Book Review Archives - aleanjourney

Book Review: Go for Third – Leadership Lessons from the Softball Field to the Workplace by Derek Volk 0
- Book Review
- February 23, 2026
In Go for Third, Derek Volk brings together two worlds that might at first seem unrelated—girls’ softball and running a successful manufacturing business—to offer leadership insights that are both accessible and actionable. According to the book’s description, the lessons Volk learned coaching softball and leading his company, Volk Packaging Corporation, translate into something much
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Book Review: Operationally Svelte by Duane Deason 0
- Book Review
- February 11, 2026
In Operationally Svelte: Manage Costs to Increase Profit and Enhance Performance, Duane Deason delivers a timely and practical guide to one of the most overlooked drivers of organizational excellence: cost management. Drawing on decades of experience across finance, operations, and executive advisory roles, Deason argues that companies don’t fail because they grow too slowly—they
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Book Review: The Facade of Excellence by John Dyer 0
- Book Review
- February 4, 2026
In The Facade of Excellence: Defining a New Normal of Leadership, John Dyer delivers a powerful and thought-provoking look at the cultural challenges that often undermine Lean transformations. Through a creative narrative, Dyer uses a fictional manufacturing company to illustrate how well-intentioned leaders can unintentionally build a “facade” of continuous improvement—one that looks good from
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Book Review – Creating Value by John Rizzo 1
- Book Review
- January 26, 2026
Creating Value is a practical, story-driven guide to building organizations where people are empowered, processes are continuously improved, and value is created for every stakeholder—employees, customers, and owners. Drawing from more than 30 years of hands-on transformation work across more than 40 companies and 1,000+ workshops, John Rizzo distills a holistic business system grounded in
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Book Review – Unbundling the Enterprise by Stephen Fishman and Matt McLarty 0
- Book Review
- November 12, 2025
Unbundling the Enterprise is a compelling and practical guide for business and technology leaders navigating the turbulent waters of digital transformation. Fishman and McLarty take readers on an imaginative yet highly informative journey—beginning with a pirate-themed prologue—that reframes digital innovation as a treasure hunt in which APIs are the shovels, maps, and ships of modern enterprise
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Book Review: PROACTIVE Problem Solving by Doug Hall 0
- Book Review
- August 18, 2025
Doug Hall’s PROACTIVE Problem Solving is an energetic, insightful, and highly practical guide to transforming the way individuals and organizations address challenges. Drawing from decades of experience, including leading the innovative Brain Brew Bourbon Distillery, Hall shows how to shift from a reactive mindset to one where everyone—leaders, managers, and employees alike—actively identifies and fixes
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