The Lean Solutions Podcast

In this episode, Katie Anderson and I discuss our trip to Japan, as we immersed ourselves in a profound exploration of lean principles and their practical applications.

What You'll Learn: Reflections on Japan and our carefully planned itinerary, which included visits to well-known manufacturing facilities and conversations with experienced lean practitioners.

About the Guest: Katie Anderson is an internationally recognized leadership and learning coach, consultant, and professional speaker, best known for inspiring individuals and organizations to lead with intention and increase their personal and professional impact. Katie is passionate about helping people around the world learn to lead and lead to learn by connecting purpose, process, and practice to achieve higher levels of performance. Her book Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn: Lessons from Toyota Leader Isao Yoshino on a Lifetime of Continuous Learning is an international #1 Amazon bestseller

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In this episode, Stéfany Oliver and I discuss their Lean coaching journey, 'Staying Flowcused', and how wellness ties into Lean leadership.

What You'll Learn:

1. How did you get into Lean coaching?

2. What are your current areas of focus?

3. Tell us more about your concept of Staying Flowcused and what it entails?

4. Bringing it back to Lean and leadership for a moment, tell me more about the links between wellness and Lean leadership?

5. What's next for you?

About the Guest:  Stéfany is driven by her passion for helping people who feel overwhelmed. She's on a mission to help people find flow: in their work, in their kitchen and in their heart. She lives and teaches the manifesto of being Fueled by plants, Fueled by perspective and Fueled by prayer. She's a Lean Management Coach by trade but didn't start off her professional career that way. Over the years, she's been coming into the full expression of who God has created her to be as a food creator, speaker, cookbook author and inspirational storyteller. She’s also been building her own health, wellness and optimization coaching business.

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In this episode, Glenn Wilson and I discuss DevSecOps, lean manufacturing in digital contexts, cybersecurity's evolution, total security, and building resilience in an uncertain world.

What You'll Learn:

1. What is DevSecOps and what is the problem it is trying to solve?

2. What can digital organizations learn from lean manufacturing in relation to delivering high quality digital products?

3. What should continual learning and improvement look like in cybersecurity?

4. Can organizations become totally secure and provide products and services with zero defects?

5. Can organizations become more resilient to cybersecurity threats in an uncertain world?

About the Guest:  Glenn is a management consultant specializing in DevOps, Agile, and security. He is founder of Dynaminet and holder of a CISSP. He is also the best-selling author of the book “DevSecOps: A leader’s guide to producing secure software without compromising flow, feedback and continuous improvement”. He is an experienced security professional who has worked for over 20 years in the IT industry across multiple sectors. Glenn focuses on strategy and employs systems thinking in practice to enable organizations to apply secure processes and principles across the organization to enrich their relationship with their customers.

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In this episode, Tim Schipper and I navigate the realms of Lean and Agile practices. Uncover the captivating aspects of Lean in action, explore the core intersections between Lean and Agile, and learn how these strategies can enhance development.

What You'll Learn:

1. What do you appreciate about Lean the more it is practiced?. 

2. What are the important similarities between Lean and Agile? 

3. What is the central common element between Lean and Agile? 

4. Can you apply Lean / Agile to development? 

5. What is an important metric when applying Lean/Agile to development?

About the Guest:  Timothy Schipper is a graduate of Calvin College and the University of Michigan (Bachelors of Mechanical Engineering and Masters of Science). His career has spanned 40 years and includes time as a tool designer, engineering educator, engineer, IT manager, Lean expert, author, and Agile Transformation leader. He has led Lean transformations since 2003 in the areas of manufacturing, office processes, IT development, global product development, new business initiatives, government agencies, and non-profits. He is currently works for Steelcase Inc. of Grand Rapids MI. Timothy has written two books on the topic of Lean: Innovative Lean Development: How to Create, Implement, and Maintain a Learning Culture, and The Highly Effective Office: Creating a Successful Lean Culture in any Workplace 

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In this episode, Calvin Williams and I delve into the essence of FIT, exploring its foundational premise and its role in guiding organizations. As our conversation unfolds, we unravel the relationship between FIT and Agile Strategy Execution, dissecting how these concepts synergize to empower organizations with the adaptability and strategic prowess needed in today's dynamic landscape.

What You'll Learn:

1. What is the premise of FIT?

2. How does an organization become FIT?

3. How does FIT work with Lean?

4. What exactly is Agile Strategy Execution?

5. What is the relationship between FIT and Agile Strategy Execution?

About the Guest:  Throughout his career, he has helped generate over $2.5B in cost savings and growth opportunities for some amazing organizations. This was done by applying sound principles of Industrial Engineering, Lean, Operations Leadership, and Respect for People. He works on the cutting edge of both Operational Excellence and technology and is also a SaaS founder who understands how to apply the latest developments in tech like AI, ML, IoT, VR/AR, Cloud, and many others to accelerate growth and Operational Excellence.

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In this episode, John Dyer and I explore the insights gleaned from Dr. W. Edwards Deming's "Red Bead Experiment," the efficacy of hands-on visual teaching, and insights from "The Leadership Experiment."

What You'll Learn:

1. Dr. W. Edwards Deming performed the "Red Bead Experiment" in many of his classes. What were some of the lessons he was trying to share with his audience? 

2. What is the power behind using a hands-on, visual teaching technique, such as the Red Beads, to teach a difficult lesson? 

3. I understand that you have been developing an activity called "The Leadership Experiment." Can you describe what this activity is all about? 

4. What are some of the lessons learned? 

5. Can you share with our audience an idea you are working on regarding a Lean, team based process improvement competition that we may try and implement in 2024?

   
   

About the Guest:  John Dyer is an author, coach, and trainer with 39 years of experience in the field of improving processes. His recently published book “the Façade of Excellence; Defining a New Normal of Leadership” examines the four leadership styles required to move an organization’s culture to one of trust, collaboration, and teamwork. John started his career with General Electric and then worked his way up to a Corporate V.P. of Global Improvement at Ingersoll-Rand before starting his own consulting company. He has had the opportunity to study with several leaders in the continuous improvement field such as Dr. W. Edwards Deming, Brian Joiner, and Stephen Covey.

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In this episode, Dr. Jeff Liker and I dive into the fascinating world of Kata coaching and explore the key concepts from his novel on the subject

What You'll Learn:

1. What led you to write a novel with Tilo Schwarz?

2. For the listeners that do not know, what is kata coaching?

3. What did Tilo add about coaching to Mike Rother's 5 question card?

4. Why a novel about kata coaching? I understand that Tilo already published a book about the coaching microskills.

5. What would you like to hear from readers that would really excite you?

About the Guest:  Jeffrey K. Liker is Professor Emeritus, Industrial and Operations Engineering at The University of Michigan and President of Liker Lean Advisors, LLC. He is author of the best-selling book, The Toyota Way, Second Edition, and has coauthored nine other books about Toyota including The Toyota Way to Service Excellence, and The Toyota Way to Lean Leadership. His graphic novel with Eduardo Lander and Tom Root tells the story of lean transformation at a mail-order company: Lean in a High-Variability Business. His articles and books have won thirteen Shingo Prizes for Research Excellence. He was inducted into the Association of Manufacturing Excellence Hall of Fame and the Shingo Academy.

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In this episode, John Willis and I discuss his upcoming book as well as key moments from our recent trip to Japan.

What You'll Learn:

1.) John's upcoming book about Dr. Deming.

2.) Why Deming still matters today.

3.) What Mr. Yosino. said about Mr. Nemoto.

4.) What Mr. Youshino said about Dr. Deming.

5.) What were my favorite parts of Katie's Japan Study?

About the Guest:  John Willis is Senior Director of the Global Transformation Office at Red Hat Prior to Red Hat, he was the Director of Ecosystem Development for Docker, which he joined after the company he co-founded (SocketPlane, which focused on SDN for containers) was acquired by Docker in February 2015. Previous to founding SocketPlane in Fall 2014, John was the Chief DevOps Evangelist at Dell, which he joined following the Enstratius acquisition in May 2013. He has also held past executive roles at Chef and Canonical. John was one of the earliest cloud evangelists and is considered one of the founders of the Devops movement. John is the author of 7 IBM Redbooks. He is also the co-author of the “Devops Handbook” and “Beyond the Phoenix Project” along with author Gene Kim.

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In this episode, Mark Graban and I discuss the value that comes from making mistakes and how learning from our mistakes is effective in lean culture.

What You'll Learn:

1. What inspired you to write the book?

2. How does "learning from mistakes" fit into a Lean culture?

3. What is Psychological Safety and how can leaders create the conditions for it?

4. Examples from Toyota? A small software company like KaiNexus?

5. Why is it counterproductive to punish mistakes?

About the Guest: Mark Graban is an author, speaker, and consultant, whose latest book, The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation, was released in June. He is also the author of the award-winning book Lean Hospitals: Improving Quality, Patient Safety, and Employee Engagement and others, including Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve. He serves as a consultant through his company, Constancy, Inc, and is also a Senior Advisor for the technology company KaiNexus. Mark hosts podcasts, including “Lean Blog Interviews” and “My Favorite Mistake.” Mark earned a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern University, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, and an M.B.A. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Leaders for Global Operations Program.

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In this episode, Ovidiu Contras and I discuss tangled environments and how to work through them effectively.

What You'll Learn:

1. What’s your Lean career path?

2. What’s a tangled environment?

3. What are the challenges in improving work in a tangled environment?

4. What helped in guiding teams to significantly improve work in the tangled environment?

5. VSM for non-repetitive work? How is that working?

6. Any recommendations for those wanting to try this in their business?

About the Guest: Ovidiu Contras is a Lean Coach and Author. He has Authored 2 Books: Navigating the Lean Transformation and Untangling with VSM, both reflecting his own experiences. He has been involved in more than 20 years of Lean, as a continuous improvement employee.

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In this episode, Paul Dunlop and I discuss the value of visual management and the effectiveness of an SQCD board.

What You'll Learn:

1. What is the value of visual management?

2. What is an SQCD board?

3. What are the steps to developing a good SQCD board?

4. How do we know if our SQCD board is working?

5. What challenges have you experienced in rolling out SQCD boards with your clients?

About the Guest: Paul brings with him over 20 years of management and manufacturing experience in a broad range of industries. In his operational management and consultancy roles Paul has led successful Lean implementation and transformations using the principles of the Toyota Production System.

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In this episode, The Lean Solutions Podcast host Patrick Adams discusses the ingredients necessary to fuel a mighty flame of continuous improvement in an organization as well as his book Avoiding The Continuous Appearance Trap, which received the Shingo publication award earlier this year. In the show notes, there is an article that Patrick wrote regarding the topics he speaks about in this episode.

What You'll Learn:

The Tinder

• Stability in processes and leadership. (You cannot improve chaos.)
• The vision must be clearly communicated.
• Standards, accountability, and expectations are clearly stated.
• Targets to achieve business goals are set.

The Kindling

• Choose a high-value target area.
• Empower committed employees to change.
• Leaders enable action by removing roadblocks.
• Deploy structured problem solving. (Constant learning is the norm.)
• Generate small, simple improvements.
• Celebrate success on small wins.

The Firewood

• Continuous and frequent “touches.”
• Hard work.
• Inspect what you expect. (Audit.)
• Sustain, replicate, and integrate the improvements.

About the Speaker:  Patrick is an internationally recognized leadership coach, consultant and professional speaker. He is best known for his unique human approach to sound team building practices, creating consensus and enabling empowerment.

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In this episode, Chad Bareither and I discuss the importance of a continuous improvement mindset.

What You'll Learn:

1. What is continuous improvement?

2. Is a continuous improvement mindset anchored more in the hard skills (tools/systems) or the soft skills (behavior/thinking)?

3. How does an organization get started with Continuous Improvement?

4. How would that same organization sustain the benefits?

5. What are some of the challenges you see in the world of Continuous Improvement?

   
   

About the Guest:  From an early career as a Quality Engineer, Chad Bareither quickly found his niche and passion in Continuous Improvement. Now, with years of experience as an internal change agent for larger organizations, including three Fortune 500 companies, he takes that operational excellence mindset beyond the “shop floor”. As the owner and principal consultant of Bareither Group Consulting, he enables continuous improvement through the application of Lean and Six Sigma methodologies. Chad partners with his clients to clarify and deploy their strategy, make process improvements to achieve those goals, and establish a system for daily management of the business.

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In this episode, Tom Passaro and I discuss him and his team's early lean journey, and the challenges and wins they have experienced.

What You'll Learn:

1. Tell us about your company.

2. What products/services do you provide?

3. Who is your ideal customer?

4. Why did you decide to embark on your own lean journey?

5. What challenges have you had?

6. What have the results been?

7. What do you have to celebrate?

About the Guest:  Tom is the President and co-founder of Innovative Power Products, located in Long Island New York. He has been an entrepreneur for over 35 years in the RF and Microwave industry. Him and his team embarked on their Lean journey about 2 years ago.

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In this episode, Matthew Singh and I discuss PI initiatives and programs as well as positively influencing culture.

What You'll Learn:

1. What do you think are some important elements of a successful PI program?

2. How does one go about impacting positive cultural change?

3. What insights can you provide about the sustainability of a program?

4. What's been your greatest challenge in your PI endeavors?

5. What has been your greatest win in the PI endeavors?

About the Guest:  Matt Singh is the Director of Operational Excellence and Master Black Belt for the Department of Administrative Services in the state of Nebraska. Over the last 20 years he has previously served in a variety of progressive management roles including sales & service, operations, and supply chain. He is certified as a Master Black Belt in Six Sigma, Master Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma, Certified Lean Sensei, and holds the Project Management Professional (PMP) credential. 

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In this episode, Ken Segel and I discuss the importance of continuous improvement principles as they apply to patient care.

What You'll Learn:

1. Can you tell me a little bit about Value Capture’s mission and history so our listeners can get a sense for your work in healthcare, and how your firm combines leading with safety and Toyota Production System principles or lean?  

2. How about your personal story?  How did you get connected to this mission?

3. Can you say a little bit more about the state of lean in healthcare?  What challenges are you seeing?  What are your health system clients doing to try to break through?  How are you advising them?

4. How about the current state of safety in healthcare?  There have been some scary headlines recently about patient safety not having progressed much in 20 years …

5. Last summer we both spoke at a conference where in a keynote you and Mark Graban announced that this is an ideal time for folks in any industry to grab WORKFORCE SAFETY as an imperative to revive or strengthen lean journeys.  Can you say why?

6. Where do you think the Operational Excellence movement should go next, to move deeper into the work and not risk being a series of the latest flavors of the month?

In this episode, Adam Lawrence and I discuss the Wheel of Sustainability and its elements.

What You'll Learn:

1. Which element of the Wheel of Sustainability do you find most challenging for your Kaizen teams to engage with and why?

2. How do you help your Kaizen teams deal with this element (Clear Benefits)

3. What are you trying to accomplish with this element during a Kaizen event?

4. Do you have some stories how using this element of the Wheel of Sustainability helped avert or avoid problems?

5. How does Leadership Commitment support and work with this element?

About the Guest: 

Adam Lawrence is the Managing Partner of Process Improvement Partners, LLC. He has 30+ years of experience in process improvement activities, targeted at manufacturing and business processes. Having facilitated 300+ Kaizen events in multiple industries around the world, Adam aligns with leadership, engages teams, and creates sustainable results. Adam is also the author of The Wheel of Sustainability.  

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In this episode, Mike Leigh and I discuss the application of lean as well as the implementation of a lean mindset within organizations.

What You'll Learn:

1. Can you describe your Lean journey so far?

2. How has your attitude toward the application of Lean changed?

3. What is your approach to helping companies move forward on their Lean journey?

4. You're not a big fan of Six Sigma. Why is that?

5. What advice would you give to Lean practitioners who want to make a difference in their organizations?

About the Guest: 

Mike Leigh is the President of OpX Solutions, a performance improvement company that helps manufacturers remove the barriers that prevent them from achieving their goals by developing leaders and improving processes.  Prior to starting his company, Mike had a 13-year manufacturing career where he held a variety of operational supply chain leadership roles.  Prior to that, he served in the US Navy as a surface warfare officer where he specialized in nuclear propulsion, and later retired as a Commander in the reserves.

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In this episode, Rich Sheridan and I discuss the impacts of implementing a culture of storytelling.

What You'll Learn:

1. Why are you called the Chief Storyteller at Menlo?

2. Why is storytelling such an important part of your company's culture?

3. What kinds of stories are relevant to tell?

4. How do you curate stories?

5. How do you build a storytelling culture?

About the Guest: 

Rich Sheridan, CEO and Chief Storyteller at Menlo Innovations, is a successful entrepreneur and author of two best-selling books—Joy Inc.: How We Built Workplace People Love and Chief Joy Officer: How Great Leaders Elevate Human Energy and Eliminate Fear. Rich’s passion for inspiring organizations to create their own joy-filled cultures has led him to address audiences across the world—through four continents and 18 countries (and counting) as well as throughout the United States.

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In this episode, Katie Anderson and I discuss a culture of excellence through continuous improvement during a pre-recorded webinar.

What You'll Learn:

1. What are the ingredients that make up a culture of excellence?

2. In cultures of CI, what does it mean to “learn, lead, and care”?

3. Can you share your favorite story from Mr. Yoshino that exemplifies a culture of CI?

4. Why do you do the Japan study trip?

5. What will we see that backs up how the Japanese culture played a part in Toyota’s success?

About the Guest: 

Katie Anderson is an internationally recognized leadership and learning coach, consultant, and professional speaker, best known for inspiring individuals and organizations to lead with intention and increase their personal and professional impact. Katie is passionate about helping people around the world learn to lead and lead to learn by connecting purpose, process, and practice to achieve higher levels of performance. Her book Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn: Lessons from Toyota Leader Isao Yoshino on a Lifetime of Continuous Learning is an international #1 Amazon bestseller

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In this episode, Toby Curry and I discuss lean process implementation in an organization as well as factors that can contribute to failure in a lean practice system.

What You'll Learn:

1. Can you give us some background on who you are and some of your work experience?

2. Lean manufacturing practices have been around for decades. Throughout the life of Lean Practices, the demand for these skills and practices has been cyclical. Why do you feel there is or should be a heightened awareness or attraction to Lean practices in today's climate?

3. Can you give us an example of a lean process implementation that your organization has benefited from?

4. What do you feel is the largest factor that contributes to failed lean initiatives in manufacturing facility?

5. If you could go back now and impart some wisdom to yourself before you started practicing lean initiatives, what would it be?

About the Guest: 

Toby Curry serves as the director of operations for Coastal Automotive, a Tier-1 global automotive safety component manufacturer, where he is responsible for operational P&L, continuous improvement, production, logistics and quality. Toby has spent over 20 years in the automotive manufacturing industry, with 10 of those years in executive leadership. He’s passionate about making a positive difference for customers, community, and employees through building a great workplace culture. A US Navy Submarine Veteran, prior to joining Coastal, Toby served in various roles including process engineering, continuous improvement, and production supervision. He earned his bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Grand Valley State University and a certificate in executive management from the University of Notre Dame. 

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In this episode, Katie Labedz and I discuss trends and ways to become successful in terms of a person's CI journey as well as improving everything in every process.

What You'll Learn:

1. Tell us about your new book "How to Improve Absolutely Every Process"

2. What trends are you seeing in the CI space?

3. Why are people hesitant to start or restart their CI journey?

4. Why do most CI journeys fail?

5. How can people set themselves up for success in their CI journey and where to start?

About the Guest:  Katie Labedz is the President of Learning to Lean, LLC.  She is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and Project Management Professional. She has been practicing Lean, Six Sigma and Project Management concepts for over 20 years. She has a diverse background that includes manufacturing, materials, supply chain, HR and IT in the automotive and electronic industries. Katie makes it her professional goal to expose the genius in all of her students.  She has also authored two books: "How to Improve Absolutely Anything-Continuous Improvement in Your Home, Office and Family Life" and "How to Improve Absolutely Every Process-Kaizen for process improvement and fun."

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In this episode, Tony Hayes and I discuss ways to create a lean learning culture through an organizations atmosphere and leadership platforms.

What You'll Learn:

1. What is the definition of a good Lean “Learning Culture?

2. What are the challenges to creating this type of atmosphere within an organization?

3. What role does Leadership play in facilitating or creating the platform for learning?

4. Can you share some examples of how you have done this at your current company or others from your past experiences?

5. What advice would you give our listeners as the consider creating their own Learning Culture within their organizations?

About the Guest:  Tony is an Executive Lean Leader, responsible for the Wabash Management System, Continuous Improvement and Quality at Wabash, supporting the CEO and the Executive Leadership Team, driving customer value creation. He has extensive experience in delivering profitable growth, improving risk profile, and increasing return on invested capital in the automotive, transportation, aerospace and defense industries. Tony is a seasoned operations and lean expert with extensive experience in strategy and organizational governance. Tony has utilized his lean expertise to assist organizations with their most complex problems in manufacturing, engineering, material planning and logistics, value chain management, and quality.

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In this episode, Steve Johnson and I discuss training paths and employee tools when it comes to a robust training program. You'll also here how a robust training program can help reduce employee turn-over.

What You'll Learn:

1. Why did you start a training program for technicians?

2. What does the training path look like for a technician?

3. Does an employee need any experience or certifications to start this program?

4. Does the employee need any tools?

5. How long will it take to complete this program?

About the Guest: Steve Johnson has over 30 years of experience in the automotive industry. He served as a certified technician at a local Gm dealership for about 8 years. Steve's work ethic was unmatched, which is what earned him a position as a Service Advisor. Eventually, when a service manager position became available, Steve was asked to grab the metaphorical reigns and lead the service team to achieve an unprecedented level of customer service and shop performance. To achieve this, Steve had to develop a service team that would exceed his level of expectations for professional business and work culture needed to create the best service team Berger has ever had. The dealership has received GM dealer of the year award 11 times and has continued to break multiple financial records year after year.

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In this episode, Tom Hughes and I discuss the extensive experience Tom has gained helping hundreds of organizations across the world do standard work / digital work instructions better with his software product GembaDocs.

What You'll Learn:

1. How did the whole GembaDocs thing happen?

2. How can you say it’s a Game Changer? That’s a pretty big claim!

3. Why is OWNERSHIP so important with Standards?

4. Why / how can we implement standards in a more intelligent way?

5. Improvement Starts With I ; GembaDocs – how do people access them?

About the Guest:

Tom Hughes is an Ireland-based entrepreneur and the author of "Improvement Starts With I." He is the creator of GembaDocs, a software company that assists businesses in creating quick, simple, and digital standard work practices. Tom is currently a partner in Lumen Electronics, an Irish business that develops and manufactures products.

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In this episode, Mark Deluzio and I discuss the Danaher business system, as well as the art of Lean Transformation.

What You'll Learn:

1. Why do Lean Transformations fail?
2. Could you explain the importance of having a business strategy and the ability to deploy/execute the strategy.
3. What made the Danaher Business System so successful?
4. As the "Father of Lean Accounting," how important is it to change the accounting systems when embarking on a Lean Transformation?
5. What role does Respect for People play in the success of a Lean Transformation

About the Guest:

Mark DeLuzio is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Lean Horizons Consulting. He is also a former Corporate Officer and Vice President of Danaher Business System (DBS) for Danaher Corporation.

Danaher has been recognized as the leading implementer of Lean globally and has been rated as the 3rd most profitable US stock over the last 30 years. Mark is also credited with developing the first Lean Accounting process in the United States for Danaher’s Jake Brake Division, where he served as their Chief Financial Officer. Mark is the author of “Turn Waste into Wealth,” which offers practical advice for those considering a Lean transformation and “Flatlined – Why Lean Transformations Fail and What to do About It”, which offers the lessons learned from Mark’s association with hundreds of Lean transformations on a global basis.

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In this episode, Bob Emiliani and I discuss the problem of classical management. 

What You'll Learn:

1. What is classical management?
2. You put together an A3 and challenged lean practitioners. Can you tell our listeners what is an A3?
3. What were the root cause results of the A3 investigation?
4. What are your suggested solutions?
5. Any new books in your future?

About the Guest:

Dr. Bob Emiliani has been a Lean practitioner and professor of Lean management for over 25 years.

Prior joining academia, he worked in industry for 15 years and had management responsibility in engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain management. He was the first academic to establish a research agenda focused on Lean leadership, resulting in numerous publications and varied leadership development workshops. His work on Lean leadership and Lean as applied to higher education are widely recognized.

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In this episode, Sam Morgan and I discuss his personal journey into launching his coaching business to include his personal use of kata to make it happen.  We discuss the use of kata for both business and personal applications. 

What You'll Learn:

1. How did you get to the point of starting your own coaching business?
2. You don't have any lean certifications (LSSMB) or coaching certifications (ICF) What makes you feel like you are qualified to coach lean and ops leaders?
3. You talk to lots of lean and ops leaders, what's the biggest challenge you are hearing that they face on a daily basis?
4. What do you feel like we need to do to solve this challenge?
5. What does continuous improvement mean to you?

About the Guest:

Sam Morgan is a self-proclaimed “confident learner.” After spending the past five years of work in the continuous improvement space he landed at KataCon, a conference for continuous improvement professionals who practice the Toyota Kata.  There he had a powerful moment realizing where his true passion lies: transforming people through coaching.

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In this episode, Dr. Joe Sprangel and I discuss Humanist Manufacturing.  Joe explains the Humanist Manufacturing Framework to include the humanist commitments necessary for leader success.  

What You'll Learn:

1. What is Humanist Manufacturing?
2. Could you share the phases of your humanist manufacturing framework?
3. What are the humanist commitments you used as the foundation of your framework?
4. The second phase is focused on the leader and the leadership team.  Why is this important?
5. It appears that you have a strong emphasis on creating a human-centric organization.  What does this mean to you?

About the Guest:

Dr. Joe Sprangel is an associate professor of business at Mary Baldwin University.  He is also the founder and principal consultant of Emmanuel Strategic Sustainability.  He made the transition to higher education after 28 years of industry experience.  His industry career included work in machine build and repair, machine design, manufacturing engineering, and plant and engineering management.

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In this episode, Elisabeth Swan and I discuss the intangibles when it comes to leading others.  Elisabeth is the president of Swan Consulting & Associates, Inc., and co-founder of the Just-In-Time Café. She’s the co-author of the Problem-Solver’s Toolkit: A Surprisingly Simple Guide to Your Lean Six Sigma Journey, and has been helping clients drive change for decades. She’s a Master Black Belt, Speaker, Coach and Lean Six Sigma consultant with a focus on leveraging people to build vibrant problem-solving cultures.  Today, we discussed her new book titled, "Picture Yourself a Leader: Illustrated Micro-lessons in Navigating Change" which will be published in just a few months. 

What You'll Learn:

1. What do you mean by "intangibles" in terms of process improvement?
2. Why do people struggle with intangibles?
3. Do you have an example(s)?
4. What are some root causes?
5. What are some actions people can take?

About the Guest:

Elisabeth has been working as a business process improvement consultant and change leader for over 30 years. She specializes in process-based organization design, problem solving, Lean Six Sigma and change management for blue chip clients.

Her client engagements focus on working with leadership and leveraging the talents of internal project managers and teams in achieving strategic goals. The track records of these engagements consistently showcase measurable improvement.

Elisabeth's industry experience includes healthcare, hospitality, financial services, insurance, telecommunications, energy and technology.

Specialties: - Process Improvement Program Design
- Lean Six Sigma
- Coaching
- Training Design and Implementation
- Leadership Coaching
- Improvement Team Training
- Large Group Facilitation
- Facilitation and Communication Skills

Important Links:

To get updates on when the book comes out:

In this episode of The Lean Solutions Podcast, Kevin Gausch and I discuss lean applied in different industries.  Specifically, the construction industry. His knowledge and stories help explain how lean can be applied outside manufacturing when practitioners truly understand the principles of continuous improvement. 

About the Guest:

As a Certified Manager of Quality and Organizational Excellence through ASQ with a focus on the construction industry, Kevin has set himself apart as an expert in quality management. In the past 30 years, his experience includes Quality and Project Management in the utility contractor space and the construction industry. He’s worked hands-on across all areas, from foreman to the c-suite, and witnessed the difference that technology can make to help working teams get better every day. Skilled in managing complicated processes that involve many stakeholders, Kevin’s global team is dedicated to sharing their hands-on experience to drive success in digital transformation and ultimately raise the bar for frontline teams.

What You'll Learn:

• How do you apply lean principles in construction?
• Best practices and tips and tricks for lean process improvement in operations
• The role of technology and digitization in lean process improvement.
• The impact of technology on process effectiveness.

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In this episode I was able to have Bob Emiliani back for a second time to discuss many topics to include his views on 'Fake Lean.'  

What You'll Learn:

• What is Fake Lean?
• Findings of an Ongoing Root Cause Analysis on Lean Transformation Failures
• Research studies Bob is currently working on
• What is Bob's favorite topic to discuss?

About the Guest:

Dr. Bob Emiliani is an accomplished author whose work spans three disciplines: engineering, social sciences, and humanities. He has authored or co-authored 45 peer-reviewed papers in six different subject areas (leadership, management, management history, supply chain management, higher education, and materials engineering) and is the author or co-author of 22 books.

Important Links:

In this episode, Paul Deane and I discuss his three core pillars to an operational excellence journey.   

What You'll Learn:

• Three Core Pillars of an operational excellence journey.
• The biggest drivers for an organization to adopt Lean.
• The biggest challenges organizations face when embarking on a Lean journey.
• Paul's biggest 'win' he has seen organizations achieve having implemented effective Lean.
• How do you get buy-in for Lean?

About The Guest:

Paul Deane has over 25 years working with large global organizations all over the world leading manufacturing and service operations, and successfully deploying business improvement methodologies.

An innovative continuous Improvement practitioner, with strengths in operationalizing LEAN systems, ISO9001, manufacturing best practice and DMAIC projects. CSSC/ISSP certified 6 Sigma Black and Green Belts. Over 15+ years implementing OPEX systems from zero base within global organizations with strong insight into engaging front line staff.

His operational, service and manufacturing experience has covered chemical, industrial and food industries.

Paul also spoke at the Virtual Lean Summit 2022.

Important Links:

Today is a replay of a conversation I had with Nigel Thurlow,  a leading expert on Lean and Agile approaches. Nigel advises companies on successful transformation strategies and how to achieve effective and lasting change. As the chief agile at Toyota connected, he established the Toyota agile Academy and is also the co-author of The Flow System.

In this episode, Nigel and I talk about Agile, how it relates to Lean and the flow from scientific thinking to Agile into the flow system.

What You’ll Learn This Episode:

• Nigel’s background in Lean and Agile
• The challenges with bringing Agile into Toyota
• The differences between Japan and the western world with executive leadership
• The scientific method and why it’s so important
• The challenges when only dealing with deductive reasoning
• PDCA and Scrum
• Agile, what it is and how it differs and relates to Lean
• How Agile and Lean flow into the flow system

About the Guest:

Nigel Thurlow is the former Chief of Agile at Toyota, creator of the World Agility Forum award-winning ‘Scrum the Toyota Way’ approach, and the co-creator of The Flow System™. He is also a Forbes top 10 noted author for his work as co-author of the book on The Flow System and is a well-known Keynote Speaker. He also co-authors The Flow Guide.

Nigel is an internationally recognized expert in the Toyota Production System and The Toyota Way as well as Lean Thinking, Agile, Scrum, and Complexity concepts. In addition to his work at Toyota in recent years he has also taught and coached at Vodafone, Banco Popular, GE, Bose, 3M, Microsoft, University of North Texas, and to the faculty at MIT.

Nigel also presents regularly for The Lean Institute at their events and is considered a leading expert in bridging the Lean and Agile worlds following his pioneering work at Toyota.

As a Professional Scrum Trainer, the first one ever in Toyota, and the first to have been certified by both the creators of Scrum, he has trained over 8000 people worldwide as of 2021.

Nigel is extensively published online and has co-authored several peer reviewed white papers and journal publications on team science. He acts as an advisor on several boards at the University of North Texas as well as contributing to Chief Executive Magazine.

Nigel currently serves as the CEO of The Flow Consortium, and as an interim executive with several high-profile brands advising executive leadership teams on lean and agile strategies in complex business and organizational design environments.

Important Links:

In this episode, Paul Dunlop and I discuss the importance of daily management systems and structures as well as the digitalization in and of lean management systems.  This is Paul's third time on the show. 

What You'll Learn:

• The importance of Daily management systems and structures
• Digitization in / of Lean
• The importance of leader standard work

About The Guest:

Paul brings with him over 20 years of management and manufacturing experience in a broad range of industries. In his operational management and consultancy roles Paul has led successful Lean implementation and transformations using the principles of the Toyota Production System. Paul’s passion for operational excellence using Lean tools and methodology has helped drive sustained continuous improvement and financial performance at many companies.

Paul’s “people centered” approach is to engage the ongoing support and commitment of both shop floor staff and senior management through effective Lean leadership and to facilitate inclusive problem solving cultures.

Paul is a team player with an understanding of business priorities and committed to managing high performing teams and delivering projects to meet targets. Demonstrated ability to influence and change workplace cultures and develop capability in employees to implement and sustain continuous improvement methodologies long term. Effective implementation of Lean cultures in both greenfield and established organizations, with a passion for engaging, coaching and developing people at all levels of the organization by utilizing Lean tools and Lean thinking.

Paul specializes in:

* Lean Enterprise and Strategic Planning

* Change management

* Grass roots "bottom up" engagement

* Coaching and mentoring leaders, enhancing fundamental management skills and lean leadership

* Implementation of lean tools and techniques

Important Links:

In this episode, Patrick's guest is George Trachilis, P.Eng. Patrick and George discuss the Harada Method and how it can benefit individuals and organizations. 

About the Guest:

George Trachilis lives in Canada and consults remotely and throughout the world.