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GA 170 | How to See Past the Numbers with Bill Waddell

By Jessica Bush Updated on July 5th, 2017

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This week we’re sharing an inspiring keynote by Bill Waddell from the 2015 Lean Leadership Week. Bill explains how the concepts of fuzzy logic, globalization, and basic morality intersect, and why lean is ultimately all about people. An MP3 version of this episode is available for download here.

In this episode you’ll learn:

Bill’s background (4:26)
An example of fuzzy logic (6:21)
More examples (7:45)
The book’s message about math and numbers (8:57)
The limits of quantification (10:02)
Why you can’t put a number on people (11:42)
Basic moral standards and globalization (12:47)
What lean is all about (19:08)
Bill’s two main messages (19:51)

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What Do You Think?

Is lean really all about people? Why or why not?

Jessica Bush

Jessica is responsible for the editorial aspects of Gemba Academy’s content, focusing on course materials, podcast production, social media, and other copywriting efforts. An avid advocate of entrepreneurship, Jessica has worked with two technology startups as co-founder and head marketing strategist. Jessica received her BS in Business Administration from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, with a minor in Music.

Trevor Pooley
July 27, 2017 - 8:56 pm
Reply

I particularly like the comment, “There is no number that you can put on people”.

This makes me want to go to gemba pull the graphs on head count off the team boards and tear them up. The same goes for the skills matrix put up by HR that say someone is 42% competent in a task. I have always found this disrespectful and now that I have heard this presentation, I reflect why it is.