The Old Dawg Lean Thesaurus: Principles and Anecdotes for Making Lean Simple

We’re honored and pumped that Keyan and Joe asked us to share an overview and excerpt of our new book, The Old Dawg Lean Thesaurus. Hot off the presses and available on Amazon, I – the Lean Geek – teamed up with Buddy Brumley of Skiles Group – the Old Dawg, to create a book to bring Lean principles to life with anecdotes, stories, and examples to help you implement and success with Lean.

In this blog post, we want to shed light on why we wrote this book, what success means to us, and extend a special invitation to all the old dawgs out there. Let’s dive in!

Why We Wrote This Book:

We wrote The Old Dawg Lean Thesaurus out of frustration with the overcomplication and confusion surrounding Lean Construction. We believe that Lean principles should be accessible and easily understood by all builders, regardless of their experience level. Our goal is to demystify Lean and make it practical, actionable, and applicable to the everyday challenges faced by construction professionals. By simplifying Lean, we hope to empower builders to transform their projects, teams, and careers.

Buddy and I have been in the industry for decades, so we’ve seen a lot! Through the inevitable challenges of construction projects, we’ve seen the power of Lean thinking and how to transform from chaos to efficiency. We share our personal stories throughout – the good, the bad, and the hysterical.

Our book is a nice companion to The Lean Builder book by Keyan and Joe and to my recurring podcast, “Hoots on the Ground” for The Lean Builder.

Confronting the Bullshido: In our book, we take on all the Bullshido Artists—those who spread confusion, overcomplicate Lean principles, and hinder progress. We call them out and debunk their myths, striving to bring clarity and simplicity back to Lean Construction. We invite you to join us in challenging these Bullshido artists by embracing straightforward Lean practices and creating a movement that drives meaningful change in our industry.

What Success Looks Like to Us: Success, to us, is when builders embrace Lean principles and experience tangible improvements on their projects. It’s about witnessing the transformation of construction sites, where waste is minimized, communication is enhanced, and collaboration becomes second nature. Success is when our readers and fellow builders find value in The Old Dawg Lean Thesaurus and apply its concepts to achieve better outcomes, higher quality, and increased satisfaction among all stakeholders.

Old Dawg Lean Coffees: We’re excited to invite all of the Old Dawgs out there to our monthly Old Dawg Lean Coffees, where we gather virtually on the third Thursday of every month. These one-hour, interactive sessions provide a unique opportunity for superintendents to engage in open discussions, share experiences, and seek solutions to common challenges in the construction industry. Join us as we create a community of Lean practitioners who are committed to continuous improvement and collaboration.

If you are interested, please get a copy of the book and subscribe to the Old Dawg Lean Coffee.

The Old Dawg Lean Thesaurus is a labor of love born out of a genuine desire to simplify Lean Construction and make it accessible to all builders. Our mission is to empower you, the reader, to unleash the power of Lean and transform your projects. We invite you to join us on this journey, read the book, and then begin attending our Superintendent-Only Lean Coffees.

We look forward to having you join our community dedicated to making Lean Construction simple, effective, and impactful. Together, let’s revolutionize the way we build!

P.S. You might notice another Lean practitioner’s name on the cover. Our illustrators are none other than Lean Guru Jennifer Lacy of Robins & Morton and her daughter, Alex.

P.S.S. If you buy the book within the first 30 days, you’ll receive the limited-edition, orange cover. On day 31, the book will transition to a classic white cover.

If you’d like to what you’ve read so far, we invite you to get a copy of the book on Amazon.