Change Management

128 Articles

GA 422 | Getting Lean Buy-In with Adam Marsland

By Jessica Bush - May 5th, 2022

This week’s guest is Adam Marsland. Adam, who works in the legal industry, explained how his firm uses continuous improvement and what problems they’re solving. An MP3 audio version of this episode is available for download

The Hierarchy of Action

By Steve Kane - April 22nd, 2022

Ryan McCall is a continuous improvement engineer at FECON. He and I have been collaborating on continuous improvement and leadership over the past couple of years. We’ve explored the works of Mike Rother, Simon Sinek, Jocko Willi

Developing Leadership Through Tours

By John Knotts - March 18th, 2022

In my last article, we had a great discussion, in our continuing series, regarding Continuous Improvement Development for Leadership and Professionals. Leadership development is extremely important if you are trying to change or create

Continuous Improvement Development for Leadership and Professionals

By Steve Kane - February 25th, 2022

This article was written by John Knotts. John is a senior coach at Gemba Academy.  If you have studied anything about change management, you will have seen some type of change model; I embrace the change continuum model shown below bu

GA 396 | The Barriers to Developing a Lean Culture with Sara Ann Todd

By Jessica Bush - November 4th, 2021

This week’s guest is Sara Ann Todd. Sara shared her thoughts on continuous improvement and organizational culture, specifically creating a culture of lean. She and Ron also discussed Respect for People, dealing with self-doubt, a

GA 392 | Using Lean on a Horse Farm with John Knotts

By Jessica Bush - October 7th, 2021

This week’s guest is John Knotts. John is our newest Gemba Academy employee, and he shed some light on engagement and change readiness. John also owns a horse farm, and he explained how lean applies to that environment. An MP3 au

Don’t Change the Culture, Change the Cultural Inputs

By Steve Kane - August 27th, 2021

Company culture, loosely defined, is a set of shared beliefs, values, purpose, practices, behaviors, artifacts, language, goals, and attitudes within an organization. Changing culture continues to be a hot topic in the workplace. While

The Value of Lean Certifications

By Steve Kane - May 28th, 2021

It’s often argued that certifications are not required to practice Lean. This is absolutely true. Lean and other continuous improvement methods can and should be practiced by anyone in any organization without a certification or

Break the Habit of Breaking Good Habits

By Steve Kane - April 23rd, 2021

There are countless books, YouTube videos, and other media on topic of building good habits and breaking bad ones. So often the desire to change our ways comes light because of our realization that a problem exists. We learn and we fin

Coaches Have Obstacles Too

By Steve Kane - February 26th, 2021

The purpose of coaching is to help people get from where they are to where they want to be. It’s a process of inquiry that provides clear structure to thinking that, ideally, diminishes uncertainty by exposing obstacles and illum

What are Lagging & Leading Indicators? How are they related? Why are they important?

By Steve Kane - January 22nd, 2021

David Barber is CFO of Omni Industries in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  David and the rest of the senior executive team at Omni are leading a lean transformation. He wrote this article for Omni’s company newsletter to help people at

GA 353 | Creating the Jeep with Paul Bruno

By Jessica Bush - January 7th, 2021

This week’s guest is Paul Bruno. Paul doesn’t have a traditional lean background, but the fascinating research he shared on the story behind the creation of the Jeep is full of lean parallels and lessons. A MP3 audio versio

GA 336 | The Process of Process Improvement with Karen Friedenberg

By Jessica Bush - September 10th, 2020

This week’s guest is Karen Friedenberg. Karen, who has a diverse career background, broke down all the different ways she approaches process improvement. From DMAIC to change management, this episode is full of practical knowledg

What Does Leadership Look Like?

By Steve Kane - May 22nd, 2020

I spoke at a Lean event last year. The audience was about 250 accomplished Lean practitioners. My session was at about 2:00 PM, which was right at the beginning of the afternoon lull.  Folks were starting to feel sluggish after a lunc

GA 317 | Implementing Lean at Starbucks with Karen Gaudet

By Jessica Bush - April 30th, 2020

This week’s guest is Karen Gaudet. Before becoming Team Leader of Operations and Personnel at LEI, she worked for Starbucks, and she shared the story of their powerful lean transformation with us. A MP3 audio version of this epis

Be Deliberate About Your New Normal

By Steve Kane - April 24th, 2020

We’re at a point with the world’s current events that some governments are beginning to relax isolation orders and business restrictions. It would be easy to think that we might be getting back to normal soon. The harsh rea

Give People a Sense of Certainty Through New Routines

By Steve Kane - March 27th, 2020

The Power of Routine So much of our daily activity is performing routines, even though we may not be aware of it. Getting out bed and ready for work; picking up the phone, wallet, and keys on the way out the door; stopping for coffee;

Leading Lean from the Middle of the Organization

By Steve Kane - November 22nd, 2019

This article was originally posted a couple of years ago.  Questions about getting other people to change their thinking come up fairly regularly, so I thought I’d revisit the topic here. A common struggle in the lean community

Question Yourself

By Kevin Meyer - November 8th, 2019

One of my favorite websites, Brain Pickings, recently turned 13. The reason it’s a favorite is because it offers content that is challenging intellectually – but not to the point of not making sense to humble minds like min

Reframe Your Thinking

By Steve Kane - August 23rd, 2019

Part of my role at Gemba Academy is to coach customers along their continuous improvement journey.  Coaching sessions are typically brief phone conversations that help clients continually realign their efforts with organizational goal

Reflections on a Lean Futuring Discussion

By Steve Kane - July 26th, 2019

Last week I met with a dozen Lean practitioners, leaders, consultants, and advisors for the purpose of understanding where we’re headed as both individuals and as a community.  We had a very deliberate and structured discussion

GA 277 | Analyzing Gilbert’s Behavior Engineering Model with Randy Matusky

By Jessica Bush - July 25th, 2019

This week’s guest is Randy Matusky. Ron and Randy analyzed a change management model called Gilbert’s Behavior Engineering Model, which addresses six different factors that influence human performance. A MP3 audio version o

Small Improvements Instead of Resolutions for the New Year

By Steve Kane - December 28th, 2018

We’re closing in on the new year, a time when big ideas about improving our lives come to mind.  It’s common knowledge that new year’s resolutions typically abandoned by Valentine’s Day.  Taking on too much

You Want Me to Do What!?!

By Steve Kane - August 24th, 2018

  I coach a variety of teams in diverse industries in the area of continuous improvement. A common struggle is overcoming an obstacle that is often perceived as resistance to change. Improvement is Inherent Change for the better s

Set Full Sail

By Steve Kane - June 22nd, 2018

  Getting started with lean in an existing organization challenging on many levels.  Often some of the most important steps in a lean journey are not recognized. A common place people think they start is with 5S.  It’s an

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