If you’ve read an acknowledgements section before, you know that it always starts with thanking the families of the writers. We now know why. They are the people from whom we have taken time: writing while they fall asleep, writing instead of spending time with them, giving them cryptic answers when we were somewhere on page 267 instead of at the playground where we should have been. And still they supported us throughout this project. Without them and without their support, this book would not have been possible.
We owe the community around us a big thank you for this opportunity—all the people we have learned from, and continue to learn from, every day and who in many cases know this stuff better than we do. We’re standing on the shoulders of giants. Thanks for your shoulders and your encouragement during this process.
There are other people we want to mention who have been particularly helpful, inspiring, and supportive: Christophe Achouiantz, Torbjörn Gyllebring, David J. Anderson, Jim Benson, Corey Ladas, David P. Joyce, Benjamin Mitchell, Karl Scotland, Mattias Skarin, Don Reinertsen, Alan Shalloway, Mary and Tom Poppendieck, Håkan Forss, Måns Sandström, Eric Willeke, Jabe Bloom, Mike Burrows, Dennis Stevens, and all the folks at the Kanban Leadership Retreat. We’ve learned a lot and had a great time with the Stockholm Lean Coffee bunch, including Håkan Forss and all the other wonderful people there.