The Second Virtual Lean Mini-Conference Registration will be held on 15 October, 7:30 to 10:30 am Eastern U.S. time (GMT-04:00).
Lean conferences whether in-person or virtual, have become too expensive, too redundant in terms of content, feature too much vacuous cheerleading and unchecked storytelling, too big a batch size of people, too much passive listening, too little active participant engagement, too much groupthink, too little focus on the biggest problems of the day, and re-hash of information from the same Lean celebrities. Lean conferences, static for decades, must be improved to reflect dynamic changes in public and private institutions and the human condition. In particular, conferences must be elevated to a higher intellectual standard while remaining practical, providing spirited and satisfying engagement that leads to bountiful personal and professional ideation.
With this in mind, I initiated a free Virtual Lean Mini-Conference where a small number of participants are highly engaged in exploring the most important questions of the day — questions that reflect the ever-changing, evolving world we live in — marked by COVID-19, super-sized corporations, digitization, workplace surveillance, automation, wealth and poverty, our changing environment, and the needs and interests of the younger generations. It is a forum for freethinking.
The first Virtual Lean Mini-Conference was held on 3 September 2020. Click here to view a summary of the conference discussion.
Virtual Lean Mini-Conferences take place via Zoom (not recorded). The format is as follows:
- Professor Emiliani poses a question
- One or more participants makes the case in favor of the question
- One or more participant makes the case opposing the question
- Discussion and analysis of the “yes” and “no” arguments
- Repeat steps 1-4 as time permits
Participants are informed of a pair of provocative questions before the Virtual Mini-Conference and assigned to the category of “yes” or “no.” They will formulate their arguments offline as teams or individuals. Then, teams and individuals orally present (or one page visually via screen sharing) their argument(s) “yes,” followed by teams and individuals who present the “no” argument(s) — supported by relevant evidence and facts. Discussion and analysis will follow to comprehend different viewpoints and assimilate the learning into one’s future actions. The basic method is: Argument • Counterargument • Discussion • Learning. The above image details the process (click on image to enlarge).
The Second Virtual Lean Mini-Conference Registration will be held on 15 October, 7:30 to 10:30 am Eastern U.S. time (GMT-04:00).
Registration for the Second Virtual Lean Mini-Conference is now closed. Check back for an upcoming Mini-Conference.