Education Archives | Gemba Academy

GA 627 | Value Stream Mapping on University Campuses with Kristin Kielich

By Jessica Bush - April 9th, 2026

This week’s guest is Kristin Kielich. Ron and Kristin discussed Kristin’s experiences with continuous improvement in education, dealing with resistance, measuring success, and more. An MP3 audio version of this episode is a

GA 624 | The Pause, Consider, Act Framework with Ashley Herd

By Jessica Bush - March 19th, 2026

This week’s guest is Ashley Herd. Ron and Ashley discussed Ashley’s Pause, Consider, Act Framework, the concept of a career quilt, micromanagement, and more. An MP3 audio version of this episode is available for download he

GA 619 | Don’t Walk By a Mess with Chad Bareither

By Jessica Bush - February 12th, 2026

This week’s guest is Chad Bareither. Ron and Chad discussed making culture changes in the workplace, powerful aspects of Japanese culture, the importance of cleaning up, and more. An MP3 audio version of this episode is available

GA 572 | Dealing with Burnout with Steven Langer

By Jessica Bush - March 20th, 2025

This week’s guest is Steven Langer. Ron and Steven discussed what it means to optimize workplace culture, what a strong organizational culture looks like, dealing with burnout, and more. An MP3 audio version of this episode is av

GA 565 | Continuous Improvement in Higher Education with Dr. Brad Miller

By Jessica Bush - January 30th, 2025

This week’s guest is Dr. Brad Miller. Ron and Dr. Miller discussed what it’s like to teach Lean and Six Sigma at a university, the business lessons that can be learned from academia, his grocery store simulation, and more.

GA 540 | The Space Between Leading and Following with Chris Fuzie

By Jessica Bush - August 8th, 2024

This week’s guest is Chris Fuzie. Ron and Chris discussed Chris’s books, liminal space, tessellation, leadership, and more. An MP3 audio version of this episode is available for download here. In this episode you’ll l

A Company’s Continuous Improvement Journey

By John Knotts - July 19th, 2024

Embarking on your company’s continuous improvement journey can often be frustrating. This leads to the disheartening realization that your efforts seem ineffective. In the pursuit of excellence, many companies embark on a journey

GA 530 | Keeping People Engaged with Ahmed Radwan

By Jessica Bush - May 30th, 2024

This week’s guest is Ahmed Radwan. Ron and Ahmed discussed engagement, what it means to build a “lighthouse,” sustaining kaizen efforts, and more. An MP3 audio version of this episode is available for download here. I

GA 520 | Applying Scientific Thinking in Untraditional Contexts with Michael Lombard

By Jessica Bush - March 21st, 2024

This week’s guest is Michael Lombard. Ron and Michael discussed deliberate versus random practice, homeschooling, youth soccer, and what it’s like using scientific thinking in those environments. An MP3 audio version of thi

GA 519 | Lessons from Abdul with Robb Holman

By Jessica Bush - March 14th, 2024

This week’s guest is Robb Holman. Ron and Robb discussed Robb’s new book, “Lessons from Abdul,” navigating crises, filtering out the “noise” in our lives, and more. An MP3 audio version of this episo

GA 518 | Building a Culture of Continuous Improvement with Jim Huntzinger

By Jessica Bush - March 7th, 2024

This week’s guest is Jim Huntzinger. Ron and Jim discussed what it means to build a culture of continuous improvement, what the future of continuous improvement looks like, and more. An MP3 audio version of this episode is availa

GA 517 | Becoming a Master Black Belt with Carlos Pereyra

By Jessica Bush - February 29th, 2024

This week’s guest is Carlos Pereyra. Ron and Carlos discussed Carlos’s recent graduation from our Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt program, what it means to create psychological safety, measuring success, and more. An MP3 a

Embracing System-Level Problem Solving over Firefighting

By John Knotts - January 19th, 2024

In the dynamic landscape of business and organizational management, problem-solving is often equated with ad hoc firefighting – a reactive approach where individuals scramble to douse the flames of immediate issues. While this method

GA 511 | Winning the Now with Eric Recker

By Jessica Bush - January 18th, 2024

This week’s guest is Eric Recker. Ron and Eric discussed bullying, avoiding burnout, and what it means to “Win the Now.” An MP3 audio version of this episode is available for download here. In this episode you’l

GA 505 | Values vs. Principles with Steve Kane

By Jessica Bush - December 7th, 2023

This week’s guest is our own Steve Kane. Ron and Steve discussed Toyota Kata, coaching (specifically Steve’s coaching style), running certification programs, and more. An MP3 audio version of this episode is availabl

GA 504 | Gemba Academy’s 2023 with Ron Pereira

By Jessica Bush - November 30th, 2023

This week’s guest is Ron Pereira. Ron explained what we’ve been up to as a company this year, including our Live Instructor training, and some of the new courses we’ve released. We also shared some of the audio from t

GA 483 | Human Leadership with Dr. Jennifer Nash

By Jessica Bush - July 6th, 2023

This week’s guest is Dr. Jennifer Nash. Ron and Jennifer discussed human leadership, her book “Be Human, Lead Human,” working from home, and more. An MP3 audio version of this episode is available for download here. I

Conducting Engaging Virtual Meetings

By John Knotts - February 17th, 2023

In process improvement, it is always best to involve a team. This helps get different points of view and perspectives on a problem. Also, having a team means that you have more people to help you do the work — especially when it

GA 457 | Leading with Care with Bob DeKoch and Phil Clampitt

By Jessica Bush - January 5th, 2023

This week’s guests are Bob DeKoch and Phil Clampitt. Ron, Bob, and Phil talked about servant leadership, toxic positivity, and what it means to lead with care. An MP3 audio version of this episode is available for download here.

GA 456 | “This Is Water” by David Foster Wallace with Alex Judd

By Jessica Bush - December 29th, 2022

This week’s guest is Alex Judd. Ron and Alex listened to and discussed David Foster Wallace’s famous commencement speech, “This Is Water.” This is a very powerful episode that contains some great food for though

GA 455 | The Intersection of Lean and Sustainability with Julia Goldstein

By Jessica Bush - December 22nd, 2022

This week’s guest is Julia Goldstein. Ron and Julia discussed the concept of circular economy, what sustainability looks like in a lean context, and more. An MP3 audio version of this episode is available for download here. In th

GA 437 | Virtual Training with Steve Kane

By Jessica Bush - August 18th, 2022

This week’s guest is Steve Kane. Ron and Steve discussed the benefits and challenges of virtual training. Steve also explained the trends in virtual training he’s observed recently. An MP3 audio version of this episode is a

GA 430 | The Importance of Empathetic Leadership with Bhavana Bartholf

By Jessica Bush - June 30th, 2022

This week’s guest is Bhavana Bartholf. Bhavana is the Global Head of Digital & Sales Strategy at Microsoft and a keynote speaker at this year’s AME International Conference. Ron and Bhavana discussed empathy, culture, t

Engaging Partners and Suppliers on Your CI Journey

By John Knotts - April 15th, 2022

In my first blog on the subject of Continuous Improvement, I highlighted the proverb, “many hands, make light work.” The concept of a culture of continuous improvement is to orient everyone in the organization toward one common g

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

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