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GA 146 | How to Innovate with Geoff Cox

Avatar photo By Jessica Bush Updated on January 19th, 2017

This week’s guest is Geoff Cox, a Production Manager for a high-tech laser measurement company. Ron and Geoff talked about innovation, specifically how Geoff and his team go about generating and implementing new ideas. An MP3 version of this episode is available for download here.

In this episode you’ll learn:

  • Geoff’s background and how he first learned about continuous improvement (2:27)
  • The quote that inspires Geoff (4:39)
  • The innovation system Geoff and his team were taught (6:48)
  • What they were thinking about (11:15)
  • How and what they implemented afterwards (12:22)
  • How they vetted ideas (14:39)
  • The mix of new product vs process-related ideas (15:40)
  • Some examples (16:14)
  • The employee’s reaction to his idea working (19:04)
  • A product innovation example (20:33)
  • How Geoff handles ideas that don’t get implemented (22:24)
  • About the cards (23:46)
  • Why they don’t have a rewards system (26:30)
  • What “Respect for People” means to Geoff (28:10)
  • The best advice Geoff has ever received (29:40)
  • What surprised Geoff in the last year of practicing lean (30:35)
  • The skill or knowledge area Geoff feels he needs to improve (31:56)
  • What Geoff is reading (32:48)
  • How Geoff recharges and refocuses (33:17)

Podcast Resources

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What Do You Think?

What are some other ways to innovate? How do you manage the influx of new ideas?


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