The Lean Solutions Podcast Throwback With Paul Akers on Simple Lean
Due to my travel schedule this week, I wanted to share a throwback to a conversation I had with Paul Akers this past year. Paul is an author, entrepreneur and the founder and president of FastCap, a product development company specializing in woodworking tools and hardware for the professional builder.
In this episode, Paul and I go over how Lean can be applied to improve your work environment and why you need to focus on small consistent changes when trying to make improvements.
What You’ll Learn This Episode:
- How Lean helped Paul in Ironman
- FastCap and the inspiration behind the company
- The importance of listening to customers
- Making time to fix what’s bothering you
- 2 second improvement and why it’s simple
- The inspiration behind Paul’s videos
- What it takes to be a good leader in an organization with Lean culture
- Paul’s advice for someone just starting on their Lean journey
About the Guest:
Paul Akers is the founder and president of FastCap, a product development company specializing in woodworking tools and hardware for the professional builder. FastCap was started in Paul’s garage in 1997 when he simply “fixed what bugged him” and developed his first product: the Fastcap Cover Cap. From humble beginnings, and no MBA, FastCap has thousands of distributors worldwide in over 40 countries. Paul’s intense curiosity on how things could be improved paved the way for him to become a prolific innovator and today he holds many US and International patents. FastCap launches approximately 20-30 innovative products per year and has won business of the year in 1999 and 2010. In June 2011 Paul won Seattle Business Magazine’s prestigious Business Executive of the Year award. He wrote his first book, 2 Second Lean, about creating a fun, Lean culture, that is now available in 15 languages. In 2015, he wrote his 2nd book, Lean Health, in 2016, he wrote Lean Travel and in 2019, he wrote Lean Life and Banish Sloppiness. In 2016, Paul’s book, 2 Second Lean, was recognized by the Shingo Institute and won the Research and Professional Publication Award.
Important Links:
https://paulakers.net/books/2-second-lean
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/2-second-lean-play/id1503694993