The nonprofit Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI) today announced that its popular new book “Everything I Know about Lean I Learned in First Grade” is available as an ebook.
The digital version is available now for $9.99 in a variety of formats from LEI’s Lean Bookstore. Chapter One, the Introduction, and the Foreword are available as free downloads at the store.
“Customers have told us that they want more ebooks,” said Jane Bulnes-Fowles, LEI’s Lean Learning Materials manager. “So from the start of this book project, we planned an ebook along with the paperback version, which launched in March to very strong sales.”
“Everything I Know about Lean I Learned in First Grade” is the seventh ebook published by LEI, said Bulnes-Fowles. The others are:
- “The Birth of Lean”
- “Gemba Walks”
- “The Gold Mine”
- “The Lean Lexicon”
- “The Lean Manager”
- “On the Mend”
Complete ebook descriptions and excerpts are available in the lean bookstore.
The Lean Book for Everyone
The ebook is an effective introduction or refresher on essential lean principles.
“For some time, I searched for an analogy that would best illustrate lean concepts,” said author and lean practitioner Robert Martichenko. “The analogy that forms this narrative was revealed to me during a visit to my youngest daughter’s first grade classroom. It was all there.” For example:
- Nameplates on desks and storage cubicles illustrated the lean principle of visual management
- The paced cafeteria process for serving lunch demonstrated the concept of takt time, producing to the “beat” of customer demand
- The school principal on daily rounds personified a lean executive practicing “go see” management
- A system of stockroom cards used to reorder supplies illustrated how a pull system worked
The engaging analogy makes it suitable reading for business people or others – including students – who want to understand lean for what it truly is: a way to create a learning and problem-solving culture.
Each chapter concludes with a concise summary of the lean principal discussed followed by important additional information and illustrations.
“Everything I Know About Lean I Learned in First Grade” ebook
- By Robert Martichenko
- Published August 20, 2012, Lean Enterprise Institute
- ISBN: 978-1-934109-34-2
- $9.99
Lean Bookstore
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About the Author
Robert Martichenko is CEO of LeanCor, a third-party logistics provider in Florence, KY. He learned about lean management working at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana. He has over 20 years of experience implementing lean supply chains, logistics operations, and organizational transformations. He is also the co-author of Building a Lean Fulfillment Stream (LEI, 2010), which won a Shingo Research Award. He is a senior instructor at the Lean Enterprise Institute and the Georgia Tech Supply Chain and Logistics Institute.
Lean Enterprise Institute
Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc., was founded in 1997 by management expert James P. Womack, Ph.D., as a nonprofit research, education, publishing, and conference company with a mission to advance lean thinking around the world. We teach courses, hold management seminars, write and publish books and workbooks, and organize public and private conferences. We use the surplus revenues from these activities to conduct research projects and support other lean initiatives such as the Lean Education Academic Network, the Lean Global Network and the Healthcare Value Network. Lean Enterprise Institute and the leaper image are registered trademarks of Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc.