Leadership

908 Articles

Lean Lessons from Tough Mudder

By Steve Kane - October 21st, 2016

  By Steve Kane May 2016 I had the bright idea that I’d register for the Michigan Tough Mudder Mud Run, then find a way to get in shape (ready, fire, aim).  I had seen ads and social media posts from finishers and thought t

GA 133 | How to Create a Visual Workplace with Dr. Gwendolyn Galsworth

By Jessica Bush - October 20th, 2016

Today’s guest is Dr. Gwendolyn Galsworth, an author and consultant who specializes in the visual workplace. Gwendolyn shared her fascinating background with us and explained the importance of visuality. This in-depth conversati

GA 132 | How to Apply Lean to Puzzle Manufacturing with Don Scott

By Jessica Bush - October 13th, 2016

Today’s guest is Don Scott of Buffalo Games, a puzzle and board game company. Don described his take on continuous improvement as well as the challenges that pertain to this unique industry. An MP3 version of this episode is

If Not You, Who?

By Ron Pereira - October 7th, 2016

I was fortunate enough to speak at a FedEx leadership team meeting yesterday which was a ton of fun! Before I spoke I was able to hear a few presentations including an awesome talk by our great friend and fellow lean thinker, Jamie Pa

GA 131 | How to Develop a Well-Rounded Approach to Lean with Chad Vincent

By Jessica Bush - October 6th, 2016

Today’s guest is Chad Vincent, a Lean Leader with an extremely diverse background and a lot of coaching experience. Ron and Chad discussed Chad’s work applying lean in several different industries, and what he has learned

GA 130 | How to Succeed at Every Stage of Your Lean Journey with Greg Williams

By Jessica Bush - September 29th, 2016

Today’s guest is Greg Williams, Chair Elect of AME and Director of Enterprise Excellence at Aera Energy LLC. Greg shared some of the stories and valuable wisdom he’s accumulated from his impressive lean background. There i

GA 129 | How to Apply Lean to Agriculture with Jeff Duarte

By Jessica Bush - September 22nd, 2016

Today’s guest is Jeff Duarte, of Duarte Nursery. Located in Hughson, California, Ron and Jeff discussed Duarte Nursery’s lean journey and what they’ve learned so far. An MP3 version of this episode is available for do

GA 128 | How to Implement Lean Efforts That Last with Amanda Culver

By Jessica Bush - September 15th, 2016

Today’s guest is Amanda Culver. Amanda has over 10 years of experience with Lean and Six Sigma, especially as it applies to Pharmaceuticals. She shared a lot of valuable insight with us, including her take on why organizations

GA 127 | How to Apply Lean to Different Industries with Gary Beaudette

By Jessica Bush - September 8th, 2016

Today’s guest is Gary Beaudette, a consultant with an impressive lean background. Gary and Ron discussed Gary’s career thus far, the different industries he’s applied lean to, and more. An MP3 version of this episode

GA 126 | Scaling Lean with Ash Maurya

By Jessica Bush - September 1st, 2016

Today’s guest is Ash Maurya, an entrepreneur and author in the Lean Startup realm. Ash explained how lean applies to entrepreneurship and discussed his books, Running Lean and Scaling Lean. An MP3 version of this episode is

GA 125 | How to Introduce Lean with Dalton Prather

By Jessica Bush - August 25th, 2016

Today’s guest is Dalton Prather, a Lean Coordinator who is at the beginning of his continuous improvement journey. Dalton shared his approach to introducing lean, his goals for the future, and more. An MP3 version of this episod

Create a Learning Path

By Steve Kane - August 19th, 2016

This article is a continuation of the series based on best practices from the Gemba Academy community: Part 1: Don’t let perfect get in the way of good Part 2: Create a Learning Path Reducing Uncertainty with Guided Learning Path

GA 124 | How to Utilize People-Centric Leadership with Ron Harper

By Jessica Bush - August 18th, 2016

Today’s guest is Ron Harper, President of Cogent Power Inc and Canadian AME board member. Ron talked to us about people-centric leadership, how to transition to it from a traditional leadership approach, the obstacles you might

Standard Work for Dairy Farmers

By Jon Miller - August 15th, 2016

The next time someone claims to have a work day that is too unpredictable, non-repetitive, requires flexibility, or otherwise not amenable to structuring and improving via leader standard work, have them study A Day in the Life of a Da

Respect by Sharing Knowledge

By Kevin Meyer - August 12th, 2016

Gaining knowledge is the first step to wisdom. Sharing knowledge is the first step to humanity. – Unknown Well over a decade ago when I became president of a medical device company, I already had many years of Lean experience. I kn

GA 123 | How to Reflect on Your Lean Journey with Phil Roether

By Jessica Bush - August 11th, 2016

Today’s guest is Phil Roether, President Emeritus of AME. Now retired, Phil shared some stories from his impressive career and reflected back on the ups and downs of his lean journey thus far. An MP3 version of this episode is

My Ideal Day

By Ron Pereira - August 5th, 2016

It was around 11:30 PM on a Thursday night a little more than 7 years ago. I was sitting at my home office desk working late into the night. What was I working on? Two words – Gemba Academy. You see, when we first started Gemba A

GA 122 | How to Improve Your Lean ROI with Cheryl Jekiel

By Jessica Bush - August 4th, 2016

Today’s guest is Cheryl Jekiel, Founder of the Lean Leadership Resource Center. Cheryl explained how the concept of ROI, or return on investment, applies to the people-aspect of lean. An MP3 version of this episode is available f

GA 121 | Leading AME with George Saiz

By Jessica Bush - July 28th, 2016

Today’s guest is George Saiz, President and CEO of AME, or the Association of Manufacturing Excellence. George talked about how his first few months in the role have gone, and shared some of the wisdom he’s gathered throug

GA 120 | How to Invest in People with Jamie Parker

By Jessica Bush - July 21st, 2016

Today’s episode features the audio from our recent webinar with Jamie Parker, a Region Manager at FedEx Office and passionate lean practitioner. Jamie gave us a detailed look at FedEx Office’s lean journey, including both

A dart board with hits and misses.

Don’t Let Perfection Get In the Way of Progress

By Steve Kane - July 15th, 2016

The Gemba Academy team is in a great position to interact with many lean practitioners around the world.  With a thousand or so subscribing organizations and presumably hundreds of thousands of Gemba Academy users, we’re able to see

GA 119 | How to Handle Skepticism with Brian Rotsaert

By Jessica Bush - July 14th, 2016

Today’s guest is Brian Rotsaert. Brian and Ron discussed Brian’s continuous improvement journey, including his experiences with coaching and mentoring over the years. An MP3 version of this episode is available for download

Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back

Back to the Beginning with Ohno, Suzuki, and Yoda

By Kevin Meyer - July 8th, 2016

As I was researching the remarkable similarities between Lean and Zen for my book, The Simple Leader, one of the most interesting – and meaningful – was the concept of the beginner’s mind. Taiichi Ohno said, “Ob

GA 118 | How to Use Lean and Zen to Become a Better Leader with Kevin Meyer

By Jessica Bush - July 7th, 2016

Today’s guest is our own Kevin Meyer, Co-Founder of Gemba Academy. Kevin and Ron discussed Kevin’s new book, The Simple Leader, in which Kevin describes his career thus far and shares a lot of valuable insight related to

GA 117 | How to Stay Motivated on Your Lean Journey with Dale Crownover

By Jessica Bush - June 30th, 2016

Today’s guest is Dale Crownover, the CEO of Texas Nameplate. Dale is one of the keynote speakers for the upcoming AME Conference in Dallas. He and Ron had a great conversation about his experience with continuous improvement, i

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