2 Second Lean

Last week at the Fortune Leadership Summit, I saw Paul Akers’ keynote about his book 2 Second Lean: How to Grow People and Build a Fun Lean Culture. If you already know about lean and you’re already to click away from this post, stick around. Paul’s approach is totally different. If you don’t yet know about lean, you’ll love this. Paul’s whole talk could be boiled down to “Fix what bugs you.” He has a whole bunch more theory about the 8 kinds of waste and how they’re related to each other and how to start the day with the 3 S’s, all of which you can also learn by reading the book (which I recommend), but if you’re not going to do that, here’s your takeaway: Spend 5 minutes a day looking around your work area (desk, kitchen, etc.) and notice what bugs you. Make the smallest change you can that will help. Repeat tomorrow.

Here’s a video Paul made about his lean desk, which does give the idea:

Update: I moved our home coffee percolator today, inspired by 2 Second Lean. I had to relocate some teas and things we don’t use all that often, but now the percolator is right by the sink, and the coffee and filters are there too. Took me a bit longer to make today’s coffee since I was doing that relocation, but from now on, it’ll be easier!

See also: More 2 Second Lean

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I free up entrepreneurs for greater impact. Day to day demands of your growing business will sap your energy and blunt your effectiveness. Together we can work to reduce demands by up to 80% while moving more quickly in the direction of your purpose.