Lo and behold! Stories of shocks and surprises—both good and bad. A birthday gift with unintended consequences, family secrets, and support from an unlikely fanbase. This episode is hosted by Moth Director Michelle Jalowski. The Moth Radio Hour is produced by The Moth and Jay Allison of Atlantic Public Media.

Storytellers:

Jessie shows her family photos from her recent travels...and more. 

Cat Powell-Hoffman learns about her biological family.

Musician Paul Chin works tirelessly on an EP.

Kelli Dunham doesn't like accepting help from others. 

Podcast # 891

A special Veterans Day edition of The Moth Radio Hour. After returning from active duty in the Middle East, a marine searches for new meaning; a 97 year old woman describes training young men for WWII combat as a WASP; a father being deployed to Iraq must find a way to explain it to his children; and a WWII soldier from Wisconsin serves with the segregated 93rd Infantry Division in the South Pacific. This special hour is hosted by The Moth's Producing Director, Sarah Austin Jenness. The Moth Radio Hour is produced by The Moth and Jay Allison of Atlantic Public Media.

Storytellers:

Mike Scotti finds new meaning after returning from active duty in the Middle East.

Dawn Seymour becomes part of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), training young men stateside to enter WWII overseas.

Bill Krieger tucks his daughter in at night before being deployed to Iraq. 

William Cole serves as a radio operator in the 93rd Infantry Division, a segregated unit, in the South Pacific.

Podcast # 356

We often try to push away stress, fear, and anxiety. But success doesn't depend on rejecting these emotions — we can thrive because of them.

There’s a huge amount of productivity systems and time management strategies out there. But what actually works, and why?

How will the crisis affect the career paths of today's workforce. What are the new opportunities, and how can you write your own script for success?

Can a brief history of the modern office help us understand changes happening today?

When we look back at 2020, what will we have learned after a global health crisis, a national reckoning around racism, and a divisive election?

Unhealthy competition is at the root of political dysfunction. A famous business framework can help identify the best ways to fix it.

It’s the least fun social platform, but the most important for your career. Here’s how to make LinkedIn work for you.

Here’s how to know if you’re making enough time for happiness, and what to do if you’re not.

As more people get access to a Covid-19 vaccine, organizations are facing an opportunity for a real reset.

Panera’s leader Niren Chaudhary has firsthand experience of leading through adversity.

Ken Frazier, CEO of Merck, is one of only four Black CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. He talks about his new initiative to close the opportunity gap for Black Americans and Merck’s own journey in the race to develop a vaccine.

A huge digital transformation is gaining speed, and to succeed firms must focus on their digital core.

Apple leaders need deep expertise, immersion in details, and collaborative debate.

When Apple was smaller, it may have been reasonable to expect leaders to be experts on pretty much everything going on in their organizations. However, they now need to exercise greater discretion regarding where and how they spend their effort.

When Steve Jobs arrived back at Apple in 1997, he laid off general managers of all business units and combined disparate functional departments into one functional organization.

NFTs are all over the news. We decided to take a closer look and figure out just what this bitcoin-adjacent technology is — and whether it's worth the hype.

How Midsize Companies Can Compete with Digital Giants

China is achieving a new level of global competitiveness, thanks to its hyper-adaptive population.

Today, Bitcoin consumes as much energy as a small country. This certainly sounds alarming — but the reality is a little more complicated, says Nic Carter, whose firm invests in public blockchain startups.

Real inclusion means your employees feel included, involved and accepted at work. (3 of 3)

Many diversity and inclusion efforts in the workplace fall short of helping employees feel like they belong — and why this matters. (1 of 3)

Diversity does not always translate to inclusivity. How to ensure that your efforts are making your employees feel like they belong. (2 of 3)

Can you make a career out of playing video games? Short answer: Yes.

This is not a side issue: it’s time to adopt a more systematic, coherent approach to D&I.

Now’s the time to get FOMO about having a mentor.

Black women are often “the onlys” in their organizations, putting tremendous pressure on them in uncertain times, but also offering unique opportunities.

Paul Hudson, head of one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, says leaders need to sit back and listen more often.

Brewer, CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance and one of only two Black female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, says inclusion and equity are about making employees feel seen and heard.

Speicher explains how design thinking can help guide us to new ways of collaborating as we rethink work and the workplace in a post-Covid world.

Hoffman, now a partner at Greylock Partners, says innovators must ignore hype to identify new technologies with real traction. It starts by envisioning how they might shape the future.

Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines, leads a company that has been on the front lines of pandemic challenges.

What Does It Take to Be a Freelance Artist?

Rumor has it that having hobbies can actually make you happier, less stressed, and more creative. But is it actually true?

To many people, strategy is a total mystery. But it’s really not complicated, says Harvard Business School’s Felix Oberholzer-Gee.

In a world of hybrid offices and remote teams, trust among your work colleagues is more difficult than ever, but just as important. How do you build that trust, and how do you repair it when it breaks?

"There is no excuse. Creativity has to be at the forefront.” If not, one day you'll wake up and discover your competitors have the edge.

Accenture CEO Julie Sweet on the Most Important Skill Job Seekers Need Today

Of all the bad bosses out there, one of the most common–and most painful to work for–is the one who’s plagued by doubt. Here’s how to deal with them.

Sure, you could just argue with them. But if you have to work together, here are more productive ways for everyone to win.

I'm very excited to depart for Japan on Sunday for the first time in five years! The week of November 11, I'll be part of Katie Anderson‘s Japan Study Trip, this time after five previous trips between 2012 and 2019 with Kaizen Institute and Honsha Consulting. Read my posts about past trips. Each time, I've learned something new, visited new companies, and met new people — and have just enjoyed everything about being in Japan. […]

The post Reflecting on my First Time Meeting Isao Yoshino in Japan — 2012 by Mark Graban appeared first at Lean Blog.

Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #518 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Jerry Wright, author of the new book The Insanity Trap: What Your MRP Consultant Won't Tell You. Jerry M. Wright, PE, MBA, is an accomplished operations executive and teaching professional with over 39 years of experience in the manufacturing and service sectors.  His extensive career spans various industries, including aerospace, consumer goods, healthcare, medical […]

The post Breaking the MRP Insanity Trap: Jerry Wright on Lean Systems and Supply Chain Transformation by Mark Graban appeared first at Lean Blog.

As we celebrate Halloween–a season for all things spooky–it's a good time to reflect on the “fear factor” that can haunt our workplaces. While ghosts and goblins are fun once a year, fear shouldn't be part of our day-to-day culture. Yet, in many organizations, fear holds people back from speaking up about problems, sharing new ideas, or admitting mistakes. Dr. W. Edwards Deming, a pioneer in quality and improvement, famously said: “Drive out fear so […]

The post Halloween, Dr. Deming, and Eliminating the Fear Factor at Work by Mark Graban appeared first at Lean Blog.

Thanks, as always, to Ryan McCormack for this. He always shares so much good reading, listening, and viewing here! Subscribe to get these directly from Ryan via email. News, articles, books, podcasts, and videos about how to make the workplace better. Operational Excellence, Improvement, and Innovation Operational Excellence, Improvement, and Innovation Will AI Transform the Factory Floor? Want a business case approved? Just say you are implementing GenAI. Process optimization has remained focused on leveraging […]

The post Ryan McCormack’s Operational Excellence Mixtape: November 1, 2024 by Mark Graban appeared first at Lean Blog.

Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #519 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Jarvis Gray, the Managing Director of The Quality Coaching Co. He offers more than 16 years of strategic planning, quality improvement, and operations leadership experience in the healthcare industry.  Through his firm, The Quality Coaching Co., Jarvis and his associates help healthcare organizations foster cultures of system-wide quality improvement by offering customized Lean Six […]

The post Achieving Healthcare Excellence: Insights from Jarvis Gray on Lean Six Sigma and Leadership by Mark Graban appeared first at Lean Blog.

I'm happy to be hosting and moderating this webinar that will be presented by Brent Loescher, a fellow instructor with me at TKMG Academy. A Lean practitioner at heart, Brent received his formal Toyota Production System training while working for Toyota Motor Sales in their North American Parts Operations. He helped develop a Lean program for the landscape maintenance industry, implementing and evolving continuous improvement programs across the country since 2009. This included co-leading a […]

The post Creating Leader Standard Work (LSW) Across a Distributed Business Model — Webinar Preview by Mark Graban appeared first at Lean Blog.

I'm thrilled to be back in Japan for the first time in five years. Today is the start of Katie Anderson's Japan Study Trip (learn more about joining her in May 2025). It's great to be here for another week of learning and great experiences. Little did I know, I'd kick off the trip by nearly losing my iPhone on the streets of Tokyo–a mistake that ended up teaching me a valuable lesson about Japan's […]

The post Lost My iPhone in Tokyo: A Lesson in Japanese Kindness and Culture on My Japan Study Trip by Mark Graban appeared first at Lean Blog.

It’s time to end zero-tolerance policies in schools, which disproportionately harm Black students with ADHD and other disabilities, and place them at increased risk for getting sucked into the school-to-prison pipeline.

Hard-to-meet goals can frustrate children with ADHD. Deploy these approaches to prevent meltdowns and transform relationships.