Kaizen Archives | Page 2 of 12

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 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

GA 514 | Turning the Tables on Ron with Clint West

By Jessica Bush - February 8th, 2024

This week’s guest is Clint West. Clint “turned the tables” this week by interviewing our host, Ron Pereira instead. Together they covered everything from lean in the office, to DMAIC, resistance, and more. An MP3 audi

GA 506 | Roles and Relationships in Kaizen Events with Adam Lawrence

By Jessica Bush - December 14th, 2023

This week’s guest is Adam Lawrence. Ron and Adam discussed kaizen events, specifically the different roles involved and how they function together. They also talked about dealing with “CAVE” People. An MP3 audio versi

Harmonizing Organizational Excellence: A Fusion of Agile, Deming, and Toyota Principles

By Steve Kane - November 24th, 2023

In the quest for organizational excellence, many companies turn to established frameworks and philosophies to guide their journey. Among the prominent ones are the Agile Manifesto, Deming’s 14 Principles, and the Toyota Productio

GA 498 | The Power of Improving Less with Chad Bareither

By Jessica Bush - October 19th, 2023

This week’s guest is Chad Bareither. Ron and Chad discussed Chad’s book, “Improve LESS,” Toyota Kata, why continuous improvement is not just “extra work,” and more. An MP3 audio version of this episo

GA 496 | How to Handle Employee Suggestions with Kyle Brady

By Jessica Bush - October 5th, 2023

This week’s guest is Kyle Brady. Ron and Kyle discussed suggestion boxes, how to handle suggestions that aren’t accepted, and how to get started with your own suggestion program. An MP3 audio version of this episode is avai

Completing A Kaizen Event is the Beginning, Not the End of an Improvement

By Steve Kane - September 22nd, 2023

In the world of business, the term “Kaizen” has garnered attention for its transformative power. Originating from Japan, Kaizen means “change for better,” emphasizing continuous improvement. Many organizations a

How Context Switching Affects Problem-Solving

By Steve Kane - May 26th, 2023

In today’s fast-paced world, our minds are continuously challenged by multiple tasks and competing priorities. While multitasking has become a norm, it has a detrimental effect on problem-solving abilities. Context switching, the

GA 466 | Problem Statements, Ideation, and Coaching with Jamie Flinchbaugh

By Jessica Bush - March 9th, 2023

This week’s guest is Jamie Flinchbaugh. Jamie updated us on what he’s learned since publishing his latest book, how he recommends writing a good problem statement, and more. An MP3 audio version of this episode is available

GA 459 | Dealing with CAVE People with Adam Lawrence

By Jessica Bush - January 19th, 2023

This week’s guest is Adam Lawrence. Ron and Adam discussed the Wheel of Sustainability, kaizen events, and how to handle “CAVE People.” An MP3 audio version of this episode is available for download here. In this epis

Quick Way To Time A Process

By John Knotts - December 16th, 2022

Understanding and measuring process time is one of the most important aspects of process improvement. Much of the waste (muda) in a process causes a process to take longer than it should. When a process takes longer, customers are wait

GA 454 | Practicing Lean in a Pandemic with Sabrina McCorvey

By Jessica Bush - December 15th, 2022

This week’s guest is Sabrina McCorvey. Ron and Sabrina discussed what it’s like practicing lean in a pandemic, how she has used Gemba Academy, and more. An MP3 audio version of this episode is available for download here. I

GA 451 | Good and “Evil” in Kata with Scott Laundry and Marc Bicknell

By Jessica Bush - November 24th, 2022

This week’s guests are Scott Laundry and Marc Bicknell. Ron, Scott, and Marc discussed all things kata, including being a good coach and how kata can be “evil.” An MP3 audio version of this episode is available for do

GA 449 | Firefighting, Docility, and the Top-Down Approach to Lean with Mike Thelen

By Jessica Bush - November 10th, 2022

This week’s guest is Mike Thelen. Ron and Mike caught up at the recent AME conference in Dallas, where they discussed company culture, the role of docility, and why “firefighters” get promoted instead of leaders. An

A Simple Plan for Starting Your Lean Journey

By Steve Kane - September 23rd, 2022

There are many ways to lead a continuous improvement journey in an organization. A frequent question we get at Gemba Academy is, “Where do I start?” One strategy is to simply start eliminating pain-points in processes. R

Root Cause to Solution Identification Simplified

By John Knotts - August 19th, 2022

The one thing that differentiates process improvement projects from regular projects and project management is the methodical way a process improvement practitioner arrives at the root cause and then devises solutions or countermeasure

GA 436 | Work Design and Intrinsic Motivation with Thomas Bertels

By Jessica Bush - August 11th, 2022

This week’s guest is Thomas Bertels. Ron and Thomas discussed how Thomas got into work design, how it relates to lean, and why intrinsic motivation is so critical. An MP3 audio version of this episode is available for download he

Three Most Important Metrics in a Continuous Improvement Culture

By John Knotts - June 17th, 2022

How many things do you measure in order to tell you how you are doing in business? I have seen organizations that measure everything and anything. Many times, what is being measured is not something the business can do anything abo

Speed Will Come

By Steve Kane - May 27th, 2022

The US Navy SEALs are credited by many with coining the expression “Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.” The idea here comes from training people to perform technical tasks correctly in an environment where there is no room

GA 424 | When Things Go Wrong: The Spirit of Kaizen with Adam Lawrence

By Jessica Bush - May 19th, 2022

This week’s guest is Adam Lawrence. Adam told Ron about his trip to French Guiana to see a NASA rocket launch, and everything that went wrong. Adam also explained how he believes having a lean background helped him. An MP3 audio

GA 421 | What Employees Want with Dan Johnston

By Jessica Bush - April 28th, 2022

This week’s guest is Dan Johnston. Dan explained how his company WorkStep approaches hiring and retaining employees and what employees truly want, with clear parallels to lean, PDCA, and Respect for People. An MP3 audio version

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

GA 407 | Choosing an Approach to Lean and Six Sigma with John Knotts

By Jessica Bush - January 20th, 2022

This week’s guest is John Knotts, Senior Coach at Gemba Academy. Ron and John took a deep dive into process improvement versus project-based approaches, and why the two can and should coexist. An MP3 audio version of this episode

GA 398 | Lean Storytelling Part Two with Adam Lawrence

By Jessica Bush - November 18th, 2021

This week’s guest is Adam Lawrence. Adam is back this week to tell a few more inspiring lean stories we didn’t get to last time. Be sure to check out Episode 393 for Part One! An MP3 audio version of this episode is availab

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