After 36 good years at the Eastman Kodak Company, the last twenty or so in the Continuous Improvement business, I was offered the chance to retire late in 2012. I’d also been working part time at a local marina for the last 25 years. This afforded me a chance to work with my hands and be around boats and the water. For any of you that know me, you know how much I love the water – just like my late father. As much as part of me wanted to find another job in the Continuous Improvement arena, there just wasn’t much available in the Rochester, NY area. And, since the other love in my life is my son Brandon – whom I wanted to remain near – things were looking bleak. Then, my part time employer - Sutter’s Canandaigua Marina - offered me a full time position as Boatyard Manager. I would be responsible for our lakeside property on Canandaigua Lake, plus our nearby Boat / Trailer Storage Facility as well as all of our capital equipment. How could I refuse?So, in April of 2013, I accepted the position where I get to work with a small, but very tight knit team. I get to be outside almost every minute of the day. I get to work on, drive and help customers with boats every day. They say that if you truly love your work, you’ll never work a day in your life. I can now fully endorse that statement thanks to Paul Creek and Al Sutter who own the marina.Have I walked away from Lean / Six Sigma / Continuous Improvement? No. The marina needs to continuously improve to remain competitive. So, I’ve been experimenting with Lean techniques and Lean thinking at the marina. We dramatically improved the flow of boats between shrink wrapping and storage by changing from batches of 5-7 boats to single piece flow. We improved the throughput of our hull washing operation by 50% when the guys that do the work used Lean principles to improve their own process. We’re now working on 5S and Safety in the shop. Yes, it works here too. I hope all of you someday find a job like this one!Specialties: Teaching and implementing Lean Manufacturing (TPS) and Six Sigma, Standard Work, Setup Reduction, Kaizen