Anyone who works in a cannabis operation and wants to see where time and product are lost: operators, leads, new hires and owners. You don't need to know any Lean.

Yes. The lessons, the knowledge checks and the certificate are free.

Do I need an account?

To read Lesson 1, no. To read every lesson in full, take the checks, earn points and badges, save your progress and earn the certificate, yes: a free account with your email.

Does it work outside cannabis?

The ideas do. The examples are cannabis, and the rules for what's waste and what's required are cannabis rules.

I'm Paul Ducey. I run continuous improvement at a Massachusetts cannabis company across cultivation, post-harvest, manufacturing and fulfillment, and I'm a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. More about me .

Learning Center · a free course · all ten lessons open · one featured each Monday from October 12

Lean for beginners.

Ten lessons for people who work in cannabis, from the grow to the counter. No Lean background needed. All ten lessons are open, and one is featured each week. Each has a knowledge check and a task you do on your own floor. Pass the checks to earn points and badges and level up as you go. Finish the course and pass the final test, and you earn a certificate of completion. It's free.

Get a note each Monday See the ten lessons

Free account

Your board

Free accounts open with Lesson 1 on Monday, October 12. Until then, everything on this site is open to read.

Four steps, every week

How it works

1Read the lesson. Plain words, with examples from every area of a cannabis operation. Lesson 1 is open to anyone. A free account opens every lesson in full.
2Take the knowledge check. A few questions on what you just read, graded for you, with an explanation for every answer.
3Do the task on your own floor. A walk, a worksheet or a measure. Every task starts with looking, and none of them asks you to change anything yet.
4Save your progress. A free account keeps your checks and your place, earns you points and badges, and counts toward your certificate.

One lesson featured each Monday

The ten lessons

All ten lessons are open now, and a final test follows. One is featured each Monday with a post, so you can follow along or go at your own pace. Every lesson has a knowledge check, then a task for your own floor.

01Week of Oct 12What Lean is, and why cannabis needs itWhere it came from, what it isn't, who your customer is, the three kinds of activity and the five principles.Read it → 02Week of Oct 19The 8 wastes, and how to see themEach waste with an example from every area, and how to walk a batch without proposing fixes.Read it → 03Week of Oct 26Clone to counterMap one product from the first step to the counter and find where it waits.Read it → 04Week of Nov 2Flow and pullPlan from the shelf back. Make what's needed, when it's needed.Read it → 05Week of Nov 9Takt and levelingHarvest cadence, and why steady work beats surges.Read it → 06Week of Nov 16Standard work, 5S and visual managementWrite the job down, set up the station, make problems visible.Read it → 07Week of Nov 23Room turns and changeoversShorten the time a room or a line sits idle between jobs.Read it → 08Week of Nov 30Quality at the sourceMistake-proofing: design the error out instead of inspecting it out.Read it → 09Week of Dec 7Solving problemsPDCA, the 5 whys, and getting a problem onto one page.Read it → 10Week of Dec 14Holding the gainsScorecards and the daily huddle. Then the final test.Read it → ★Week of Dec 14The final testFifteen questions. Pass with 12 of 15, then get your certificate.Read it →

Free, and verifiable

The certificate

Pass every lesson's knowledge check and the final test, with 80% or better, and you get a certificate of completion with your name, the date and a number. Anyone can type that number into this site to confirm it's real. There's a button to add it to your LinkedIn profile. Look up a certificate number.

What it is, and isn't

It's a certificate of completion for this course. It shows you finished the work. It is not a state license, an industry accreditation, or a Lean Six Sigma belt, and it doesn't claim to be one.

Questions

Before you start

?Who is it for? Anyone who works in a cannabis operation and wants to see where time and product are lost: operators, leads, new hires and owners. You don't need to know any Lean.
?Is it really free? Yes. The lessons, the knowledge checks and the certificate are free.
?Do I need an account? To read Lesson 1, no. To read every lesson in full, take the checks, earn points and badges, save your progress and earn the certificate, yes: a free account with your email.
?Does it work outside cannabis? The ideas do. The examples are cannabis, and the rules for what's waste and what's required are cannabis rules.
?Who writes it? I'm Paul Ducey. I run continuous improvement at a Massachusetts cannabis company across cultivation, post-harvest, manufacturing and fulfillment, and I'm a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. More about me.

Featured each Monday from October 12

Get a note each Monday

Leave your email and I'll send one short note each Monday about that week's lesson.