Lean Coffee Talk (formerly known as Lean Whiskey) – Détails, épisodes et analyse

We would have called this Episode 51 of the Lean Whiskey podcast with Jamie Flinchbaugh and Mark Graban.

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Lean Whiskey is transitioning to a new brand, Lean Coffee Talk, so stay tuned for more episodes from Mark and Jamie. We're also calling this Episode #1 of Season 2 of the podcast series. If you're subscribed, the podcast logo will change but the feed will continue as is.

We are just as passionate about their coffee beverages as the whiskey. We’ll still talk about lean stuff, ranging from in-the-news to our own topics of choice.

In this first installment, Mark and Jamie each have an espresso. Mark from an automated home machine and Jamie’s from a more manual process. In future episodes, we’ll likely get more into the process. 

In this episode, we begin exploring the challenges of supply chain risk and dealing with the disruptions of tariffs. Uncertainty is having a huge impact on the economy. We discuss the impact on coffee from Columbia, the Risk Index from the Center for Supply Chain Research at Lehigh, and even Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. We move on to discuss the changes being made at Starbucks. What allowed them to grow may not allow them to stay strong, but then again, there may be some subtle magic in those changes from free refills in store to having your name on your cup. 

We explore the deliberate breakup of Honeywell, following in the footsteps of GE. This helps make an organization more focused on customers, value delivery, and the needed operations to make it all work. Is this a trend? If so, there are several reasons we believe it's a favorable one. We close out the topics with Mark’s Toyota experience during a recent tour seeing examples of "raku", or devices that provide comfort or ease for team members.

• SNL 50th feature of Coffee Talk
• The threat of tariffs drives up coffee prices
• Ben Stein on tariffs from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
• Center for Supply Chain Research at Lehigh’s Supply Chain Risk Index
• Jamie’s IndustryWeek article on Supply Chain Risk
• Starbucks adds in-store free refills and writes names on cups again
• Honeywell breaks itself up, but is still acquiring 
• Mark’s TMMK tour and writing about "raku"
• Podcast feed at LeanCoffeeTalk.com or jflinch.com/leancoffeetalk

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It's Episode 50 of the Lean Whiskey podcast with Jamie Flinchbaugh and Mark Graban!

tl;dr: Lean Whiskey will transition to a new brand Lean Coffee Talk, so stay tuned for more episodes from Mark and Jamie

In their 50th and final episode of Lean Whiskey, hosts Mark and Jamie announce a significant transition, revealing that while this marks the end of “Lean Whiskey,” the podcast will continue under a new title called “Lean Coffee Talk.”

The change is partially influenced by Jamie's lifestyle choices, which is reflected in their drink selections for this episode – both hosts opt for non-alcoholic spirit alternatives, with Jamie choosing Almave (co-founded by F1 legend Lewis Hamilton). Mark made a non-alcoholic Manhattan (with Bourbon alternative and a Sweet Vermouth substitute), but as he found it undrinkable, we'll spare you the brand name.

The bulk of the episode focuses on the current state of the whiskey industry, which is experiencing its first significant downturn since 2002. Drawing from multiple sources, they discuss how the bourbon boom appears to be over, with distilleries facing waning demand and a supply glut. The situation is particularly stark in Kentucky, where 14.3 million barrels are aging at the start of 2024, representing approximately 2 billion bottles of whiskey.

The hosts explore how this oversupply mirrors historical patterns, referencing the 1980s when 22 Scotch distilleries closed between 1980 and 1986 and bourbon sales plummeted 50 percent in the US. They also discuss how this situation exemplifies principles from The Beer Game, a famous MIT supply chain management simulation that Jamie has facilitated many times over 20 years (and Mark has played a few times).

The episode concludes with details about the podcast's rebranding to “Lean Coffee Talk,” which will maintain the casual, conversational format while using a loose version of the Lean Coffee structure that has been part of many Lean Whiskey episodes. The new format pays homage to both the Lean Coffee methodology and the classic radio program “Car Talk,” with the hosts emphasizing that while the name and logo will change, the podcast will continue in the same feed, ensuring continuity for their listeners. Cheers! 

• Jamie's choice, Almave from Lewis Hamilton
• Bourbon sales a dropping, as reported by the Wall Street Journal and New Wine Review
• Signs of overheating include bottle buying restrictions
• A piece on the cyclical nature of the whisky market
• The Beer Game as featured by the MacNeil Lehrer Newshour in 1989, talked about by Professor Nelson Repenning at MIT, Professor John Sterman's research on order stability in supply chains
• Podcast feed at LeanWhiskey.com or leanblog.org/leanwhiskey or jflinch.com/leanwhiskey 

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In Episode 41, Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh try a couple experiments, in the spirit of continuous improvement. You’ll first notice that we moved the whiskey talk to the end. The hypothesis here is that some people don’t want to hear the whiskey talk, so they can just exit the podcast when we finish the lean talk. We also used a different platform for recording, so it may affect your listening or viewing experience. We would really appreciate any feedback at all on these experiments. 

In lean talk, we explore the question of whether lean can and should be forced. We examine this from different angles, including terms like accountability and quotas. We even evoke the words of Dr. Deming in the process. We quote Toyota’s Jamie Bonini who said “if the employees are upset by it, it’s not really TPS.” We explore 5S, audits, incentives, and more. 

We finally get around to talking about the whiskey that we were sipping on during the episode. After all, this is kinda the point. For this episode’s theme, we are pulling the bottle off our shelf that is the least expensive, but still worth sipping on its own. Mark is drinking Benchmark, and Jamie went with Rebel. Cheers! 

• Mark’s audiobook of The Mistakes That Make Us is now available 
• Tennis’ Western and Southern Open
• The Michigan Lean Consortium, where Mark recently presented
• Mark’s famous Office 5S video
• Jamie’s whiskey… Rebel Bourbon 80 proof at $19
• Mark’s whiskey… Benchmark Bourbon 100 proof between $17-19
• Podcast feed at LeanWhiskey.com or leanblog.org/leanwhiskey or jflinch.com/leanwhiskey 

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In Episode 40, Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh get back together after their in-person visit where they enjoyed the origins of this podcast: talking about lean stuff while enjoying some whiskey. We get to celebrate the launch of Mark’s new book, The Mistakes That Make Us, as well as Jamie’s new podcast titled People Solve Problems. We recap our in-person visit and some of the great whiskey we were able to try. And we taste one of the expressions we were able to try at the distillery, New Riff’s Straight Bottled-in-Bond Malted Rye. 

We then pivoted to talking about pivots, starting with the example of how Instagram originally started as Burbn check-in app to share your drinking experiences with others. It then pivoted to photo sharing, and the rest is history. We compare and contrast other pivots, including Play-Doh, the pacemaker, Slack and Twitter, 3M Post-its, and a purple dye found when trying to cure malaria. We share some lessons from each of our books about how to enable and / or embrace the pivot when the opportunity presents itself. 

We wrap up talking a bit about the book writing process, and the joys and pains that accompany it. Cheers! 

• Mark’s book, The Mistakes That Make Us, is now available for purchase
• Jamie launched a new podcast, People Solve Problems, interviews based on his book
• Mark and Jamie’s analog in-person Lean Whiskey
• We visited Revival Vintage Bottle Shop, Prohibition Bourbon Bar, and New Riff Distilling
• Mark and Jamie both pouring the New Riff Kentucky Straight Bottled-in-Bond Malted Rye Whiskey
• Instagram pivoted from Burbn
• Instagram, or Meta, also recently launched Threads. You can find Mark here and Jamie here
• Making purple dye from a failed malaria drug 
• Hold on Loosely by 38 Special on Spotify 
• Podcast feed at LeanWhiskey.com or leanblog.org/leanwhiskey or jflinch.com/leanwhiskey 

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In Episode 39, Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh toast the completion of Mark's new book, The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation (coming soon!).

We also acknowledge Jamie's forthcoming podcast based on the book People Solve Problems. That's already plenty to cover before we even get into our whiskey. 

Our whiskey theme was sourced juice, or essentially whiskey producers that buy whiskey from other distillers. This practice takes many different forms. Jamie is drinking Holla Bourbon Whiskey, a 4 year wheated bourbon, while Mark is drinking The Senator Straight Rye Whiskey sourced from MGP. Holla Spirits is primarily a vodka company with an incredibly wide range of infused vodkas, from jalapeno to pickle to cotton candy. They use higher grade ethanol from either corn or cane.

Our lean topic was CEOs who “go to the gemba,” specifically referencing recent Wall Street Journal articles featuring Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi driving an Uber and Starbucks brand-new CEO Laxman Narasimhan being trained and working as a barista. While there is a lot these articles don't tell you, we have to draw some conclusions about whether these efforts are well-intentioned or not. We didn't like the barista with gold cufflinks or the Uber driver ignoring important calls from his General Counsel. 

We did conclude that there are three dimensions to this practice to get right, and all three must be right for this practice to be worth the effort. First, you have to get the intention correct. Second, you must execute it with the right spirit and curiosity. Third, you have to do the right things with what you learn, not just fixing specific problems but challenging business model assumptions or improving major systems of how the company works.

• Mark's book page to find out more when The Mistakes That Make Us will be released
• Jamie's blog, where you can find the People Solve Problems podcast release
• Mark's recent blog post about Glenns Creek Distillery and creativity-before-capital kaizen
• NBC News covering sourced whiskey
• Whiskey Advocate covering sourced whiskey
• Jamie's whiskey from Holla Spirits, a 4-year Wheated Bourbon, distilled by Southern Distilling Company in North Carolina and blended by Cloonaughill Celtic Malts in York, PA
• Mark's whiskey, The Senator Straight Rye Whiskey, a 4-grain blend distilled by MGP in Lawrenceburg, IN 
• Uber's CEO driving covered by Wall Street Journal as well as Business Insider and Inside Hook 
• Starbucks CEO trains and works as a barista, as covered by Wall Street Journal
• Jamie's past blog about Undercover Boss, and Mark's past blog about a hospital CEO going undercover 
• Mark's recommended podcast is Culture by Design
• Jamie's recommended podcast is Stuff You Should Know 
• Podcast feed at LeanWhiskey.com or leanblog.org/leanwhiskey or jflinch.com/leanwhiskey 

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What do you do when you are chosen as Jim Murray’s US Micro Whiskey of the Year? You pop in to join Mark and Jamie on Lean Whiskey to talk about it. At least that’s what our friend David Meier of Glenns Creek Distilling did in Episode 38. While we were able to drink, and celebrate, the success of OCD #5, we also explored David’s continued learning, problem solving, and improvement of whiskey production. We also learned that he was featured on an episode of Moonshiners: American Spirit, more of a documentary exploring the production of American spirits than the original show. 

After David departs, Mark and Jamie discuss a recent report featured on NBC outlining that 1 in 4 hospital visits result in adverse events. This comes from a recent study on patient safety published in the New England Journal of Medicine. We break down the statistics, explore the real meaning behind those numbers, and discuss the causes and contributing factors. Throughout the dialogue we cover process improvement, problem solving, near misses, organizational learning, and psychological safety. We also spend time looking at Dr. Don Berwick’s editorial about the study, and at least try to summarize his contributions to patient safety. 

Mark and Jamie wrap up the first episode of 2023 talking about books. We hope everyone has a wonderful 2023. Happy New Year, and Cheers! 

• Glenns Creek Distilling’s OCD #5 selected US Micro Whiskey of the Year
• Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible website
• Moonshiners: American Spirit
• Glenn’s Creek Distilling 
• NBC’s reporting that 1 in 4 patients experience adverse effects, and the New England Journal of Medicine published study behind the statistic
• Patient safety advocate Don Berwick’s Commentary in the New England Journal of Medicine
• Upcoming webinar hosted by Mark on the proposed National Patient Safety Board
• The Economist’s reporting on today’s healthcare system challenges around the world
• Jamie’s book recommendation Ikigai
• Mark’s future read: If I Betray These Words: Moral Injury in Medicine and Why It's So Hard for Clinicians to Put Patients First 
• Podcast feed at LeanWhiskey.com or leanblog.org/leanwhiskey or jflinch.com/leanwhiskey 

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Mark Graban & Jamie Flinchbaugh

Alternative title: “I’ll have a half-caff no-whip soy-milk chestnut praline latte… to-go”

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In Episode 37, we wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays with some new (to us) holiday cocktails.

Mark tries the Bourbon Flip, and Jamie makes a Hot Buttered Bourbon. Neither will likely be in our regular rotation of cocktails, but they suit the “spirit” of the holiday season and might be a nice treat to make for guests. 

Your hosts explore the possible reinvention of Starbucks, which began with the return of CEO Howard Schultz. The stores have faced numerous pressures…increasing volume, increasing complexity, and growing barista dissatisfaction. Can these challenges be overcome by lean applied at the store level, or are more structural changes and innovations needed to get the job done? We explore a recent Wall Street Journal article about Starbucks' transformation and walk back to the beginnings of their lean journey over 10 years ago. Some of the problem statements examined: SKU proliferation, new blenders, and store layouts. We may start seeing a brand new layout for Starbucks stores, although the promised improves do not appear to be imminent. 

The hosts finish by exploring gift giving in the whiskey, and wine, genre, including a book recommendation from Mark on the history of the prohibition era in the US. 

• Ted Stiles from Stiles Associates
• David Meier's Glenn's Creek Distilling
• Toyota's Georgetown, Kentucky plant
• Four Roses' hot buttered bourbon recipe
  • Used Mellow Corn Bottled in Bond for hot buttered bourbon
• Bourbon Flip recipe
  • Made with Benchmark Bonded bourbon
• Mark's 2nd pour, a Bruichladdich Port Charlotte 10 Heavily Peated 
• WSJ article Starbucks is Rethinking Almost Everything 
• WSJ wrote about lean at Starbucks in 2009, and the same year, John Shook wrote about it for LEI
• Starbucks' 3-day strike
• LEI's 2020 book about lean at Starbucks, Steady Work
• Book on the history of prohibition: Last Call
• Podcast feed at LeanWhiskey.com or leanblog.org/leanwhiskey or jflinch.com/leanwhiskey 

In Episode 36, Jamie Flinchbaugh is joined by Chris Kauzmann, an Adjunct Faculty and Innovator in Residence at Lehigh University. Chris, a self-described “bottom shelf” whiskey drinker, joins Jamie to sample some Nikka Coffee Malt Whiskey and Blue Run High Rye Bourbon. 

We explore design thinking, which is both distinct from lean but also inherently consistent. The terminology is often quite different, but the essence of the work is very similar. Removing our biases and gaining insight through genuine exploration, whether to develop a business idea or improve a process or anything else, is one such example. Along the way, we cover many aspects of our shared experiences…the student entrepreneurs of Lehigh University that Chris supports and teaches full time and Jamie occasionally shows up to make a contribution. 

We close by deciding which building on Lehigh University's beautiful campus we would most want to convert into a whiskey bar, although we are quite certain that no one will allow us to do this.

• Chris Kauzmann on LinkedIn
• Old Crow, a typical selection for Chris
• Nikka Coffey Malt Whiskey
• Blue Run High Rye Bourbon
• Lehigh University's Baker Institute  
• Giana Jarrah's With Meraki Co, a student-founded startup
• Sam Benchaghib's Make A Change World and Sungai Watch
• Practicing Lean by Mark Graban 
• Podcast feed at LeanWhiskey.com or leanblog.org/leanwhiskey or jflinch.com/leanwhiskey

In Episode 35, Mark is recently back from his Scotland gemba visit. He isn't tired from jet lag, or from whiskey, but nevertheless, Mark and Jamie both end up complaining about being tired. Maybe we're just…old (gasp). We also didn't plan our color coordination (for those on video).

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"We’re tired, but not tired of whisky. A gemba walk will pick us up..."

We focus this episode on going to the gemba in the making of scotch whisky, from Mark's recent trip. We talk about what is learned by going to the gemba, both in general and specific to whisky. You can hear more about peat, malting, distilling, and maturing, including is maturing inventory or a value-adding step? 

Of course, we also select scotch as our whisky of choice, opting for more obscure selections that you may not have heard of. Both were excellent. 

We also spend a little time talking about work retreats, whether it be for writing a book as both Mark and Jamie do, strategic thinking as Bill Gates would do, or just simply reflection and planning. We conclude by discussing what job at a distiller we would most like to do, although neither of us likely has the requisite skills. Slainte!

• Jamie at the National Association of Corporate Directors Summit
• Mark heading soon to the Association of Manufacturing Excellence and the Iowa Lean Consortium conferences. Look for him!
• GE's Larry Culp's message. 
• Former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, Admiral Stavridis at NACD
• Jamie's whisky selection Kilchoman
• Mark's whisky selection Glen Scotia
• Where are Islay, Jura, Campeltown?
• Ron Swanson's visit to Lagavullin
• Journeyman in western Michigan, Two James in Detroit, and Traverse City Whiskey up north
• The Multnomah Whiskey Library in Portland

Jamie's post: how to do an effective personal work retreat

Episode page: https://leanblog.org/whiskey34

In Episode 34, Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh begin by belatedly celebrating the 3rd birthday of Lean Whiskey. No, this wasn’t a pandemic-launched podcast, although if we hadn’t started it yet it probably would have become one. We also learn of Mark’s pending trip to Islay, where an awful lot of good whisky is produced. Apparently, Jamie wasn’t invited to record an “on location” episode. 

Most of the episode we explore the challenges, benefits, and approaches to developing and seeing through the crazy ideas. This conversation builds from an episode of Mark’s My Favorite Mistake podcast in which he interviews 1-800-FLOWERS founder Jim McCann. FedEx founder Fred Smith told McCann that shipping flowers via FedEx wouldn’t work. Not only did Jim not fold in the face of Fred’s advice, he eventually partnered with FedEx to bring this program to life. But bringing big ideas to life is about more than just ignoring the doubters, but adjusting or trimming the idea, learning through rapid testing, and having the courage to move forward through adversity as our explanation of the Netflix story examines. 

We wrap up exploring another crazy idea, whiskey made from crabs. Well, that’s not technically true, but it is distilled crab stock added to a bourbon base, and specifically to raise awareness about the invasive green crabs that destroy the mussel population. Tamworth Distilling from New Hampshire are the brains behind this particular project. Thanks to our friend Dan Markovitz introduced us to this idea. Maybe Mark will detour his trip to Scotland towards New Hampshire instead.  

• Happy 3rd birthday to Lean Whiskey, so here’s Episode 1
• Mark heading to the Isle of Islay with their classic distilleries 
• Jamie working with Lehigh University on building an accelerator (back of Jamie’s head in the photo while leading the design team)
• Mark and Jamie both engaged with KaiNexus
• Mark’s Moscatel Finished Straight Bourbon Whiskey from Woodinville near Seattle 
• Jamie’s Four Roses Private Selection Single Barrel, see their bourbons and recipes
• Our discussion builds on this episode of Mark’s My Favorite Mistake podcast with 1-800-FLOWERS founder Jim McCann, with this excerpt of the featured point
• What’s crab whiskey all about? Check out Crab Trapper
• Podcast feed at LeanWhiskey.com or leanblog.org/leanwhiskey or jflinch.com/leanwhiskey 

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