Ohio

Just got back from a relatively relaxing Thanksgiving pilgrimage to Ohio for family and football. While there I hopped over to Starbucks to host a LeanCoffee in Ohio (I’d posted it on Meetup a few weeks prior).

As I’d expected, attendance was nil. Not sure if that speaks more to the fact it was a holiday weekend or that Ohioans don’t use meetup. I ruled out there being no love for Agile/Lean, for within a couple minutes of sitting there with my post-its and sharpies, the guy next to me (Robert) started asking me what I had? We talked about the setup and meetup a bit before getting to Agile. His company (hospital linens servicer) uses Lean principles to operate, and his brother works in an Agile shop (UI / Design).

Alive and well in Twinsburg, Ohio.

Introducing the newest meetup: Agile Coffee – OC.

I’ve been meaning to start this group since Stuart & I went up to San Fran for the SF Agile conference last May. There we met Jim Benson (Personal Kanban) and were introduced to Lean Coffee as a forum for discussing Lean, Kanban, Agile, limiting WIP, visualizing workflow, and just about anything else. A self-organized pull-system of learning / sharing. (Jim helped create Seattle Lean Coffee and has run it at dozens of conferences before the SF Agile event.)

So that’s the goal here, in Orange County, is to get us together and start forming a community of enthusiasts and labs of lean experimentation. (There are a couple other lean alternatives in the area, but none focus on project management and coaching, my zing.) I’m kicking things off Monday 2/11 at the coffee shop by my place. When they get attended we’ll try to find more optimal locations, but for now I’ll use these productively – as writing sessions with OHIO treatment.

This Monday is our first event. I’m looking forward to the buzz.