Lean Blog Interviews

http://www.leanblog.org/386Joining me again for Episode #386 is Steve Spear, who reached out to share recollections of one of his most influential teachers and mentors, Hajime Oba, who passed away earlier this month at 75.I never had the chance to learn directly from Mr. Oba, but he is legendary in Lean circles and I know many people who were deeply influenced by Mr. Oba. I hope to interview more of them in the near future. My deepest condolences go out to Mr. Oba's family, friends, and colleagues.Here is a classic 2001 WSJ article that features him:"How Does Toyota Maintain Quality? Mr. Oba's Hair Dryer Offers a Clue" In today's episode, Steve talks about meeting Mr. Oba and how he learned from him as a PhD student. One story that Steve shares was about sitting at his desk, thinking about a problem, and Mr. Oba told him: "Don't think -- do!" Hajime Oba You'll hear more from Steve talking about the need to learn by doing and to test changes in an experimental fashion. It's not just "do" --- it's Plan Do Check

http://www.leanblog.org/385My guest for Episode #385 of the podcast is Emily Elrod, the president of the firm Workzbe, based in Georgia.We have shared interests in Lean, ergonomics, healthcare and creating better workplaces. We met earlier this year and she was kind enough to interview me for her YouTube channel.As she describes in the episode, her career has evolved from designing equipment, to wellness and Lean in a health system, to her own firm. Her WISE framework means to work Well, Intelligent, Safe, and Empowered.We'll talk about the need to be “HOT” (Humble, Open, and Transparent), the psychology of change, and more.“I think the biggest threat to health promotion is doing things to people instead of with them.” Emily ElrodI hope you enjoy the conversation like I did. 

http://www.leanblog.org/384Joining me today for Episode #384 of the podcast is Craig Gygi, co-author of the book Six Sigma for Dummies. He also managing principal and owner of the firm Strategic Productivity. You can read his full bio there. He also has an online course called “Truth About Data” which covers statistical process control for business metrics, as I have written about.So, we have that shared interest in data, statistical methods, and problem solving even if he comes at it from a Six Sigma perspective (starting from his days at Motorola) and me from a Lean perspective.Craig's previous leadership roles include:COO, PurpleExecutive VP of Operations, MasterControlDirector Operational Excellence, Fiji WaterI hope you enjoy the conversation like I did. You can listen to the audio or watch the video, below. 

http://www.leanblog.org/383Joining me today for Episode #383 of the podcast is Patrick Anderson, the CEO of the Rural Alaska Community Action Program, Inc. (or "RurAL CAP"). Patrick was previously a guest way back in Episodes #53 and #71.Today, we'll talk how ideas from Dr. W. Edwards Deming and Lean have influenced him as he has led different organizations. He shares thoughts about shifting an organization away from a "command and control" approach, what "respect for people" means to him, and he'll also talk about their "performance management system."I hope you enjoy the conversation. 

Learn more: http://leanblog.org/audio309Subscribe: http://myfavoritemistakepodcast.com/ 

https://www.leanblog.org/382 for show notes and moreI'm really excited to be speaking to my guest for Episode #382 of the podcast… he is the legendary Tom Peters — author, speaker, and consultant. His response to me calling him “legendary” at the start of the episode gives you a glimpse into the fun conversation we had on some very important topics.Today, we'll be talking about his “Excellence Manifesto 2020” and a theme he has tweeted about a lot, leading amongst the “madness of Covid-19.”He is the author of 18 books, including:In Search of Excellence (1982) — Dan Pink (my guest in Episode #107) said (here) that it launched the modern biz book genreThriving on Chaos (1987)Liberation Management The Pursuit of WOW!I've been a huge fan of Tom's since I first saw him give a speech around 1997 or so. The story about Motorola's “six sigma chocolate chip cookies” (read about it here) stuck with me and my recall of that story leads to Tom talking about the risk of any good program becoming codified and bureaucratic,

http://www.leanblog.org/381Joining me for the ninth time on the podcast, for Episode #381, is Dr. John Toussaint, chairman of Catalysis. John is author or co-author of three books -- well actually it's four books, as a new one is available for pre-order now with an expected September 1st release: Becoming the Change: Leadership Behavior Strategies for Continuous Improvement in Healthcare.Today, we'll talk about the new book a bit (but we'll save most of that conversation for an upcoming episode with both John and his co-author Kim Barnas).I ask John about healthcare organizations that have been doing really good work during the Covid-19 pandemic. One of those is UMass Memorial Health Care (check out my "Habitual Excellence" podcast with their CEO Dr. Eric Dickson). Another related podcast I've done on that topic is a conversation with Paul Pejsa, also with Catalysis.We also talk about the need to adapt with conferences, as the annual Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit is now a one-day online virtual event

This is an excerpt from Episode #380 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast. Host Mark Graban interviews Dr. Randal Pinkett and Dr. Jeffrey Robinson and, in this clip, they reflect on Randal winning "The Apprentice" (the only person of color to do so) and how Donald Trump asked him if he would share the prize with the runner up, a white woman (Rebecca Jarvis). For a transcript and the entire episode, visit http://leanblog.org/380.

https://www.leanblog.org/380Today's episode, #380, is very special to me for a number of reasons. For one, it's part of the #RootCauseRacism series that Deondra Wardelle has organized on my blog this week. Secondly, I'm joined by Dr. Randal Pinkett and Dr. Jeffrey Robinson to talk about important issues of race, diversity, and equity in organizations. Together, they are co-authors of the book Black Faces in White Places: 10 Game-Changing Strategies to Achieve Success and Find Greatness and the upcoming book (2021) Black Faces in High Places.Randal Pinkett, Ph.D. is an entrepreneur, speaker, author, and community servant. Randal is the co-founder, Chairman and CEO of his fifth venture, BCT Partners, a multimillion dollar management, technology and policy consulting firm in Newark, NJ, a partner in Blackwell-BCT, a joint venture with Blackwell Consulting Services, and spokesperson for the Minority Information Technology Consortium. He is a Rhodes Scholar and former college athlete who holds five academic degree

https://www.leanblog.org/379 My guest for Episode #379, joining me for the fifth time, is Katie Anderson, author of the newly-released book Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn: Lessons from Toyota Leader Isao Yoshino on a Lifetime of Continuous Learning. In today's episode, we talk about how the book came to be and we, of course, talk about the process — the process of writing and publishing. You might also be interested in the webinar that Katie presented about some themes in the book, along with the separate extended Q&A session that we did.I hope you enjoy the conversation, whether you listen or watch.

This is a portion of a much longer interview (Lean Blog Interviews Episode #378):  I'm joined by Christopher D. Chapman, Senior Lean Transformation Coach at Chapman Lean Enterprise and Dr. Valeria Sinclair-Chapman,  a social scientist, Associate Professor, and Director of the Center for Research on Diversity and Inclusion at Purdue University. I was first introduced to Chris through his article that was published on the Lean Enterprise Institute's “The Lean Post” section titled “Lean in Lean Thinkers to Root Out Racial Inequity.” He also has a follow up article called “Our Burning Platform and Using the 5 Whys to Think More Deeply about Corrective Action” with more to come.

https://www.leanblog.org/378  Joining me for Episode #378 are Christopher D. Chapman, Senior Lean Transformation Coach at Chapman Lean Enterprise and Dr. Valeria Sinclair-Chapman,  a social scientist, Associate Professor, and Director of the Center for Research on Diversity and Inclusion at Purdue University. I was first introduced to Chris through his article that was published on the Lean Enterprise Institute's "The Lean Post" section titled "Lean in Lean Thinkers to Root Out Racial Inequity." He also has a follow up article called "Our Burning Platform and Using the 5 Whys to Think More Deeply about Corrective Action" with more to come. As he wrote:"Lean leaders have a crucial role to play. We have long practiced and taught clients Respect for People as the moral core of lean thinking. As LEI states, leading respectfully not only improves business results but also the lives of workers, their families, their community, and, ultimately, society." I reached out to Chris to see if he'd want to discuss his arti

http://www.leanblog.org/377 My guest for Episode #377 is Ritu Ward, an experienced healthcare executive who has had success delivering quality, growth, and strategy while leading high performing teams.We have known each other for a while through Lean healthcare circles and she presented a webinar in our KaiNexus series titled, “Leadership Behaviors to Guide Effective Change.”She was, until recently, the Regional Vice President for Mercy Labs in the West Region. Ritu also worked previously for Carolinas Healthcare, in a Performance Excellence role. She's currently looking for her next opportunity.Today, we'll talk about the leadership styles that help create a Lean culture. She also shares thoughts on how her leadership style had to change during the Covid-19 crisis, thoughts on leading change, and more.

http://www.leanblog.org/376 Joining me for Episode #376 of the podcast is Lauren Hisey, a continuous improvement coach and consultant at her firm, Lauren Hisey Consulting. Before becoming a consultant, Lauren worked for AT&T and Nielsen in various technical and Lean Six Sigma roles. She has a BA in Political Science and Government and an MBA. Read more about Lauren via her bio.Today, we talk about the interface and overlap between concepts like Lean, Six Sigma, and Artificial Intelligence. Why do companies need to avoid jumping to solutions, including technology solutions like Robotic Process Automation? Why does the "respect for people" principle of Lean, from Toyota, mean that we shouldn't focus on replacing people with technology?I hope you enjoy the conversation, whether you listen or watch. 

http://www.leanblog.org/375 My guest for Episode #375 of the podcast is Mohamed Saleh, Ph.D.  Dr. Saleh has been a practitioner in Lean & Six Sigma transformations, in both manufacturing and service sectors. Mohamed was directly mentored by one of the country’s foremost experts on enterprise-wide Lean transformation and the Toyota Production System (TPS). He has extensive experience in hands-on healthcare, manufacturing, supply chain, network optimization and enterprise information systems. Mohamed’s academic credentials include a Certified Six Sigma Black Belt from Kaplan University, a Masters in Technology Management & Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from Central Connecticut State University and a PhD in Business Administration from Northcentral University.  Mohamed is: Founder of Vizibility llc, a Lean consulting and training company An M Plus Group Managing Partner, an advisory-coaching firm devoted to knowledge sharing, event planning and helping clients achieve organizational transformation.

http://www.leanblog.org/374 Joining me today for Episode #374 of the podcast are two colleagues, Brittany Wilson and Mark Valenti. The topic, as Mark and I discussed in Episode #306, is "Motivational Interviewing." We will all be exploring this topic in the context of talking to people about wearing masks during the pandemic. But, there are many applications to workplace situations, as well. Mark and Brittany do a series of very engaging webinars, which you can find on their YouTube channel. I hope you enjoy the conversation! 

http://www.leanblog.org/373Joining me today for Episode #373 of the podcast is Professor Peter Hines, author of many books including Staying Lean: Thriving, Not Just Surviving. Peter founded S A Partners in 1994 as a spin-out from his activities in running the Lean Enterprise Research Centre at Cardiff University. Before this, he worked in supply chain and distribution and manufacturing industries. Peter has a degree from Cambridge University and an MBA and PhD from Cardiff University. He is also an accredited Senior Shingo Facilitator and is a Visiting Professor at Waterford Institute of Technology. He is also founder of the Enterprise Excellence Network, which invited me to do a webinar recently. In the episode, we talk about the challenges involved in creating and sustaining a culture of continuous improvement. Who should be the "Lean Champion" for an organization? Are there different success factors in the UK vs other countries? Is humility an innate trait or can it be developed? We talk about that and mo

http://www.leanblog.org/372My guest for Episode #372 is Karen Gaudet, author of the excellent book Steady Work, which was published by the Lean Enterprise Institute. In the interest of full disclosure, I am a former employee of LEI and they provided a review copy of the book. In today's episode, we discuss her experience with Lean at Starbucks. It's a fascinating story that includes a transition from the old way (the Seattle HQ figuring out "best practices") to a new way (where store managers and baristas were taught how to design "playbooks" and to continuously improve the way the work is done in a particular store).

http://www.leanblog.org/371For Episode #371, we bring the discussion back to Lean Manufacturing applications, as our guest is Marc Lushington-Murray. He currently lives in the Fort Worth, Texas area but, as you'll discover from his accent, he was originally born and raised in England.Marc is currently searching for a new opportunity, but he brings a great deal of experience from his time working for Nissan and then Parker Hannifan. He was originally self-taught but then had the opportunity to learn from the famed Shigijitsu consulting group and others.He has worked in internal Lean roles, but has always been pulled into plant management or other direct line management roles. I hope you'll enjoy the conversation as Marc shares his reflections on his career to date and his hopes for what is still yet to come.

http://www.leanblog.org/370Joining me for Episode #370 is Edward Blackman, the founder and managing partner of Kelda Consulting. He has previously had Lean and process improvement-focused roles at organizations as varied as Whirlpool, Amway, and Spectrum Health. Today, we are discussing behavioral science and the need to combine practices and lessons from that field with Lean and continuous improvement. Edward earned a Masters degree in Behavioral Science, along with undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Mathematics. He is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt by the American Society for Quality; is certified in Labor Standards by HB Maynard; is a Lean (Toyota Production System) Instructor/Coach; a Kata Coach; a certified Scrum Master; and an Agile Coach. Read his full bio.