My Final LSS Academy Post

I remember it like it was yesterday… it was January 2007 and I was sitting on my couch surfing the web while watching TV.

I had just read a lean related blog article by my friend, Jon Miller, and wondered how hard it would be to start my own blog.

So, I did what most people would do… I took to Google!

Approximately 30 minutes later I was playing around with my first blog using Google’s free Blogspot platform!

It wasn’t pretty but I managed to hammer out my first article that evening… little did I know my life was about to change forever.

You see, since that night, I’ve gone on to write 676 articles that have received 3,949 comments.  To say I’m humbled by this is an understatement.

Gemba Academy is Born

Around a year later I was searching for lean and six sigma online training videos that weren’t cartoon based.  I didn’t find any I liked and wondered how to counter this problem.

So, curious again, I did a little research and decided to make my first video.

I sat at my kitchen table and had some Home Depot lights clamped to a step ladder and kitchen cabinets.  I then performed the one piece flow envelope stuffing exercise.  The video is horribly produced, and honestly hard for me to watch, but it was a start!

I somehow managed to edit the video and get it uploaded to Google Video (YouTube wasn’t yet all the rage).  That darn video went on to be quite viral and the comments section exploded!

It was at that moment that I knew there was something special about video.

So, around that same time I approached my friend and lean mentor, Jon Miller.   I asked him if he’d ever thought about doing online training videos.  Jon mentioned he always wanted to but had no idea how to make it happen.

Neither did I… but that was a minor obstacle I knew we could overcome!

Once Jon and I decided to give this a try we approached our friend, and fellow lean blogger, Kevin Meyer.  Kevin brought tons of technical and business skills to the table and he also, obviously, was a seriously skilled lean thinker!

And with that… Gemba Academy was born.

Brand Confusion

Fast forward to present day.  LSS Academy has grown in popularity… especially our new podcast.  And Gemba Academy has most definitely grown.

As such, there’s been some brand confusion from our customers since I’m involved with both LSS Academy and Gemba Academy.

LSS Academy Retiring

So after much thought, and prayer on my part, we’ve decided to merge all of LSS Academy’s content into the Gemba Academy blog.

Put another way, what is called LSS Academy today will soon become Gemba Academy’s blog.

We’re also going to rebrand the LSS Academy podcast as the Gemba Academy podcast.

Nothing Else Changing

And, while these are some pretty major changes, please know we will continue to add new written articles and audio podcasts on a regular basis over at the Gemba Academy blog.  And all of it will be freely available.

Our website team also assures me that RSS feeds and other technical stuff, such as links to old articles within Google, will not be impacted at all.

We’re planning to make the official change on Tuesday, April 29… so there will be some downtime on the site as we make the change.

Thank You

The last thing I’d like to say in this final LSS Academy article is thank you.  Words simply cannot describe how thankful I am for all of you.

And while it is a little sad to think about LSS Academy “retiring” I’m more excited than ever for the future of Gemba Academy!

 

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