GA 651 | The Soup Stage of Transformation with Ben Morley

Most resistance to lean is blamed on the wrong thing. Ben Morley, an Air Force pilot turned Lean Six Sigma consultant, argues the tools are never really the problem. The breakdown almost always lives somewhere between leadership buy-in and an assumption nobody thought to question. His conversation with Ron Pereira covers cockpit emergencies, a $5 million backlog that dissolved from a single customer phone call, and what a caterpillar turning to soup has to do with organizational transformation.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• How a single quote reframes what transformation actually looks like (1:59)
• What flying C-17s across seven continents taught Ben about process discipline (3:26)
• How DMAIC and pilot training turn out to be the same methodology (7:44)
• Why skipping rigor in the define phase creates variation in the cockpit and the conference room (9:41)
• How preparation before an in-flight emergency keeps your hands moving while your mind stays clear (15:39)
• What to do when crossed arms and skepticism greet you on day one (20:41)
• Why values on the website and culture on the floor are two different things (22:34)
• When loyalty to a system that keeps you stuck is the real thing to diagnose (25:38)

“Values are your belief. Culture is your behavior. Those are two different things.” – Ben Morley

Keep Learning

If the gap between what your organization says it believes and how people actually behave on the floor resonated with you, the School of Leadership addresses exactly that kind of culture-and-conduct disconnect.
Learn More About School of Leadership at gembaacademy.com/leadership

Podcast Resources

• Ben on LinkedIn
• Ben’s Website
• Caterpillar Soup at 30,000 Feet

Get All the Latest News from Gemba Academy

Stay current on new courses, podcast episodes, and continuous improvement resources. Sign up for the Gemba Academy newsletter at gembaacademy.com/news

What Do You Think?

Where in your own organization is dormancy being mistaken for absence of progress?

---