2 Second Lean

2 Second Lean will flip your world right-side up. It’s a practical way to improve your life every day by making a simple 2 second improvement. Join author, business expert, radio show host, and international speaker, Paul A. Akers, as he takes you on a LEAN journey that will transform every aspect your life... from your home to the office.

2 Second Lean will flip your world right-side up. It’s a practical way to improve your life every day by making a simple 2 second improvement. Join author, business expert, radio show host, and international speaker, Paul A. Akers, as he takes you on a LEAN journey that will transform every aspect your life... from your home to the office. “Ten years ago I began my Lean journey. I had never even heard the word before, but what happened was nothing short of astounding. Lean thinking has propelled my business from a small operation in my garage into an international, multi-million dollar enterprise. Welcome to my world of Extreme Lean thinking. Once you have experienced the vast benefits of Lean, you will crave it, want it, and do anything to get it. Lean thinking has made an enormous difference in my life – personally and professionally.” “This book is not intended for MBAs or those interested in manufacturing theory or flow charts. This book is intended to blast open the door of opportunity for people who want to improve their daily life, be it in their workplace or home. Lean is not as complicated as all the experts and textbooks make it out to be. In fact, as you learn to incorporate a Lean approach to your life, you will see that the more Lean thinking you have in your life, the more you will enjoy life.” ~ Paul A. Akers Read this book and be inspired by how easy and fun it can be. No flow charts or graphs – just the real life journey of one company and the astounding results Lean thinking can produce. Take a few hours, read 2 Second Lean and change your life! What others are saying: “Lean is not mean. It is the coming style of good management. Paul Akers explains how the system blurs the distinction – and soothes the frictions – between labor and management by enlisting the brainpower of all employees from the top to the bottom. Under Lean we are all management whether in the private or the public sector, Karl Marx would never have approved!” ~Dick Morris, author of 8 New York Times Best Sellers, Fox News political analyst “Paul Akers has built FastCap into an industry leader and one of the most exciting manufacturing companies in America. His innovative, thoroughly American use of Lean manufacturing principles and techniques has made him a top expert who is in high demand to speak to and teach his secrets to all kinds of organizations, from factories to hospitals to office environments. On my visit to FastCap, Paul’s employees showed me several examples of how they have employed the 2 Second Lean principle to save time and money – usually saving a lot more than just two seconds! I’m a believer, and have incorporated many of Paul’s strategies and principles into my own office’s CQI process, helping me empower and motivate more than one thousand legal professionals and support staff to save our clients and taxpayers millions of dollars.” ~Rob McKenna, Washington State Attorney General* *Title is for identification purposes only and does not imply an endorsement by the Attorney General’s Office or the State of Washington.

Paul Akers is founder and president of FastCap LLC, based in Bellingham, WA. FastCap is an international product development company founded in 1997 with over 2000 distributors worldwide. A prolific inventor, Paul holds US and international patents. His company, FastCap, launches approximately 20 new innovative products per year and has won business of the year in 1999 and 2010. Paul and his wife, Leanne, have built FastCap from their garage into a multi-million dollar company in 13 years. As an instrument rated pilot, Paul flies his own corporate aircraft conducting business in over 40 countries. He has over 2000 hours of flight time, which includes 3 North Atlantic crossings. Paul is a master craftsman, gardener and designer. He built his own exquisite Greene and Greene craftsman style home in Bellingham, Washington, as well as the furniture and guitars in his home. Paul’s grandparents emigrated from Greece in 1913 through Ellis Island. Nicholas and Amelia taught him to appreciate the gift of America and the boundless opportunities it provides to millions of people from around the world. Paul was born and raised in Southern California, and was drawn towards excellence and high standards from an early age. He earned his Eagle Scout at age 14. Inspired by woodworking artisans he earned awards and recognition for furniture design before graduating high school. At the age of 15 he built his own guitar and earned the attention of guitar designer Bob Taylor, who mentored and eventually put Paul to work for Taylor Guitars. As a true American innovator, Bob made a lasting impression on Paul, where he was part of building over 2000 world class musical instruments. He graduated from Biola University in 1983 with honors, obtaining a degree in education with an emphasis in Greek and German. Paul and Leanne started from humble beginnings. They bought their first home, an abandoned gang house in La Puente, California. “Complete every project before starting a new one,” was Paul’s mantra, and this attitude afforded him many amazing opportunities. Biography of Paul Akers Paul worked in Pasadena restoring some of the most prestigious historical homes and became part of an exclusive group of craftsmen that built the home for the editor of Architectural Digest. Paul taught Industrial Arts at Mark Keppel High school where his innovative thinking led to the development of a program that focused on teaching kids to actually build furniture, rather than the standard high school projects like key racks and cutting boards. Paul also served as a pastor at Glassell Park Baptist Church in the inner city of Los Angeles. He catapulted into the business world when his knack for problem solving led to an invention, and eventually his own manufacturing business that started in his garage. Through a series of twists and turns he discovered Lean and the Toyota Production System (TPS) which helped to launch his business from the garage into the successful international product development company known as Fastcap. Using Lean, Paul’s company has prospered and expanded even in the current economic downturn. He has never laid off one employee, nor cut one salary and currently offers the highest entry level pay for any business in the region. Paul is an avid outdoorsman and has 3 times summited Mt. Whitney at 14,495 feet, the highest peak in the continental US. Paul is an energetic speaker whose core passion is helping people discover their full potential in life and teaching others how to implement Lean thinking for their own business and personal success. His weekly radio show “The American Innovator” is listened to by thousands every Saturday morning, where he teaches his listeners throughout North America the power of innovation and lean thinking. In 2010 Paul ran for the US Senate in Washington State on a lean platform of transforming government by empowering people. After the election Paul launched Lean America, to donate his time teaching Lean thinking and creating a lean culture in government organizations throughout the country. In June of 2011 Paul won the prestigious award of Business Executive of the year for Seattle Business Magazine. Paul has been married for 28 years to his wife Leanne and has two children: Andréa and Kolbe. In 2011 Paul wrote his first book about Lean Manufacturing, 2 Second Lean.