This is a time of year to give thanks… I have much to be thankful for, so I'm going to start my Thanksgiving break a bit early.
Some of you might have noticed that I was battling some technical glitches and gremlins with the site this week. I was battling problems again this morning, but finally figured out the root cause of the problems (see more here). Working with tech support chewed up about an hour each day this week, so I lost time I might have otherwise spent creating content.
So, it's time for a break. I'm going to tee up some podcasts for December release and if I write over the next ten days, I'll build up an inventory of posts to schedule (and level load) for December.
I'm going to write up a blog post with some reflections on Lean Startup Week. If you'd like to buy a pass to view recordings of all of the main stage talks, including mine, you can use the link in this tweet:
I'm also going to be working on a book on the topic of managing metrics. I'm still doing early iterations on everything from the title and the brief description of the book as I start diving into writing. So, it's not all downtime, I guess.
To learn more about this project, check out the pages on Leanpub.com and MarkGraban.com.
If you're looking for something to read (or for your wish list), Amazon has a pretty good price on Lean Hospitals.
And if you'd like the paperback or Kindle versions of Practicing Lean, that's available too.
But, work aside, my wife and I will be enjoying some downtime with her parents and my parents will also be coming down from Michigan. There's much to be thankful for, this time of year and always. A few technical problems with a blog – that's definitely a “first world problem.”
Thanks to all of you in healthcare who work over this holiday – and every holiday.
I hope you and yours enjoy the Thanksgiving week. Thanks to you for reading the blog and spending time with me here.
What do you think? Please scroll down (or click) to post a comment. Or please share the post with your thoughts on LinkedIn – and follow me or connect with me there.
Did you like this post? Make sure you don't miss a post or podcast — Subscribe to get notified about posts via email daily or weekly.
Check out my latest book, The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation:
So about the tech gremlins… for those who know or care about WordPress:
1) I updated the “theme” this week
2) The front page wasn’t rendering properly (but not immediately after updating the theme)
3) WP Engine (my host) and my web developer would get things fixed…. and then it would break again
4) I started to think the problem was caused by adding a new post
5) I started thinking the theme update was the problem
6) I finally figured out, through cause-and-effect testing one change at a time… one of my WordPress plugins was suddenly no longer working (maybe due to the theme update) and was apparently breaking the front page
As I learned from Pascal Dennis and other former Toyota people… you KNOW you have the “root cause” when you can make the change (turn off the plugin) and then undo the change (turning the plugin back on broke the site again).
So, maybe I can rest easy now that the site should be stable going forward… fingers crossed.
Thanks for getting things fixed Mark. We enjoy your blogs.
I love these personal examples of the application of Lean thinking in daily life. It shows how practical Lean is and helps to clearly explain the concepts. You practice what you preach, and I like it.
Thanks, Cindy. And thanks for what you’re sharing on LinkedIn!