Jim Benson

I started as an urban planner: get the sidewalks right and people will take care of the rest. I co-chaired the PNW chapter of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, the largest public art project in history. Miles of grief and respect: visual management at the grandest scale.

I built software for cities, then spent decades helping teams work without hurting each other. Personal Kanban (with Tonianne DeMaria) won a Shingo Research Award; Why Plans Fail, Why Limit WIP, and The Collaboration Equation followed. I co-created Lean Coffee and founded Modus Institute.

Then the working world turned violent, and at 3 a.m. a voice complained that space is boring. She became Laura, and the book became The Social Life of Small Enclosed Spaces: a hundred brilliant, neurotic people on a corporate ship they can't quit. A workplace story, very far from HR.

I live in Seattle with my wife, Vivian, and remain convinced that the right small space, with the right people in it, can fix nearly anything.