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GA 303 | Running a Successful Kaizen Event with Adam Lawrence

Avatar photo By Jessica Bush Updated on January 23rd, 2020

This week’s guest is Adam Lawrence. Ron and Adam discussed everything that goes into running a successful kaizen event, including team selection, engagement, and increasing the chances of “winning.” A MP3 audio version of this episode is available for download here.

In this episode you’ll learn: 

  • The untraditional quote that inspires Adam (4:51)
  • Adam’s background and what he’s up to (5:34)
  • Why the engagement piece is so critical (7:25)
  • How to increase a team’s chance of “winning” (9:57)
  • The game of “Two Truths and a Lie” (14:15)
  • How Adam maximizes participation (18:59)
  • A story involving cultural differences (23:51)
  • An example of a successful event (26:38)
  • Sustaining the efforts/results (37:01)
  • Adam’s final words of wisdom (41:28)

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What Do You Think?

How do you ensure equal participation during a kaizen event?


  1. Ujas

    January 23, 2020 - 4:31 pm
    Reply

    Great conversation and there’s so much to learn from Adam. This was my first podcast in this journey. I might go back to podcast no. 287 and listen that one as well. Thanks.

  2. Jordan Parker

    January 28, 2020 - 9:02 pm
    Reply

    I’ve been in CI for about 8 months and have been designated as my plants kaizen letter. This podcast was informative and full of useful information!

  3. Matthew Cohn

    February 4, 2020 - 11:29 am
    Reply

    Awesome podcast on Kaizen Events from a top industry expert. Adam packs in a lot of valuable insights, and the fact that you get to listen for free makes it even more awesome.

  4. Heather Danforth

    February 4, 2020 - 2:11 pm
    Reply

    As someone new to the CI field and tasked with facilitating Kaizen events at my facility, this podcast couldn’t have come at a better time. I listened to episode 287, The Wheel of Sustainability, as well and enjoyed it just as much. I find Adam to be knowledgeable, entertaining, and FUN to listen to. Great show!

  5. Stephanie S.

    February 7, 2020 - 2:13 pm
    Reply

    I concur with the others! This was a very informative podcast and Adam does an exceptional job explaining Kaizen events and their use. As someone new to the concept of Kaizen, this gave me a great foundation of information.

  6. Harish

    February 12, 2020 - 9:21 am
    Reply

    Great Podcast with lot of insights into Kaizen Event. Adam presented it very well.. CI is all about People, and Our role is to Engage & Empower. Help them solve problems….
    Looking forward for more insightful podcasts like this one.

  7. Matt Landis

    February 12, 2020 - 7:53 pm
    Reply

    Great discussion on this episode – I particularly enjoyed the discussion about making sure to provide a mechanism so that all voices are heard in a discussion – very important to recognize that not everyone on a team may be comfortable jumping in without setting ground rules and a structure to the conversation.

  8. WC

    February 13, 2020 - 6:57 pm
    Reply

    Great episode. Adam really brings to life his Kaizen techniques with great stories. Very interesting for those of us who are not experienced in this field. I hope you invite him back again!

  9. Elizabeth Saxton

    February 19, 2020 - 1:56 pm
    Reply

    I have had the privileged of actually being in one of Adam’s Kaizen events! He had such great energy and really drove the team forward during our event towards our end goal. I also love listening to his podcasts…….such great information!! Hope to hear more podcast from him in the future!

  10. Jim Hobba

    February 24, 2020 - 6:44 am
    Reply

    Adam’s insights have given me a new perspective on how I approach and look at our team!!!

  11. Alan Paz Soldan

    March 3, 2020 - 9:30 am
    Reply

    I found the podcast to be really insightful and enjoyed the real time experiences. I had the privilege to attend to 3 Kaizen events led by Adam and he really practices what he preaches. He is amazing at engaging people and helping them open their eyes to see how to win and have fun doing it.

  12. Adam Lawrence

    March 5, 2020 - 10:18 am
    Reply

    It is humbling to get so many wonderful comments. Thank you to those that have listened and those who have left their thoughts. Special thanks to Ron Pereira for letting me share my stories with such a great audience!

  13. Jim Mikulski

    March 5, 2020 - 2:26 pm
    Reply

    Adam’s explanation of how to run a successful event is spot on! I’ve had the pleasure of Adam’s support and coaching while working with him on kaizen events. Having been there many times myself, I can personally attest that the techniques he describes in the podcast really work! He makes an event fun while taking a focused, pragmatic, and no-nonsense approach. Bottom line: Adam’s method engages kaizen team members to own the results, which in turn, achieves a sustainable change in performance.

  14. Maria Grzanka

    September 8, 2020 - 7:32 pm
    Reply

    Love the multi-voting with criteria…and also the Holy Grail throwback 🙂

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