Diane Mulcahy was recently interviewed on the Ideas X People podcast where she discusses the gig economy and how to use it to your advantage. I actually created the MBA class on the gig economy at Babson College about seven years ago, and at the time, the gig economy was not even a thing that people talked about or even were aware of. When people I used to tell people the name of the course, they would ask me…

  Dan Markovitz provides an article that explores the ability of public US companies to operate as a wholly lean company. Can public US companies really embrace lean? Well sure, they can deploy lean tools here and there, but the whole socio-technical system that comprises lean? I don’t think so. Wall Street pressure for quarterly profits competes fiercely with lean principles, both inside and outside the company. Executives who take the long-term view and view employees as appreciating assets worthy…

While most companies have been focusing on lean, Dan Markovitz explains why they should stop talking about lean and move towards a more practical approach.   Lean advocates—and I consider myself one—might do better if they stop talking about lean. Let’s face it: When executives and workers hear “lean,” not a lot of good happens. They think it’s yet another short-term management fad. Or a cost-cutting program that will lead to layoffs. Or some Japanese thing that only works for…