Lean in a High-Variability Business: A Graphic Novel about Lean and People at Zingerman’s Mail Order

I love this book!My bookshelf is packed with books about Lean and CI. Some I've read cover-to-cover and revisited many times, some I drop into from time to time to research something or refresh my memory, some remain almost completely untouched (I might have read the first few pages then hit the 'meh' threshold!). This book is fast becoming a favourite, because a) its a story, b) its true - it really happened, Zingerman's Mail Order is a real business, with real people and c) the cartoon format of the book makes it so readable!What I also really like about the book is its honesty. Not everything worked! There were setbacks, challenges, mistakes and learnings a-plenty. The chapter at the end where the Zingerman's team and the guys from the Uni of Michigan reflect on their 15 year journey together is fantastic, and ought to be the subject of a Masterclass (and even further research) in itself.I came to this book because I have an interest and passion for developing people to be scientific thinkers through skill development using Toyota Kata. This is covered in the last third of the book. But I got so much out of reading the first two sections anyway. There's a lot of tools mentioned (maybe too many?), but don't get bogged-down with this; the key is, don't copy Toyota, adapt what you know (or what your sensei knows) to suit the specific need or challenge, get your people on-board through engagement and showing some humility. And don't be in a hurry, Zingerman's started out on their journey in 2004! It's all really good stuff.I'd like to congratulate Eduardo Lander, Prof Jeff Liker and Tom Root on producing a great addition to anyone's CI. lean and TK library. I hope it inspires many people to start their own lean journey!One final thing. I've always wanted to go to Japan on a study tour to see what lean enterprises look like over there. Now I've added Ann Arbor, Michigan to that bucket list, I would love to see - and learn from - the amazing people at Zingerman's!