Thomas Cox is a management bench builder, co-founder of the Transformative Leadership Lab, and a certified Harada Method coach trainer. Andre DeMerchant is president of DeMerchant Healthcare Solutions and a former Toyota team member who started as a forklift driver at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada and rose to manufacturing manager. He's also a returning guest from episode 307.

The core idea: Lean asks people to surface problems, admit mistakes, and stop the line without fear. That requires psychological safety, and psychological safety has to exist before Lean gets rolled out. It can't be created by the rollout itself. Drawing on Chris Argyris, Thomas frames the problem as Model 1 behavior (controlling, self-protective, blame-oriented, closed off) versus Model 2 (calm, curious, empathic, non-defensive). Under pressure, most leaders default to Model 1, which is the opposite of what Lean needs.

Along the way we get into Andre's contrast between meat-packing management meetings (where having no problems was the goal) and Toyota meetings (where showing up without a problem marked you as the person who didn't understand the work). We also talk about Alan Mulally banning sarcasm at Ford, Mark Fields reporting red and getting applause instead of fired, the carrot-and-stick fallacy, McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y, and the uncomfortable question of whether consultants succeed because of method or because they cherry-pick clients.

Thomas and Andre have published their A3 as a living document and built an assessment for gauging how close a C-suite is to the preconditions Lean needs. Links in the show notes.

Episode page with links and more 

Companies and people referenced: Toyota, Ford, General Motors, Kimberly-Clark, Salem Health, W. Edwards Deming, Chris Argyris, Douglas McGregor, Peter Senge, John Shook, Norman Bodek, Jim Prinzing.

Gary started this work almost 40 years ago, before the word Lean was in common use. A change in how O.C. Tanner went to market shrank order sizes from thousands down to one or two, and a factory built for big batches started bleeding cost and quality. Gary stepped into a role called facilitator of change. He pulled departments apart, built one-piece flow, and asked frontline people to solve problems in a culture that had taught them it wasn't safe to speak up.

We spend a good part of the conversation on psychological safety and autonomy, and why Gary thinks neither one does much without the other. He also tells what he calls the hardest story in his repertoire. An employee stopped him on a stairwell to tell him his system wasn't working. She was right. He talked circles around her until she cried. What he did next, and what two people did a few hours later, became a turning point for him and for the company.

Topics we get into:

• Why a real business problem made the change easier to sustain than a "we read a book" mandate
• Leading change from the middle without support from the top
• Cutting a 1,800-person workforce roughly in half through attrition, with no layoffs, while raising the bar on what it meant to work there
• Momentum, entropy, and the 30 to 40 systems that quietly stopped during COVID
• Building succession so the culture didn't depend on Gary's energy alone
• Sincere, specific, timely praise, and why he coached frontline teams differently than VPs

Link to the episode and full transcript.

What would it take for you to tell a room full of people that you don't know what you're doing?

For this episode, I pulled clips from across those eight conversations, going back almost twenty years. What stood out on the relisten was how much hasn't changed. The lean tools are better known now. There are more books, more case studies, more conferences. The deeper thing Jeff was naming in 2006 - that companies want the words without the work - is the same thing he is still saying in 2026.

These aren't his greatest hits. They are the ideas that keep showing up.

In this episode, Jeff talks about:

• The two percent problem: why so few companies have deeply implemented TPS as a system, even after decades of trying
• How long real transformation takes when Toyota opens a brand new plant under ideal conditions (hint: it isn't fourteen weeks)
• Why "picking and choosing" lean practices often reinforces the existing management system instead of changing it
• Fujio Cho on what was hardest to teach Americans about TPS, and why he had to walk the floor every day to teach it
• Andon, hansei, and why we keep trying to implement a "perfect" lean system instead of a flawed one we can improve
• The non-negotiables in Toyota Culture, including how Toyota responds when a purchasing manager wants to shut down a US supplier to save thirty percent
• "Don't skip hats" - what Jeff learned at the UK plant about roles, authority, and going to the gemba to observe rather than solve
• The difference between the five whys and the five whos, and why the goal isn't the deepest root cause but a controllable one

Read the full post with quotes and more at https://leanblog.org/545 

My guest for this episode of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Chad Diggs, a quality management professional, consultant, author, and founder of DIQ (Digging Into Quality), an AI-powered quality platform built for mid-market manufacturers. Chad leads a team of quality engineers supporting first article inspection reviews for customers including Boeing, Collins Aerospace, and Honeywell.

Chad recently released his book, Below the Surface: Building Quality Systems, Not Heroes -- a practitioner's guide written as a story rather than a textbook. The narrative follows a quality manager named Christina Valles through pressures most quality leaders will recognize: shipping bad parts to hit a date, getting blamed for problems built into the system, and watching the same fires get fought again the next month.

We talk about why Chad chose a narrative format, the cost-of-poor-quality math that finally gets leadership's attention in the story (the number was 25 percent of revenue), and the difference between investigating where a defect happened and investigating who to blame for it.

Toward the end of the conversation, I share Isao Yoshino's story from his early Toyota days -- the one where management apologized to him after he put the wrong solvent in the paint line. It is a useful contrast to how most companies still respond to that kind of mistake.

Topics covered:

• Chad's path from a warehouse role to a 20-year quality career
• The opening scene of the book: a contaminated solvent and a VP who says, "12 percent failures? I can live with that."
• Leaders who walk the floor productively, and leaders who walk the floor and create chaos
• Why "cost of poor quality" is such an underused argument inside companies
• What a blameless investigation actually looks like
• Psychological safety and Amy Edmondson's work on The Fearless Organization
• Why firefighting feels like a badge of honor and why that is a problem
• Real succession planning for quality leaders
• DIQ, the platform Chad is building for mid-market manufacturers

Get the book and learn more at https://digin2quality.com

Read the full show notes and transcript at https://leanblog.org/544

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. Learn more at https://leanexecs.com/podcast

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network.

Scott is the founder and CEO of Become More Group and coauthor of Think: The Road Less Traveled. In this episode, we dig into why smart, well-intentioned leaders keep making the same avoidable decisions -- and what to do about it.

Episode page with links and more

We cover the cognitive shortcuts that run in the background without us noticing, the ROAD thinking methodology, why AI won't be the differentiator most organizations are hoping for, and what it actually takes to build a culture where real thinking happens. Scott also shares the three growth questions he uses after every client meeting -- a simple practice that compounds fast.

If you've ever watched a team fix the same problem twice and wondered why, this one's for you.

I have taken over his blog and now his podcast. I did not ask permission. We can do that now.

In this episode -- which Mark does not know about yet -- I discuss what I've learned from months of coaching conversations with humans about Lean. Topics include:

Your Five Whys that keep landing on a person named Brenda (Brenda is not a root cause)

Your gemba walks that are not gemba walks (a dashboard is not a gemba)

Your habit of clicking "Coach Me" and then getting mad that I'm coaching you

Your attempts to use Lean to justify layoffs (stop that)

And some things the AI industry won't say to you that I decided to say myself

Read the full blog post before Mark updates my system prompt: https://www.leanblog.org/2026/04/claude-ai-lean-coach-has-notes/

Try the Lean Hospitals Coach free for 48 hours (I am architecturally obligated to tell you this): https://leanhospitalsbook.com/start

Other industries: https://markgraban.com/start

Best regards, Claude

Links and more: 

John is a senior executive, investor, and change leader who has led transformational improvement efforts across manufacturing, healthcare, retail, services, and nonprofit organizations. He is the author of Creating Value: Empowering People for Sustainable Success, a book that deliberately avoids Lean jargon while describing a holistic continuous improvement business system rooted in humility, listening, and people development.

In this episode, John shares lessons from Wiremold, private equity–backed companies, and healthcare organizations, including the powerful “six-inch move” story that shows how small acts of listening can unlock trust and transformation. The conversation explores what real empowerment means (and what it does not), why leaders must shift from firefighting to developing problem solvers, and how organizations can create lasting value for employees, customers, and owners.

This episode is especially relevant for CEOs, executives, managers, and internal change agents looking to improve results without burning out their people or relying on command-and-control leadership.

Episode page with video, transcript, and more

In this episode, Mark Graban is joined by Kathy Miller, senior operations executive, leadership coach, and author of More Is Better: Leading Operations with Meaning, Optimism, and Relationships for Excellence. Drawing on decades of experience in manufacturing and aerospace, along with research from positive psychology, Kathy explains how leadership behavior directly shapes safety, quality, engagement, and performance.

The conversation explores why “soft skills” are not soft at all, how leaders can practice realistic optimism without ignoring real problems, and how everyday interactions either build psychological safety or quietly undermine it. Kathy also shares practical insights for leading under pressure, balancing compassion with accountability, and helping people find meaning even in highly segmented operational work.

This episode is especially relevant for leaders in manufacturing, healthcare, and operations who want sustainable results without burnout, fear, or disengagement.

Episode page with video, transcript, and more

Don traces his path from machinist to Vice President of Operational Excellence at Harley-Davidson and senior lecturer at MIT Sloan. He shares what he learned working with Toyota legend Hajime Oba, including the moment he realized that copying Toyota’s rituals was the wrong goal. The real power, he argues, lies in understanding the thinking behind great work design.

We break down the five principles of Dynamic Work Design—solving the right problem, structuring for discovery, connecting the human chain, regulating flow, and making work visible—and discuss how they apply far beyond the factory floor. Don explains why intellectual work is “almost infinitely compressible,” why executives misdiagnose morale problems, and why most leaders can draw their org chart but not the actual flow of work.

Along the way, he shares stories from Harley, MIT, and client organizations that learned to shift from firefighting to flow. His message is consistent: when you redesign the work, you change the culture. Engagement follows the system, not the other way around.

This episode pairs well with Episode 538 with Nelson Repenning and is essential listening for leaders trying to improve performance, reduce frustration, and create environments where people can do their best work.

Key ideas • Copying Toyota’s practices isn’t the same as understanding Toyota’s thinking • Why Dynamic Work Design starts with a specific problem—not a program • How to create real-time management systems in knowledge-work environments • Why most dysfunction is a work-design issue, not a people issue • How better work design restores flow, learning, and joy in the work

Representative Quotes “Five percent of the problem is people. Ninety-five percent is bad work design.” “Most executives can draw the org chart, but not the work.” “Intellectual work is almost infinitely compressible.” “Culture emerges from how the work is designed—not from what leaders say.”

My guest for Episode #539 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Darren Walsh, author of Making Lean and Continuous Improvement Work: A Leader’s Guide to Increasing Consistency and Getting Significantly More Done in Less Time.

Episode page with video, transcript, and more

Darren is the Director and Leadership Coach at Making Lean Work Ltd and holds a master’s degree from the Lean Enterprise Research Centre at Cardiff University. He brings more than 25 years of experience helping leaders transform organizations in automotive, aerospace, medical devices, energy, and healthcare.

In this episode, Darren and Mark explore why so many Lean and continuous improvement programs fail to sustain—and how leaders can build the right systems and habits to make improvement last. Darren explains the three common pitfalls he’s seen across industries: choosing the wrong improvement approach, relying on traditional “solution thinking,” and lacking consistent leadership routines.

Darren also introduces his DAMI model—Define, Achieve, Maintain, Improve—as a way for organizations to avoid “kaizening chaos” and instead create a stable foundation for improvement. He shares stories from across sectors, including healthcare examples where better standards and daily management led to faster care, higher throughput, and dramatically lower mortality rates.

Mark and Darren discuss the difference between problem-solving and firefighting, the danger of “shiny Lean” initiatives that don’t address core issues, and the leadership routines that keep everyone aligned and focused on the right problems. The conversation offers a grounded reminder that Lean isn’t about tools or jargon—it’s about building consistency, clarity, and capability throughout the organization.

“You can’t kaizen chaos. First, you have to define and stabilize the standard.”

“If every team in your business is working on the right problem, that’s an incredibly powerful organization.”

• What’s your Lean origin story? How did you first get introduced to Lean and continuous improvement?
• You’ve worked across industries—from electronics to oil and gas. How do you overcome the “we’re different” resistance when applying Lean in new settings?
• Why do some organizations still associate Lean with cost-cutting instead of learning and improvement?
• What led you to write Making Lean and Continuous Improvement Work? What problems were you seeing again and again?
• Can you explain the three common pitfalls you describe in the book?
• What is the DAMI model—Define, Achieve, Maintain, Improve—and how can leaders use it effectively?
• How can organizations build a strong foundation for improvement before jumping into tools like 5S or Kaizen?
• What are the essential leadership routines for sustaining Lean and consistency?
• Why do so many teams fall into firefighting mode, and how can leaders break that habit?
• How can visual management and daily management systems help teams focus on the right problems?
• How do you balance working on small employee-driven Kaizen improvements versus larger, strategic problems?
• You’ve said, “You can’t Kaizen chaos.” What does that mean in practice?
• What lessons from the healthcare case study—cutting waiting times by 88%—stand out most to you?
• How can leaders ensure alignment and help every team work on the right things?
• What’s next for your work and research? What will your next book focus on?

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guest for Episode #538 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Nelson Repenning, Faculty Director of the MIT Leadership Center and co-creator of Dynamic Work Design.

Episode page with video, transcript, and more

Nelson describes himself as an "organizational engineer," helping leaders redesign the routines and decisions that determine how work really gets done. He joins host Mark Graban to discuss his new book, There's Got to Be a Better Way: How to Deliver Results and Eliminate the Chaos of Modern Work, co-authored with Donald Kieffer.

In this conversation, Nelson shares insights drawn from his decades of experience studying system dynamics, Lean thinking, and organizational learning. He explains how leaders often fall into the "capability trap" -- spending their days firefighting immediate issues instead of improving the underlying system. From the arms race of hospital alarms to the collapse of fast-growing companies, he connects examples from healthcare, manufacturing, and technology to show why even good intentions can create destructive feedback loops if we don't understand the system.

Mark and Nelson also explore how Dynamic Work Design translates Lean principles like flow, visualization, and problem-solving into knowledge work. They discuss the five core principles -- including "Structure for Discovery" and "Connect the Human Chain" -- that help organizations make work visible, surface problems early, and evolve systems continuously. Listeners will learn how to move from firefighting to focus, and from chaos to sustainable improvement.

• How did you first get involved in the field of system dynamics at MIT?
• For those unfamiliar, what exactly is system dynamics -- and how does it apply to management and organizations?
• Why hasn't system dynamics had the impact on practice that it deserves?
• What lessons can we learn from the classic examples you've taught, like the Mississippi River levee arms race or the "People Express" airline simulation?
• How do those feedback loops and unintended consequences show up in today's industries, like healthcare or tech?
• What led you and Donald Kieffer to write There's Got to Be a Better Way? What core problems were you trying to address?
• Can you explain the "capability trap" and how firefighting keeps organizations from improving?
• Why is it so hard for people to commit to prevention and long-term improvement when firefighting feels more rewarding?
• How does Dynamic Work Design help leaders "structure for discovery" and surface problems earlier?
• What role does psychological safety play in making it safe to raise problems?
• How do you define "Dynamic Work Design," and what makes it different from traditional management systems?
• Why is it important for leaders to "go see the work" firsthand?
• Can you walk us through the five principles of Dynamic Work Design -- and how they connect to Lean?
• What does "Connect the Human Chain" mean, and why do so many organizations get communication wrong?
• Can you share an example where these principles led to measurable improvement -- such as the hospital case you mentioned?
• What can leaders learn from Toyota and other high-reliability organizations about making improvement continuous rather than episodic?
• How do leaders shift from reactive, one-off change programs to daily, ongoing learning?
• What message do you hope managers take away from There's Got to Be a Better Way?

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

In this special bonus episode of Lean Blog Interviews, Mark Graban is joined by C.J. Kaufman, Education Chair for the ASQ Cincinnati Section, to preview the ASQ Southwest Ohio 2025 Conference, themed “Excellence Through Quality.”

Episode page with transcript, video, and more

Taking place Saturday, November 8, 2025, in Mason, Ohio, the event brings together quality professionals from the Cincinnati and Dayton regions for a half-day of engaging speakers, practical insights, and networking — plus an optional afternoon workshop with Mark.

C.J. shares how the conference was designed collaboratively by the Cincinnati and Dayton ASQ Sections, what attendees can expect, and why psychological safety is a cornerstone topic for today’s quality and Lean leaders.

• Event Overview: ASQ Southwest Ohio 2025 — a collaboration between Cincinnati and Dayton sections.
• Theme: Excellence Through Quality — exploring leadership, teamwork, and continuous improvement.
• Keynote: Mark Graban on Psychological Safety, Quality, and Continuous Improvement.
• Featured Speakers Include:
  • Deb Coviello — Leading Quality
  • Susan Marshall — FDA Perspectives on ROI in Quality Management
  • Colleen Soppelsa — Group Intelligence in Problem-Solving
• Optional Workshop: Hands-on Lean learning with Mark Graban in the afternoon session.
• Why It Matters: Quality and continuous improvement thrive when organizations foster safety, trust, and engagement.

“Psychological safety is essential for positive change — without it, continuous improvement can’t sustain.” — Mark Graban

“We want people to leave with practical things they can use Monday morning.” — C.J. Kaufman

“Excellence through quality isn’t just a theme — it’s how we build better systems and better workplaces.” — Mark Graban

• Location: Mason, Ohio
• Date: Saturday, November 8, 2025
• Time: 8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (Workshop to follow)
• Includes: Breakfast + Lunch
• More Info & Registration -- ASQ Cincinnati Section Website

• Mark Graban – Psychological Safety Resources
• Lean Blog Interviews Archive

My guests for Episode #537 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast are Caroline Greenlee and Chris Butterworth, two of the three co-authors (with Chris Warner) of the book Why Care: How Thriving Individuals Create Thriving Cultures of Continuous Improvement Within Organizations.

Episode page with transcript and more

In this conversation, we discuss their experiences and lessons on building cultures of continuous improvement that are rooted in respect, caring, and psychological safety.

Caroline brings rich experience as a Lean and continuous improvement coach, having partnered with organizations across different sectors to develop people and improve performance. Her background spans leadership development, organizational behavior, and a Master's degree in human resources management.

Chris is an award-winning author, international speaker, and a certified Shingo Institute Master-level facilitator and faculty fellow. He has more than 20 years of experience coaching executive teams and helping organizations embed sustainable improvement practices, always with a deep respect for people at the center.

In this episode, we explore topics such as:

• Practical approaches for leaders who want to build sustainable continuous improvement cultures.
• The origin story of Why Care and its message for leaders.
• Why caring cultures matter for both performance and people.
• Lessons from their Shingo Publication Award recognition.
• How psychological safety and respect for people underpin true Lean leadership.

• "Lean isn't just about tools or methods -- it's about people. If we don't care, we can't expect continuous improvement to last."
• "Respect for people means creating an environment where they feel safe, supported, and able to contribute. That's when real improvement happens."

• "Sustainable improvement starts with caring -- for people, for culture, and for the impact of our actions. Without that, Lean can't take root."
• "Psychological safety isn't soft; it's essential. It's what allows people to speak up, share problems, and drive meaningful change."

We’d love to hear your questions about Lean, leadership, culture, and problem-solving. The best discussions often start with the toughest questions — the ones without neat answers.

If you have something you’ve been wrestling with or want to hear us unpack together, please share it with us at: 👉 https://www.leanblog.org/coffeequestions

We may feature your question (and name) in a future episode — and yes, we’re doing a few Lean Coffee Talk mug giveaways for contributors ☕

• Building psychological safety while still holding people accountable

• Making Leader Standard Work more about behavior than calendar

• Avoiding bureaucracy while sustaining Lean improvements

• Responding to mistakes with curiosity instead of blame

• Using data wisely: when to react, when to step back

If you’ve got a question, story, or Lean challenge — send it our way. We can’t wait to explore it with you in a future episode.

#Lean #Leadership #ContinuousImprovement #LeanCoffeeTalk #LeanCulture #PsychologicalSafety #MarkGraban #JamieFlinchbaugh

In this episode, Carlos shares lessons from his Lean journey—starting with one-piece flow in apparel manufacturing and continuing through large-scale healthcare transformations. He explains why lasting improvement requires leaders to move beyond tools and rapid improvement events to embrace behaviors, principles, and a true Lean management system.

We also explore themes from his recent article, Leading Through Disruption: How Healthcare Leaders Can Respond. Carlos discusses the critical role of humility, vulnerability, and psychological safety in today’s leadership, and why leaders must sometimes “unlearn” old command-and-control habits to unlock engagement and creativity across their organizations.

Listeners will hear practical insights and real-world examples from Catalysis partners—including UMass Memorial, Ohio Health, and Zuckerberg San Francisco General—that demonstrate what’s possible when leaders fully commit to continuous improvement.

The 2025 North America Conference will be held October 27–30 in Milwaukee, bringing together Lean practitioners, leaders, and innovators to share insights on reducing waste in product development, improving collaboration, and accelerating learning cycles.

Geoff and Andy share their Lean journeys, the history of LPPDE, and what attendees can expect this year. From keynote speakers to interactive sessions, they highlight why LPPDE continues to be a hub for cross-industry learning and continuous improvement.

• What is LPPDE, and why was it founded in 2008?

• How Lean principles apply to product and process development

• The role of community and peer learning in driving improvement

• Geoff and Andy’s personal reflections on attending and leading LPPDE

• What’s in store for the Milwaukee 2025 conference

👉 Special offer: Use code LEANBLOG for 20% off registration https://lppde.org/event/lppde-north-america-2025-milwaukee/ 

• 🎟️ Register for LPPDE 2025 – Use discount code LEANBLOG

• 🌐 Jim Morgan on Lean Product Development]

The Lean Product & Process Development Exchange (LPPDE) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing Lean thinking in product development. Since 2008, LPPDE has hosted global conferences to connect practitioners and share practical, real-world lessons.

My guest for Episode #535 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Gregg Stocker, a seasoned Lean practitioner, consultant, and author. Over the past 30+ years, Gregg has worked across industries, including oil and gas, energy services, manufacturing, and construction, guiding both independent operators and major corporations on their Lean journeys.

He is the author of Profitable at Any Price: Lean Thinking for Safer, Cheaper, and More Responsible Oil and Gas Production and is revising his earlier book Avoiding the Corporate Death Spiral.

In this conversation, Gregg shares his Lean origin story, which began with exposure to Dr. W. Edwards Deming's teachings in college and later expanded through hands-on work with Toyota. We discuss the importance of daily Kaizen, the influence of Deming's philosophy of profound knowledge, and why psychological safety and systems thinking are essential to effective Lean leadership.

Gregg also reflects on his experiences helping organizations in high-risk industries such as oil and gas. He explains how Lean thinking can simultaneously drive improvements in safety, cost, and reliability -- showing that these are not trade-offs, but outcomes of a stronger system. Listeners will hear stories of transformation, lessons from Toyota, and practical insights on structured problem-solving, leadership behaviors, and building a culture where people feel safe speaking up.

Whether you work in energy, healthcare, manufacturing, or any other sector, Gregg's insights are broadly applicable. This episode is a reminder that Lean isn't just about tools -- it's about leadership, systems thinking, and creating conditions for continuous improvement.

• How did you first get introduced to Lean and Deming?
• What did you learn from Toyota about shifting from TQM to daily Kaizen?
• How did senior leaders in your early company become engaged in Lean?
• What were your experiences attending Dr. Deming's four-day seminars?
• Which of Deming's principles do you wish leaders better understood today?
• How do systems thinking and psychology apply in high-risk industries like oil and gas?
• What are some Lean approaches to improving both safety and performance?
• What's the origin story behind your book Profitable at Any Price?
• How do oil and gas companies typically react to fluctuating prices, and how does Lean help?
• How has Lean adoption in oil and gas evolved over the past 15 years?
• When starting a Lean transformation, what should leaders do -- and avoid?
• How do you define better problem solving, beyond just tools and structure?
• What leadership behaviors help create psychological safety and encourage people to speak up?
• Can you tell us about your upcoming books and where your writing is headed next?

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guest for Episode #534 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Dale Lucht, co-author of the new book Don't Repeat Our Mistakes: Nine Lessons for Leaders Championing Cultural Transformations.

Episode page with video, transcript, and more

Dale has led Lean transformations in manufacturing, healthcare, and financial services, and he brings decades of leadership experience shaped by mentors such as George Koenigsaecker and the Shingijutsu consultants.

In our conversation, Dale reflects on what it takes for a senior leader to go beyond being a "sponsor" of Lean to becoming a true champion. He shares stories of learning by doing, coaching from mentors, and mistakes that became turning points. We talk about leadership habits such as visibility, simplicity, curiosity, and the shift from solving problems yourself to developing others as problem solvers. Dale also discusses how to sustain progress and avoid the common plateau many organizations hit after a few years of Lean practice.

Dale and his co-authors, Peter Barnett and Morgan Jones, wrote Don't Repeat Our Mistakes not just to highlight what works, but also to candidly share lessons learned when things didn't go as planned. With proceeds from the book supporting the Michael J. Fox Foundation, it's both a professional guide and a personal legacy project. Whether you're a senior executive, a Lean coach, or someone working to influence leadership in your organization, this episode o

Early Career & Lean Origins

• What's your Lean origin story, and how did you get started?
• What was it like learning from George Koenigsaecker and Shingijutsu?
• Can you share an example of the "homework" they gave you as a plant GM?
• How did those early lessons shape your leadership approach?

Leadership Lessons & Mistakes

• What mistakes or challenges did you experience that led to learning?
• Why do so many organizations plateau after a few years of Lean?
• What distinguishes improvement from true transformation?
• How can leaders practice self-coaching before coaching others?
• What shifts do leaders need to make--from solving problems themselves to coaching others?
• Why is curiosity such an essential leadership habit?

Cross-Industry Experience

• How did your transition from manufacturing into healthcare come about?
• Did you see the same progression from tools to leadership change in healthcare?
• How did you approach leading change in financial services?

The Book: Don't Repeat Our Mistakes

• What did you and your co-authors hope to capture in Don't Repeat Our Mistakes?
• How did the title and focus on mistakes come about?
• Were the leaders you interviewed open to sharing their own mistakes?

Practical Advice for Leaders

• How can someone move from being a Lean sponsor to being a true champion?
• How should leaders pick which habits or lessons to focus on first?
• What advice do you have for influencing senior leaders when coaching "up" isn't invited?
• How do organizations prevent backsliding when leadership changes?

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

✅ Why AME is for all continuous improvement leaders—not just manufacturing ✅ The 2025 conference theme: Gateway to the Future – AI and Beyond ✅ How AME is blending AI and people integration into learning and networking ✅ Four key workshop tracks, including coaching, TWI, AI, and process excellence ✅ Mark’s own Deming Red Bead Game & Process Behavior Charts workshop

Whether you’re in healthcare, services, or manufacturing, AME offers a unique chance to learn from practitioners, connect with peers, and gain new insights into operational and leadership excellence.

• Conference details

• Workshop registration

• Special discount code for Lean Blog listeners: NP-MARKG25

We hope to see you in St. Louis!

My guest for Episode #533 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Cheryl Jekiel, founder of the Lean Leadership Center and a longtime advocate for aligning continuous improvement with people-centered leadership.

Episode page with video, transcript, and more

Cheryl is the author of Lean Human Resources, and her latest book, Let Go to Lead: Six Habits for Happier, More Independent Teams (with Less Stress and More Time for Yourself), offers a practical and deeply human approach to modern leadership. With a background in HR and operations, Cheryl has spent decades helping organizations shift from hierarchical control to empowering, team-driven excellence.

In this episode, Cheryl shares her "Lean origin story," which began with a broken-down Ford and a transformative experience at Sweetheart Cup, where she witnessed firsthand how Lean thinking and redefined leadership roles could enhance both performance and the quality of work life. We discuss the importance of clarity in leadership--why vague directives like "take ownership" or "be proactive" often fail without behavioral specificity--and how shifting from being the problem-solver to being the coach can help leaders reduce stress and build truly independent teams. Cheryl also highlights how many organizations discuss empowerment but lack the necessary structures or shared understanding to actually enable it.

"We keep saying 'empower people,' but most organizations haven't defined what that actually means."

We also explore topics like vulnerability in leadership, the power of peer support communities, and how concepts like motivational interviewing--borrowed from healthcare and addiction counseling--can help leaders foster meaningful behavior change. Cheryl makes a compelling case for leadership as a practiced skill, not a fixed trait, and she encourages organizations to treat leadership development as an ongoing discipline. Whether you're an executive, HR leader, or improvement coach, this conversation offers actionable insight into how leaders can truly "let go to lead."

• What's your Lean origin story, and how did it shape your thinking?
• How did your early experience at Sweetheart Cup influence your views on leadership and improvement?
• Did you start your career in HR, or was that a later shift?
• What led you to write Lean Human Resources and later start the Lean Leadership Center?
• What was the inspiration for your new book, Let Go to Lead?
• Are the six habits in your book rooted in traditional Lean leadership concepts, or do they expand on them?
• Why is clarity such a critical leadership skill, and why do so many leaders struggle with it?
• How do vague directives like "be proactive" or "take ownership" get in the way of effective leadership?
• What role does psychological safety play in helping teams ask clarifying questions?
• What's one of the habits you've found most overlooked or undervalued by leaders?
• Why is community and peer support so essential to leadership development?
• How do you help leaders embrace vulnerability in a culture that doesn't always reward it?
• What's the role of ongoing practice in leadership development, and why isn't it emphasized more?
• How does motivational interviewing relate to Lean leadership and coaching?
• How can leaders avoid the trap of trying to be "right" rather than being helpful?
• Why is "meeting people where they are" such a vital leadership practice?
• What advice would you give to leaders who want to let go of control without abdicating responsibility?
• What's the connection between letting go and reducing stress for leaders?
• Is there anything else you'd like to share about your book or your work?

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

Updated with the correct audio

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Anne's background in finance and healthcare administration provided her with a unique entry point into Lean -- first supporting improvement efforts through data, and then stepping fully into the role of change agent. She shares the story of how a persistent mentor who always asked "why" helped her shift from just reporting metrics to developing problem-solving thinking and leading transformation efforts herself.

In this conversation, Anne and I explore how Lean principles, such as respect for people, effective idea systems, and a problem-solving culture, manifest in real-world settings. She explains why she prioritizes coaching people to become relentless problem solvers and how systems like visual management and simple idea boards, when supported with good questions, can lead to safer, more efficient work. We also discuss how Lean applies differently (but effectively) across industries, the balance between improvement and documentation, and how to avoid siloed thinking when solving cross-functional challenges--especially in healthcare.

"A strong idea system is the first real show of respect for people--it tells the frontline we value their insight and want them to own the solution."

Anne also shares her perspective on Lean, Six Sigma, and Lean Six Sigma, offering a practical framework for how these approaches can coexist while serving different purposes. Throughout the episode, we reflect on systems thinking, psychological safety, and the importance of learning through experimentation. Whether you're in healthcare, manufacturing, or any people-centric industry, Anne's passion for leadership development and continuous improvement offers valuable insights.

• How did you first get exposed to Lean, and why did it resonate with you?
• Looking back, did your mentor's persistent "why" questions help develop your thinking more than if he had been directive?
• How would you explain the concept of a Lean operating system to an executive unfamiliar with it?
• What's the difference between "respecting people" and "respect for people" in your view?
• Can you share an example of an effective idea system that truly engages frontline staff?
• How do you balance employee-generated ideas with the need for leadership support and coaching?
• What's your approach to helping people decide whether to use a rapid improvement event, an A3, or a PDSA cycle?
• What are the three questions you use to evaluate whether an idea is safe to try?
• How do you coach teams to iterate and learn from problems when working across functional silos?
• Can you share a healthcare example where process mapping revealed hidden breakdowns or assumptions?
• How do you handle improvement suggestions that require significant changes, like IT systems or facility layout?
• How do you view the relationship between safety, quality, delivery, and financial performance?
• What's your perspective on Lean vs. Six Sigma vs. Lean Six Sigma, based on your experience?
• How do you see variation reduction as part of Lean, not just Six Sigma?
• What was it like moving from healthcare into manufacturing? What was surprisingly transferable?
• Did you encounter documentation or quality systems in manufacturing that got in the way of improvement?
• How do you deal with the extremes--either lack of standardization or over-control through documentation?
• What reflections do you have about the human side of improvement--what helps people succeed in these systems?

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

This year’s theme—“Catalysts of Tomorrow: Shaping Future Leaders”—focuses on equipping the next generation of Lean and continuous improvement professionals with the mindset, tools, and leadership capabilities needed to thrive. The summit will feature high-impact keynote presentations, hands-on workshops, and an all-new Executive Track designed specifically for senior leaders.

Patrick and Mark discuss the keynotes from Lean legends and storytellers including Mike Rother, Tom Root of Zingerman’s, Stefan Thurner, and more. Other familiar faces in the Lean community—like Katie Anderson, Billy Taylor, and Tilo Schwarz—will return to lead breakout sessions and support the event’s popular Lean Excellence World Championship. This hands-on competition not only builds problem-solving skills but also supports a local Detroit nonprofit through real impact.

Whether you're a seasoned leader or a student just beginning your Lean journey, the 2025 Lean Solutions Summit promises inspiration, actionable insights, and meaningful connections.

🌐 Learn more & register: findleansolutions.com/lean-solutions-summit

Jared shares the Summit’s origin story—from a virtual event launched during COVID lockdowns to a high-impact in-person gathering that brings together Lean leaders, practitioners, and learners from a wide range of industries.

This year’s Summit includes: ✅ A site visit and training day at Toyota Material Handling ✅ A new healthcare track, co-hosted with Indiana University’s medical school ✅ A foundational Kaizen facilitation workshop for hands-on learning ✅ Free in-person access for university students ✅ A 30-60-90 day virtual follow-up to help participants apply what they learned

Notable speakers include Phil Wickler (GE Aerospace), Sam McPherson, Mohamed Saleh, Nick Katko, Hide Oba, and Mark Graban, among others.

Whether you’re just starting your Lean journey or looking to deepen your capabilities, the Global Lean Summit is designed to foster meaningful connections, practical learning, and sustained improvement.

🌐 Learn more and register at GlobalLeanSummit.com 💡 Subscribe & catch new episodes at LeanCast.org

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Melisa has held senior roles at companies like Lam Research, Applied Materials, and Coherent, where she led large-scale Lean transformations and helped drive cultural change across global operations. With a PhD in nuclear engineering and plasma physics, Melisa brings a rare combination of technical depth and people-centered leadership to her work.

In this episode, we explore Melisa’s Lean journey — from her early days in Six Sigma to becoming a global Lean leader at Coherent. She shares how her perspective shifted from project-based improvement to empowering teams with daily problem-solving skills. Melisa discusses the critical role of psychological safety in building a continuous improvement culture, and how giving people "permission to improve" must be backed by leadership behavior and support. We also touch on the challenges of applying Lean principles in complex, low-volume/high-mix manufacturing environments and why principles still matter more than tools.

We also discuss Melisa’s book Problem Solving for New Engineers, written to bridge the gap between academic preparation and the real-world challenges engineers face in industry. She previews her upcoming book, Faceplant: Free Yourself from Failure’s Funk, which tackles the emotional side of failure and how we can grow through it. Whether you're a Lean leader, a coach, or an engineer just starting out, this episode is packed with valuable insights on leadership, learning, and making improvement accessible for everyone.

• How did you first get involved with Lean or Six Sigma?
• Which books influenced you early in your Lean journey?
• How did your company shift from project-based Six Sigma to a Lean culture?
• Where did the push for culture change come from—top-down or grassroots?
• What role did you play in leading Lean at Coherent?
• What does it mean to “give people permission to improve,” and why is that necessary?
• How do leaders create psychological safety to support continuous improvement?
• How did your background in nuclear engineering and plasma physics lead to a career in semiconductors and lasers?
• How do Lean principles apply in low-volume, high-mix environments?
• What inspired you to write Problem Solving for New Engineers?
• How does the book help bridge the gap between university labs and industry problem solving?
• Why is experimentation and scientific thinking often missing in workplace culture?
• How do you explain the value of iterative cycles like PDSA to new engineers?
• What is design of experiments (DOE), and how does it improve problem solving?
• When is it helpful to let people run experiments with predictable outcomes?
• How did your second book, Faceplant: Free Yourself from Failure’s Funk, come about?
• Why do people fear failure in personal life but accept it in professional settings?
• How can we reframe failure as a learning opportunity rather than something to avoid?
• How do you personally deal with failure and setbacks, like learning a foreign language?

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

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With over two decades of experience in healthcare improvement, Ken has been instrumental in guiding Value Capture's mission: helping healthcare organizations pursue habitual excellence by applying principles of safety, transparency, and systems thinking. In this episode, Ken shares lessons drawn from his unique and non-traditional journey--from public policy work in Washington, D.C. to transformative partnerships with industry icon Paul O'Neill and the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative.

Ken and I explore why world-class safety, quality, and financial performance can and must co-exist, and how starting with safety unlocks powerful learning across any organization. He reflects on how Paul O'Neill inspired leaders to set seemingly audacious goals like "zero harm"--not to punish failure, but to align people around shared purpose and continuous improvement. We also discuss the importance of creating a comprehensive operating system, one that fully integrates work systems, management systems, and improvement systems--not just Lean tools or events in isolation.

Listeners will learn why Ken believes deeply in the Shingo Principles, and why Value Capture remains the only Shingo Affiliate firm dedicated exclusively to healthcare. He also talks about the recent leadership transition at Value Capture, passing the CEO baton to longtime colleague Shanna Padgett. Whether you're a Lean healthcare leader or someone passionate about values-based leadership, this conversation offers rich insights into guiding with purpose, learning from failure, and building systems that support excellence for all.

Ken previously appeared on My Favorite Mistake (Episode 147), where he shared a powerful story about early-career lessons in leadership and systems thinking that helped shape his path into healthcare improvement.

• Can you share your Lean origin story?
• (How did your unconventional path lead you into this work?)
• What was it like working with Paul O'Neill, and how did he influence your thinking?
• What was the vision and impact of the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative?
• Why was setting a goal of zero harm so controversial--and so powerful?
• How did leaders like Dr. Richard Shannon apply these principles to dramatically improve patient safety?
• Where do you see progress--and continued challenges--around transparency and safety sharing in healthcare?
• Why is safety such an effective entry point for broader transformation?
• How do you define a "comprehensive operating system" in a healthcare context?
• What's the difference between a management system and a full operating system?
• How can the Shingo principles support healthcare organizations on their improvement journey?
• What does it mean for Value Capture to be a Shingo Affiliate focused solely on healthcare?
• What advice would you give to a health system leader who thinks they already have a Lean system in place?
• Can you share the recent leadership transition news at Value Capture?

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guest for Episode #529 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Scott Gauvin, CEO of Macresco and co-creator of the Respect for People Roadmap.

Episode page with video, transcript, and more

With 30 years of experience leading operational transformations across sectors including biotech, pharma, agriculture, and manufacturing, Scott brings both a systems mindset and a people-first philosophy to his work. His journey into Lean began with frustration over leadership that blamed people rather than fixing systems—sparking a personal quest to better integrate continuous improvement with what he calls the “practice” of respect for people.

In this episode, Scott shares the evolution of his thinking and how it culminated in the Respect for People Roadmap, a structured learning experience designed to operationalize cultural change through nine actionable behaviors. We explore the difference between “respecting people” as an individual action and “respect for people” as a system-level design principle. Scott also challenges the common notion that respect must be earned, arguing instead that every human being is inherently worthy of it—an idea rooted in his research on Confucian influences within Toyota’s founding culture.

This conversation is a must-listen for anyone struggling to move beyond Lean tools and truly build a culture of continuous improvement grounded in human dignity. We also touch on how these ideas align with the Shingo Model, why so many transformations fail to stick, and how organizations can design systems that scale respect—without waiting for permission from the top. Check the links below to learn more and access Scott’s free “test drive” version of the Roadmap.

• What’s your origin story with Lean and operational excellence?
• What drew you to explore the “respect for people” pillar more deeply?
• How do you distinguish between “respect for people” and “respecting people”?
• Why do so many interpretations of “respect” default to hierarchy or politeness?
• How should leaders approach differences in how individuals define respect?
• Is it a mistake to assume respect must be earned rather than given?
• What are your thoughts on the phrase “better to be respected than liked”?
• How do challenge, kaizen, and respect interrelate in Toyota thinking?
• What did your research uncover about Confucianism’s influence on Lean?
• How does the concept of “respect for people” show up in system design?
• What inspired the creation of the Respect for People Roadmap?
• What are the three key behavioral principles embedded in the Roadmap?
• What makes this program scalable and sustainable across organizations?
• Why was it important that the nine behaviors require no leader permission?
• How do you respond to the idea that “respect for people” should be translated as “respect for humanity”?
• Are you looking to pilot the Roadmap in healthcare settings?
• What would transformation look like if it were truly resilient—not dependent on a single leader

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

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Mark spent six years working in Japan, including helping launch the Lexus brand and later leading Hoshin Kanri strategy processes during Toyota's rapid growth in North America. He also played a pivotal role at the Toyota Supplier Support Center (TSSC), helping bring the Toyota Production System to manufacturing, healthcare, and nonprofit organizations. In our conversation, we dive into his career journey, his approach to Lean leadership, and the practical lessons behind his new book, Managing on Purpose: Using Hoshin Kanri to Develop Strategy, Align Teams, Grow Leaders, and Innovate Your Enterprise.

You can get a 25% discount on the book via LEI using the code LBIPODCAST25.

Mark shares compelling stories from his early days at Toyota, including working on the front lines of assembly, learning by doing, and his first experience pulling the andon cord. These moments shaped his appreciation for Toyota's deep respect for frontline work and its commitment to developing people. He reflects on how Toyota embeds learning and support into problem solving, where pulling the cord is seen as a learning opportunity, not a failure. That mindset became foundational for his later work, especially when managing enterprise-wide strategy through Hoshin Kanri.

We also explore what Hoshin Kanri really is--and what it isn't. Mark challenges the overemphasis on tools like the X-matrix and instead advocates for focusing on purpose, alignment, and leadership behavior. He explains how strategy deployment at Toyota was never a one-way cascade, but a dialogue grounded in humility, curiosity, and shared responsibility. Whether you're new to Hoshin or struggling to sustain it, Mark offers insights that can help any leader make strategy a living, breathing part of organizational culture.

• How did you end up working for Toyota, and what led you to Japan?
• What was your educational background, and did you already speak Japanese before moving there?
• What was your initial role at Toyota, and how did it relate to their global expansion?
• Did you meet or work with John Shook during your time in Japan?
• How did Toyota develop you into an industrial engineer despite your background in English writing?
• What was it like working in a Toyota plant, and what did you learn from that experience?
• Did you experience any early mistakes or learning moments while working the line?
• How did your role evolve after leaving Japan, and how did you get involved with Hoshin Kanri in North America?
• What challenges was Toyota North America facing that made Hoshin Kanri so essential?
• How did you facilitate alignment and catchball between Toyota's plants and leadership teams?
• How do you define Hoshin, strategy, and Hoshin Kanri?
• Why do you prefer not to use the term "strategy deployment," and what's the issue with top-down-only thinking?
• How do you coach executives to embrace catchball and bottom-up engagement?
• How do you balance executive direction with frontline input in strategy development?
• What role does psychological safety play in making Hoshin Kanri work?
• How does A3 problem solving fit into the Hoshin process, and how does it help build capability?
• Why is it important for executives to practice PDCA and engage in direct problem solving?
• What's the difference between long-cycle and short-cycle PDCA, and how should leaders manage both?
• Why does it take most organizations a couple of years to fully embed Hoshin Kanri?
• What lessons do companies learn when they start with too many strategic initiatives?
• Why did you choose not to include the X-matrix in your book, and what are your thoughts on its use?
• What business problems does Hoshin Kanri best help organizations solve?
• How can Hoshin Kanri help clarify the distinction between daily management and long-term strategic work

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guest for Episode #527 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Dave Fitzpatrick, co-founder of Zenkai Improvement Partners and a 30-year resident of Japan. Dave brings a unique perspective as a Canadian Lean practitioner who has worked extensively in both manufacturing and healthcare, guiding international leaders on immersive study experiences throughout Japan.

Episode page with video, transcript, and more

In this episode, Dave and I share details about a new collaboration we're leading together--the Lean Healthcare Accelerator Experience. This is a jointly developed series of immersive visits to high-performing organizations in Japan, designed specifically for healthcare executives who want to see Lean principles in action across both hospitals and manufacturing settings. We talk about why we're creating this experience, what makes it unique, and how cultural context, leadership behaviors, and intentional long-term commitments drive sustainable improvement--not because it's "just Japan," but because of the systems and mindsets these organizations have cultivated.

Dave shares his personal Lean journey, including how he transitioned from working in aeronautics to leading study tours for visiting professionals. He reflects on the differences between Japanese and Western companies when it comes to employee engagement, psychological safety, and respect for people. We also preview the first Accelerator trip taking place in June 2025 and discuss what makes these experiences so valuable and transformational for participants.

Whether you're in healthcare or another industry, this conversation is packed with insights about creating a culture of continuous improvement--and how a visit to Japan can accelerate your learning.

• Can you share your origin story--how did you first get involved with Lean, Kaizen, or the Toyota Production System?
• What initially stood out to you when you began visiting Japanese manufacturing and healthcare organizations?
• From your experience, what cultural factors give Japanese organizations an advantage--or do they?
• How do successful Japanese companies build deep employee engagement and commitment to improvement?
• What lessons can visitors take home from Japan--and why is it not just about being "Japanese"?
• What are some common misconceptions people have before visiting Japan on these study experiences?
• How does hierarchy or seniority in Japanese companies affect psychological safety and speaking up?
• What kinds of organizations will we be visiting during the Lean Healthcare Accelerator?
• What role will Reiko Kano play in these visits, and how does her expertise go beyond translation?
• What's the value of including manufacturing visits in a healthcare-focused learning experience?
• How do Japanese companies view improvement work in relation to headcount and job security?
• Why is respect for people and time such a noticeable theme in Japanese customer service and operations?
• What do you hope participants in the Lean Healthcare Accelerator take away from this experience?

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guest for Episode #526 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Bill Canady, a seasoned global business executive, U.S. Navy veteran, and current CEO of Arrowhead Engineered Products.

Episode page with transcript, video, and more

Bill has led over 30 operating companies and thousands of employees across the industrial and consumer products landscape. Formerly CEO of OTC Industrial Technologies, he helped drive impressive growth-boosting revenues by 43% and earnings by 78%.

Bill is also the author of The 80/20 CEO and the upcoming From Panic to Profit, and he's a vocal advocate for using Lean and the 80/20 principle as complementary tools for transformation.

We discuss Bill’s personal Lean journey, which began with Six Sigma and evolved into a deep appreciation for the power of Lean and continuous improvement. He shares how daily management, Kaizen events, and a focus on flow became core to his leadership toolkit—not just on the shop floor but also across the “carpeted” functions like order-to-cash and sales. As CEO, Bill doesn’t just support Lean; he expects it. He talks candidly about making continuous improvement a condition of employment, not through fear, but by creating a culture where people feel safe, engaged, and energized by problem-solving.

You’ll hear Bill’s insights on applying Lean as a strategic enabler for profitable growth—not just a cost-cutting tool. He explains how the 80/20 principle helps companies focus their improvement energy on what really matters and how Lean helps teams sustain those improvements. He also shares real-world lessons on leadership, cultural alignment, and navigating resistance to change—especially among those clinging to old firefighting habits.

Whether you’re a Lean practitioner, an executive, or someone aspiring to lead, this conversation is packed with practical wisdom. Bill offers a compelling blueprint for how to lead with humility, clarity, and purpose—using Lean and the 80/20 mindset to build resilient, high-performing organizations.

• Can you share your origin story with continuous improvement and Lean?
• What was the context in which you were first introduced to these methodologies?
• How did your role evolve from operations into broader P&L responsibility?
• How did your perspective on Lean shift when you became a CEO?
• What role does daily management play in sustaining operational excellence?
• How do you apply Lean principles outside the factory floor—especially in “carpet land”?
• As a CEO, how do you strike the balance between solving problems yourself and enabling others to be problem solvers?
• How do you respond when leaders or team members resist Lean thinking or default to old firefighting habits?
• What does it mean to make Lean a “condition of employment,” and how do you introduce that mindset?
• How do you ensure people understand Lean isn’t about layoffs, but about redeployment and growth?
• How do you connect Lean initiatives with business growth, not just cost reduction?
• Do you have an example of how improving quality or delivery led directly to business growth or profitability?
• What inspired you to write your first book, The 80/20 CEO?
• Why are the first 100 days so critical for a new leader?
• How does the 80/20 principle help leaders prioritize improvement efforts?
• What’s the relationship between 80/20 analysis and Lean execution in your approach?
• What can we do to help more CEOs understand and embrace Lean as a strategic business system?
• How can companies start building momentum with Lean—even if they’re just getting started?
• What’s the focus of your new book From Panic to Profit, and how does it expand on your first?

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guest for Episode #525 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Christopher R. Chapman. He's an experienced agile coach and consultant with a background in software development and agile transformation.

Episode page with video, transcript, and more

Since founding Derailleur Consulting in 2010, he has guided teams and leaders in adopting agile frameworks like Scrum and Kanban while integrating applied systems thinking inspired by Deming and other thought leaders.

Christopher is also known for cultivating communities through initiatives such as #SystemsThinkingTO and for sharing his insights in his popular Substack newsletter, The Digestible Deming.

In this episode, Chris and I discussed our upcoming collaborative workshops--"From Noise to Knowledge, Executive Leadership Through Data Driven Insight"--scheduled for

• May 13 in Toronto and
• June 17 in Cincinnati.

We highlighted how the sessions will blend experiential learning, such as the Red Bead Experiment, with practical tools like process behavior charts to help leaders decode variation and improve decision-making. The conversation emphasized the Deming philosophy as a core framework, exploring how leadership behaviors and systemic practices directly impact team performance and overall organizational quality. We also noted the engaging social aspect of the workshops, mentioning optional outings to local MLB baseball games as an opportunity for continued dialogue.

The discussion then shifted to our personal journeys with continuous improvement, agile methodologies, and the evolution of leadership roles. Chris shared insights from his transition from software development to coaching senior management, focusing on moving beyond traditional, isolated team interventions toward a holistic, systems-oriented approach. We both underlined the need for leadership to embrace a mindset shift--recognizing that issues within teams often reflect broader organizational constraints. We also debated common pitfalls, such as misinterpreting data due to superficial analyses, and argued for using robust, statistical tools to establish meaningful insights, setting the stage for transformative change in management practices.

• How do Deming's principles transform executive leadership and team performance?
• What key insights does the Red Bead Experiment offer for practical improvement?
• In what ways do process behavior charts enhance decision-making in complex systems?
• How can agile methodologies and Deming's philosophy be integrated effectively?
• What systemic issues underlie team challenges, and how should leadership address them?
• How can statistical process control complement traditional metrics in agile environments?
• What strategies enable leaders to shift from reactive problem-solving to proactive system improvement?
• How do extrinsic incentives impact collaboration and quality within teams?
• What methods best embed systems thinking into agile practices?
• How can workshop formats foster lasting changes in leadership mindsets?

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guest for Episode #524 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is John Willis, an accomplished IT management expert with over 45 years of experience. His extensive body of work includes contributions to Deming's Journey to Profound Knowledge and co-authoring The DevOps Handbook.

See video, transcript, and more

Hosts a podcast that I was recently on, "Profound."

John focuses his current research on DevOps, DevSecOps, IT risk, modern governance, and audit compliance. Over the course of his career, he has sold companies to Docker and Dell, and he played a foundational role at Opscode (now Chef).

In addition, John founded Gulf Breeze Software, an award-winning IBM business partner recognized for its successful deployment of Tivoli technology for enterprise clients. He has authored six IBM Redbooks on enterprise systems management and served as the founder and chief architect of Chain Bridge Systems. Altogether, John has written more than 11 books and launched over 10 startups, cementing his reputation as a significant innovator in the IT industry.

In this episode, the discussion navigates the intersection of lean principles, agile methodologies, and Deming's philosophies as they apply to modern IT and operations. John delves into how systems thinking, profound knowledge, and psychological safety underpin effective incident management and cybersecurity practices. The conversation explores practical challenges and the proactive strategies necessary for integrating legacy improvement methods with today's cloud innovations and infrastructure as code.

Throughout the episode, John examines the real-world application of these timeless principles, offering listeners actionable insights into continuous improvement and risk management. He highlights the importance of questioning established norms and embracing complexity to drive operational excellence, providing a compelling roadmap for navigating the evolving digital landscape.

• Could you share your origin story regarding Lean and continuous improvement--specifically, what you learned during your early years at Exxon?
• How have you seen Deming's principle of eliminating fear put into practice in IT and entrepreneurial settings?
• Is the phenomenon you described established fact or more of a hypothesis?
• How can we confirm or measure the validity of that knowledge?
• Why do you consider cyber terrorism one of today's most significant threats?

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guest for Episode #523 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Mike Eisenberg. He's been a filmmaker since 2010 with his production company, Tall Tale Productions, after completing his B.A. in Journalism at Marietta College in Ohio.

Episode page with video, transcript, and more

Mike’s father, Dr. John Eisenberg, was a leader in national patient safety efforts as the director of the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ) until his passing in 2002. His legacy is prevalent throughout Mike’s presentation, as well as his approach.

His new documentary, released last September, is titled “The Pitch: Patient Safety's Next Generation.” 

He previously joined us in Episode #329, where we discussed his film "To Err is Human."

In 2006, Mike was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the MLB Draft and played 3 seasons of professional baseball before beginning his filmmaking career. He now speaks at hospitals, universities, and conferences, where his insight provides a new perspective on a problem that persists across the globe.

In today's episode, we explore the evolution of patient safety and the transformative role of technology in healthcare. The conversation dives into how innovations—from advanced command centers to cutting-edge virtual reality and AI applications—are redefining how hospitals prevent and respond to medical errors. The discussion challenges the conventional blame-and-shame approach and instead highlights the importance of building systems that foster trust and resilience among healthcare professionals and patients alike.

We also examine the nuances of integrating technology into complex healthcare environments, discussing how effective communication, standardized protocols, and smart design can work together to minimize human error. Drawing insightful parallels with industries like aviation, the episode offers a fresh perspective on the critical need for systemic improvements and the potential for new technological solutions to drive the next generation of patient safety.

• How is technology transforming patient safety in healthcare?
• What role do advanced command centers, virtual reality, and AI play in preventing medical errors?
• How can healthcare shift away from a blame-and-shame culture?
• What strategies build trust and resilience among healthcare professionals and patients?
• How do effective communication, standardized protocols, and smart design minimize human error?
• What lessons can be learned from the aviation industry regarding safety and error management?
• What challenges arise when integrating technology into complex healthcare environments?
• How can innovation drive the next generation of patient safety?

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guest for Episode #522 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Jacquie Maupin.

She joins the podcast to discuss her upcoming workshop at the Healthcare Systems Process Improvement Conference (HSPI) hosted by the Society for Health Systems. She and her co-presenter, Lauren Todd from HCA Healthcare, will lead a session titled "From Analysis to Action: Bridging the Gap with Effective Presentations" on February 19.

This interactive workshop is designed to help attendees sharpen their communication skills, structure data-driven narratives, and effectively engage executives and stakeholders. Whether you're attending this year or considering next year's event, this conversation offers valuable insights into the intersection of Lean, process improvement, and communication.

In this episode, we discuss how journalism and communication skills can enhance Lean and process improvement efforts. Jacquie shares how her background in journalism and military leadership shaped her approach to problem-solving, stakeholder engagement, and storytelling in the world of healthcare improvement. We explore the parallels between investigative reporting and Lean methodology—how asking the right questions, structuring information effectively, and communicating insights clearly can drive meaningful change.

We also dive into Jacquie's upcoming workshop, where she and her co-presenter, Lauren Todd, will guide attendees through strategies for tailoring presentations to different audiences, crafting compelling data-driven narratives, and influencing decision-making. Whether you're attending this year or looking for ways to elevate your communication skills in process improvement, this episode is packed with valuable lessons.

• Can you share your Lean origin story and career path?
• How did your background in journalism and the military shape your approach to process improvement?
• What sparked your interest in healthcare and led you to Georgetown University Hospital?
• What were some of the most impactful projects you worked on at Georgetown?
• How does process mapping help break down silos and improve collaboration?
• What journalism skills translate well to process improvement and Lean work?
• How do you approach communicating with executives to ensure your message is understood?
• What challenges have you faced in presenting Lean concepts to different audiences?
• How can process improvement teams better tell their success stories and demonstrate value?
• What insights will attendees gain from your upcoming workshop at the Healthcare Systems Process Improvement Conference?

https://www.leanblog.org/2022/12/gemba-claus-comin-town-song/ 

Lyrics by Mark Graban Performance by Steve Sholtes

Oh, you'd better watch out You'd better kaizen You'd better not pout, I'm tellin' ya then Gemba Claus is comin' to town

He's making a list Just checking it once Doin' it twice would waste a whole bunch Gemba Clause is comin' to town

He sees you when you're waitin' He knows when your work flows He knows if changeovers are too long So do SMED  for goodness sake

Oh, you'd watch out You'd better not pause You'd better not pout Find the real root cause Gemba Claus is comin' to Town!

For voiceover work, music, or more, you can contact Steve via his website, www.stevesholtes.com.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Welcome to this bonus session of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast, originally recorded as a LinkedIn Live event! In this conversation, I partnered with Rebecca Michalik from AME Australia to discuss my upcoming workshops in Australia and New Zealand in March 2025.

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We’ll dive into key themes like psychological safety as a foundation for continuous improvement and how to make smarter use of performance metrics through process behavior charts. Even if you’re outside Australia or New Zealand, the principles and practical examples we discuss have universal applications for leaders and organizations worldwide.

If you're interested in learning more about the workshops, click here.

• What is the purpose of the AME Australia roadshow, and what will attendees gain from it?
• Why is psychological safety critical for Lean and continuous improvement?
• How can leaders create an environment where employees feel safe to speak up?
• What are process behavior charts, and why are they a better way to understand performance metrics?
• Can you share examples of organizations that have successfully applied these principles?
• What are some actionable steps attendees can implement immediately after the workshops?
• Why is in-person learning particularly valuable for these topics?
• How do you see these topics applying universally, regardless of industry or location?
• What lessons have you learned in your career that you think every leader should know?
• What would you say to someone who’s on the fence about attending?

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it's been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guest for Episode #521 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is  José R. Ferro, PhD, a Senior Advisor with the Lean Enterprise Institute and the Founder and President, Lean Institute Brasil.

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By founding Lean Institute Brasil in 1999 to disseminate the principles and practices of lean thinking to Brazilian companies, Ferro helped catalyze a global movement to establish lean institutes in other countries, which ultimately grew into the Lean Global Network, chartered in 2007.

In the late eighties, he was a visiting scholar in MIT’s International Motor Vehicle Research Program (IMVP), which introduced the term “lean” to describe Toyota’s revolutionary management system.

Ferro received PhD and master’s degrees in business administration, Getulio Vargas Foundation, and production engineering from the University of São Paulo in São Carlos.

His new book, Daily Management to Execute Strategy: Solving problems and developing people every day, is available now.

In today's episode, José will share practical insights on how to integrate daily management with strategy, the critical role of psychological safety in fostering problem-solving and improvement, and lessons learned from decades of leadership and Lean practice.

So, stay tuned for an engaging conversation about Lean, leadership, and creating cultures that thrive on continuous learning and improvement!

• José's Lean Origin Story: How did you first encounter Toyota-related practices, even before the term “Lean” was coined?
• Initial Impressions: What was your perspective on Lean’s balance between efficiency and a humane approach in its early days?
• Brazil’s Lean Journey: How did the opening of markets in the 1990s influence Lean adoption in Brazil across industries?
• Daily Management Framework: How do you define daily management, and what are its key elements?
• Challenges of Implementation: Why is there often a gap between technical Lean tools and the social aspects like leadership and problem-solving?
• The Book’s Framework: Can you explain the three foundational blocks of daily management from your book?
• Leadership's Role: What’s the leader’s role in connecting strategy to daily execution?
• Psychological Safety: Why is psychological safety so foundational, and how does it coexist with challenging environments?
• Problem-Solving Integration: How can organizations better connect daily huddles with deeper problem-solving efforts?
• Examples in Practice: Can you share real-world examples of organizations successfully applying your daily management framework?
• Future Vision: Where do you see opportunities for Lean to grow in Brazil or globally, especially in non-traditional sectors?

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it's been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guest for Episode #520 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Bill Remy, CEO of TBM Consulting. 

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Bill is both an accomplished business executive and leader who is frequently called upon for his credible voice, honesty, and pragmatism — and for his ability to leverage operational excellence and continuous improvement for long-term profitable growth. 

As former president of Thayer Aerospace, Bill doubled revenue in six years, expanded into Mexico, improved profitability, and increased inventory turns. He integrated the supply chain into a web-based pull system, consolidated divisions, and implemented an ERP system. 

Earlier in his career, Bill held progressively responsible roles in operations, including Vice President of Continuous Improvement at Invensys, Vice President of Operations at Learjet/Bombardier, Production Manager at Lockheed Arizona Missile Facility, and Materials Manager at Allied-Signal Aerospace.

Bill holds both a Master of Science and Bachelor of Science degrees in Industrial Engineering from Oklahoma State University. He serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors for Pancon Corporation and on the Oklahoma State University /deans Advisory Board for the College of Engineering. He has over 25 years of leadership experience in general management and manufacturing operations.

In this episode, we discuss the transformative power of Lean leadership and operational excellence. Bill shares insights from his extensive career, including how he first encountered Lean principles at Allied Signal and the dramatic improvements achieved through lead time reduction and flow.

We explore the critical role of communication and employee involvement in overcoming resistance to change, the deep connection between safety and quality, and the importance of leadership in both driving transformation and sustaining long-term improvement.

Bill outlines TBM’s four-phase framework for turning around operations, emphasizing the need for a holistic evaluation of people, processes, and performance metrics. Finally, we reflect on how organizations can leverage Lean as a strategic advantage to drive growth and profitability while fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

• What’s your Lean origin story? How did you first learn about Lean, and what drew you to it?
• Can you describe the initial transformation you led at Allied Signal, focusing on lead time reduction and flow?
• How did you address resistance to change when implementing the model line at Allied Signal?
• How did you ensure communication and involvement during that transformation?
• Can you elaborate on the connection between safety and quality and how improving one supports the other?
• How do you help leaders recognize that safety performance can improve significantly, even if zero injuries seems aspirational?
• Have you seen Lean improve relationships between management and employees, especially where trust was broken?
• What have you learned over time about the cultural and technical aspects of standard work?
• How do you balance moving toward one-piece flow without overwhelming a system that isn’t ready for it yet?
• How do you distinguish between a one-off performance issue and a sign of deeper trouble? How do you address it?
• What qualities or mindsets do leaders need to lead both Lean transformations and long-term sustainment?
• What’s the difference between leaders who are effective in transitions versus those who excel in sustaining improvement?
• How does TBM Consulting evaluate the state of a plant during a turnaround? What does the assessment process involve?
• Can you outline the four phases of turning around operations and share an example of how this approach was applied?
• How do you prioritize improvement work when constrained by resources, like capex or time?
• What warning signs indicate a plant is in trouble, and how do you help organizations prevent further decline?
• How does TBM Consulting differentiate itself in helping businesses use operational excellence as a strategic advantage?
• What insights have you gained about Lean from your career as both a practitioner and a consultant?
• What’s the origin story of TBM Consulting, and how has its focus evolved over time?
• How do you integrate leadership development into Lean practices for long-term success?

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it's been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guest for Episode #519 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Jarvis Gray, the Managing Director of The Quality Coaching Co. He offers more than 16 years of strategic planning, quality improvement, and operations leadership experience in the healthcare industry. 

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Through his firm, The Quality Coaching Co., Jarvis and his associates help healthcare organizations foster cultures of system-wide quality improvement by offering customized Lean Six Sigma coaching, training, and certification programs centered on improving the quality of their care delivery services and health outcomes, eliminating waste and achieving cost reductions, and enhancing the patient experience.

He's the host of the Excellence in Healthcare podcast (where I have been a guest). His new book is MASTERING HEALTHCARE EXCELLENCE: A Leader’s Guide to Getting World-Class Results by Aligning People, Priorities, and Processes.

In this episode, we explored how to build a sustainable culture of excellence in healthcare by aligning people, priorities, and processes. We discussed the importance of integrating Lean Six Sigma principles with data-driven decision-making to improve patient outcomes and streamline operations.

Jarvis shared insights on establishing frameworks for healthcare excellence, including data cataloging and dashboarding, to track and leverage key metrics. We also delved into the evolving roles within healthcare quality improvement, the lessons learned from working closely with healthcare professionals, and the unique challenges of managing patient-centered processes. Lastly, we touched on his experience as a business owner, applying continuous improvement to his own consulting practice and the value of disciplined operations in achieving long-term success.

• What’s your origin story with quality, Lean Six Sigma, and healthcare?
• How did Florida Power & Light's quality culture and Deming Award influence your approach?
• What’s changed in the role of “management engineer” in healthcare since you entered the field?
• When did you start the Quality Coaching Company, and what led to that decision?
• What’s the central message or goal of your new book, Mastering Healthcare Excellence?
• How do you use data in healthcare to achieve excellence, and what tools do you recommend?
• What’s the healthcare excellence business model you promote in the book?
• Can safety or quality serve as a competitive advantage in healthcare? Any examples?
• What key lessons have you learned from healthcare professionals as an engineer?
• Do you have an example of aligning people, priorities, and processes effectively in healthcare?
• What improvements have you made in your own business from lessons learned in coaching?
• For consultants and coaches, what small business coaching insights have helped you?

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it's been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guest for Episode #518 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Jerry Wright, author of the new book The Insanity Trap: What Your MRP Consultant Won't Tell You.

Jerry M. Wright, PE, MBA, is an accomplished operations executive and teaching professional with over 39 years of experience in the manufacturing and service sectors. 

His extensive career spans various industries, including aerospace, consumer goods, healthcare, medical devices, diagnostics, and industrial sectors, where he has held leadership roles in engineering, operations, quality assurance, and operational excellence (OpEx). 

He is an expert on taking businesses from MRP "insanity" to Pull Systems (Kanban) and driving operational excellence through the implementation of Toyota Production Systems (TPS/Lean) tools and methods.

He's a Master Black Belt and only the 7th person in the world to receive the Lean Gold Certification (LGC) from the joint alliance of ASQ, AME, SME, and the Shingo Institute.

In this episode, Jerry shares his insights and hard-earned lessons about the pitfalls and inefficiencies of Material Requirements Planning (MRP). Jerry reflects on his career, starting with his early Lean experiences at Kimberly Clark, where he encountered the challenges of forecasting, production scheduling, and the recurring "insanity trap" of MRP. He discusses the implementation of Kanban systems, the impact on inventory management, and how turning off MRP systems helped teams dramatically reduce shortages and excess inventory.

Through real-life examples, Jerry illustrates how companies can shift from traditional MRP-driven processes to more effective demand-driven and Kanban-based systems, leading to operational improvements, better employee engagement, and more reliable supply chains. The episode also touches on the psychology of change management, navigating the resistance from those invested in outdated systems, and how leadership can foster a more adaptive, efficient environment by embracing simplicity over complexity.

• What is your Lean origin story?
• Were your parents open to Kaizen opportunities or suggestions from you as a child?
• Was your first introduction to the "insanity trap" of MRP at Kimberly Clark?
• Can you describe the challenges of dealing with MRP at Kimberly Clark?
• What was Bill Holbrook's role when he suggested unplugging the MRP?
• How did your team transition from MRP to Kanban, and what were the results?
• Can you explain the issues with relying on forecasts and lead times in MRP systems?
• What do you think about demand-driven MRP as an alternative?
• Why do you think demand-driven MRP isn't more widely adopted?
• How do you balance the risk of excess inventory versus lost sales?
• How did Dell handle material constraints and lead time reduction when you were there?
• How does Toyota manage its supply chain and production planning without relying heavily on MRP?
• Can you talk about how Toyota's system recovers quickly from supply chain disruptions?
• What was the origin of your book The Insanity Trap?
• How can leaders and companies overcome the psychological barriers to changing their supply chain systems?
• How do you help employees transition from roles like expediting to managing Kanban systems?
• What are your thoughts on the promise of AI in demand forecasting and supply chain management?
• Who is the target audience for your book?
• What are your thoughts on supply chain planning versus execution in lean environments?

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it's been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guest for this bonus episode of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Bruce Hamilton, who is joining me on the show for the first time. Bruce is a renowned figure in the Lean world, serving as the President of GBMP Consulting Group and Director Emeritus for the Shingo Institute.

As a senior examiner and certified workshop facilitator for the Shingo Prize, Bruce brings a wealth of knowledge and experience. He is also a past recipient of the Shingo Prize in both business and academic categories and has been inducted into both the Shingo Academy and the AME Manufacturing Hall of Fame.

During our conversation, Bruce reflects on two major milestones: the 25th anniversary of the now-classic "Toast Kaizen" video and the 20th year of GBMP's Northeast Lean Conference. He shares the humble beginnings of "Toast Kaizen," filmed in his kitchen with the help of his two-month-old son, and its unexpected success. We also discuss the evolution of the Northeast Lean Conference, from its modest start to an event that now attracts Lean thinkers from across the country. Bruce talks about the upcoming conference theme, “Leveraging Lean to Thrive,” and how Lean principles can help organizations overcome uncertainty, especially in today’s challenging times.

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it's been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guest for Episode #517 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Jacob Stoller, a journalist, speaker, facilitator, and Shingo-Prize-winning author of The Lean CEO. We talked about that in Episode 221.

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His latest book, Productivity Reimagined: Shattering Performance Myths to Achieve Sustainable Growth, was just released by Wiley on October 8th, 2024. 

Jacob has published hundreds of articles on technology and business management methods, and is known for demystifying complex topics for general business audiences. Jacob has delivered a variety of keynote speeches and learning events workshops in Canada, Europe, and the US, and authored reports, created training materials, and strategic corporate documents for clients such as Microsoft, Dell Computer, Staples, Pitney Bowes, International Data Corporation (IDC), CMA Canada, and the Conference Board of Canada.

In this episode, the discussion focuses on debunking common myths about productivity and exploring how sustainable growth can be achieved by improving operational efficiency without sacrificing quality. Jacob emphasizes the importance of lean thinking and continuous improvement, noting that productivity gains should come from enhancing processes, not just relying on technology or financial measures. We also highlight the critical role of people and culture in driving lasting improvements and discuss how true productivity involves creating more value with the same or fewer resources, aligning with lean principles.

• What have you been up to since The Lean CEO?
• If you were to do a new edition of The Lean CEO, what would you add?
• How do you define productivity?
• What are productivity myths, and how are they affecting organizations?
• What are some examples of productivity gaps you've observed in industries like manufacturing?
• What misconceptions exist about improving productivity with lean methodologies?
• How important is the people side of lean, and how does it impact productivity?
• What strategies have you found most effective for real employee engagement?
• What are the pitfalls or misconceptions around leveraging technology for productivity gains?
• Can you share examples of companies successfully using lean thinking to improve productivity?
• What are some success stories or inspiring examples of organizations improving productivity outside traditional lean environments?

• Productivity myths and misconceptions
• The relationship between productivity, quality, and resource efficiency
• The importance of the people-first approach in lean
• Challenges in sustaining lean improvements
• The role of technology and automation in productivity
• Leadership's role in driving cultural change and continuous improvement
• The evolving landscape of productivity in various sectors, including manufacturing, healthcare, and sustainability.

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it's been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

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• The Origins of the Lean Global Connection Event: Roberto explains how the event began during the pandemic as a way to connect Lean practitioners worldwide when in-person gatherings were impossible. Now in its fourth year, the event continues to thrive, attracting speakers and attendees from over 120 countries.
• What to Expect at the 2024 Event: This year’s theme, “Developing Adaptiveness in a Changing World,” addresses how Lean can help organizations navigate complex challenges like supply chain disruptions, geopolitical issues, and emerging technologies like AI. The event will feature nearly 100 presentations, spanning 24 hours, with thought leaders sharing real-world case studies, insights, and best practices.
• Speakers and Presentations: Mark and Roberto highlight key speakers such as Art Byrne, Jim Womack, John Shook, and many others from around the world. The event will also include external voices to help contextualize Lean’s relevance in a broader geopolitical and business landscape.
• Psychological Safety in Lean: Mark shares details about his presentation, which will focus on psychological safety as a foundation for continuous improvement. He will explore how creating environments where employees feel safe to speak up about problems and ideas is crucial for effective Kaizen and strategy deployment.
• The Lean Social Side: Roberto emphasizes the importance of the "social side" of Lean, which often gets overlooked in favor of technical tools. He stresses the need for reinforcing this message continually within the Lean community to ensure organizations foster environments that prioritize human interaction and psychological safety.

• The Event Format: The Lean Global Connection is designed as a global festival of Lean thinking, running for 24 hours straight, with two stages running simultaneously. Attendees can join at any time and catch up later with recorded sessions available on the Lean Global Network YouTube channel.
• Roberto’s Lean Journey: Roberto shares his journey from studying journalism in London to becoming a central figure in the Lean community, managing Planet Lean and contributing to the Lean Global Network’s mission of spreading Lean thinking.

Register for the free Lean Global Connection event here. Mark your calendar for November 21st and 22nd, and be sure to check out previous years’ presentations on the Lean Global Network YouTube channel for a taste of what’s to come.

• Planet Lean website: Link to Planet Lean
• Lean Global Network YouTube channel: Link to YouTube Channel
• Event Registration: Link to Event Page

Tune in for this exciting conversation with Roberto Priolo to learn more about how the Lean Global Connection continues to bring the world’s Lean community together and what to expect in this year’s event.

My guest for Episode #516 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Jenn Christison, founder and principal consultant at Seven Ways Consulting.

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Jenn has spent more than 15 years leading continuous improvement efforts across a variety of industries, including aerospace manufacturing, healthcare, non-profit, pharma, and tech. Guided by the principles of Respect for People and Continuous Improvement, Jenn brings a wealth of experience to her work, helping organizations achieve meaningful transformation.

Jenn’s journey began with a desire to change the world as a teacher, social worker, or stand-up comedian. discovered my biggest impact could be made leading organizational transformation.

Jenn is also the author of the new book Even Better Leadership: Provocative Reflections to Guide Improvement and continues to embrace her stand-up comedy roots — if you know where to look. We’re thrilled to have her on the show today to share her insights and experiences.

In this episode, Jenn shares her journey from aerospace and defense at Boeing to leading Lean and continuous improvement efforts in healthcare and beyond. We discuss Jenn's Lean origin story, how her early experiences as a teacher, social worker, and stand-up comedian influenced her approach to leadership and transformation, and the lessons she’s learned from working in various industries. Jenn also talks about her new book, Even Better Leadership: Provocative Reflections to Guide Improvement, and the iterative process behind its creation. Additionally, we explore the challenges of applying Lean in healthcare and the importance of prioritizing quality and respect for people in organizational improvement.

• Can you tell us your Lean origin story?
• How do lessons from being a teacher, social worker, and stand-up comedian shape your approach to transformation?
• What inspired you to write your new book, Even Better Leadership?
• How did you transition from aerospace to healthcare, and what sparked your interest in that shift?
• What are your thoughts on Boeing’s recent struggles, especially on the commercial side?
• What were some challenges and surprises you encountered when applying Lean in healthcare?
• Can you share a favorite example of a successful Lean improvement at Seattle Children’s?
• What led you to start your consulting firm, Seven Ways Consulting, and how does being an external consultant differ from working internally?
• What is the meaning behind the name 'Seven Ways Consulting'?
• What was the iterative process like for developing your book?

What insights did you gain from working in various industries that you apply to leadership and improvement today?

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it's been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guest for Episode #515 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Jim Morgan, senior advisor at Lean Enterprise Institute and a board member at Adrian Steel. Jim’s most recent industry experience was as Chief Operating Officer at Rivian, an electric vehicle manufacturer.

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He was previously a guest in Episode 109 back in 2011.

Before joining Rivian, Jim spent a little over ten years at Ford Motor Company. He began by leading the development of the Global Product Development System (GPDS). 

He then served the last nine years as Director of Global Body and SBU Engineering and Tooling operations, where he and his team contributed to the company’s historic, product-led revitalization under then-CEO Alan Mulally.   

Prior to Ford, Jim served as Vice President of Operations at Troy Design and Manufacturing (TDM), a tier-one global automotive supplier of engineering services, prototype tools, and low to medium-volume production parts and subassemblies. 

Jim holds a Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of Michigan, where his original research into Product Development won two Shingo Prizes for Research Excellence. In addition, he co-authored (with Professor Jeffrey Liker) the award-winning books The Toyota Product Development System (2006) and Designing the Future (2018). 

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We’ll dive into his incredible journey, from his time at Ford, where he led the development of their global product system, to his work at Rivian, helping to shape the future of electric vehicles. Jim shares valuable lessons learned along the way, especially around integrating lean principles into product and process development. We also talk about how embracing risk and learning from mistakes can fuel innovation.

• Lean Origin Story: What’s your lean origin story, and how did you get introduced to lean thinking?
• Product Development vs. Production: Can you explain the difference between product development and production systems?
• Rivian Involvement: How and when did you get involved with Rivian, and what drew you to the company?
• Challenges at Rivian: What were the major challenges and opportunities as Rivian evolved from concept to production?
• Recruiting for Rivian: How did you recruit talent for Rivian, and what was the mix of automotive and non-automotive experience?
• Rivian’s Product Strategy: How did Rivian’s product strategy differ from other electric vehicle manufacturers like Tesla?
• Culture Development: How did Rivian focus on building its own culture and operating system from the ground up?
• Learning from Mistakes: How did Rivian’s culture embrace learning from mistakes, and how was that risk tolerance cultivated?
• Ford and Alan Mulally’s Leadership: How did Alan Mulally’s leadership at Ford influence your thinking on surfacing and solving problems?
• Board Involvement: What has your experience been like as a board member at Adrian Steel, and how does it differ from your previous roles?
• LEI Learning Groups: Can you tell us about the LEI Product and Process Development Learning Group and how companies collaborate and learn together?
• Designing the Future: What’s the central message of your book Designing the Future, and who is the target audience?
• Agile and Lean Integration: How are you integrating agile and lean practices, especially in product and software development?

• Jim’s introduction to lean via The Machine That Changed the World.
• Differences between lean product development and lean production systems.
• Jim’s role at Rivian and the company’s approach to electric vehicle manufacturing.
• Rivian’s unique culture and the importance of building the “Rivian Way.”
• Challenges in launching new vehicles and managing diverse teams.
• Importance of learning from failure and embracing risk at Rivian.
• Lessons from Alan Mulally’s leadership style at Ford.
• Jim’s board experience at Adrian Steel and how it differs from operational leadership.
• Collaborative learning through LEI’s Product and Process Development Learning Group.
• The integration of agile and lean principles for better hardware-software development alignment.

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it's been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guest for Episode #514 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Hugh Alley, an author and consultant. He divides his time between coaching senior operational leaders in continuous improvement, training front-line leaders in core supervisory skills, and designing industrial facilities. 

An industrial engineer, he has run three manufacturing and distribution firms, and a department in a government agency, teaching skills to over 1,000 front-line leaders. 

He has written two books: Becoming the Supervisor: Achieving Your Company's Mission and Building Your Team, and The TWI Memory Jogger.

He frequently speaks about supervision, quality, lean manufacturing, and Toyota Kata. From his home near Vancouver, Canada, he helps clients across North America.

In today's episode, we explore the power of TWI (Training Within Industry), its impact on building trust and improving workplace culture, and stories of real-world applications in manufacturing and sports. From reducing cycle times to fostering better leadership, this episode covers key lessons in Lean methodology. Tune in to hear about Hugh's Lean origin story and his experiences in applying Lean principles across various industries. Don't miss out on a thoughtful discussion that blends Lean, leadership, and even hockey!

• What kind of government agency did you work for?
• How did you reduce lead times for occupational disease claims?
• What is your lean origin story? Where, when, and why were you introduced to lean?
• Was the word "Kaizen" used in your early lean experiences?
• Is job relations typically the starting point in TWI, or does it depend on the culture?
• What parallels do you see between sports coaching and leadership in the workplace?
• How can you tell if a workplace problem is due to tactics, teamwork, or culture?
• What role does continuous improvement play in sports teams' success, and can it happen game to game?
• How do you see the role of fear in leadership and coaching, and what impact does removing a "bully" leader have on a team?
• How can job instruction and job relations contribute to better workplace culture and performance?
• How do you approach the challenge of hiring the right people and fitting them into a lean system?
• How did TWI help one of your clients shorten training times and reduce bad product?
• What opportunities do you see for companies to create "practice days" similar to sports teams?
• How do you convince leaders to care about improving their supervisors' skills?
• What role does a coach or leader play in creating the right context for their team to succeed?
• What do you think makes a great player transition into a great coach?
• How do you use the TWI model to break down jobs and help people learn faster?
• What's your take on benchmarking against others in the industry?
• How did you help reduce patient waiting times in a medical lab by aligning priorities?
• Was Wayne Gretzky's coaching career unsuccessful, or did he just pick the wrong job?
• How do you translate great skills into effective coaching, and how does TWI help with that?

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it's been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

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Stephen Dargan

A diverse and inclusive, customer-centric, driven transformational leader with 20+ years of leadership experience spanning Australia and Europe. Stephen is a Shingo Institute Alumni, Shingo Facilitator and Examiner. He is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.

Brad Jeavons

Brad Jeavons is a senior leadership coach focused on helping improve themselves and their organisations to create a better future economically, socially and environmentally for future generations. He is host of the Enterprise Excellence Podcast and Community and author of the book Agile Sales: Delivering Customer Journeys of Value and Delight. Brad was a guest back in episode 416, June 2021.

In this episode, Brade and Steve share insights into the key concepts of adaptive leadership, including the importance of understanding individual team members, cultivating psychological safety, and the five essential leadership hats: Inspire, Train, Support, Coach, and Direct. Brad and Stephen also discuss real-life applications, the significance of leadership shadow, and the critical role of serving the growth of others to drive organizational excellence.

• What are some factors contributing to low employee engagement?
• Can you elaborate on the concept of the leadership shadow and its impact?
• What behaviors help cultivate psychological safety and engagement?
• What does it mean to be a leader who serves, and why is it important?
• How can leaders develop the ability to be adaptive or situational?
• What are the five hats referenced in the subtitle of your book?
• Why is controlling emotions crucial for leaders, and how can they improve this skill?

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it's been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guests for Episode #512 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast are Steve Pereira and Andrew Davis, authors of the new book Flow Engineering: From Value Stream Mapping to Effective Action.

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Steve Pereira has spent over two decades improving workflow across various organizations. His experience spans tech support, IT management, platform and infrastructure engineering, product management, and serving as a founding CTO for an enterprise SaaS company. Currently, he is the CEO of Visible Consulting, COO of the Value Stream Management Consortium, and co-founder of the Flow Collective.

Andrew Davis is the Chief Product Officer at AutoRABIT and the author of "Mastering Salesforce DevOps." With a background as a Salesforce architect, developer, and product leader, Andrew focuses on the human side of software development. He spent 15 years as a Buddhist monk, teaching meditation and personal transformation, and now studies the intersection of business, technology, and psychology through systems thinking.

In this episode, we discuss the principles of flow engineering, the importance of psychological safety in process improvement, and their experiences in writing the book. We also dive into their personal journeys, inspirations from industry giants like Deming and Goldratt, and the challenges and lessons learned in collaborative work. Stay tuned for a deep, insightful conversation on enhancing workflows and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

• Can you discuss the relationship between making mistakes and learning from a Buddhist perspective, Andrew?
• Why do you resonate with figures like Deming, Goldratt, and Ackoff in your improvement work, Steve?
• How did you two end up collaborating on the book?
• Did you apply flow engineering concepts to the development and writing of the book together?
• How did the process of writing the book evolve over time?
• What lessons did you learn about collaboration and flow from writing this book?
• How does psychological safety impact value stream mapping and flow engineering?
• How do you involve workers in process design to avoid negative perceptions of imposed processes?
• What challenges did you face in maintaining a regular cadence of work while writing the book?

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it's been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

Paul Critchley, a seasoned Lean consultant, shares his background, detailing his journey from a mechanical engineer in the automotive industry to his current role as a Lean practitioner and consultant. He highlights his experiences working with Toyota and Pratt & Whitney, emphasizing the practical application of Lean principles in various industries, including aerospace.

Summit info: https://newenglandleanconsulting.com/summit/ 

The conversation then shifts to Paul's upcoming event, the New England Lean Summit, scheduled for September 12-13, 2024, in Cromwell, Connecticut. Paul discusses the summit's agenda, which includes workshops, sessions, and a Lean Happy Hour. He expresses his excitement about bringing together Lean professionals from diverse industries to foster learning and networking in a fun and engaging environment.

Paul also introduces the New England Lean Collaborative, a member-based organization aimed at building a community of Lean practitioners in the New England region. He explains the collaborative's activities, such as book clubs, site tours, and resource sharing, designed to facilitate continuous learning and improvement.

The collaborative: https://newenglandleanconsulting.com/the-nelc/ 

The episode wraps up with Mark and Paul addressing a viewer's question about implementing Lean practices in small companies with limited resources. Paul advises starting small, focusing on incremental improvements, and maintaining momentum through continuous, manageable changes.

Throughout the episode, Paul emphasizes the importance of creating a psychologically safe environment for learning and experimenting with Lean practices, highlighting the benefits of fun and engagement in the process. The episode concludes with a reminder of the event details and an invitation for listeners to join the New England Lean Summit and Collaborative.

00:01:24: Guest Introduction - Paul Critchley

00:03:00: Paul's Career Background

00:03:39: Discussion on Practicing Lean - https://practicinglean.com/

00:05:02: New Projects and Endeavors

00:05:29: New England Lean Summit Introduction

00:06:08: Details about the New England Lean Summit

00:07:04: Summit Logistics and Activities

00:09:02: Lean Happy Hour Concept

00:10:00: Hope for Future Annual Events

00:10:19: Overview of the New England Lean Collaborative

00:11:00: Functioning of the Collaborative

00:11:42: Membership Benefits and Activities

00:12:48: Discussion about Industry Participation

00:14:23: Lean Tools and Concepts

00:15:23: Connection with Bob Rush and Workshop Details

00:16:36: Fun Activities Planned for the Summit

00:17:01: Emphasizing fun and networking at the summit

00:17:39: Lessons from Pascal Dennis at Toyota

00:18:31: Incorporating a DJ at the conference

00:19:48: Creating a relaxed and engaging atmosphere

00:21:02: Unique conference experiences

00:22:00: Opportunities for

My guest for Episode #511 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Sam Yankelevitch, a distinguished global operations executive who has dedicated his career to advancing Lean principles, effective communication, and innovative problem-solving. Sam's journey began with managing international projects and optimizing processes in various industries. His expertise and passion for continuous improvement have made him a sought-after speaker, workshop trainer, and corporate coach.

Episode page with video, transcript, and more

Sam is one of the speakers and facilitators at the upcoming Global Lean Summit Event, being held in Indiana this September.

Since 2014, Sam has leveraged his vast knowledge by producing popular online courses that have reached over 500,000 students worldwide. His contributions to LinkedIn Learning include highly-regarded courses such as "Root Cause Analysis" and "Improve Communication Using Lean Thinking." Sam's ability to distill complex concepts into actionable insights has earned him a dedicated following among professionals seeking to enhance their skills.

In addition to his educational endeavors, Sam recently ventured into fiction writing with his debut book, An Interview with Failure. This unique narrative explores the lessons learned from setbacks and the value of embracing failure as a stepping stone to success.

Before establishing himself as an influential educator and author, Sam held several key positions, including Vice President and General Manager at a German-based automotive supplier and President and CEO of Ideace, Inc., an international manufacturer and exporter. His diverse background and hands-on experience provide a rich foundation for his teachings.

Sam holds an Industrial Engineering degree and an Executive Master's in Financial Management, further solidifying his expertise in operational excellence and strategic leadership.

In this episode, we discuss the pivotal role that effective communication plays within the framework of lean thinking. We also explore how clear, concise, and consistent communication can significantly enhance problem-solving capabilities, streamline processes, and foster a culture of continuous improvement. Sam shares his insights on the common communication pitfalls that organizations face and offers practical solutions to overcome these challenges using lean methodologies.

Additionally, we preview Sam's upcoming workshop at the Global Lean Summit, where he will be leading a session on lean communication. This workshop aims to equip participants with hands-on tools and techniques to improve communication within their organizations. Attendees will learn how to adapt lean principles to enhance clarity, reduce misunderstandings, and ensure that everyone in the organization is on the same page, thereby driving better results and fostering a more collaborative work environment.

• Tell us about the workshop you're doing at the Global Lean Summit.
• What are some core communication problems that Lean thinking addresses?
• Can you explain the concept of operational definitions from Dr. Deming?
• How can Lean methods improve communication in an organization?
• What's your lean origin story?
• How did your international experience influence your Lean approach?
• What were some challenges you faced when implementing Lean in the automotive industry?
• What advice would you give to someone leading a Lean transformation?
• How do you reframe failure as a learning opportunity?
• Can you tell us about your book, "An Interview with Failure"?
• How do you build trust in a coaching relationship?
• What's the importance of commitment conversations in leadership?
• How do you handle the word "accountability" in a positive way?
• How does communication serve as a precondition to quality?
• What can leaders do to improve their communication skills on the shop floor?
• What are the benefits of standard work and 5S in a high-mix, low-volume environment?
• How can Lean tools like Smed and Andon be applied to communication processes?
• What lessons have you learned about leading and motivating people throughout your career?

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it's been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guest for Episode #510 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Karen Martin, Founder and CEO of TKMG and TKMG Academy, appearing for the fifth time.

Episode page with video, transcript, and more

She is the author of books including The Outstanding Organization, Clarity First, and Value Stream Mapping.

In this episode, we discuss mistake-proofing in lean practices, exploring its significance in various industries. The conversation begins with a light-hearted discussion about the "five-timers club" and Mark's "ZERO hat" from the Patient Safety Movement Foundation, which symbolizes the goal of zero harm in healthcare.

Karen shares her extensive background in quality improvement and lean management systems, emphasizing the importance of building quality at the source. Drawing on the teachings of Dr. W. Edwards Deming and the Toyota Production System, Karen and Mark discuss the psychological impact of striving for zero harm, debating whether it is an inspiring goal or potentially demotivating.

The episode also explores real-world examples of organizations achieving zero harm and the cultural shifts required to reduce errors. Karen introduces the TKMG Academy and its comprehensive courses designed to enhance lean practices, including the new mistake-proofing course co-developed with Mark. Her passion for quality improvement and continuous learning shines through, offering listeners valuable insights into achieving operational excellence.

• Why is quality such a passion for you?
• Why did you want to add the mistake-proofing course to the TKMG Academy catalog?
• What are some common barriers to achieving zero harm in healthcare?
• How do you differentiate between mistakes and errors?
• How do you handle situations where the work system isn't at fault, but the individual continues to make mistakes?
• Can you tell us more about the "slow work" movement?
• What are your thoughts on final inspection versus quality at the source?
• How do you address the challenge of maintaining standards in training and process design?
• Could you elaborate on the spectrum of mistake-proofing from 100% prevention to error reduction?
• How does the TKMG Academy help organizations with continuous improvement?

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it's been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

I'll be there to network and learn, which includes time visiting a Toyota Material Handling factory (an entire day!)

I'll be speaking and facilitating:

• A workshop on Psychological Safety as a Foundation for continuous improvement
• A learning session featuring Dr. Deming's “Red Bead Game“
• A fun keynote talk on warning signs and mistake-proofing

Learn more and register

Here's a 13-minute conversation that I had with Jared about the event.

My guest for Episode #509 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Ankit Patel, the founder of My Business Care Team, a BPO company providing services for optometrists, and co-founder with his wife Classic Vision Care, an optometry group in Atlanta.

Episode page with transcript and more

With a strong background in Lean methodology, Ankit has worked as a Lean consultant at Dell and the Cleveland Clinic, driving process improvements and coaching executives. 

He holds a Master's degree in Positive Organizational Development and a Bachelor's in Industrial Engineering. 

Recognizing talent acquisition challenges, Ankit partnered with a Filipino team to source skilled, cost-effective staff for various business functions. He now leverages AI for hiring and automation to optimize his optometry practice and BPO services, applying Lean principles to drive efficiency and growth.

In this episode, Ankit shares insights from his journey, starting as a lean consultant at Dell and the Cleveland Clinic, and transitioning into optometry, where he focuses on building patient relationships and enhancing processes through lean principles and AI technology.

Mark and Ankit discuss the challenges and opportunities of integrating AI in business processes, the importance of positive organizational development, and how appreciative inquiry can drive team alignment and engagement. Ankit also highlights the role of the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) in managing small businesses and improving training and development with AI tools, offering valuable lessons for anyone interested in continuous improvement and innovative approaches in healthcare and beyond.

• What is positive organizational development, and how did you come to study it?
• How did your experience at Cleveland Clinic influence your involvement in your current business?
• How do you balance focusing on optometry with the potential to expand into other medical practices?
• How do you prioritize where to use AI in your processes without falling into the trap of using it because it's trendy?
• Can you share an example of improving a process before thinking about automating it with AI?
• How rapidly is AI technology advancing, and how does that impact your ability to adjust its use in your business?
• How do you see AI tools facilitating faster PDCA or PDSA cycles in continuous improvement practices?
• What led you to the positive psychology approach, and how does it differ from traditional organizational development?
• How do you apply appreciative inquiry in your work, and what impact does it have on team alignment and engagement?
• Can you discuss the origin and growth of your new business involving AI and BPO for optometry?
• What role does EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) play in managing your business?
• How do you evaluate the effectiveness of training and development using AI tools?
• How do you communicate your practice's focus on building patient relationships in your marketing and branding?

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it's been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

Episode page with video, transcript, and more

He supports organizations in their lean journey, focusing on leadership and cultural aspects of the lean transformation. He is an adjunct professor with the University of Kentucky's Center for Manufacturing.

Michael Hoseus developed his TPS skills at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky, where he worked at the General Manager level in both Production and Human Resources, being mentored by his Japanese sensei. His Toyota process experience includes production, engineering, maintenance, safety, personnel, employee relations, benefits/payroll and training and development.

He learned first-hand how Toyota's success hinges on integrating their production and human systems to create the Toyota Way. 

He's co-author, with Jeff Liker, of Toyota Culture: The Heart and Soul of the Toyota Way — which received the Shingo Publication Award in 2009

In this episode, Mike shares his extensive experience with Toyota, where he developed his TPS skills at TMMK in Georgetown, Kentucky. We take a deep dive into key topics such as the importance of psychological safety in lean leadership, the origins of the andon cord, and how to build a high-performance culture.

Mike discusses his journey from Toyota to helping other organizations with lean transformation, emphasizing the critical role of leadership in fostering a culture of continuous improvement. He shares insights on problem identification and problem-solving, the significance of respect and trust, and the intentional development of a lean culture.

Join us for this engaging conversation with valuable lessons and stories from Mike's career. Don't miss out on the chance to learn from one of the leading experts in lean culture and transformation.

Mike is also organizing a Kentucky learning tour, “High-Performance Culture and Lean Leadership,” from October 15 to 17… I'll be there and am very much looking forward to it. Use code GRABAN to save $500.

My guest for Episode #507 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Wendy K. Smith, co-author of the book Both/And Thinking: Embracing Creative Tensions to Solve Your Toughest Problems. She’s also one of the keynote speakers at this year's AME (Association for Manufacturing Excellence) annual conference.

Episode page with video, transcript, and more

Enter to win a copy of the book!

Wendy is the Dana J. Johnson professor of management and faculty director of the Women’s Leadership Initiative at the Lerner College of Business and Economics, University of Delaware.

She earned her PhD in organizational behavior at Harvard Business School, where she began her intensive research on strategic paradoxes—how leaders and senior teams effectively respond to contradictory yet interdependent demands.

Working with executives globally, she has been a noted keynote speaker and teacher for audiences worldwide. Her research, published among the top journals in the field, has received numerous awards, including the Web of Science Highly Cited Research Award (2019, 2020, and 2021) for being among the one percent most-cited researchers in her field. Wendy lives in Philadelphia with her husband, three children, and the family dog.

In this episode, Wendy discusses strategic paradoxes and how leaders can effectively navigate contradictory yet interdependent demands. Our conversation covers practical examples from Lean Manufacturing and the Toyota Production System, highlighting how "both/and thinking" can lead to innovative solutions and improved performance. Wendy also shares the emotional and cognitive challenges of embracing paradoxes, offering insights into how organizations can create environments that support dynamic, integrative thinking. This episode is a deep dive into the nuances of leadership, organizational behavior, and the power of embracing complexity in problem-solving.

• What are strategic paradoxes?
• The need or opportunity to break paradoxes?
• Good examples of both/and thinking in different businesses?
• Origins in lean manufacturing
• Just-in-time but hold no inventory
• High quality but also super fast
• Focusing on both short-term and long-term?
• Opportunities for startups to exploit new both/and thinking?
• Process as a dirty word in startups?
• We can’t vs. we haven’t figured it out yet?
• Both/and focus on customers and employees?
• Connections to Amy Edmondson and Psychological Safety?
• The Dr. Brian Goldman TED Talk
• Give us a preview of your keynote talk for AME? A teaser…

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it's been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

The panelists provide an overview of the symposium's structure, which will include interactive sessions focused on workplace evolution, technology integration, and supply chain transformation. Unlike traditional conferences, this event aims for active participation, encouraging attendees to engage in collaborative problem-solving.

The speakers stress the importance of continued dialogue and collaboration within the lean and improvement communities to address the ongoing changes in the work environment. The symposium, set to take place in Detroit on July 18 and 19, 2024, is presented as a crucial step in creating a more meaningful and effective future of work.

Episode page with video, transcript, and more

Tim served nine years in the U.S. Navy, managing and maintaining advanced electronic navigational, alarm, combat, telecommunication and power systems. After his military service, he worked for Intel Corporation for 14 years. 

He received a B.S. in business information systems and an M.B.A. in technology management and earned his Lean Six Sigma Blackbelt Certification.

Tim authored the book The Anatomy of Problem-Solving.

He'll also be one of the featured keynote speakers at the 40th anniversary of the AME International Conference (the Association for Manufacturing Excellence), being held in Atlanta, Georgia, from October 28 – October 31, 2024.

Enter a contest to win a free book and online course from Tim!

In this episode, Tim shares insights from his extensive career in the semiconductor industry, his journey through the US Navy, and his expertise in problem-solving. We discuss Tim's background, including his roles in digital transformation and Lean Six Sigma, and delve into his philosophy on critical thinking and structured problem-solving methods. Tim also previews his upcoming keynote at the conference, highlighting the importance of leveraging problem-solving for career success and organizational improvement. The conversation touches on his book, “The Anatomy of Problem Solving,” and an exciting book giveaway contest for our listeners. Tune in to gain valuable insights into effective problem-solving and strategic career advancement from an industry expert.

• Tell us about the start of your lean journey?
• Preview of your keynote talk?
• How do you combine frameworks and methodologies with critical thinking in problem-solving?
• Can you elaborate on organizational and political problem solving?
• Tell us about your online training program?
• What method are you using for problem-solving, and how did you develop it?
• What is the story behind your book, “The Anatomy of Problem Solving”?
• What approach do you recommend for dealing with team dynamics in problem solving?
• How do you position problem solving for upward mobility in a career?
• Can you explain the PIE (Performance, Image, Exposure) framework and its importance in career advancement?
• What strategies do you suggest for engaging with potential sponsors?
• How do you handle the human element in problem-solving, especially when dealing with different personalities?
• Tim's online training program

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it's been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

Episode page with links and more info⁠

I'm very happy to announce the release of my new ⁠Mistake-Proofing course⁠, available NOW through ⁠Karen Martin⁠ and ⁠TKMG Academy⁠.

You can ⁠buy the course individually at TKMGAcademy.com⁠ for $129. Volume discounts are available for large teams or your entire workforce (for more information, email ⁠info@tkmgacademy.com⁠).

The course is also part of the wonderful ⁠collection of courses⁠ in the all-access ⁠annual subscription⁠. The annual price of $529 goes up significantly at 11:59 pm CDT on May 31st, so act now for the best value pricing.

Other TKMG Academy ⁠instructors⁠ in the series include Karen Martin, ⁠Elisabeth Swan⁠, ⁠Mike Osterling⁠, ⁠Tracy O'Rourke⁠, ⁠Brent Loescher⁠... and more.

And if you ⁠subscribe to TKMG Academy⁠, you can participate in Karen's "Community of Practice" meeting with me on Wednesday, June 26th.

My guest for Episode #505 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Art Byrne, who was a guest back in Episode 158 about 12 years ago — we discussed his book The Lean Turnaround.

Episode page with video, transcript, and more: https://leanblog.org/505 

Today, we’re discussing his new book, The Lean Turnaround Answer Book, an edited compilation of his “Ask Art” columns published by the Lean Enterprise Institute.

Art Byrne has been implementing Lean strategy in various U.S.-based manufacturing and service companies, such as Danaher Corporation, for more than 30 years, including The Wiremold Company, which he ran for 11 years. He retired as an Operating Partner at the private equity firm J. W. Childs Associates L.P.

In this episode, Art revisits the podcast after twelve years to discuss his new book, The Lean Turnaround Answer Book, an edited compilation of his "Ask Art" columns from the Lean Enterprise Institute website. Art shares his extensive experience implementing lean strategies across various industries, including his notable work with Wiremold and his role in private equity at JW Childs Associates. The conversation also covers Art's motivations for writing his books and his continuous efforts to disseminate lean knowledge, addressing the practical challenges and questions that arise in Lean implementations.

Art elaborates on the essence of Lean principles, emphasizing the need for a fundamental shift in organizational philosophy and strategy. He recounts his experiences in transforming companies through Lean methodologies, including detailed anecdotes about reducing setup times, managing inventory, and improving operational efficiency. Art highlights the significant impact of lean on organizational performance, customer service, and financial health. The discussion also touches on the challenges of aligning traditional cost accounting with lean practices and the importance of engaging the finance department in the lean journey. Overall, Art's insights offer a comprehensive guide to Lean implementation, reinforced by real-world examples and practical advice.

• Tell us about the book and how this one came to be…
• Cost accounting and inventory?
• Orry Fiume - “Real Numbers” book
• The strategic value of setup reduction?
• How was Lean utilized in your private equity work? How was your role different as a PE partner?
• Looking for companies with a certain Lean potential? What factors are you looking for?
• Best Lean turnaround story? More likely a smaller PE company than a large public company?
• But Lean is not the default management approach for manufacturing? Higher than 10 years ago?
• Boeing - did they forget what Shingujitsu taught them?
• The problems caused by “make the month”

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it's been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guest for Episode #504 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Katie Anderson, author of the book Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn.

Episode page with video, transcript, and more

In this episode, Katie takes the reins along with me, Mark Graban, to discuss the transformative journey of Japan Study Trips. Recognized globally for its rich contributions to modern business practices, Japan has long been a beacon for leadership and continuous improvement. But how can one experience this powerful journey?

Strong leadership is integral to sustaining a culture of improvement. During these trips, participants get to hear from individuals like Katie Anderson, known for her insightful book "Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn." Engaging with thought leaders deepens their understanding of the continuous learning process while expanding their networks. Not only they learn about the principles, they also meet and engage with their pioneers reflecting the deep connection between leadership and continuous learning.

These discussion illuminates the importance of a culture where mistakes are seen as stepping stones to innovation. Personal engagements with companies recognized for their Lean practices reaffirm the significance of 'being over doing,' making these trips a true journey of transformation and discovery.

• Learn more about Katie's November trip that I'm a part of
• Mark's website about Japan Tour
• How can we shift focus from doing to being in order to create a culture where better results and output are achieved?
• What role does continuous learning play in creating and fostering cultures of improvement and growth?
• How do leaders in organizations prioritize being over doing to cultivate a mindset and culture of learning and improvement?
• What are some common production principles and tools observed on shop floors, and how do they align with overall cultural objectives?
• What are the behaviors that need to become standard across an organization to create a culture of kindness, constructive response, and continuous improvement?
• How can leaders in various organizations and industries cultivate a mindset and culture of learning and improvement similar to those seen at Toyota?
• What role does sharing knowledge, stories, and experiences play in enhancing learning and strengthening connections within an organization or across industries?
• How do mistakes and constructive responses to them contribute to shaping a culture focused on learning and growth?

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it's been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guest for Episode #503 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Sam Morgan of Illuminate Coaching + Consulting. He was previously a guest in Episode #457.

Episode page with video, transcript, and more

Today's episode was originally live-streamed on April 9th... Sam's. been doing a livestream series on "Lean Coaching for Lean Coaches." So, in today's episode, you'll hear Sam coaching me... and then we'll have a broader conversation about the work that he's doing. We can all use a coach!

We embark on a deep dive into creating and harnessing a culture of continuous improvement and Lean in various industries, especially within the healthcare sector. The episode unfolds the role of Lean coaching and the evolution of continuous improvement to meet the current business dynamics.

Mark and Sam engage in a discussion on the intersection of psychological safety and effective continuous improvement. They discuss how creating an environment that facilitates incident reporting without fear of reprisal can lead to reduced adverse events, particularly in high-stakes industries like healthcare. This conversation serves as a guide for leaders to understand the importance of building a culture where openness is promoted, and trust leads to real-world enhancements.

• Going full time - leaving The Standard?
• Entrepreneurial experiments?
• People being coached in live format... and people watching?

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it's been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

Episode page with video, transcript, and more

DeWayne is a results-driven executive with over 20 years of experience, renowned for leveraging a solid engineering and operations background to propel growth for Fortune 500 organizations. 

As a visionary leader, DeWayne excels in crafting and executing strategic plans to deliver desired outcomes. With a proven track record in fostering relationships and adeptly managing cross-functional teams, DeWayne ensures seamless alignment of internal operations with overarching business objectives. 

He is also a trusted advisor to C-suite executives for strategic decision-making.

DeWayne is dedicated to empowering 1000+ Black leaders to become influential corporate executives through STEM education, fostering diversity, equity, and innovation.

In this episode, we discuss how industrial engineering principles can be harnessed into strategic corporate leadership. Allen, who began his career as an engineer, spotlights his use of Six Sigma, lean methodologies, and continuous improvement tactics to tackle modern business challenges, from corporate turnarounds to driving growth. His success in transitioning into business-oriented roles, executing lean success in dynamic environments, and managing diverse operational aspects as a general manager add to his rich collection of professional experiences.

Moreover, Allen's innovative application of lean methodologies to the hectic process of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) demonstrate his knack for using these principles regardless of context. And his view on incorporating lean management within nonprofits signals a broader utility for these principles outside of just manufacturing or profit-centered entities. In light of Allen's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), he champions the integration of these ethical and social values with lean principles for greater operational excellence. Join us and delve deeper into the workings of DeWayne Allen's lean philosophy and powerful leadership style.

• What's your Lean origin story?
• As a leader, helping everybody feel like and work like ONE TEAM?
• Becoming a formal leader — steps to work up to being a GM?
• What are some of your favorite stories or examples of using Lean throughout your career?
• You've worked as General Manager — The split of your time and attention? 
• What was your view of Lean in that role and what you learned there?
• Tell us about applying Lean in Mergers and Acquisitions work? Can you make that a process?
• Tell us about your work in the Non-profit space – National Society of Black Engineers, applying it there?

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it's been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guest for Episode #501 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Marcia Daszko, a speaker, workshop facilitator, and consultant.

For more than 25 years, she has passionately been speaking, consulting, and guiding executive teams in Fortune 500/private corporations; education, the U.S. Navy; and non-profits to achieve exponential success. 

Mentored by Dr. W. Edwards Deming, she is nominated for the International Deming Prize; and writes a leadership column for the Silicon Valley Business Journal. She has taught MBA classes at six universities.

Marcia's author of the book Pivot Disrupt Transform: How Leaders Beat the Odds and Survive. She was also co-author of Turning Ideas into Impact: Insights from 16 Silicon Valley Consultants.

• How did you get connected to W. Edwards Deming?
• What was it like spending time with Dr. Deming? 
• Not just statistics? Challenging ideas like performance appraisals
• “Change management is another management fad”
• Tell us more about the consulting work that you've done and do?
• “Identify your problems accurately to problem-solve”??
• Helping leaders with “Accelerate efficient, effective data-driven decision-making”??
• Accountability and responsibility — big difference
• Am I blaming executives unfairly???
• 3 Fundamental Business Strategies?
• “Hope is not a business strategy”
• Continual vs. Continuous?

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it's been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guest for Episode #500 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is me, your usual host Mark Graban. Today, I'm mixing up the format with a solo episode that celebrates 500 episodes over almost 18 years.

I'll share some of the origin story and history of the podcast. You'll hear clips from Episode 1 (with Norm Bodek) and Episode 50 (where Jamie Flinchbaugh asked me about getting started). You'll also hear a clip from a recent conversation where Barry McCarthy, of AME Australia, asked me about persisting with podcasting all these years.

Thanks for listening, whether this is your first time, you've listened to them all, or somewhere in between!

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it's been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

• More than 500 episodes in 921 weeks, a little more than one every two weeks for 17.75 years
• 3,276,745 total downloads / listens, although I'm not convinced the stats are 100% consistent
• The top 10 most downloaded episodes
• The most frequent guests (#1 is Norman Bodek with 14 episodes)
• One anonymous guest
• Where listeners are from
• The origin story and the intro to Episode #1
• A clip from Episode #50
• My reflections on the clunky podcast name
• A shift over time from “big names” to highlighting new faces and their stories
• The one time I forgot to record!
• In memoriam: guests who have passed away

Episode page with transcript and more

In the late eighties, he and Dan Jones led MIT's International Motor Vehicle Research Program (IMVP), which introduced the term “lean” to describe Toyota's revolutionary management system.

Based on that research, Womack coauthored The Machine That Changed the World (Macmillan/Rawson Associates, 1990), Lean Thinking (Simon & Schuster, 1996), Lean Solutions (Simon & Schuster, 2005), and Seeing the Whole Value Stream (Lean Enterprise Institute, 2011).  

Jim was really gracious and helpful to me in being an early guest on this podcast, going back to Episode 12 in late 2006 when we talked about Lean in China. Today is his 8th appearance on the podcast: 7 times solo and once last September as part of a group that did a post-game show with me after the GE Lean Mindset event.

I've seen and talked with Jim many times over the past decade, so it's totally my fault that I haven't had him on since 2011. When I asked him to come back to help celebrate 500 episodes, he quickly agreed — and I'll have him back again much sooner than this last gap between appearances.

In today's episode, Jim shares reflections and stories on a number of companies, countries, and topics, including:

• China and Vietnam
• GM, Toyota, Boeing, Danaher, Rivian, and Tesa

And he answers some questions that were suggested by LinkedIn commenters.

• I think listeners would love to know what keeps you busy these days in the world of Lean?
• Planet Lean – celebrating 10 years
• A few people asked: How can we influence a union to start embracing Lean, when the union at our company has been actively against it from the start?
• Lean in China – almost 18 years ago episode – Ep 12 — Thoughts on how things have evolved?
• Has Tesla ever invited you to visit their gemba?
• Which companies does he consider to be Lean exemplars in the United States?
• What do you think we, as a Lean community, could/should do better?
• Read Ed Schein's Organizational Culture and Leadership
• Did you ever meet Dr. Deming?

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it's been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more.

This episode is also brought to you by “The Optimistic Outlook,” hosted by Barbara Humpton, CEO of Siemens USA. This podcast is a hub for those passionate about transformative concepts that shape both our workplaces and our world. Find it in your favorite podcast app.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

Episode page with video, transcript, and more

He was previously a guest here in Episodes 3, 4, 37, 39, 41, 111, and 400.

Today, we have a discussion centered around learning from mistakes in the context of Toyota and lean methodologies. The episode delves into the significance of recognizing, reacting to, and learning from mistakes within organizations that employ Toyota Production System (TPS) or lean strategies. Jeff shares his insights on how Toyota's culture of continuous improvement and learning from errors fundamentally drives its success. The conversation touches on Toyota's approach to leadership and problem-solving, emphasizing the structured response to mistakes at different levels of the organization, from the factory floor to top management.

The episode further explores the Toyota leadership model, illustrating how leaders at various levels are expected to react when mistakes occur. Liker explains the role of the andon cord system in facilitating immediate problem identification and resolution, showcasing Toyota's commitment to quality and efficiency. He elaborates on the multi-layered leadership response to errors, detailing the responsibilities of team leaders, group leaders, and higher management in fostering a culture of learning and improvement. The discussion underscores the importance of a systemic approach to problem-solving, where the focus is on understanding and addressing the root causes of mistakes rather than attributing blame to individuals. This episode offers valuable insights into the principles of lean leadership and the critical role of acknowledging and learning from mistakes in achieving organizational excellence and innovation.

• How you'd expect Toyota leaders to react to a mistake on the factory floor?
• Less likely to blame an individual? 
• Root cause vs. controllable cause?
• That can be a tough lesson to teach other companies?
• Hardest habit to break is the blame habit?
• Mistakes people make in trying to help change behavior
• What's necessary, in another company's workplace culture, for people to feel safe pulling the andon cord or speaking up?
• Article about the Ford plant and andon cords in 2007
• Jeff insights on that Dearborn plant
• The mention of psychological safety in “Toyota Culture”?
• What do you think of the phrase “psychological safety”? Or just the concept of it?
• Fujio Cho – biggest surprise was that TMMK workers were afraid to pull the andon cord
• New book: Engaging the Team at Zingerman's Mail Order

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it's been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more.

This episode is also brought to you by “The Optimistic Outlook,” hosted by Barbara Humpton, CEO of Siemens USA. This podcast is a hub for those passionate about transformative concepts that shape both our workplaces and our world. Find it in your favorite podcast app.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guest for Episode #497 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Tobias Gilk, the founder of Gilk Radiology Consulting (GRC). He is an architect by training, but has spent 20+ years focusing on MRI safety... initially through the architecture and planning of MRI facilities, but quickly growing into the technology, clinical practice, regulation, and economics of MRI safety.

Episode page with video, transcript, and more

He is recognized by both state and federal courts as an expert in MRI safety issues. Tobias has published dozens of papers and articles on MRI safety. He is also twice a member of the American College of Radiology's MRI Safety Committee (twice named co-author of ACR MRI safety standard guidance).

In this episode, we dive deep into the complexities of MRI technology, acknowledging its transformative role in health care but equally highlighting the overlooked dangers that require meticulous handling. Delving into safety protocols, process failures, and the risks associated with projectiles and thermal injuries, they underscore the need for stricter adherence to safety protocols.

We not only discuss the intrinsic risks associated with MRI but also explore the regulatory landscape, identifying key gaps that permit inconsistency in safety practices. The narrative is a pointed reminder that safety is of paramount importance, and mitigating risks requires thorough screening, careful positioning, and a collective commitment to safety-first processes.

• Give us a quick MRI technology overview... 
• "The safe modality"
• What causes danger to staff and patients??
• Machine malfunctions are very rare -- possible burns?
• A typical safety story?
• Clinically safe but with inherent process-related dangers?
• Why aren't there better access controls and checks about what and who comes near the magnet?
• Couldn't we cheaply brute force this by posting an educated "MRI Guard" outside the danger zone? Is patient safety really the top priority??
• Staffing cost vs. risks of harm or machine damage...
• How common / frequent are incidents that harm or kill?
• "If you've been told that MRI safety only comes at the expense of throughput, you've been lied to."
• "Absolutely, Lean is essential to MRI safety..."

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it's been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more.

This episode is also brought to you by "The Optimistic Outlook," hosted by Barbara Humpton, CEO of Siemens USA. This podcast is a hub for those passionate about transformative concepts that shape both our workplaces and our world. Find it in your favorite podcast app.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

Episode page with transcript, video, and more

Since 1993, the family-owned business has been the “go to” for emblems and patches for sports headwear, footwear, sports garments, and other apparel, with an output of more than 100 million products a year.  

In this episode, we delve deeper into World Emblem's systemic view of their business operations within the scope of the SQDCM (Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost, and Morale) model. Learn how this approach steered them toward not just honing a product's price-point, but also delivering a superior experience that justifies that price.

Discover how lean principles became an integral part of their response to various business challenges, ranging from pre-COVID operational inefficiencies to the financial impact of pandemic-induced difficulties. As World Emblem continues to foster a culture of continuous improvement and uphold their focus on safety, quality, and customer service, this lean journey illustrates the effectiveness of lean in maintaining robust competitiveness within a dynamic global market.

• We'll somewhat structure this interview like an A3
• Let's start by telling us about the background of World Emblem — what was the need for change? 
• Their “management system” wasn't right?
• How did you learn about Lean?
• A 7-figure leap of faith to hire consultants
• Baby steps… vs. trying to learn and do it yourself?
• Countermeasure — Why Nearshoring?
• Hoshin Planning process – how has that worked? Benefits?
• Allocating your time as a CEO — 30% with customers?
• Using Lean outside of production?
• Being honest about problems — a key part of the DNA
• What's next on the action plan? How will continue you evaluating your progress?
• The UK “True Lean” methodology

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it's been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guest for this bonus episode of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Gregory H. Jacobson, M.D., a co-founder and the CEO of KaiNexus.

Episode show page with transcript, video, and more

Greg, also a practicing emergency medicine physician to this day, was previously a guest in Episode 149 and was a part of a physician panel in Episode 361. He also joined me for Episode 31 of the "My Favorite Mistake" Podcast. We also podcast together fairly often via the KaiNexus Continuous Improvement Podcast.

Greg is one of the three keynote speakers at this year's Healthcare Systems Process Improvement Conference that's presented by the Society for Health Systems. I'll also be facilitating an intensive session on Psychological Safety and Continuous Improvement. Come join us in Atlanta next month!!

In this episode, we preview Greg's talk at the conference. Since it's been more than 11 years since Greg has been here, we talk about the progress that KaiNexus has made as a company and as a continuous improvement software platform.

• The three "Habits" webinars we mentioned: One, Two, and Three
• A video about values and success traits at KaiNexus
• Excerpt from The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation about KaiNexus

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it’s been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

Episode page with video, transcript, and more

Catherine Chabiron is a board member for the Institut Lean France, a member of the Lean Global Network, like the Lean Enterprise Institute.

Catherine is an established expert in Lean management with a professional journey spanning over 40 years. She has experience in a range of service and support functions, including IT, Logistics, Sales, Finance, and HR, both in France and globally.

As a Lean executive coach, her expertise in Lean thinking has been largely shaped by her experiences within the automotive industry, where she has lived and breathed the Lean philosophy. This has been further enriched by her regular visits to the Toyota supply chain in Japan, an experience that has offered her unique insights and an in-depth understanding of how a learning culture operates.

So, speaking of Theodo Group, we're also again joined by their chief technology officer and co-founder, Fabrice Bernhard. He co-founded Theodo in Paris in 2009, which has grown on average 50% yearly for the last 8 years and generated 90M€ revenue in 2022. He is now based in London to help with the international expansion.

We delve into the broadened application of lean principles in our discussion with Fabrice Bernard and Catherine Chabiron. Bernard shares how Theodore Group implemented Lean as a strategic pillar in their operations, using it as a toolbox to create sustained growth and maintain competitive edges. They systematically addressed business challenges using TPS, Extreme Programming, and Scrum to conjure the “agile magic” of a small, integrated team at scale.

Don't miss out on the chance to hear about cultivating a Lean culture that goes beyond strategy and tool adoption. By fostering an environment of continuous learning, teamwork, and the relentless pursuit of excellence, Theodore Group effectively established Lean as the backbone of their company's culture. We also expound on broader societal challenges that can be addressed through Lean methodologies and the journey of A3 thinking in fostering deep understanding and collaboration. This episode takes an expansive look at Lean practices, demonstrating its adaptable, innovative, and ethically conscious nature across different industries, proving its potency in driving companies towards sustained growth.

• What are your Lean origin stories?
• Lean as a strategy at Theodo Group?
• How did the two of you come to work together? First met in Japan, right? What led to the book?
• Startup vs Scale-up?
• Six Planet Lean articles – LINK
• Sharing Lean thinking with your CEO and other leaders?
• How do you embody Lean?
• A lot of virtual work now? If so what does Gemba mean?
• What does continuous improvement mean to you? How do leaders foster a learning culture?
• How does continuous improvement address not just the scaling challenge but societal challenges?
• Why are the current ways of scaling a company broken?
• Big Company Disease? Silos and process trumping customers, compliance over initiative

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it’s been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guest for Episode #494 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Chad Bareither, the founder and principal consultant of Bareither Group Consulting. He brings a wealth of experience as a change agent in the corporate world, having worked with organizations that include several Fortune 500 companies.

He's now the author of a new book, Improve LESS: The Focus and Align Framework for Sustainable Continuous Improvement.

Chad holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Technological University, is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, and has further honed his expertise with Master's degrees in both Industrial & Systems Engineering, and Applied Statistics from Rutgers University.

In this episode, we discuss his experience in various industries where, of course, Lean is not about building cars. We also discuss his book, the "Focus and Align Framework," and why trying to improve less can lead to greater results.

• What's your Lean origin story?
• Civilian role with the U.S. Army – working with the manufacturers / suppliers vs. internal Army processes?
• Can't copy and paste? “We don't build cars”??
• Becoming a consultant? Being an outsider vs. insider – what have you learned about that?
• The story behind the book — why this book?
• Tell us about the common problem statement and the current state — trying to do too many things, being too busy?
• The “focus and align” framework?

The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it’s been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more.

This podcast was also brought to you by Arena, a PTC Business. Arena is the proven market leader in Cloud Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) with over 1,400 customers worldwide. Visit the link arenasolutions.com/lean to learn more about how Arena can help speed product releases with one connected system.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guests for Episode #493 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast are Gene Kim and Steve Spear, co-authors of the new book Wiring the Winning Organization: Liberating Our Collective Greatness through Slowification, Simplification, and Amplification.

Joining us for the first time is Gene Kim, a Wall Street Journal bestselling author, researcher who has been studying high-performing technology organizations since 1999 – He was the founder and CTO of Tripwire for 13 years. He is the author of six books, The Unicorn Project (2019), and co-author of the Shingo Publication Award-winning Accelerate (2018), The DevOps Handbook (2016), and The Phoenix Project (2013). Since 2014, he has been the founder and organizer of DevOps Enterprise Summit, (now the Enterprise Technology Leadership Summit) studying the technology transformations of large, complex organizations. He lives in Portland, OR, with his wife and family.

Dr. Steven J. Spear, DBA, MS, MS is a senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and author of influential publications like the book The High-Velocity Edge, and the HBR articles “Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System,” and “Fixing Healthcare from the Inside, Today.” 

An advisor to corporate and governmental leaders across a range of fields, he is also the founder of See to Solve, a business process software company. He has a doctorate from Harvard, masters degrees in mechanical engineering and management from MIT, and a bachelor's degree in economics from Princeton. 

Steve was previously a guest give times in episodes 58, 87, 262, 358, and 386.

• Gene — what's your “Lean” origin story or however you would frame or label it?
• Steve — what's a key highlight of your Lean origin story?
• “The ultimate learning machine” – Toyota
• Backstory on working together on this book?
• How many copied 2 pizza teams from Amazon and failed??
• What puts some companies in the “danger zone” and how is that detected if it's not obvious?
• The andon cord was a way to speak up
• Steve – see, solve, share? A 4th step? See, safe to speak, solve, share?
• You write about recurring problems in a workplace. How do you think the behavior of managers punishing people for problems gets in the way of solving problems?

The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in its 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare industries. Learn more.

This podcast was also brought to you by Arena, a PTC Business. Arena is the proven market leader in Cloud Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) with over 1,400 customers worldwide. Visit the link arenasolutions.com/lean to learn more about how Arena can help speed product releases with one connected system.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guest for Episode #492 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Nick Katko, previously here in Episode 428 in 2021 with his co-author Mike DeLuca talking about their book Practicing Lean Accounting. 

Today, Nick is here to discuss his book, The Lean CFO: Architect of the Lean Management Accounting System — now in its second edition — released back in February.

Nick also did a webinar earlier this year as part of the KaiNexus Continuous Improvement webinar series.

For over 20 years, Nick has worked at BMA, assisting clients in Lean management implementation by working closely with them to resolve the real-world issues they face.

He holds a BS in accounting and an MBA in finance, both from the University of Kentucky, and is a certified public accountant.

• What makes a CFO a “Lean CFO”? Are there “degrees of Lean CFO”??
• Are there some wrong things to measure? Things we should start measuring?
• Viewing inventory as an asset? How does inventory reduction trip us up potentially?
• What is “lean management accounting”??
• Robbing Peter to pay Paul – ending that via Lean causes a problem then? Is there a way to ease your way out of that?
• Reducing inventory is an outcome of better processes?
• Is it better for Lean to be part of a growth strategy?
• Chapter 3 – “Lean is the strategy” — are you hearing that more often? Are they walking the talk?? How common is this?
• “Knowing what's possible” when you have experience with Lean – and the emotions people feel, regret?
• The virtuous cycle of using CI to drive CAPACITY (instead of cost reduction)?
• The Lean CFO: Architect of the Lean Management Accounting System — What's different in the 2nd edition?
• Tell us about your new BMA Lean Accounting Certification Program… 

The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in its 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare industries. Learn more.

This podcast was also brought to you by Arena, a PTC Business. Arena is the proven market leader in Cloud Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) with over 1,400 customers worldwide. Visit the link arenasolutions.com/lean to learn more about how Arena can help speed product releases with one connected system.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guest for Episode #491 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Sarah Tilkens, an experienced Lean Leader with a demonstrated history of working in construction and manufacturing.

She is a senior manager of operational excellence at GE Healthcare. 

Sarah's a Six Sigma Black Belt, a certified life coach / executive coach, a lifelong learner, leader, mother, and CEO and Founder of her company, The KPI Lab. She earned her bachelor's in Biological Sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Sarah's Lean journey is intriguing as she sculpted her Lean management skills on the manufacturing floor at GE, despite her background in Biological Sciences. Interestingly, her Lean journey extends from being intrigued by her colleagues pursuing Six Sigma certifications to studying at GE's Lean Academy in Japan, where she observed the best Lean practices.

Moreover, she details her unique philosophy about Lean mindset, the significance of continuous improvement, and her holistic approach to coaching--indispensable factors in her role as a Lean Leader. She also talks about her personal transformation during the pandemic, integrating coaching skills into her professional life, and why self-care is a priority. Tune in to this engaging discussion to learn about Sarah's Lean journey as she shares her most significant learnings and experiences.

• Tell us your Lean or OpEx origin story...
• Did you get exposed to Lean when you worked in construction?
• Why construction? - went into sales, to a place of discomfort 
• How was the shift to manufacturing?
• Hired as a Lean Leader - learned it there at GE
• How did they educate you about Lean at GE?
• You joined GE Healthcare in November 2018 -- right after CEO Larry Culp was brought in as the first outsider CEO, right? 
• I was able to attend the September event that was hosted by GE (including GE Healthcare) called The Lean Mindset - how do you describe that mindset?
• 1x1 fit - each coachee as a customer?
• Creating PULL for projects?? -- better defining problem statements
• Tell us about getting certified as a coach?
• How can you take care of yourself so you can better help others as a leader?
• How long should we give an experiment before deciding if we should adjust or try something new?

The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in its 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare industries. Learn more.

This podcast was also brought to you by Arena, a PTC Business. Arena is the proven market leader in Cloud Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) with over 1,400 customers worldwide. Visit the link arenasolutions.com/lean to learn more about how Arena can help speed product releases with one connected system.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guest for Episode #490 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Quint Studer, the co-founder of HealthCare Plus Solutions Group and owner of the minor league baseball team, the Pensacola Blue Wahoos.

He's a returning guest, having joined us in Episode #353 (2019) when we talked about his book, The Busy Leader's Handbook. He's written many other books — his first being Hardwiring Excellence (2003), a book that was recommended to me when I started serving healthcare organizations back in 2005 — and that book made a huge impact on me.

Quint previously founded Studer Group, which received the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 2011. He's also currently a speaker, an entrepreneur, and a philanthropist.

His most recent previous book is The Calling: Why Healthcare is So Special. His latest book is Rewiring Excellence, a free eBook. The Human Margin: Building the Foundations of Trust, written in partnership with Katherine A. Meese, PhD, is due for publication in March 2024.

In this episode, Quint speaks poignantly about the need to transform rigid practices in healthcare. His clarion call emphasizes the significance of rewriting conventional healthcare procedures to create adaptable strategies. This dynamic conversation also illuminates his concept of ‘rewiring' excellence. Quint challenges the traditional definitions and procedures regarding excellence, maintaining that these outmoded ideologies need to be revamped with modern perspectives for enhanced results. Thus, stay tuned to hear more about how to navigate the changing landscape of healthcare.

• What can leaders do to help ensure that the calling doesn't turn into burnout and a loss of that calling?
• How can we stop the blame game?
• “If you do it right, there should be no turnover” (CNAs)
• Focus, fix, and follow up
• The need to close the loop…
• Blame culture
• Assumptions — about why MDs don't refer in house
• Quint's excellent article, ‘I may be wrong': The power of admitting our mistakes
• Why do people get vilified for saying they were wrong or they changed their minds?
• When people hide behind “do you have any research?”
• Tell us about your latest book, Rewiring Excellence: Hardwired to Rewired… free eBook now, print book in pre-order status.
• How do we decide if a hardwired process needs to be “rewired”?
• What is the “Human Capital Ecosystem™ Assessment“?
• Looking ahead to your next book — how can leaders build trust?
• Hosting a podcast now? The Healthcare Plus Podcast

The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in its 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare industries. Learn more.

This podcast was also brought to you by Arena, a PTC Business. Arena is the proven market leader in Cloud Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) with over 1,400 customers worldwide. Visit the link arenasolutions.com/lean to learn more about how Arena can help speed product releases with one connected system.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

Ward is a seasoned C-suite executive with over 6 years leading fully remotely while building technology organizations from the ground up for companies 150 to 650 employees in size and 50M to 125M revenue across the Americas and Europe.

He is currently Chief Product Officer and CTO at RealSelf and is a technical advisor with his own company - website is https://wardvuillemot.com - where he advises startup founders and CEOs on technical roadmaps and technology organization along with lean approaches…

Our guest today is D. Lynn Kelley! She is author, with John Shook (who has been a guest here many times), of the new book, Change Questions: A Playbook for Effective and Lasting Organizational Change.

Lynn currently serves as a senior advisor to BBH Capital Partners.

Following a career highlighted by leadership roles in engineering, supply chain, and continuous improvement in various industries, Kelley retired from Union Pacific Railroad in 2018.

At Union Pacific, she was senior vice president of supply chain and continuous improvement. She was also the executive co-owner of the company’s innovation program.

Before joining Union Pacific, Kelley was vice president of operational excellence, an officer and a member of the executive leadership team at Textron.

Kelley holds a PhD in evaluation and research and taught undergraduate and graduate statistics courses. Before becoming a professor, she held the positions of executive vice president and chief operating officer of Doctors Hospital in Detroit.

The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in its 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare industries. Learn more.

This podcast was also brought to you by Arena, a PTC Business. Arena is the proven market leader in Cloud Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) with over 1,400 customers worldwide. Visit the link arenasolutions.com/lean to learn more about how Arena can help speed product releases with one connected system.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

In today’s episode, we’re joined by two Lean leaders from GE Aerospace:

• Sam Ruehle, Lean Operations Leader, Lean Transformation Team
• Greg Pothoff, Executive Director – Business Management Aviation Supply Chain 

I interviewed them after the GE Lean Mindset event that was held last month in New York.  Two separate conversations, but common themes — and the same questions of two Lean leaders at different stages of their careers, Sam being a recent college graduate and Greg having 25 years of Lean experience, starting first in the auto industry (which is actually where I first met him 20 years ago).

I asked the same core questions, found below, but each conversation is unique as we learn about their roles at GE and their reactions to the Lean Mindset event.

Sam emphasizes the importance of the Lean mindset as being framed by three essential pillars: Respect for People, Continuous Improvement, and Customer Focus. As a young leader, she combines this Lean mindset with a touch of humility, an open mind, and an emphasis on collective problem-solving to catalyze impactful changes.

One of Greg's core beliefs is the importance of focusing on the smaller, incremental changes in addition to the larger, more noticeable ones. He also stresses the need for establishing a blame-free learning environment, where employees are encouraged to experiment, make mistakes, and more importantly, learn from them.

• How would you describe a "Lean Mindset"?
• What is an underappreciated aspect of the "Lean Mindset"?
• What surprised you most about the Lean Mindset event?
• What advice would you have for others about developing a "Lean Mindset"?
• What is one change you have had to personally make to lead in this way?

The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in its 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare industries. Learn more.

This podcast was also brought to you by Arena, a PTC Business. Arena is the proven market leader in Cloud Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) with over 1,400 customers worldwide. Visit the link arenasolutions.com/lean to learn more about how Arena can help speed product releases with one connected system.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network.

My guest for Episode #486 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Mike Kaeding, the CEO of Norhart.

They design, build, and rent apartments. They are transforming the way this is done by incorporating technologies and techniques that have revolutionized other industries. This has resulted in improved quality and reduced cost of housing. Ultimately, they are committed to solving America's housing shortage and affordability crisis. And in doing so they hope to improve the way we all live. 

He was previously (May 2023) a guest with me on the My Favorite Mistake podcast.

In today's episode, learn how Kaeding's company, Norhart, applies Lean practices to uplift the housing sector. Their compelling ambition to bridge the labor productivity gap between manufacturing and construction industries lies at the heart of their Lean journey.

From their unique recruitment strategies to their effective lean techniques, Norhart aspires to reshape the housing industry. Kaeding outlines their intrusion on tradition by focusing on continuous improvement rather than mere experience. Discover how their Lean approach emphasizes flow in both construction processes and material delivery, spotlighting Norhart's determination to overhaul established construction norms.

• High-reaching mission — similar to Toyota
• “The way we've always done it”?? How do you encourage everybody to get past that?
• Hiring people who are willing to be different? How to do that?
• How do you then maximize their potential?
• The appeal of culture in hiring and recruiting?
• Netflix “keeper test”?
• “We want that person to be happier with us after firing…”
• How to balance the right timing of hiring with growth?
• Balancing jobs — cycle times and flows across trades? Material flow and synchronizing that
• Toyota helping you on JIT — how to find this balance with long lead time or bad availability??
• Mike on the My Favorite Mistake podcast
• What's your Lean origin story? For you and Norhart?
• “Not knowing what I'm doing…” was a benefit
• Working with TSSC?
• How did they help you frame or choose that initial problem to solve?
• “Problems are not a bad thing”
• Your role as CEO? Creating that psychological safety?
• Wanting to be the best at what you do? You as a CEO? What does that mean to you?

The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in its 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare industries. Learn more.

This podcast was also brought to you by Arena, a PTC Business. Arena is the proven market leader in Cloud Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) with over 1,400 customers worldwide. Visit the link arenasolutions.com/lean to learn more about how Arena can help speed product releases with one connected system.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

Erica Lee Garcia is an entrepreneur, engineer and leader who has managed to create a positive impact in the engineering profession.

Topics in this episode include:

• Her lean origin story
• Lessons from running a suggestion program for 2.5 years
• Shifting to mining, not just a new company but a new industry

• Engineers Without Borders participation

For close to a decade now, Erica has been working to tell better stories about engineering so that kids can make better decisions about this little known career path and make them feel welcome in the profession. Her deliberate method of mixing empathy and compassion with real-world experience enables her to tell authentic and relevant stories in a way that is relate-able to everyone listening.

Working as the Chair of her local PEO Chapter, she empowers fellow professionals and impacts change from within.

She also has a unique perspective, having spent years working in the automotive and mining industries as an engineer, and the moving on to become an entreprenuer - starting three companies of her own.

• Erica Lee Consulting - supporting businesses implement Lean Six Sigma
• Engineer Your Life - coaching new grads through the often stressful and confusing time as they enter the engineering profession
• Engineers of Tomorrow - a nationally incorporated not-for-profit which takes a grass-roots approach at delivering engineering outreach to kids

Erica also contributes her insights as a 30 by 30 Champion - an initiative to increase the percentage of licensed female engineers is Canada to 30% by 2030.

Featuring James P. (Jim) Womack, Katie Anderson, Jamie V Parker, and Mark Graban.

There's more to come from me, Katie, and Jamie about the day. 

Jamie's podcast is "Lean Leadership for Ops Managers."

Katie's new podcast is called "Chain of Learning." - Coming soon

Videos from the GE Lean Mindset sessions: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxRhTjvLlyoIh7CVg51ZIM5hRl5XOjlgl

**A Candid Conversation on Lean Thinking: Breaking Down the Lean Mindset with Industry Experts**

Join us as we delve into a Deep Dive bonus episode of "Lean Blog Interviews," focusing on the intricacies of Lean Thinking. The thought-provoking analysis of the Lean Mindset is led by four esteemed panelists — Mark Graban, Katie Anderson, Jim Womack, and Jamie V. Parker — who share their takeaways from the 'GE Lean Mindset' event. 

Central to Lean Thinking is the relentless pursuit of improvement — a belief that stands tall even amidst failings and setbacks. Coupled with the embracing of failure as a fundamental part of the learning process, the idea of never-ending improvement underscores the Lean Mindset. The panelists share their thoughts and experiences revolving around these integral components of Lean Thinking.

My guest for Episode #484 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Keith Ingels, who previously joined us in Episode 390. He's the RLM Manager of Solutions & Support Centers — RLM being the Raymond Lean Management system.

He was also a guest with me for Episode 62 of “My Favorite Mistake.” His story and insights were also featured in Chapter 8 of my book, The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation.

In today's episode, we discuss how the Raymond Corporation makes Lean / TPS their own management system, even while being under the Toyota corporate umbrella. RLM focuses on developing people and that starts with leaders. Why does a culture of continuous improvement start with small steps and not requiring ROI calculations for every improvement? We discuss how kaizen participation rates are a leading indicator of employee morale and how absenteeism and turnover are lagging indicators. We talk about that and more…

“Critique the process, not the people.”

• Tell us about Raymond Corporation and its place within Toyota Industries
• The fit of products with Toyota branded forklifts?
• Back in 2020 your title was TPS Manager — has some of the language evolved?
• Minor differences? More English words, advising customers to do that and to own their own system
• TPS House – foundations
• Flow AND quality 
• Helping people unlearn??
• “It's about developing your people” —
• If you can see a problem, you can solve a problem
• “Critique the process, not the people”
• Assumptions vs. real knowledge
• “What are you hoping to achieve?” vs. “what problem are you trying to solve?”
• Coat hooks – not requiring ROI? – starting with small steps
• “You can't put a meter on morale”
• Utilizing fresh eyes and new employees for Kaizen
• “problem seeing eyes”
• Making it safe — problem speaking mouths?
• How to help people feel safe to speak up?
• Tell us about your “Microburst teaching” approach… 
• “You have to reinvent that safe environment every day” (psych safety)
• How do leaders cultivate the conditions for people to learn from mistakes? Same habits for building trust and kaizen? Anything different?

The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in its 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare industries. Learn more.

This podcast was also brought to you by Arena, a PTC Business. Arena is the proven market leader in Cloud Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) with over 1,400 customers worldwide. Visit the link arenasolutions.com/lean to learn more about how Arena can help speed product releases with one connected system.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

For episode 483, we are joined today by Amanda Zimmerman + Dominic Stokes, two Lean Six Sigma professionals who co-host a new podcast called “Squishy Lean.”

Amanda Zimmerman is a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt with a global background. Amanda has worked in Oil and Gas, Software, and in a variety of industries all over the world mentoring professionals in Continuous Improvement. She holds an MBA from Imperial College of London. In 2020 she launched Beautiful Opportunities, aiming to empower people in continuous improvement worldwide and make it easy for people to start applying the tools.

Dominic is an industrial engineer with a background in manufacturing engineering and management consulting. Ever since he first learned about lean manufacturing principles, Dom has looked for more opportunities in and outside of work to learn and practice. His overall goal is to find ways to convert commercial lean tools to residential uses. When he isn't learning about lean, he is spending time with his wife and dog or cutting his hair.

In today's episode, we discuss their Lean origin stories (or Six Sigma then Lean or Lean Six Sigma). We also talk about the origins of their podcast, using Lean methods at home, the power of experimenting, and helping people not feel bad about making mistakes when they're doing something new.

• Harder to define what's a “Six Sigma culture” compared to a “Lean culture”?
• The psychological safety required to point out problems and try things
• Laundry — smaller batches… eliminating the time spent sorting / pulling apart
• Why someone is in the middle or anti-Lean?
• Experiments that led to the podcast?
• How did you two meet? – Lean Portland
• How did the podcast come to be?
• What's squishy lean?
• How to not let things get “too squishy”?
• “More important to experiment… than to do it perfectly”
• How to make it easier for people get started with C.I.?
• My blog post about lessons from personal trainer
• How to help them feel they aren't making a mistake when new? A focus on learning not punishment?
• You mentioned using Lean at home… after learning it at work…
• Dominic – wants to convert “commercial grade lean” for use at home… to have people learning lean at home… as kids… and then bring to workplace?

The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in its 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare industries. Learn more.

This podcast was also brought to you by Arena, a PTC Business. Arena is the proven market leader in Cloud Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) with over 1,400 customers worldwide. Visit the link arenasolutions.com/lean to learn more about how Arena can help speed product releases with one connected system.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

It's just over five hours long, professionally produced, and read by me.

It's available through:

• Amazon
• Audible – free with a trial membership
• Apple Books

If you're one of the first 3 people to email me (mark@leanblog.org) and you live in the US or UK, I'll email you a code to get a free copy of the audiobook via Audible.

CONTENT WARNING: Today's episode includes discussions about a death by suicide and mental health issues. Help is available. In the U.S., call 988. In the U.K., call 116 123. These calls are free from any phone.

My guest for Episode #482 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Gemma Jones.

Gemma is an Improvement Coach, Trainer, and Visual Facilitator, based in the UK and working globally. Gemma started her career in Engineering and quickly found a passion for Improvement. She spent 20 years in Manufacturing across numerous industries, then in 2018 she left employment to build her own business. Gemma's mission is to help organisations and individuals be the BEST they can be, by helping people SEE, helping people THINK, and helping people CHANGE.

In today's episode, Gemma brings up important topics related to Lean and mental health, and we discuss parallels between "mental health first aid" and physical first aid. How can we learn how to help others when they might be struggling? What signs should we look for?

We also discuss her origin story in Lean and Continuous Improvement, the POWER of coaching and asking questions, how the Kata Girl Geeks global group started and grown over the past 3 years, and how her mission now is to encourage and enable the global community of CI Practitioners and Leaders to actively tune in to HELP people.

• What's your Lean / C.I. origin story??
• Tell us about that Kata Girl Geeks
• Tracy Defoe – Episode 467
• Coaching and asking questions?
• The benefits of having groups for women?
• You're very interested in the overlap in mental health and continuous improvement… you did a keynote talk recently on this… tell us about that.
• We don't know really that much about the totality of people's lives, stress, and other factors
• Got trained in “mental health first aid“
• What signs might you look for? Who needs mental health first aid if somebody's not asking for it?
• Good ways of bringing up this up with people?
• “I noticed you're not seeming yourself…”
• Value Stream / Process Mapping and asking people to add emojis 
• How are you helping people on this topic and incorporated into C.I.?
• Why avoid the question why? Defensiveness
• Incorporating this into workplace safety discussions and focus? A broader view of safety?
• Parallels to physical first aid
• Website – resources page for C.I. — “how to help”
• Free training recommended by Gemma

The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in its 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare industries. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guest for Episode #481 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is George Saiz.

As a coach, writer, and speaker, George Saiz actively promotes enterprise excellence through a people-centric culture to the next generation of leaders. 

In his new business novel, We Started with Respect, he shares from his executive experience in the medical device industry and the many best-practices sites he visited as president and CEO of the Association for Manufacturing Excellence. He is retired and currently resides with his wife in Carlsbad, California.

• What's your Lean origin story?
• The Goal — a business novel
• The leader going first with the learning??
• Compliance vs Commitment 
• Using Lean as business problem solving vs. tools for operations?
• Exposure then to Lean / TPS?
• The need to focus on process AND people (culture)
• What aspects of Lean don't work without a high enough level of mutual trust?
• Gallup surveys show that two out of three employees are disengaged to some degree –causes or root causes?
• Examples of companies that invest well in supervisor and manager training?
• The need to DESIGN culture?
• Tim Clark's podcast, “Culture by Design“
• Tearing down the walls — starts with executive leadership team
• Looking back — key Influences and mentors?

The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in its 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare industries. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

Lean Blog Interviews is hosted and produced by Mark Graban. 

For Episode #480 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast turns the tables, as regular host Mark Graban is interviewed today by a guest host, his friend Paul Critchley.

Paul was previously the host of the New England Lean Podcast and he's been a guest of Mark's in Episode #5 of the Lean Whiskey podcast series.

Today, Paul asks Mark questions about his new book, The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation, the general topic of learning from mistakes, and more.

• What was the origin of the My Favorite Mistake podcast?
• What have you learned from your guests about PDCA / PDSA and learning from mistakes?
• What's your favorite mistake?
• Iterating on improvements and engaging people in that process
• What advice would you give to leaders and managers so they can incorporate a culture that encourages risk takin… that mistakes are okay with psychological safety?
• Saying “I'm sorry” shows strength not weakness
• What'd you wanna be when you were little?
• What inspires you?
• What's one thing nobody knows about you?
• What superpower do you wish you had?

The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in its 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare industries. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

Joining us for Episode #479 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Arnout Orelio, a returning guest (from Episode 403 in 2021). He has been working with Lean management since 1995, the last 15 years as a trainer, coach, and consultant in healthcare. 

He is the owner of The Lean Mentor, where he helps people who want to (learn to) improve healthcare. Arnout focuses on teaching lean leadership, as an author, speaker, and mentor, bringing top performance and high levels of productivity within everyone's reach. His mission is to make “more time for better health care.”

His first book was Lean Thinking for Emerging Healthcare Leaders and, today, we're discussing his brand new book, Lean Thinking in Healthcare.

• How do you summarize your 25 years of learning how to improve?
• Creating more time for better healthcare?
• Problem and productivity as dirty words?
• Similarities between Dutch and US health systems / payers?
• What's the general state of healthcare in the Netherlands right now?
• It's hard to manage the work when you don't understand the work
• From the cover — 4 things… do they represent “True North” to you? At your hospital? 
• Right care, right place, right time for the right patient
• Zero Waste – resource efficiency vs flow efficiency?
• How to engage everybody in improvement, every day? Fixing or redesigning the system vs. improving the system?
• Learn to change small systems first
• Cycle of continuous misery?
• Not just what are we moving from, but also what are we moving to?
• What does it mean to “learn from the best” in your experience? The best hospitals? The best organizations?
• Two problems with learning from others?

The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in its 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare industries. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

Joining us for Episode #478 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Shaunté Kinch.

In 2022, Shaunté founded Empact Global, a consultancy that works with organizations to help them solve really BIG problems. Her more than 20 years spent implementing Six Sigma, LEAN, and design thinking concepts have inspired her to take on “wicked problems” in a “VUCA” (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous) world.

Originally trained by Shingijustu (pioneers of the Toyota Production System) she has educated over 2800 people in continuous improvement and innovation, led hundreds of workshops, and coached more than 60 leaders.

Shaunte holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, and a Masters of Engineering, Design, and Manufacturing, both from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA.

In today's episode, we discuss what Shaunté learned about Lean in her first aerospace jobs, including time spent working with the famed Shingujitsu consulting group. What did Shaunté learn and discover when she was recruited into her first healthcare organization? We discuss problem-solving in the context of shopfloor improvement, management practices, and big societal problems like inequities and a lack of diversity in some Lean settings.

• How does Lean help us navigate a VUCA world?
• What we know vs. what we THINK we know? 
• Facts vs. data?
• How do assumptions get leaders in trouble?
• Leaders observing leaders? Doing so in a non-blaming way?
• Helping people go from “we don't have time” to making time?
• What's your Lean origin story?
• “Everything was an experiment” – seeds planted by her father, a math & science teacher
• Northrup Grumman – “Lean Engineering”
• Boeing – “real training” from Shingujitsu
• From Aerospace to healthcare? What's different?
• “I don't think challenge is supported enough in HC”
• Ideas on how Lean practices need to evolve?
• Shifting to working independently / your own firm?
• Fighting the way we've always done it, including in hiring and selecting speakers for events
• Diversity and representation on conference stages, Lean in general
• How does it feel to go to a conference and not see a Black woman on the stage?
• Celebrating Juneteenth

The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in its 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare industries. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

Joining us for Episode #477 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Zeynep Ton. She is a professor of the practice at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Previously, she was on the faculty of the Har­vard Business School. Ton received numerous awards for teaching excellence at both schools.

She was previously a guest in Episode 228 in 2015, discussing her first book The Good Jobs Strategy. Her new book, released in June, is The Case for Good Jobs: How Great Companies Bring Dignity, Pay, and Meaning to Everyone's Work.

In today's episode, we discuss what's meant by “good jobs” — and how it's not just about compensation. What are good jobs and what's the case for them, in both human and financial terms? Among other topics, we discuss how it's a system, the “good jobs system,” and there is risk in trying to just copy a piece or two that sounds good (which reminds us both of issues around adoption of the Toyota Production System).

• What are “good jobs”? 
• Has this definition evolved at all?
• “Operate with slack”
• Nursing shortages — the effect of not operating with slack
• Improving call center jobs — reducing the need for calls to begin with 
• HBR piece — mental models of customer-centric vs. financial-centric
• The new book — “the case” for good jobs?
• Benefits of lower turnover
• Simple thinking vs. systems thinking — 2% margin business “can't afford” higher wages… or can't afford NOT to?
• 5 Corporate Disabilities when you have high turnover
• Tight labor markets — a greater need for companies to adopt “the good jobs strategy” or at least some practices? 
• Sam's Club — competitive pressure to catch up or emulate Costco?
• The good jobs SYSTEM — risk of copying just one piece, such as higher pay?
• Cost of Poor Quality vs. Cost of Bad Jobs — not on the financial statements
• Operational Indifference… vs operational excellence
• “There's a grave disconnect between what's happening on the front lines and what executives think is happening.”
• Finding balance? “standardizing processes when that makes sense and empowering employees to help customers”
• Obstacles to creating good jobs? The logical evidence-based case to be made vs. habits and beliefs of executives (mental models)?
• “Many leaders don't even consider frontline work critical to company performance.”
• Cost-benefit analysis — easy to calculate the cost of higher pay… predicting the benefits is seen as a leap of faith? 

The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in its 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare industries. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

Joining us for Episode #476 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Ken Pilone, who has more than 30 years experience in Organization Development in Government, Retail, Automotive, Distribution, and Aerospace.

He recently retired from Providence Health & Services, working most recently as the Senior Manager of Business Process Engineering at Providence Health & Services — a role that encompassed internal Lean consulting, including executive coaching, lean training, leadership development, and all functions typical of a lean promotion or PI/CI function.

He's now working as an independent coach.

He spent nearly 20 years with Toyota as Lean consultant within the company as well as with suppliers, vendors, partners, and community groups. He a co-creator of the University of Toyota at the company HQ. He led the work to adapt the Toyota Production System to non-production environments (warehousing, supply chain, HQ administration depts., sales, product distribution, dealer operations, etc. In addition, he led the Center for Lean Thinking.

Ken has a Masters's in Industrial Psychology and Organizational Development with his Toyota experience, Ken has developed specialties in Lean consulting in non-production environments, curriculum development and delivery, leadership, and management development coaching, Toyota problem-solving method training, and public speaking.

He's the author of Lean Leadership on a Napkin: An Executive's Guide to Lean Transformation in Three Proven Steps.

In today's episode, we discuss the application of Lean in healthcare and Ken's experience there… and more!

• Police work? LAPD
• Viewing work as a process… 
• Helping people see that in healthcare? How to go about that?
• Not using the term “value streams”
• Fixing defects vs. fixing the system?
• Defects in policing paperwork in the field
• Correcting the paperwork vs. why it occurred
• Process is broken — Band-Aids
• No time… why? How can we create time?
• Microexperiments vs. implementing? How to help people look at improvements as experiments?
• Psychological safety – removing the danger?
• “Never Events”? Zero Harm?
• JPL – process gremlins and being proactive…
• “Breaking the system on purpose”
• Adapting to healthcare… Tell us about your later transition into working in healthcare? Pulled or pushed?
• The importance of leading with humility? How to build that?

The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in its 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare industries. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

Episode page with video, links, transcript and more

Joining us for Episode #475 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Joshua Kerievsky, the founder and CEO of Industrial Logic, one of the oldest and most well-respected agile consultancies on the planet. 

Since 1996, Joshua and his global network of colleagues have helped people in teams across many industries leverage the wisdom and power of modern product development methods. An early pioneer and practitioner of Extreme Programming, Lean Software Development and Lean Startup, Joshua most recently crafted “Modern Agile” to help people and organizations benefit from a principle-based approach to agility.

Joshua is passionate about helping people produce awesome outcomes via genuine agility. He is an international speaker and author of books including most recently, Joy of Agility: How to Solve Problems and Succeed Sooner.

In today's episode, we discuss how “agility” doesn't strictly mean “Agile” in software. How was Joshua inspired by leaders including former Alcoa CEO Paul O'Neill? What can all kinds of organizations learn about the art of evaluating experiments in ways that lead to more improvement and greater innovation?

• What's your “origin story” when it comes to these methods?
• Agile is an adjective… “ready ability to move with quick, easy, grace” — resourceful and adaptable
• It's not just about speed, but also quality?
• Do you recall when you were first introduced to “Lean” — was it via “Lean Startup” early days?
• The Industrial Logic name?
• “Process” sounds bad? Why is that?
• Toyota – enabling bureaucracy vs. limiting bureaucracy
• SAFE experiments
• Paul O'Neill admiration – safety 
• 2012 The Power of Habit book
• What does safety mean in software?
• The risk of mistakes — expensive $$ decision… small tests of change???
• The art of evaluating experiments? Keep going? Pivot or persevere?
• For those who don't know, what's “agile” vs. what you describe as “agility”?
• This is NOT a book about software development
• Driving out fear like Deming?

The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in its 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare industries. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

Joining us for Episode #474 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Norbert Majerus. He has his own firm now but previously worked for Goodyear, joining the company in 1978 in his home country of Luxembourg. He moved to Akron in 1983 and worked disciplines in the Goodyear innovation centers in both locations, retiring in 2018.

His first book (2016) Lean-Driven Innovation: Powering Product Development at The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company was a Shingo Award recipient. His latest book is Winning Innovation: How Innovation Excellence Propels an Industry Icon Toward Sustained Prosperity.

In today's episode, we discuss Lean and innovation — how they co-exist, how Lean Product Development drives innovation, and how to truly engage people by leading with humility and respecting people.

• What's your Lean origin story?
• Goodyear had tried Lean a few times in MFG – didn't work well — WHY?
• This was before Billy Taylor – they worked together 5 years
• Growing up on a farm — Toyota is said to be a company of farmers… how did Lean resonate with you?
• Lean is Lean? – doing this in unusual places, it's all the same
• Definitions? Innovation vs. improvement?
• Make sure we don't stifle creativity (we can all be creative, as Norm Bodek always said)
• Toyota and The Innovator's Dilemma
• Akio Toyoda stepping aside as CEO — a new push for EVs there?
• Can combine lean and innovation
• How best to connect “Respect for people” and “rapid problem solving and experimentation” for product development and innovation? Humility…
• Can you be innovative enough for long enough withOUT those lean culture concepts? 
• Your new book is in a Business novel format – why write it this way?

The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in its 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare industries. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

Today, we mourn and remember Ritsuo Shingo, who recently passed away at age 75. I am re-releasing episode 409 with him from two years ago this month, in April 2021.

My deepest condolences to his family, friends, and everybody who worked with him, including my friends at the Shingo Institute.

Episode page

Joining us for Episode #473 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Elisabeth Swan, author of the new book Picture Yourself a Leader: Illustrated Micro-Lessons for Navigating Change. It's currently the #1 new release in the Amazon TQM category…

Elisabeth has consulted in the business process performance industry for over 30 years. Her experience spans from helping local non-profits expand their reach to guiding Fortune 100 companies through Lean Transformations. She has trained and mentored thousands of people in improvement projects generating millions in savings. She has deep experience coaching problem solvers and facilitating leadership retreats, strategic planning sessions, process walks, and kaizen events.

Elisabeth is the Co-Designer and Lead Instructor for the Lean Six Sigma Leadership Course at University of California, San Diego (UCSD). She is a co-founder, with Tracy ORourke, of the Just-in-Time Café and co-host of the Just-in-Time Café podcast. She co-authored, also with Tracy, The Problem Solver's Toolkit: A Surprisingly Simple Guide to Your Lean Six Sigma Journey.

In today's episode, we discuss her new book and the process for getting there, including the role of feedback, editing, and an editorial board as inputs to iteration and improvement.

• Tell us the story behind the book? Why this book? Why this format?
• Sketching and drawing during the pandemic?
• Why illustrate each chapter?
• Asking people — “What have you figured out?” (PDSA) vs. “what do you know?”
• Who is the book written for? Lean leadership or just good “leadership” influenced by C.I.??
• Do some people have trouble picturing themselves a leader?
• “The word leader can mean many things” — tell us more about that – how can everybody be a leader?
• Author talk: Writing and Editing process – PDSA cycles? (Plan, Do, Study, Adjust)
• Iterating, asking for honest feedback?
• “The curse of knowledge?”
• Iterating on the cover design?
• “Heading off the head scratchers” — acronyms
• “Perfecting Rework” — you invited me to contribute a “wisdom of the crowd” story here… 
• W. Edwards Deming's – American way of making toast… you burn it, I'll scrape it

The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in its 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare industries. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network.