Ron Pereira, Author at Gemba Academy | Page 3 of 31

Ron Pereira

Ron Pereira is a co-founder and the Managing Director of Gemba Academy and has more than 30 years of experience helping organizations improve performance through Lean, Six Sigma, and continuous improvement. Prior to starting Gemba Academy, Ron served in a variety of manufacturing, supply chain, and leadership roles, including process engineer, engineering manager, Master Black Belt, and director of manufacturing and continuous improvement. Today, Ron works with leaders around the world to develop problem-solving capabilities, strengthen leadership, and build cultures where continuous improvement thrives. Through his writing, podcast interviews, and educational programs, he shares practical insights that help organizations achieve lasting operational excellence.

751 Articles

Did You Find Yourself Working from Home All of the Sudden?

By Ron Pereira - March 18th, 2020

This article was written by Brita Quella, an Account Manager here at Gemba Academy. So, you have a laptop, a phone, pens, paper, what else do you need? Your meetings are all now going to be online. Your travel, conferences and interact

What is Exponential Growth and Why Should You Care?

By Ron Pereira - March 16th, 2020

Like many companies my dentist recently sent out an email outlining the steps they’re taking to keep their patients safe. And while it was a “normal” COVID-19 related email there was one line that really struck me.�

The Difference Between Naive, Purposeful, and Deliberate Practice

By Ron Pereira - February 28th, 2020

In 2008, Malcolm Gladwell popularized what many refer to as the “10,000 hour” rule in the book Outliers. Gladwell explained that in order to master a particular skill a person would need to practice that skill for approxi

Can a Humidifier Help You Sleep Better and Snore Less?

By Ron Pereira - February 7th, 2020

They say good leaders are willing to be vulnerable and share things they may not want to…even things they’re slightly embarrassed to admit. Well, I’m about to test that theory by sharing something most people don

Ten Lessons I’ve Learned Over the Last Decade

By Ron Pereira - January 3rd, 2020

The last decade has, without question, been the most transformative time of my life – personally and professionally. To be sure, I’ve made more mistakes than I can count…but with these mistakes have come valuable le

How to Run Kata in the Classroom

By Ron Pereira - December 6th, 2019

If you’re interested in learning how to think scientifically I strongly recommend the Kata in the Classroom (KiC) exercise. I’ve personally run a number of KiC workshops. On one end of the spectrum I’ve run workshop

You’re Not the Hero

By Ron Pereira - November 1st, 2019

We continuous improvement practitioners have much to learn from the movie business. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that the “storytelling formula” may be one of the most important things we lean thinkers can learn. Most good mo

How to Run Your Own Lean Simulation

By Ron Pereira - October 4th, 2019

If you’ve ever wanted to run your own lean simulation but just aren’t sure how to go about it… you’re in luck. We recently captured a series of videos with our good friends at Kaas Tailored. During our visit,

What is Sensorial Management?

By Ron Pereira - September 6th, 2019

A few weeks ago my colleagues and I visited the Lighthouse for the Blind in Seattle, Washington. Here’s what I shared on LinkedIn a few days after the visit. I’m still processing what my colleagues and I experienced two d

The Soul of a Company

By Ron Pereira - August 1st, 2019

Creating a strong company mission and vision is an important part of the Hoshin Kanri, or Policy Deployment, process. All companies should have a vision. All companies should have a mission. And these vision and mission statement

What Happened to Blockbuster Nights?

By Ron Pereira - July 5th, 2019

Do you remember how you felt walking into a Blockbuster store to rent some movies on a Friday night? I do. It felt wonderful… curiosity mixed with anticipation created a powerful elixir. Add in some junk food (for the kids

3 Tips for Overcoming Confirmation Bias

By Ron Pereira - June 14th, 2019

Making decisions is an important part of being human. Some decisions, like which shirt to wear today, aren’t all that important. But other decisions, like which person to marry, are incredibly important. And, to be sure, we c

Ask These 4 Questions During Your Next Coaching Call

By Ron Pereira - May 3rd, 2019

A critical component of our Green Belt and Black Belt certification program are weekly coaching calls. We’ve learned that staying in close contact with our candidates is vital to their success. We’ve also learned that fou

Breaking Bad Habits is Hard to Do

By Ron Pereira - April 5th, 2019

I recently sat down with James Clear to discuss his must read book Atomic Habits. We released the full interview yesterday through the podcast so please give it a listen. I feel like it turned out more like a short audiobook than a p

The Most Important Lesson I’ve Learned the Past 20 Years

By Ron Pereira - March 8th, 2019

My kids range in age from 3 to 16. And, as long time Gemba Academy followers may know, I have quite a few kids in between these two. And while my wife and I have learned a lot about parenting over the years we’re still learning.

7 iPhone Tips to Boost Your Personal Productivity

By Ron Pereira - February 1st, 2019

Over the last month I’ve begun to experiment with some personal productivity boosting techniques. You see while I have developed some decent Leader Standard Work practices over the years I still waste(d) far too much time on no

Toyota Kata

New Toyota Kata Resources Page

By Ron Pereira - January 23rd, 2019

Starting this month we are publishing a monthly article on a continuous improvement topic, with an accompanying resources page with resources, videos, and tools to support it. This month’s topic is Toyota Kata (TK) and the Scientific

The Best of Gemba Academy’s Blog – 2018 Edition

By Ron Pereira - January 4th, 2019

Happy New Year! I pray 2019 is a fantastic year of personal growth and learning for you and yours! Now that 2018 has come and gone I wanted to take the opportunity to revisit the top blog articles from last year. Before we get to t

Who do you want to be?

By Ron Pereira - December 14th, 2018

A few weeks ago, in episode 239 of the podcast, I mentioned I was reading (actually listening) to the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. I finished listening to it. It was good. Real good. So good I bought a hard copy and am no

Kata in the Classroom

By Ron Pereira - October 5th, 2018

I recently conducted a complimentary “Kata in the Classroom” workshop for a group of 15 students ranging in age from 7 to 13. I wasn’t sure what to expect… especially since the age range was quite large. But,

Lean Lessons from Driving on the Left Side of the Road

By Ron Pereira - September 14th, 2018

My professional career has afforded me the opportunity to travel across the world. I’ve explored the Amazon rainforest, I’ve forgotten all about my lack of clothes inside a Finnish sauna since I could barely breathe, and

Unlocking the Power of Continuous Improvement

By Ron Pereira - July 6th, 2018

The more I come to understand the idea of scientific thinking the more I see it hidden inside other sound systems including Nick Saban’s famous “Process” that’s lead to him building one of college football’

How do you walk the gemba?

By Ron Pereira - May 4th, 2018

Later this year we’re going to produce a course focused on the gemba walk. We have lots of ideas of how to approach this course but, like many aspects of lean, if you ask 10 “experts” how to go about the gemba walk

The Thinking Rat Race

By Ron Pereira - April 6th, 2018

We’ve recently had some really fun podcast conversations centered around the whole “respect for people” topic. My friend and colleague, Jon Miller, challenged the idea of whether lean is really all about people. Fel

Learn, Grow, Share

By Ron Pereira - February 2nd, 2018

I had the strangest dream last night. I don’t normally remember my dreams… but I remember this one. I was speaking to a man about continuous improvement. I’m not sure who the man was… but in my dream I see

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