Blog | The American Innovator

2 Second Lean Book Introduction

Paul Akers discusses his book 2 Second Lean and why he wrote it.

01/28/2012: Samuel Korb, Pt 2

On this week’s show, Paul Akers and Jon Lussier continue their discussion with Samuel Korb from Lean Israel, discussing the Lean innovations and advancement of the Nation of Israel. A country the size of New Jersey and a population of 7.1 million has one of the most advanced societies in technology, education, and military in the world. They also highlight topics covered in the book The Startup Nation.

Cornerstone Christian School – Lean Light

Caleb demonstrates how he saves time in the morning using lean principles.

Paul Interviewed by Mark Graban

Mark Graban, or Lean Blog, interviewed Paul about his book, 2 Second Lean. Press here to listen to the interview. Press here for more information on Paul’s book.

Culture Eats Strategy For Lunch

BY FC EXPERT BLOGGER SHAWN PARR Tue Jan 24, 2012
Get on a Southwest flight to anywhere, buy shoes from Zappos.com, pants from Nordstrom, groceries from Whole Foods, anything from Costco, a Starbucks espresso, or a Double-Double from In N’ Out, and you’ll get a taste of these brands’ vibrant cultures.
Culture is a balanced blend of human psychology, attitudes, actions, and beliefs that combined create either pleasure or pain, serious momentum or miserable stagnation. A strong culture flourishes with a clear set of values and norms that actively guide the way a company operates. Employees are actively and passionately engaged in the business, operating from a sense of confidence and empowerment rather than navigating their days through miserably extensive procedures and mind-numbing bureaucracy. Performance-oriented cultures possess statistically better financial growth, with high employee involvement, strong internal communication, and an acceptance of a healthy level of risk-taking in order to achieve new levels of innovation. To read more…

01/21/2012: Samuel Korb

On this week’s show, Paul Akers and Jon Lussier talk with Samuel Korb from Lean Israel, discussing the Lean innovations and advancement of the Nation of Israel. A country the size of New Jersey and a population of 7.1 million has one of the most advanced societies in technology, education, and military in the world. They also highlight topics covered in the book The Startup Nation.

App of the Week:
Tripit – turns all your flight, hotel, and rental car confirmation emails into simple, mobile travel itineraries just by hitting forward.

Business of the Week:
We compare and contrast Apple Support vs. AT&T store’s customer service (i.e., no service).

01/14/2012: The Power of Simplicity

On this week’s show, Paul Akers and Jon Lussier broadcast live from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) where they discuss the power of simplicity — comparing and contrasting Apple vs. Microsoft and their booth vs. other vendors at the show.

Here is a link to the CES website.

Here is a link to Steve Ballmer’s keynote address at the CES.

Here is a a link to Steve Job’s October 2011 Keynote Address

Apps of the Week:
Square – accepts credit card payments on your iPhone.
LinkedIn Card Munch – turns business cards into contacts.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Cornerstone Christian School – Lean Cleaning Cart

Austin shows us “what is lean” when it comes to a cleaning cart.

01/07/2012: Steve Jobs

On this week’s show, Paul Akers and Jon Lussier discuss “how did he do it?” How did one of the greatest of all time do it?

Here is a a link to his October 2011 Keynote Address

Here is a link to his book, I, Steve: Steve Jobs in His Own Words

12/31/11: Bob Buckley, Pt 4

On this week’s show, Paul Akers and Jon Lussier continue their Theory of Constraint (TOC) conversation with Bob Buckley from True32 Custom Cabinetry and author of True32 Flow Manufacturing.