Methodologist for Agile and Lean, IBM Rational
This book goes both wide and deep in its exploration of Lean IT… a great survival manual for those needing nimble and adaptive systems.
—Dr. David Labby, MD, PhD, Medical Director and Director of Clinical Support and Innovation, CareOregon
... makes a major contribution in an often-ignored but much-needed area. It ranges over a huge area – including excellent case studies – that will bring IT professionals into the Lean fold while enabling Lean managers to reach out to the IT organization.
—John Bicheno, Program Director MS in Lean Operations, Cardiff University
... a comprehensive view into the world of Lean IT, a must read!
—Dave Wilson, Quality Management, Oregon Health & Science University