Welcome to the Week: How $9 Saved Us Frustration and 6 Hours a Year

First and foremost, Happy Mother’s Day to all the incredible moms out there.

You do so much, seen and unseen, to keep your families moving, thriving, and grounded. This year, I’ve been especially inspired by the strength of so many moms who helped rebuild routines and restore calm after the chaos of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, especially those close to me at home and at work.

So today, in the spirit of celebration and support, I’d like to offer a gift: better systems, specifically, ones that help the rest of us (especially the men in your lives) stop messing things up.

If we can make just one part of your life easier, whether it’s avoiding the “did someone feed the dog?” text chain or reducing the number of things only you know how to do, it’s a step in the right direction.

Because sometimes, the best way to show love isn’t a grand gesture, it’s a $9 Amazon gadget and a little visual management.

Let me explain…

Chat at 5:45 AM.

Me: “Did you feed Millie today?”

Laura: “No, but I did walk her. Can you?”

Me: “Sure.”

12 hours later on our family group text:

Me: “Did anyone feed Millie?”

Zach: “No.”

Sloane: “No, sorry.”

Laura: “Yes.”

Me: “Thanks.”

It’s a familiar loop in many households, the well-meaning effort that turns into double work, crossed wires, missed steps (or an over / underfed pet). In this case, a 30-second text exchange that happened over and over. Multiply that by 330 days a year (Millie occasionally travels to the pet sitter), and we were spending over six hours annually just confirming if our dog had been fed.

Then one day, we bought a $9 magnetic dog feeding tracker on Amazon. A simple AM/PM toggle. Slide the tab to “Fed,” and the ambiguity disappears. No more texts. No more missed meals. No more “I thought you did it” moments. Problem solved.

The Power of Visual Management

This wasn’t just a parenting or pet-owner win, it was a reminder of one of the most powerful tools in operational excellence: visual management.

At Fitlife Foods, when we opened our Culinary Center in 2015, the stakes were much higher than Millie’s breakfast. We were navigating a growing production environment, daily complexity, and an urgent need for systemization. That’s when we began working with the Lean Enterprise Institute and deepening our learning around the Lean Operating System. One concept stuck out: visual management.

Lean teaches that if you can’t see the problem, you can’t fix the problem. It’s not just about knowing what’s broken, it’s about making work visible so that everyone, regardless of role or title, can spot issues early, act quickly, and reduce waste before it piles up.

We implemented boards, signals, and simple status indicators - tools that didn’t rely on meetings or memory. They worked because they made the state of the work clear without saying a word.

The Root Cause Is Usually Simpler Than You Think

When you find yourself fixing the same problem twice, pause and ask: What’s the root cause?

 Is it communication? Ownership? Process? Visibility?

In Millie’s case, the issue wasn’t forgetfulness, it was a lack of a shared system. Everyone in the family assumed someone else had it covered. That’s not so different from what happens inside teams and companies every day.

Root cause thinking is a fundamental part of Lean. But we often overlook how these operational philosophies apply to life beyond the office or factory floor. In truth, the best systems are the ones that are so simple they feel obvious, after you’ve installed them.

Growth Mindset Starts With What You Can See

Much of what’s written about growth mindset today, whether it’s in the context of leadership, entrepreneurship, or personal improvement quietly echoes Lean principles. Authors and coaches talk about making progress visible, reducing friction, and building systems that remove ambiguity and drive better behavior.

James Clear in Atomic Habits, doesn’t explicitly say “Lean,” but the principles are there. Make good habits easy. Create cues. Solve for the system, not the symptom. It’s the same mindset.

Dan Martell's emphasis on buying back time through better delegation and systems? Also rooted in Lean thinking. Cut waste. Design the process. Create clarity. Free up energy to focus on what matters most. Check out his book - Buy Back Your Time

So, This Week—Ask Yourself:

• Where are you relying on memory, text threads, or reminders to keep things running?

• What would it look like to make the state of that work visual?

• Is there a $9 fix hiding in plain sight.

Sometimes the answer isn’t more effort, it’s a better system and sometimes, the teacher is a small white dog named Millie.

Go Feed Your Journey,

David