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GA 097 | How to Apply Lean to the Military with Samuel Selay

By Jessica Bush Updated on July 31st, 2021

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Today’s guest is Samuel Selay, a Continuous Improvement Manager for the United States Marines Corps. Samuel and I discuss his continuous improvement journey and some of the incredible projects he’s done with the military. An MP3 version of this episode is available for download here.

In this episode you’ll learn:

Samuel’s background and how he learned about continuous improvement (3:28)
The quote that inspires Samuel (4:51)
Samuel’s first impression of continuous improvement in the Marines (5:50)
What Samuel and his team measure (8:54)
What has gone wrong in the past and what Samuel has learned (11:05)
About some of Samuel’s projects (17:49)
The Kaizen event Samuel held (23:20)
Samuel’s plans for the future (28:04)
What “Respect for People” means to Samuel (31:32)
The best advice Samuel has ever received (33:15)
Samuel’s personal productivity habit (34:40)
What has surprised Samuel in the last year (38:04)
How Samuel recharges and refocuses (40:14)
The knowledge or skill area Samuel feels he needs to improve (41:24)
About Samuel’s chapter in Mark Graban’s ebook (42:14)
Samuel’s final words of wisdom (44:57)

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What Do You Think?

How else could continuous improvement be applied in a military or government setting?

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.