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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.

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756 Articles

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

The Secret to Your Success in 2018

By Ron Pereira - January 5th, 2018

Did you make a New Year’s resolution?  Come clean.  Did you?  If so, I’m sad to say, you’re probably going to fail.  In fact, University of Scranton research suggests that just 9% of people achieve their New Year&

Top 10 Gemba Academy Blog Articles in 2017

By Ron Pereira - December 1st, 2017

As another year winds down it’s always fun to reflect back on the year that was.  So, in this article, I want to look back on the top Gemba Academy blog articles from 2017.  Perhaps we’ll look at the top podcasts in anoth

Do This and Lean Success Is Far More Likely

By Ron Pereira - November 3rd, 2017

Getting started with continuous improvement is hard.  But, I think it’s safe to say that sustaining continuous improvement over the long run is even harder. At Gemba Academy we mentor and coach hundreds of lean and six sigma pra

The Dangers of Benchmarking Lean Exemplars

By Ron Pereira - October 6th, 2017

A common practice for folks getting started with lean is to benchmark lean exemplars in order to see what “good” looks like.  In fact, there are benchmarking tours to Japan where you can visit companies like Toyota.  I ac

The SELF Journal

By Ron Pereira - August 4th, 2017

I, along with several of my Gemba Academy colleagues, have started to experiment with something called the SELF Journal. Upon first glance the SELF Journal looks like your normal day planner.  And it does a great job of helping you pl

Drive Out Fear

By Ron Pereira - July 7th, 2017

Drive out fear.  Dr. Deming told us this many years ago when he published his famous 14 Principles. Most of us have heard these words. Most of us probably think we understand these words. And, I bet, most “actively practicing

Get the Facts

By Ron Pereira - June 2nd, 2017

Without sounding overly dramatic I’m fairly certain my content development team and I are working on the most important Gemba Academy course we’ve ever produced. This new course will be focused on the Job Relations (JR) as

Will Gemba Academy Put You Out of a Job?

By Ron Pereira - May 5th, 2017

Over the years we’ve been fortunate enough to talk to a lot of people about how Gemba Academy could add value to their organization’s lean and/or six sigma journey.  Many times these conversations start as sales calls. Fol

When Opportunity & Job Instruction Meet

By Ron Pereira - April 7th, 2017

We’re just finishing up another awesome week of TWI Training here in the lovely state of Virginia. Specifically, we’re completing live Job Relations (JR) and Job Methods (JM) training with a room full of Gemba Academy students.

Our Job Instruction Course is Available!

By Ron Pereira - March 10th, 2017

We’re really excited to announce that our Job Instruction (JI) course was soft launched this week.  I say “soft launch” because we’re still adding the course to our Learning System platform, but our Learning Li

TWI Job Instruction Course – Behind the Scenes

By Ron Pereira - February 3rd, 2017

We’re breaking new ground at Gemba Academy this week as we run our first “live” training class.  Specifically, 10 students (9 after the flu took one out of commission on Tuesday) have come together here in the DFW ar

The Obstacle is the Way

By Ron Pereira - January 6th, 2017

Our actions may be impeded, but there can be no impeding our intentions or dispositions. Because we can accommodate and adapt. The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting. The impediment to action advanc

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