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Steve Kane

Steve is responsible for Gemba Academy's lean coaching and certifications. Prior to Gemba Academy, Steve had a diverse career ranging from being responsible for a large medical device sales territory, plant manager where he leveraged lean methods to drive improvement, and VP Operations at Specialty Silicone Fabricators where he led the lean efforts of the company. He has served on the western region board of The Association for Manufacturing Excellence and has worked with the Michigan Lean Learning Consortium and the California Central Coast Lean Forum.

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82 Articles

Building A Culture Of Continuous Improvement Part Two

By Steve Kane - January 28th, 2022

This article was written by John Knotts, a Senior Coach here at Gemba Academy. This is the fourth in a series of five articles written by John.  The previous three are hyperlinked below: Over the last three months, we have covered th

A Culture of Continuous Improvement Begins with Leadership

By Steve Kane - October 22nd, 2021

This is the second article, in a series of five, from Gemba Academy Senior Coach John Knotts. The remaining articles in this series will be posted over the next several weeks.  Last month, we began our journey of Building a Culture of

Don’t Change the Culture, Change the Cultural Inputs

By Steve Kane - August 27th, 2021

Company culture, loosely defined, is a set of shared beliefs, values, purpose, practices, behaviors, artifacts, language, goals, and attitudes within an organization. Changing culture continues to be a hot topic in the workplace. While

The Value of Lean Certifications

By Steve Kane - May 28th, 2021

It’s often argued that certifications are not required to practice Lean. This is absolutely true. Lean and other continuous improvement methods can and should be practiced by anyone in any organization without a certification or

Break the Habit of Breaking Good Habits

By Steve Kane - April 23rd, 2021

There are countless books, YouTube videos, and other media on topic of building good habits and breaking bad ones. So often the desire to change our ways comes light because of our realization that a problem exists. We learn and we fin

Did Standardized Work Originate Thousands of Years Ago?

By Steve Kane - March 26th, 2021

Armies around the world and throughout history have many common practices and traditions. One practice, in particular, started thousands of years ago and is deeply rooted in what we today would characterize as Lean practices. This prac

Coaches Have Obstacles Too

By Steve Kane - February 26th, 2021

The purpose of coaching is to help people get from where they are to where they want to be. It’s a process of inquiry that provides clear structure to thinking that, ideally, diminishes uncertainty by exposing obstacles and illum

What are Lagging & Leading Indicators? How are they related? Why are they important?

By Steve Kane - January 22nd, 2021

David Barber is CFO of Omni Industries in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  David and the rest of the senior executive team at Omni are leading a lean transformation. He wrote this article for Omni’s company newsletter to help people at

Stop Being the Expert and Be a Coach

By Steve Kane - October 23rd, 2020

I wrote the article below a few years ago and wanted to revisit it and include some thoughts on how this relates to coaching. “If I am wiser. . . it is because I know that I do not know.” ~ Socrates Is it possible that expe

Lean Certification

5 Tips for Choosing a Lean Certification Course

By Steve Kane - September 25th, 2020

There are many Lean certification courses available from a wide variety of organizations. Choosing the right one to suit your specific needs can be a bit tricky. Here are some tips and considerations to help you find the right one for

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