Engaging the Team at Zingerman's Mail Order

There are business books and then there are business comic books. 

This is one of those. 

After reading Lean in a High Variability Business, the comic book that tells the story of how Zingerman's Mail Order came to use lean processes across our warehouse to ship boxes more efficiently with less waste, you're probably wondering: "Sure...they print a good game, but what's it really like to work there?"

That's where Engaging the Team at Zingerman's Mail Order comes into play. It's a behind the scenes look at Zingerman's Mail Order that serves as a deeper dive on how to engage managers and front line staff on becoming better learners and improving their problem solving skills. These are real conversations that were had inside our business and they illustrate the fits and starts, the push and pull, the goading and prodding and rebelling that occurs on the way to improvement. 

It's a shorter read, but it packs plenty of wallop. There's something about hearing how real people put philosophy into practice and learning about all the challenges along the way (because there will be challenges). It's a lot cleaner than watching sausage be made, but you get the idea.

"John Dewey famously pointed out, 'We don't learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on experience.' Here's your chance to learn as the three authors reflect on the (successful) struggle to build a Lean production and management system at Zingerman's Mail Order. Thousands of people visit and benchmark ZMO. This book delivers the backstory in a richly illustrated way."
Mike Rother, author of the best selling books Toyota Kata and The Toyota Kata Practice Guide