Ron Pereira

Ron has more than 20 years of experience in various manufacturing, supply chain, and senior leadership roles. Ron has held the titles of process engineer, engineering manager, master black belt, and director of manufacturing & continuous improvement. In 2002 Ron was the first American to win the Nokia Global Six Sigma and Overall Quality award in Helsinki, Finland. Ron holds a bachelor's degree in automated manufacturing and an MBA in technology management.

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759 Articles

Occam’s Razor and Lean Thinking

By Ron Pereira - April 8th, 2026

Occam’s Razor is a principle that dates back to the 14th century and is attributed to the English Franciscan friar and philosopher William of Ockham. It simply says: When multiple explanations exist, start with the simplest one. Not

Is the Universe Working Against You, or For You?

By Ron Pereira - April 1st, 2026

I want you to imagine it’s Monday morning and you’re on your way to work. Everything’s going as well as can be expected in rush hour until, out of nowhere, some guy cuts right in front of you, causing you to slam on y

Do Buffalo Really Run Toward Storms?

By Ron Pereira - March 25th, 2026

You may have heard the story before. When a storm rolls across the plains, buffalo don’t run away from it…they run into it. The idea is that by facing the storm head-on, they get through it faster than if they tried to outrun it. I

The Unglamorous Power of Routine

By Ron Pereira - March 18th, 2026

You might be wondering about the picture I chose for this article. Obviously, it’s nothing fancy, just a pair of shoes sitting on a gym bag. But to me, this image represents something very important: the quiet, unglamorous power

The Hidden Enemy of Continuous Improvement

By Ron Pereira - March 11th, 2026

If you’ve been practicing continuous improvement long enough, you’ve almost certainly heard one, possibly all, of these statements: We tried that before. That won’t work here. We’re different. Management won’t approve it. Tha

Why Working Longer Often Leads to Getting Less Done

By Ron Pereira - March 4th, 2026

It seems logical that if you want to accomplish more, you should work longer. More hours should equal more output, right? Interestingly enough, at least for me, I’ve often experienced the opposite. There have been times when I spend

Will It Make the Boat Go Faster?

By Ron Pereira - December 3rd, 2025

Every year around this time, I find myself reflecting on what truly matters for organizational success. What actually moves us forward versus what just keeps us busy. And recently, one powerful metaphor keeps coming back to me: rowing.

Leading Through the Paradox: Lessons from James Stockdale

By Ron Pereira - November 6th, 2025

The older I get, the more I find myself reflecting on the many lessons I’ve learned both professionally and, especially, personally. One of these lessons is realizing that the toughest leadership and personal growth moments often com

Do Hard Things

By Ron Pereira - October 20th, 2025

There’s an ancient story about Odysseus and the island of the Lotus Eaters. When Odysseus and his men arrived there, they were offered lotus flowers that made them forget their purpose. Those who ate the lotus lost their desire t

The Discipline of Presence: Lessons from My Son and Eminem

By Ron Pereira - October 15th, 2025

Have you ever caught yourself sitting at the dinner table…physically there, but mentally still stuck in a meeting, an email thread, or tomorrow’s to-do list? Yeah, me too. It’s easy to live life half-present these days. Our bodie

Cold Plunges and Continuous Improvement: Growth in Discomfort

By Ron Pereira - October 1st, 2025

I’ve been doing cold plunges for the last few weeks. If you’re not familiar with the process, here’s how it works. I jump into 50-degree (Fahrenheit) water and sit for a few minutes. If you’ve ever done a cold plunge, y

Turning Conflict into Growth: 7 Steps Every Emotionally Intelligent Leader Should Know

By Ron Pereira - August 5th, 2025

Let’s face it—conflict is inevitable. Whether you’re leading a lean transformation or coaching a team through change, friction will arise. And that’s not always a bad thing. In fact, handled well, conflict can spark creativity,

gratitude

The Timeless Power of Gratitude

By Ron Pereira - December 20th, 2024

As the year winds to a close, it’s natural to pause and reflect on the moments that shaped us. Some bring joy, others bring challenges, but I believe one thing—gratitude—can and should be our anchor. And when I speak of gratitude

Consolation and Desolation: Lessons from St. Ignatius for Business Leaders

By Ron Pereira - November 15th, 2024

Life is full of highs and lows, peaks and valleys, victories and struggles. St. Ignatius of Loyola, a 16th-century saint and founder of the Jesuits, deeply understood this rhythm of life. His teachings on consolation and desolation—t

How Micro-Goals Helped Me Conquer a Hill (And Can Help You Too)

By Ron Pereira - September 3rd, 2024

I went for a 2-mile run with my 13-year-old son yesterday. I do quite a bit of cardio work several times a week, but I rarely run, so I was curious about how I’d do. I’m happy to report it went quite well. Both of us made it throug

The Power of Perception: Transforming Challenges into Opportunities

By Ron Pereira - January 30th, 2024

We’ve all been there – facing those challenging, frustrating, or just plain uncertain moments in our personal and professional lives. Whether it’s a project or kaizen event going awry, a difficult conversation with your a

Thinking in Bets: Embracing Uncertainty and Probabilistic Thinking

By Ron Pereira - January 17th, 2024

I just finished an interesting book titled “Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions when you Don’t have all the Facts” by Annie Duke, a world champion poker player. There are lots of parallels to Scientific Thinkin

The Six Types of Working Genius: What Makes for a Great Team & Marriage!

By Ron Pereira - February 27th, 2023

Patrick Lencioni, the author of the best-selling book “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team,” has introduced a new concept called the Six Types of Working Genius in the book by the same title. I recently learned about these diff

Building Habits to Support Lean Initiatives: A Guide for Business Leaders

By Ron Pereira - January 31st, 2023

In the world of lean and six sigma, there’s a lot of emphasis placed on the importance of habits and processes. After all, a company’s success depends on the collective actions and habits of its employees. Here are some tip

Have Faith & Trust the Process

By Ron Pereira - April 1st, 2022

My family and I are going through a difficult time right now with a personal situation. Thankfully everyone is healthy…but we have been dealt a blow. After I shared the situation with a close friend, who knows me very well, they

5 Ways to Be More Grateful and Why Lean Thinkers Should Care

By Ron Pereira - March 4th, 2022

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but the parent of all others.” -Cicero I’ve been thinking about gratefulness a lot lately. Being grateful is something I try to do…but often fail at. There are many

The Continuous Improvement Culture Model

By Ron Pereira - February 4th, 2022

This article was written by John Knotts, a Senior Coach here at Gemba Academy In September, we started our journey of Building a Culture of Continuous Improvement.  In that first article, I discussed the concept of my model I use to

Crafting Your Continuous Improvement Strategy

By Ron Pereira - January 7th, 2022

This article was written by John Knotts, a Senior Coach here at Gemba Academy Two months ago, we started our journey on building a culture of continuous improvement. We know that continuous improvement brings many benefits to an organi

Going to Gemba Isn’t Sufficient

By Ron Pereira - November 5th, 2021

As I’ve mentioned before I’m one of several coaches for a high school football team here in Texas. Like just about every other high school football team (and many middle school teams) we film every game and carefully dissec

The Power of Neutral Thinking

By Ron Pereira - October 1st, 2021

“It’s okay to have emotions… just don’t be emotional.” – Russell Wilson One of the great joys of my life has been the ability to coach many of my children’s youth sports teams. It all started b

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