Beyond the Lean Office

Chapter 2

The Hornet’s Nest

It was Monday morning, but I was anxious to get to work after a week at a conference full of insurance adjusters, most of them excited about recent changes to the Medicare/Medicaid verbiage. It is a topic we have to untangle for our business plans, but I was admittedly distant, more curious to see how my team in the office was doing in my absence. The last few weeks had been hectic, but everyone seemed to pull together with some creative solutions. I had left the office confident in how my team would perform while I was away. Confirming my expectations, I did not receive any calls during the conference—a good, albeit unusual, sign.

At the conference registration, I bumped into Peyton Peterson, a classmate from my ...