GA 657 | Par Is Your Friend with Kyle Kumpf

Ben Hogan, one of the greatest ball strikers in the history of golf, admitted he only hit about three shots per round exactly in the way he intended. Kyle Kumpf heard that, and what followed was nearly 30 years of thinking about what it actually means to perform well under imperfect conditions, and how that thinking translates directly into leading teams, running improvement projects, and handling the moments when the plan falls apart.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• How a Ben Hogan quote reframes every mistake you will ever make (2:30)
• What most people misunderstand about how good golfers actually play (6:42)
• How professionals recover from bad shots without letting one hole derail a round (9:12)
• Why ego is the real reason we dig deeper holes when things go wrong (13:04)
• What “par is your friend” actually means as a leadership principle (16:09)
• How target conditions in Toyota Kata map to setting par for your team (18:54)
• Why golfers compete against the course, and what that teaches about uncontrollable variation (21:10)
• How to find excellence through cycles of variation rather than chasing perfection (24:06)

“Even professionals don’t make a perfect swing, a perfect contact every time, but what they’re really good at doing is just being good enough to avoid trouble and leave themselves in a position where par is likely.” – Kyle Kumpf

Keep Learning

If Kyle’s point about setting the right target condition for where your team actually is resonated with you, the School of Lean covers Toyota Kata and the thinking behind progressive target-setting in depth.
Learn More About School of Lean at gembaacademy.com/school-of-lean

Podcast Resources

• Kyle on LinkedIn
• GA 219 | How to Adopt the Best Mindset for Lean with Kyle Kumpf
• GA 375 | Ending Human Suffering with Process Improvement with Kyle Kumpf

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