Podcasts about Gemba

The MAFFEO DRINKS Podcast is a leading drinks business podcast, listened to in 120 countries worldwide with 125+ episodes. Honest conversations about how the industry actually works, from the bar and what it means for the boardroom.This Episode is hosted by Chris Maffeo and brought to you by MAFFEO DRINKS.Paul Thomas is Global Consumer & Shopper Insight Director at Imperial Brands, formerly Global Insight Director at Beam Suntory.Why do bartenders know more than a hundred-thousand-pound research report?How does the Japanese concept of Gemba change the way brands gather insight?What actually happens when marketers stop hiding behind PowerPoint and go to the bar?Find all episodes featuring Paul Thomas at themaffeodrinkspodcast.comBottom up. Wanna know what the conversation above means for your team? It's in the paid section.For €100 a year you get access to Maffeo Confidential (Private Podcast) and get this analysis and access to the full archive of 125 episodes, each one translated from industry conversation into the commercial decisions underneath it. Find out more at maffeodrinks.com

Episode #1397: Ford leans on Toyota's Gemba management philosophy to improve quality, China's EVs are being upgraded like smartphones, and Apple's smartest Siri yet hints at a future where AI—not apps—becomes the new user interface. Show Notes with lin...

What You'll Learn in This Episode:In this episode, Andy Olrich and Catherine McDonald sit down with Andrew Kettner to discuss why one of the most overlooked leadership skills, eye contact, can have a profound impact on trust, communication, and continuous improvement.Andrew explains how effective leaders must look beyond reports, dashboards, and data by practicing Lean's "go and see" mindset. Through genuine face-to-face interactions, leaders gain valuable insights into emotions, engagement, and the real challenges their teams face. The conversation also explores the connection between eye contact, empathy, emotional intelligence, and building stronger workplace relationships. Andrew shares personal stories from his military leadership experience and cancer journey that demonstrate how meaningful human connections can influence both leadership and life.Whether you're leading a Lean transformation or simply looking to become a more effective leader, this episode offers practical ways to strengthen your leadership presence by learning to truly see the people you lead.Key Takeaways:Great leaders practice "go and see" by engaging directly with people—not just data.Eye contact builds trust, empathy, and stronger workplace relationships.Emotional intelligence helps leaders better understand both people and processes.Small, intentional interactions create stronger Lean cultures and better leadership.Links:https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewkettnerhttps://www.findleansolutions.com/https://www.findleansolutions.com/lean-summit/

Meet Adam Ferreira, the Brand and Creative Project Manager at the Vancouver Whitecaps FC.Born and raised in Mumbai, Adam started out chasing two dreams - playing football and dancing professionally. When a spinal injury ended his ambitions as a footballer and a professional dancer, he pivoted into the business of sport, moving to Toronto as an international student, juggling a 9-to-5 in student housing and a 5-to-9 role at Toronto FC.Over a decade, his career climbed one step at a time: from an event sales internship in 2016, to the game crew at BMO Field working Toronto FC matches during their 2017 MLS Cup-winning run, to partnerships at Allstate Canada. Eventually, he moved west to the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, where he now leads brand and creative, including building the signing story around one of football's greatest-ever players, Thomas Müller.In this episode, Adam breaks down how to break into sport from the outside, why networking beats job boards every time, and how to climb from entry-level to leading a department, even when imposter syndrome is screaming at you.We cover:(03:14) - Interview begins(06:42) - Quick Fire Questions(11:52) - When Adam almost moved to Australia instead of Canada(15:16) - Early experiences in Toronto(22:40) - What Adam learnt from his time at the Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment(28:53) - Adam's takeaways from working at All State Canada(33:11) - Adam's in Vancouver to his current role(38:05) - How to balance creative ambition with club and fanbase expectations?(41:24) - The story behind marketing the signing of Thomas Müller(46:01) - What project is Adam most proud of?(48:40) - How have the Vancouver Whitecaps capitalised on the FIFA World Cup(52:07) - What the legacy of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Canada might look like(53:45) - Adam's predictions for Canada at the World Cup(55:07) - How to land a job in sports marketing in the next 30 days(56:37) - What are some of the pain points that you've seen in different jobs, that you use in your experience and day to day role today?(58:20) - Adam's question for next guestIf you liked this ep, give these a go next:#267: 10 years at Toyota on the brand side of sport sponsorships with Chelsea Guy #303: Gemba, Marketing Strategy Consultant | Sam Waring #333: Managing Partnerships for the Nike Melbourne Marathon at IMG with Clayton Henderson Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today on the NKY Spotlight Podcast, Chris Pavese of Gemba Services discusses leadership development and Diana Small of MRA-The Management Association highlights their upcoming Mid-Year Employment Law Conference.The NKY Spotlight Podcast is powered by CKREU Consulting

Maria Fossarello est arrivée en France à 17 ans avec un rêve : bosser à la Commission européenne. Quinze ans plus tard, elle est VP RevOps de Welcome to the Jungle après sept ans chez BlaBlaCar (marketing puis Head of Paid Channel global, 20M€ de budget sur 21 pays) et un passage chez Qonto (Head of RevOps). Entre les deux, beaucoup de portes fermées au nez. La Commission européenne d'abord. Innocent ensuite, où elle a candidaté avec une photo d'elle et son smoothie préféré (résultat : réponse automatique). BlaBlaCar Londres, où on lui a proposé un poste de Country Manager qu'elle ne comprenait pas. Tout ce qui rend son parcours intéressant aujourd'hui s'est joué dans la façon dont elle a transformé ces refus en énergie, puis dans la façon dont elle a appris à prendre des sujets que personne ne réclamait dans ses boîtes successives. Cet épisode, c'est une plongée dans le quotidien d'un VP RevOps en scale-up, mais c'est surtout un manuel de carrière pour toutes les Ops qui veulent grandir avec leur boîte plutôt que d'attendre la promotion suivante.Ce que tu vas apprendre dans cet épisode :Comment monter en responsabilité sans titre officiel : sortir de sa fiche de poste, prendre les sujets vacants, et rester volontairement large pour multiplier les opportunités.Pourquoi un VP RevOps doit gagner la confiance de ses pairs (les autres VPs) autant que de sa propre équipe.La méthode 1:1 que Maria a affinée année après année : commencer par l'humain "comment ça va ?", refuser les 1:1 où elle parle toute seule, et pourquoi le peer coaching bat la progress review.Ce qu'il faut tuer en priorité dans une scale-up française : les meetings récurrents à plus de 6 personnes qui durent depuis trop longtemps, et l'illusion que travailler 12 heures par jour rend productif.La différence concrète entre un VP RevOps et un CRO en scale-up : Maria détaille son organigramme chez Welcome (CEO → CRO → 4 VPs en France et UK) et ce que ça change dans son quotidien.Sa position assumée d'anti-framework : pourquoi copier-coller un playbook entre deux contextes ne fonctionne presque jamais, et comment elle pense la priorisation par quarter à la place.Notes complètes, ressources et captures de l'épisode : [lien] Pour aller plus loin :Gemba (terme japonais) : aller sur le terrain avec son équipe pour comprendre un sujet complexe ensemble, pratique reprise de Qonto.Modjo et Dust : outils utilisés par Maria chez WTTJ pour faire des analyses approfondies sur les transcripts de calls (pricing, playbooks, objections).Hébergé par Ausha. Visitez ausha.co/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

Improvement efforts stall for reasons every CI practitioner knows by heart: unclear problem statements, missing data, inconsistent teams, rejected countermeasures. Anne Frewin argues those are symptoms. The root cause is the environment leaders create -- and Gallup's data backs her up: 70% of team engagement comes down to the manager.In this episode, recorded as part of the KaiNexus Continuous Improvement Webinar Series, Anne walks host Mark Graban through her LEAD model -- four leadership mindsets that build the psychological safety improvement work depends on. For each one, she offers a single behavior you can put to work right away:Leading with courage means talking about problems, not just making them visible -- moving teams from firefighting to "smelling the smoke." Embodying trust means going to Gemba with real curiosity: standing still, observing, listening to tone as much as words. Anchoring in clarity means communicating so it sticks -- frequent, visual, purposeful, two-way. Driving improvement means inviting ideas and letting people fix what bugs them, using three simple guardrails: Is it safe? Does everyone who needs to know, know? Can it be undone?Anne also makes the case for treating employees as a key stakeholder alongside owners and customers, and shows what changes when you do. Engaged organizations see 63% fewer safety incidents, 21% lower turnover, 32% fewer defects, and 23% higher profitability.The conversation continues into a wide-ranging Q&A on writing better problem statements, creating space for people to surface problems without fear, the limits of ROI thinking, and the hard work of coaching managers who rose through the ranks by being the boss.Anne Frewin is a speaker, coach, and facilitator, and the founder of Employee Centric Leadership LLC. She has more than 15 years of experience implementing Lean principles across healthcare, biomedical, manufacturing, and professional services.Watch the video, view the slides, and read the full recapBrowse 100+ free recorded webinarsTips, articles, and case studies on leadership and continuous improvementLearn more about KaiNexus

What You'll Learn in This Episode:In this episode, Andy Olrich sits down with returning guest Adam Lawrence to explore why so many improvement efforts fail to stick and what leaders can do to create lasting, sustainable change.Adam shares the origin story behind his “Wheel of Sustainability” framework and explains why sustainability is ultimately a leadership process, not just a technical one. The conversation dives into the importance of preparation before a Kaizen event, including leadership alignment, clear expectations, strong sponsorship, and creating accountability systems before improvement work even begins.You'll also learn practical ways to strengthen sustainability after an event through audits, visuals, standard work, Gemba walks, and leadership engagement. Adam and Andy discuss why culture, trust, and respect for people are just as important as financial results—and how the true test of success is when employees start asking, “When can you come help my area next?”If you've ever struggled with improvements fading over time or leaders failing to stay engaged after an event, this episode provides a practical roadmap for building improvements that last.Key Takeaways:Sustainable improvement starts with leadership commitment and preparationKaizen events fail when leaders don't stay visibly engaged before, during, and after the workAudits, visuals, standard work, and accountability systems help improvements stickThe strongest sign of success is when teams ask for more improvement work in their own areasLinks:Adam Lawrence LinkedInPI PartnersThe Wheel of SustainabilityLean Solutions Summit Lean Solutions Website

What You'll Learn in This Episode:In this episode, Patrick Adams, Catherine McDonald, Shayne Daughenbaugh, and Andy Olrich unpack the hidden costs that quietly erode margins, and why most organizations don't see them coming.You'll learn how these costs often live outside traditional financial statements, showing up instead as rework, inefficiencies, poor handoffs, and constant interruptions like “hot jobs.” The team shares real-world examples of how these hidden issues build up over time and significantly impact performance.The conversation highlights practical ways to uncover these costs, including going to the gemba, mapping processes, making data visible, and engaging teams through consistent one-on-one conversations. They also emphasize the role of leadership in either allowing waste to continue through workarounds or actively eliminating it by creating clarity, standards, and accountability.If you've ever looked at your financials and wondered where the margin is going, this episode gives you a clear and actionable approach to finding and fixing the leaks.Key Takeaways:Hidden costs don't show up on financials—but they directly impact marginsRework, poor flow, and “hot jobs” are major sources of cost leakageVisibility through data, process mapping, and GEMBA is key to uncovering issuesLeadership behavior determines whether waste is allowed or eliminatedLinks:Lean Summit | FindleansolutionsLean Solutions | Find Your Lean Solution TODAY!

What You'll Learn in This Episode:In this episode, Patrick Adams and Shayne Daughenbaugh break down the true meaning of GEMBA and why it's a foundational practice in Lean leadership.You'll learn how going to the “real place” helps leaders move beyond assumptions and understand what's actually happening in their processes. The conversation highlights why many leaders avoid the gemba. Often due to fear, ego, or lack of clarity. Also, how shifting to a mindset of curiosity, humility, and vulnerability can change everything.They also explore how to approach GEMBA in both manufacturing and knowledge work environments, emphasizing the importance of building trust, creating psychological safety, and following up on what you hear.If you've ever struggled to connect with your team, understand your processes, or drive meaningful improvement, this episode gives you a simple, practical way to start.Key Takeaways:GEMBA is about understanding reality—not relying on assumptionsLeaders should approach the gemba with curiosity, not judgmentTrust is built through consistency, follow-up, and psychological safetyStart small—pick one process, observe, listen, and learn before actingLinks: Lean Solutions SummitLean Solutions Website 

Du sitzt im Training, bist Feuer und Flamme, gehst raus mit drei guten Vorsätzen. Eine Woche später ist alles wieder beim Alten. Das ist die Realität bei vielen Weiterbilungsprogrammen. Das beste Training nutzt nichts, wenn du danach nicht ins Tun kommst. Move your ass, sagt Jennifer. Genau das ist der Job von Führung: dranbleiben, begleiten, nachfragen - am Ort des Geschehens. Ralf bringt das japanische Konzept Gemba ins Spiel: Verlasse dein Büro, beobachte deine Leute, frag sie, was sie wirklich brauchen. Kennzahlen zeigen dir nur Symptome; Gemba zeigt dir die Ursachen. Dazu gibt's die 5-Warum-Methode, den PDCA-Zyklus und einen Fünf-Minuten-Leitfaden für die Zeit vor und nach jedem Training. Hör rein und mach den ersten Schritt.

In this episode, Helen and Sarah explore how to 'Kaizen your squiggly career', borrowing brilliance from the Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement.They discuss why big career changes can feel overwhelming and how focusing on small, manageable improvements can help you build momentum without triggering fear or overthinking. Along the way, they introduce four key Kaizen ideas and translate them into simple, actionable tools for your working week.From spotting where you might be waiting rather than creating, to eliminating wasted effort, to building in better reflection habits, Helen and Sarah share how to move from intention to action in a way that actually sticks.If you've ever felt busy but not progressing, unsure where to focus your energy, or stuck in cycles of overthinking, this episode will help you take small steps that lead to meaningful change.

Part 2 of 2 | Continued from: Continuous Improvement Leadership: Women's Career Guide 2026Executive SummaryWomen leaders continuous improvement culture succeeds or fails based on one variable: the leader's personal commitment. Olaf Boettger's 27-year framework reveals the CEO's 90-day launch plan, two fatal CI mistakes, women's natural CI advantage, and the 10-minute personal Kaizen practice that compounds career results starting today.Quick Takeaways70% of CI initiatives fail — almost always due to leader behavior, not methodology (Olaf Boettger, 27 years P&G/Danaher)Women leaders continuous improvement culture succeeds because women's natural humility and collaborative style align with CI requirementsThe CEO's first 90 days: Gemba ? Top-10 Problem List ? 5 Whys ? Impact-Effort Matrix ? Daily HuddlesPersonal Kaizen takes less than 10 minutes per day and starts compounding career results immediatelyLaid-off women can apply CI directly to job search — turning a demoralizing process into a systematic, controllable oneIn Part 1 of this conversation, Olaf Boettger revealed the foundations of women leaders continuous improvement culture — Kaizen philosophy, Gemba principles, and the three capabilities that make it work: courage, humility, and discipline. But knowing the philosophy is not the same as executing it.Most organizations have heard of Kaizen. Most have tried it. Most have failed.According to Olaf, who spent 27 years at Procter & Gamble and Danaher mastering this system, the failure is rarely about the methodology. It is almost always about the leader.In Part 2 of our Women's Leadership Success Podcast interview, Olaf reveals exactly what a successful women leaders continuous improvement culture launch looks like — the CEO's first 90 days, the two fatal mistakes that kill every initiative, why women bring a genuinely underappreciated competitive advantage to this work, and the personal Kaizen practice that takes less than 10 minutes a day and starts compounding results immediately.As an executive coach with over 30 years of experience (MA, MFT, PCC) and host of a podcast ranked in the top 1.5% globally with over 750,000 downloads, I have seen this framework transform the careers of women who stopped waiting to be recognized and started building systems that made them impossible to overlook. Building a women leaders continuous improvement culture is not only a leadership strategy — it is a career survival strategy in 2026.Ready to make yourself the standout candidate in 2026's competitive market?Download our FREE Leadership Branding Blueprint Accelerator and discover:The exact 5-step system to position yourself as indispensable (not just competent)How to document CI results in a format that gets you promoted 3x fasterThe personal achievement tracker that turns invisible work into visible impactScripts for self-advocacy conversations that feel natural, not pushyDOWNLOAD FREE — womensleadershipsuccess.com/blueprintThe CEO's First 90 Days: Your Continuous Improvement Culture Launch PlanIf you are stepping into a new leadership role — or finally ready to build a women leaders continuous improvement culture in your existing organization — the first 90 days set everything. Olaf's approach is structured around a deceptively simple insight: the problems you can solve are already visible if you are willing to go look at them.Step 1: Go to Gemba — The Real Place (Days 1–30)Gemba is the Japanese term for the real place — where the work actually happens. For a CEO or senior leader, Gemba might mean riding along with a salesperson, observing operations on a floor, sitting with engineers reviewing prototypes, or speaking directly with customers about how they use your product.This is not a listening tour. It is a fact-gathering mission. The gap between what leadership believes is happening and what is actually happening is, in most organizations, enormous. The only way to close that gap is to go see for yourself.For women building a women leaders continuous improvement culture, this Gemba-first approach is especially powerful: it signals humility and curiosity before authority — the exact combination that earns trust fast in new organizations.Step 2: Build Your Top-10 Problem List (Days 15–30)After Gemba, the next move is prioritization. A former Danaher colleague of Olaf's — who became CEO of a large Anglo-American corporation — used exactly this method: he created a numbered top-10 problem list and began working through it methodically with his teams.The discipline here is critical. You are not solving all problems. You are sequencing them. Problem 1 gets your full attention and resources until it is resolved. Then Problem 2. Then Problem 3. This focus prevents the scattered, multi-initiative paralysis that kills most CI attempts before they produce results.Step 3: Apply the 5 Whys to Find Root Causes (Days 20–60)Once you have your prioritized list, the next step is diagnosis. Olaf uses the 5 Whys — a Toyota-originated technique where you ask 'why does this problem exist?' and then ask 'why?' to each answer, five levels deep. By the fifth 'why,' you are nearly always at the systemic root cause rather than a surface symptom.The difference is critical. Treating symptoms produces temporary fixes. Addressing root causes produces permanent improvement. This is why organizations that chase the first obvious solution — like a $50 million ERP system — often spend enormous resources only to discover the original problem persists.Step 4: Use the Impact-Effort Matrix to Sequence Solutions (Days 30–60)Not all solutions are equal. Olaf teaches leaders to categorize every potential solution across two dimensions: impact (does it actually solve the problem?) and effort (how much time, money, and energy does it require?).Solution CategoryPriority Action? High Impact + Low EffortDo these FIRST — quick wins that build momentum and credibility? High Impact + High EffortPlan carefully — these are your strategic projects? Low Impact + Low EffortDo only if capacity allows — don't let these consume bandwidth? Low Impact + High EffortEliminate — these drain your CI culture before it startsStep 5: Run Daily Red/Green Huddles as Your Standard Management Meeting (Days 1–90)As described in Part 1, the 15-minute daily red/green huddle is not a CI activity added on top of normal business. It IS the management meeting. Red means a problem is identified and being addressed. Green means performance is on track. Run without exception every day, it signals that the improvement culture is real — not a program that fades at the next crisis.What Your Organization Sees by Day 90When you execute this plan, three things happen simultaneously: your team sees you are committed enough to observe their actual work; they see the organization's most painful problems being addressed systematically; and they begin to internalize what a good solution looks like. This is how women leaders continuous improvement culture takes root — through behavior modeling, not value announcements.The 2 Fatal Mistakes That Kill Continuous Improvement InitiativesOlaf estimates there is a graveyard of failed CI initiatives in nearly every large organization. The causes are almost never about the methodology. Here are the two patterns he sees repeatedly — and what women leaders can do differently.Fatal Mistake #1: The Leader Who Wants Results Without ChangingIn German, there is a phrase for this: 'Wash my fur, but don't make me wet.' The leader wants the outcomes of CI — better numbers, more efficient teams, fewer crises — but is unwilling to personally change how they operate. They hire consultants, launch programs, run trainings. And then they return to their previous behavior.This is fatal because culture follows behavior, not announcements. If the CEO does not go to Gemba, the SVP will not go to Gemba. If the SVP does not go, the VP will not go. By the time the directive reaches managers who are supposed to implement CI, it has been diluted into a program that nobody owns.For women leaders specifically: the antidote is your natural advantage — the willingness to be publicly humble, to admit what you do not know, and to go see before you decide. A women leaders continuous improvement culture that the top leader personally models is one that spreads without a mandate.Fatal Mistake #2: Treating CI as a Separate ActivityThe second pattern is more subtle but equally deadly: organizations that run CI as a parallel track alongside their 'normal' business. Friday afternoon training. Quarterly workshops. A dedicated CI team that other leaders do not engage with.This is the wrong model entirely. At Toyota, Danaher, GE, and every organization where CI works long-term, continuous improvement is not something you do in addition to running the business. It IS how you run the business. The 15-minute daily red/green huddle is not a CI activity — it is the operational meeting. The improvement system and the management system are the same system.The practical implication: if your organization has a CI initiative that exists separately from how work is actually managed, advocate for integrating the two. That single structural change will determine whether your women leaders continuous improvement culture produces lasting results or joins the graveyard.Why Women Leaders Build Continuous Improvement Culture BetterOne of the most powerful moments in our conversation came when I asked Olaf directly: do women bring unique strengths to continuous improvement culture?His answer was unequivocal — and grounded in 27 years of observing what actually works in organizations around the world."There is a lot less ego involved in a lot of women I've worked with. And if we look at the three capabilities for successful continuous improvement — courage, humility, and discipline — I've seen women bring more to the table, especially on the humility side. Being more open to say: let's bring others in,

In this special guest episode, Andrew sits down with Russell Watkins, co-founder of Sempai. Andrew first met Russell at the Gemba Summit in Belfast, where Russell delivered a keynote titled “10 Lightbulb Moments from Working with Toyota Japan and UK.” After cornering him at lunch with a notebook full of questions, Andrew knew this had to become a podcast conversation.They explore:What Russell learned apprenticing under a direct student of Taiichi Ohno and why he was told to “stop reading and start doing”Why you don't learn lean from books alone (but why books still matter)How to actually observe work on the Gemba, and why empty workstations don't tell the full storyThe danger of “putting lipstick on a pig” by optimizing rework instead of eliminating the need for itWhy “Fix What Bugs You” works and where it falls short without strategic directionA practical introduction to Hoshin Kanri (policy deployment) for small manufacturersHow to connect shop-floor improvements to real business needsThe power of visual defect analysis—even without formal data systemsFour simple questions that reveal the strength (or weakness) of your SOPsHow to handle the 20-70-10 dynamic when rolling out lean initiativesWhy humility and “opening the kimono” as a leader builds trust and cultural momentumThis conversation bridges the gap between the Two Second Lean community and traditional Toyota Production System thinking, offering practical insight for small and mid-sized manufacturers who want to move beyond local optimization and align improvement with long-term business survival.Links:The explainer on Hoshin Kanri/policy deployment that Russell mentioned

A shop floor comment stops everyone in their tracks: the work finally matches what the customer actually needs. That is the spark behind Accidentally Aligned, and it opens a bigger issue most leaders dodge: alignment does not come from posters, audits, or a new playbook. It comes from how leaders behave when the process is broken, and the numbers are ugly. Mark and today's guest, Jason Neal, get into the messy middle of transformation: earning trust at the Gemba, protecting dignity when tempers flare, and dealing with the damage caused by "Lean policing." They also tackle a practical trap that shows up everywhere: leaders say they want engagement, then they take away overtime without replacing it with a better system. The result is predictable. So is the fix. If you are trying to keep momentum after the first wave of kaizen, this episode gives you language and moves you can use on Monday morning. Timestamps: 00:06:48 - Accidentally aligned with the customer voice 00:10:24 - Respect for people when the process fails 00:22:38 - Trust as the foundation for Lean sustainment 00:22:51 - When the Lean office becomes an audit function 00:23:37 - Losing credibility by switching to policing behavior 00:25:33 - Stopping disrespect before it becomes normal 00:34:54 - Turning overtime into kaizen time without breaking trust 00:35:12 - Why cutting overtime first backfires

In this “Meet the Experts” HeartTalk, host Melanie Lawson, MS, sits down with Katie Willerick, vice president of Care Transformation Services at MedAxiom, to explore what it really takes to move from dashboards to better patient care. Katie shares why “trust in the data” is essential to driving change and how building that trust across teams makes analytics fully actionable. She pulls back the curtain on how Lean Six Sigma thinking and clear definitions help teams work smarter and stay aligned.Guest Bio:Katie WillerickVice President, Care Transformation Services, MedAxiomAs Vice President of Care Transformation Services, Katie Willerick provides strategic leadership for MedAxiom's care transformation analytics and consulting initiatives, helping cardiovascular organizations translate data into sustained operational and clinical improvement. She partners closely with MedAxiom members, partners and internal teams to advance system-wide performance across the continuum of cardiovascular care.Katie leads efforts to align data, process improvement and operational strategy, directing awareness and adoption of MedAxiom resources such as MedAxcess, Medicare claims data, population prevalence and incidence insights, and member-reported benchmarking. Her work supports informed decision-making related to access, capacity, workforce optimization and financial sustainability.With deep expertise in Lean Six Sigma methodology and healthcare operations, Katie provides guidance in areas including cath and EP lab utilization and staffing optimization, ambulatory surgery center pro formas and ramp-up strategy, device clinic operations, and broader cardiovascular service line performance. She is known for helping organizations move from insight to execution by designing scalable, data-driven improvement models.Katie began her healthcare career in 2005 in the hospital setting at a Baldrige Award-winning organization in the Midwest. She spent three years in the safety department, where she conducted failure modes and effects analyses (FMEAs), supported regulatory compliance initiatives, and implemented a system-wide hand hygiene observation program. She later transitioned to the process management department, facilitating enterprise-wide Kaizen events, developing productivity and performance metrics, and establishing benchmarking frameworks to support continuous improvement. During this time, she earned her Lean Six Sigma Green Belt through Motorola University.Katie holds a Bachelor of Science in psychology and a Master of Arts in industrial/organizational psychology from Western Michigan University.

What You'll Learn in This EpisodeIn this episode, hosts Catherine McDonald and Shayne Daughenbaugh discuss what coaching in the workplace really means. Why it's far more than a buzzword. The conversation breaks down the difference between coaching, training, and mentoring, and explains how coaching serves as a powerful leadership approach for developing people, building trust, and sustaining continuous improvement.They emphasize how coaching shows up in day-to-day work through huddles, Gemba walks, and one-on-ones, and how lean tools like PDCA naturally support a coaching mindset. Key TakeawaysCoaching is a leadership approach, not an event.Coaching is different from training and mentoring.Every day work creates coaching opportunities.LinksLean Solutions 2026 SummitLean Solutions Website⁠⁠Click Here For Shayne Daughenbaugh's LinkedIn⁠⁠Click Here For Catherine McDonald's LinkedIn⁠⁠

In this episode, Bill Scherkenbach, one of W. Edwards Deming's closest protégés, and host Andrew Stotz discuss why leadership decisions shape outcomes far more than frontline effort. Bill draws on decades of firsthand experience with Deming and with businesses across industries. Through vivid stories and practical insights, the conversation challenges leaders and learners alike to rethink responsibility, decision-making, and what it truly takes to build lasting quality. Bill's powerpoint is available here. TRANSCRIPT 0:00:02.2 Andrew Stotz: My name is Andrew Stotz, and I'll be your host as we dive deeper into the teachings of Dr. W. Edwards Deming. Today, I'm continuing my discussions with Bill Scherkenbach, a dedicated protégé of Dr. Deming since 1972. Bill met with Dr. Deming more than a thousand times and later led statistical methods and process improvement at Ford and GM at Dr. Deming's recommendation. He authored the Deming Route to Quality and Productivity at Deming's behest and at 79, still champions his mentor's message: Learn, have fun, and make a difference. The discussion for today is, I think we're going to get an answer to this question. And the question is: Where is quality made? Bill, take it away.   0:00:44.9 Bill Scherkenbach: Where is quality made? I can hear the mellifluous doctor saying that. And the answer is: In the boardroom, not on the factory floor. And over and over again, he would say that it's the quality of the decisions that the management make that can far outweigh anything that happens on the shop floor. And when he would speak about that, he would first of all, because he was talking to the auto industry, he would talk about who's making carburetors anymore. "Nobody's making carburetors because it's all fuel injectors," he would say. And anyone who has been following this, another classic one is: Do you ever hear of a bank that failed? Do you think that failed because of mistakes in tellers' windows or calculations of interest? Heck no. But there are a whole bunch of other examples that are even more current, if you will. I mean, although this isn't that current, but Blockbuster had fantastic movies, a whole array of them, the highest quality resolutions, and they completely missed the transition to streaming. And Netflix and others took it completely away from them because of mistakes made in the boardroom. You got more recently Bed Bath & Beyond having a great product, a great inventory.   0:02:51.4 Bill Scherkenbach: But management took their eyes off of it and looked at, they were concerned about stock buybacks and completely lost the picture of what was happening. It was perfect. It was a great product, but it was a management decision. WeWork, another company supplying office places. It was great in COVID and in other areas, but through financial mismanagement, they also ended up going bust. And so there are, I mean, these are examples of failures, but as Dr. Deming also said, don't confuse success with success. If you think you're making good decisions, you got to ask yourself how much better could it have been if you tried something else. So, quality is made in the boardroom, not on the factory floor.   0:04:07.9 Andrew Stotz: I had an interesting encounter this week and I was teaching a class, and there was a guy that came up and talked to me about his company. His company was a Deming Prize from Japan winner. And that was maybe 20, 25 years ago. They won their first Deming Prize, and then subsidiaries within the company won it. So the actual overall company had won something like nine or 10 Deming Prizes over a couple decades. And the president became...   0:04:43.5 Bill Scherkenbach: What business are they in?   0:04:45.5 Andrew Stotz: Well, they're in...   0:04:47.0 Bill Scherkenbach: Of winning prizes?   0:04:48.7 Andrew Stotz: Yeah, I mean, they definitely, the CEO got the distinguished individual prize because he was so dedicated to the teachings of Dr. Deming. And he really, really expanded the business well, the business did well. A new CEO took over 15 years ago, 10 years ago, and took it in another direction. And right now the company is suffering losses and many other problems that they're facing. And I asked the guy without talking about Deming, I just asked him what was the difference between the prior CEO and the current one or the current regimes that have come in. And he said that the prior CEO, it was so clear what the direction was. Like, he set the direction and we all knew what we were doing. And I just thought now as you talk about, the quality is made at the boardroom, it just made me really think back to that conversation and that was what he noticed more than anything. Yeah well, we were really serious about keeping the factory clean or we used statistics or run charts, that was just what he said, I thought that was pretty interesting.   0:06:06.7 Bill Scherkenbach: Absolutely. And that reminds me of another comment that Dr. Deming was vehement about, and that was was the management turnover. Turnovers in boardrooms every 18 months or so, except maybe in family businesses. But that's based on the quality of decisions made in the boardroom. How fast do you want to turn over the CEOs and that C-suite? So it's going to go back to the quality is made in the boardroom.   0:06:50.0 Andrew Stotz: Yeah, and I think maybe it's a good chance for me to share the slide that you have. And let's maybe look at that graphic. Does that makes sense now?   0:07:00.9 Bill Scherkenbach: Sure, for sure.   0:07:02.2 Andrew Stotz: Let's do that. Let's do that. Hold on. All right.   0:07:15.8 Bill Scherkenbach: Okay, okay, okay. You can see on the top left, we'll start the story. I've got to give you a background. This was generated based on my series of inputs and prompts, but this was generated by Notebook LM and based on the information I put in, this is what they came up with.   0:07:48.6 Andrew Stotz: Interesting.   0:07:50.1 Bill Scherkenbach: Based on various information, which I think did a fairly decent job. In any event, we're going to talk about all of these areas, except maybe the one where it says principles for active leadership, because that was the subject of a couple of our vlogs a while ago, and that is the three foundational obligations. And so the thing is that quality, even though Dr. Deming said it was made in the boardroom, one of the problems is that management did not know what questions to ask, and they would go, and Dr. Deming railed against MBWA, management by walking around, primarily because management hadn't made the transition to really take on board what Dr. Deming was talking about in profound knowledge. And that is, as you've mentioned, setting that vision, continually improving around it, and pretty much absolutely essential was to reduce fear within the organization.   0:09:25.9 Bill Scherkenbach: And so management by walking around without profound knowledge, which we've covered in previous talks, only gets you dog and pony shows. And with the fear in the organization, you're going to be carefully guided throughout a wonderful story. I mentioned I was in Disney with some of my granddaughters over the holidays, and they tell a wonderful story, but you don't ever see what's behind the scenery. And management never gets the chance because they really haven't had the opportunity to attain profound knowledge. So that's one of the things. I want to back up a little bit because Dr. Deming would... When Dr. Deming said quality is made at the top, he only agreed to help companies where the top management invited him, he wasn't out there marketing. If they invited him to come in, he would first meet with them and they had to convince him they were serious about participating, if not leading their improvement. And given that, that litmus test, he then agreed to work with them. Very few companies did he agree to on that. And again as we said, the quality of the decisions and questions and passion that determine the successfulness of the company. And so.   0:11:40.0 Andrew Stotz: It made me think about that letter you shared that he was saying about that there was, I think it was within the government and government department that just wasn't ready for change and so he wasn't going to work with it. I'm just curious, like what do you think was his... How did he make that judgment?   0:12:00.0 Bill Scherkenbach: Well, it wasn't high enough. And again, I don't know how high you'd have to go in there. But quite honestly, what we spoke about privately was in politics and in the federal government, at least in the US, things change every four years. And so you have management turnover. And so what one manager, as you described, one CEO is in there and another one comes in and wants to do it their way, they're singing Frank Sinatra's My Way. But that's life….   0:12:49.3 Andrew Stotz: Another great song.   0:12:50.7 Bill Scherkenbach: Another, yes.   0:12:52.1 Andrew Stotz: And it's not like he was an amateur with the government.   0:12:57.5 Bill Scherkenbach: No.   0:13:00.3 Andrew Stotz: He had a lot of experience from a young age, really working closely with the government. Do you think that he saw there was some areas that were worth working or did he just kind of say it's just not worth the effort there or what was his conclusions as he got older?   0:13:16.9 Bill Scherkenbach: Well, as he got older, it might, it was the turnover in management. When he worked for Agriculture, although agriculture is political, and he worked for Census Bureau back when he worked there, it wasn't that political, it's very political now. But there was more a chance for constancy and more of a, their aim was to do the best survey or census that they could do. And so the focus was on setting up systems that would deliver that. But that's what his work with the government was prior to when things really broke loose when he started with Ford and GM and got all the people wanting him in.   0:14:27.0 Andrew Stotz: I've always had questions about this at the top concept and the concept of constancy of purpose. And I'm just pulling out your Deming Route to Quality and Productivity, which, it's a lot of dog ears, but let's just go to chapter one just to remind ourselves. And that you started out with point number one, which was create constancy of purpose towards improvement of product and service with the aim to become competitive, stay in business and provide jobs. One of my questions I always kind of thought about that one was that at first I just thought he was saying just have a constancy of purpose. But the constancy of purpose is improvement of product and service.   0:15:13.6 Bill Scherkenbach: Well, yes and no. I mean, that's what he said. I believe I was quoting what his point number one was. And as it developed, it was very important to add, I believe, point number five on continual improvement. But constancy of purpose is setting the stage, setting the vision if you will, of where you want to take the company. And in Western management, and this is an area where there really is and was a dichotomy between Western and Eastern management. But in Western management, our concept of time was short-term. Boom, boom, boom, boom. And he had a definite problem with that. And that's how you could come up with, well, we're going to go with this fad and that fad or this CEO and that CEO. There was no thinking through the longer term of, as some folks ask, "what is your aim? Who do you think your customer base is now?" don't get suckered into thinking that carburetors are always going to be marketable to that market base. And so that's where he was going with that constancy of purpose. And in the beginning, I think that was my first book you're quoting, but also, in some of his earlier works, he also spoke of consistency of purpose, that is reducing the variation around that aim, that long-term vision, that aim.   0:17:19.2 Bill Scherkenbach: Now, in my second book, I got at least my learning said that you've got to go beyond the logical understanding and your constancy of purpose needs to be a mission, a values and questions. And those people who have who have listened to the the previous vlogs that we've had, those are the physiological and emotional. And I had mentioned, I think, that when when I went to GM, one of the things I did was looked up all the policy letters and the ones that Alfred Sloan wrote had pretty much consistency of three main points. One, make no mistake about it, this is what we're going to do. Two, this is why we're going to do it, logical folks who need to understand that. And to give a little bit of insight on on how he was feeling about it. Sometimes it was value, but those weren't spoken about too much back then. But it gave you an insider view, if you will. And so I looked at that, maybe I was overlooking. But I saw a physiological and emotional in his policy letters.   0:19:00.7 Bill Scherkenbach: And so that's got to be key when you are establishing your vision, but that's only the beginning of it. You have to operationalize it, and this is where management has to get out of the boardroom to see what's going on. Now, that's going to be the predictable, and some of your clients, and certainly the ones over in Asia, are speaking about Lean and Toyota Production System and going to the Gemba and all of those terms. But I see a need to do a reverse Gemba and we'll talk about that.   0:19:49.6 Andrew Stotz: So, I just want to dig deeper into this a little bit just for my own selfish understanding, which I think will help the audience also. Let's go back in time and say that the, Toyota, let's take Toyota as an example because we can say maybe in the 60s or so, they started to really understand that the improvement of product quality, products and service quality and all that was a key thing that was important to them. But they also had a goal of expanding worldwide. And their first step with that maybe was, let's just say, the big step was expanding to the US. Now, in order to expand to the US successfully, it's going to take 10, maybe 20 years. In the beginning, the cars aren't going to fit the market, you're going to have to adapt and all that. So I can understand first, let's imagine that somebody says our constancy of purpose is to continuously improve or let's say, not continuously, but let's just go back to that statement just to keep it clear. Let's say, create constancy of purpose towards improvement of product and service with the aim to become competitive, stay in business and provide jobs.   0:21:07.2 Andrew Stotz: So the core constancy in that statement to me sounds like the improvement. And then if we say, okay, also our vision of where we want to be with this company is we want to capture, let's say, 5% of the US market share within the next 15 years or five or 10 years. So you've got to have constancy of that vision, repeating it, not backing down from it, knowing that you're going to have to modify it. But what's the difference between a management or a leadership team in the boardroom setting a commitment to improvement versus a commitment to a goal of let's say, expanding the market into the US. How do we think about those two.   0:21:53.6 Bill Scherkenbach: Well as you reread what I wrote there, which is Dr. Deming's words and they led into the, I forget what he called it, but he led into the progression of as you improve quality, you improve productivity, you reduce costs.   0:22:33.6 Andrew Stotz: Chain reaction.   0:22:34.5 Bill Scherkenbach: Yeah, the chain reaction. That's a mini version of the chain reaction there. And at the time, that's what people should be signing up for. Now the thing is that doesn't, or at least the interpretations haven't really gone to the improvement of the board's decision-making process. I mean, where he was going for was you want to be able to do your market research because his sampling and doing the market research was able to close the loop to make that production view a system, a closed-loop system. And so you wanted to make sure that you're looking far enough out to be able to have a viable product or service and not get caught up in short-term thinking. Now, but again, short-term is relative. In the US, you had mentioned 10 or 20 years, Toyota, I would imagine they still are looking 100 years out. They didn't get suckered into the over-committing anyway to the electric vehicles. Plug-in hybrids, yes, hybrids yes, very efficient gas motors, yes. But their constancy of purpose is a longer time frame than the Western time frame.   0:24:27.1 Andrew Stotz: Yeah, that was a real attack on the structure that they had built to say when they were being told by the market and by everybody, investors, you've got to shift now, you've got to make a commitment to 100% EVs. I remember watching one of the boardroom, sorry, one of the shareholder meetings, and it's just exhausting, the pressure that they were under.   0:24:55.2 Bill Scherkenbach: Yep, yep. But there... Yeah.   0:25:00.0 Andrew Stotz: If we take a kid, a young kid growing up and we just say, look, your main objective, and my main objective with you is to every day improve. Whatever that is, let's say we're learning science.   0:25:17.3 Bill Scherkenbach: You're improving around your aim. What is your vision? What are you trying to accomplish? And that obviously, if you're you're saying a kid that could change otherwise there'd be an oversupply of firemen.   0:25:38.5 Andrew Stotz: So let's say that the aim was related to science. Let's say that the kid shows a really great interest in science and you're kind of coaching them along and they're like, "Help me, I want to learn everything I can in science." The aim may be a bit vague for the kid, but let's say that we narrow down that aim to say, we want to get through the main topics of science from physics to chemistry and set a foundation of science, which we think's going to take us a year to do that, let's just say. Or whatever. Whatever time frame we come up with, then every day the idea is, how do we number one improve around that aim? Are we teaching the right topics? Also, is there better ways of teaching? Like, this kid maybe learns better in the afternoon and in the morning, whereas another kid I may work with works better in another... And this kid likes five-minute modules and then some practical discussion, this kid likes, an hour of going deep into something and then having an experiment is when we're talking about improvement, is the idea that we're just always trying to improve around that aim until we reach a really optimized system? Is that what we're talking about when we're talking about constancy of purpose when it comes to improving product and service?   0:27:14.4 Bill Scherkenbach: Well there's a whole process that I take my clients through in coming up with their constancy of purpose statement. And the board should be looking at what the community is doing in the next five years, 10 years, where the market is going, where politics is going, all sorts of things. And some of it. I mean, specifically in the science area, it's fairly well recognized that the time of going generation to generation to generation has gone from years to maybe weeks where you have different iterations of technology. And so that's going to complicate stuff quite honestly, because what was good today can be, as Dr. Deming said, the world could change. And that's what you've got to deal with or you're out of business. Or you're out of relevance in what you're studying. And so you have to... If you if you have certain interests, and the interests are driven... It's all going to be internal. Some interests are driven because that's where I hear you can make the most money or that's where I hear you can make the most impact to society or whatever your internal interests are saying that those are key to establishing what your aim is.   0:29:25.7 Andrew Stotz: Okay. You've got some PowerPoints and we've been talking about some of it. But I just want to pull it up and make sure we don't miss anything. I think this is the first text page, maybe just see if there's anything you want to highlight from that. Otherwise we'll move to the next.   0:29:43.0 Bill Scherkenbach: No I think we've we've covered that. Yeah, yeah. And the second page. Yeah, I wanted to talk and I only mentioned it when the Lean folks and the Agile folks talk about Gemba, they're pretty much talking about getting the board out. It's the traditional management by walking around, seeing what happens. Hugely, hugely important. But one of the things, I had one of my clients. Okay, okay. No, that's in the the next one.   0:30:29.4 Andrew Stotz: There you go.   0:30:30.7 Bill Scherkenbach: Okay, yeah. I had one of one of my clients do a reverse Gemba. And that is, that the strategy committee would be coming up with strategies and then handing it off to the operators to execute. And that's pretty much the way stuff was done in this industry and perhaps in many of them. But what we did was we had the operators, the operating committee, the operations committee, sit in as a peanut gallery or a, oh good grief. Well, you couldn't say a thing, you could only observe what they were doing. But it helped the operators better understand and see and feel what the arguments were, what the discussions were in the strategy, so that they as operators were better able to execute the strategy. And so not the board going out and down, but the folks that are below going up if it helps them better execute what's going on. But vice versa, management can't manage the 94%, and Dr. Deming was purposely giving people marbles, sometimes he'd say 93.4%. You know the marble story?   0:32:37.5 Andrew Stotz: I remember that [laughter]. Maybe you should tell that again just because that was a fun one when he was saying to, give them marbles, and they gave me marbles back.   0:32:45.7 Bill Scherkenbach: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, he said there was this professor in oral surgery that said there was a an Asian mouse or cricket, whatever, that would... You put in your mouth and they would eat all of the... Be able to clean the gums of all the bacteria better than anything. And described it in detail. And that question was on the test. Okay, please describe this mouse procedure. And he said all of the people, or a whole bunch of people except one, gave him back exactly step by step that he had taught. And one said, Professor, I've talked to other professors, I've looked around, I think you're loading us, that's what Deming said. And so he made the point that teaching should not be teachers handing out marbles and collecting the same marbles they they handed out. And so to some extent, he was testing, being overly precise.   0:34:12.8 Bill Scherkenbach: He wanted people to look into it, to see, go beyond as you were speaking of earlier, going beyond this shocking statement that there perhaps is some way that that really makes sense. So he wants you to study. Very Socratic in his approach to teaching in my opinion. And any event, management can't understand or make inputs on changing what the various levels of willing workers, and you don't have to be on the shop floor, you can be in the C-suite and be willing workers depending on how your company is operating. Go ahead.   0:35:12.0 Andrew Stotz: So let me... Maybe I can, just for people that don't know, Gemba is a Japanese word that means "the actual place," right? The place where the value is created.   0:35:23.8 Bill Scherkenbach: Sure.   0:35:26.2 Andrew Stotz: And the whole concept of this was that it's kind of almost nonsense to think that you could sit up in an office and run something and never see the location of where the problem's happening or what's going on. And all of a sudden many things become clear when you go to the location and try to dig down into it. However, from Dr. Deming context, I think what you're telling us is that if the leader doesn't have profound knowledge, all they're going to do is go to the location and chase symptoms and disrupt work, ultimately...   0:36:02.0 Bill Scherkenbach: Get the dog and pony shows and all of that stuff. And they still won't have a clue. The thing is...   0:36:08.6 Andrew Stotz: So the objective at the board level, if they were to actually go to the place, the objective is observation of the system, of how management decisions have affected this. What is the system able to produce? And that gives them a deeper understanding to think about what's their next decision that they've got to make in relation to this. Am I capturing it right or?   0:36:40.2 Bill Scherkenbach: Well there's a lot more to it, I think, because top management, the board level, are the ones that set the vision, the mission, the values, the guiding principle, and the questions. And I think it's incumbent on the board to be able to go through the ranks and see how their constancy of purpose, the intended, where they want to take the place is being interpreted throughout the organization because, and I know it's an oversimplification and maybe a broad generalization, but middle management... Well, there are layers of management everywhere based on their aim to get ahead, will effectively stop communication upstream and downstream in order to fill their particular aim of what they want to get out of it. And so this is a chance for the top management to see, because they're doing their work, establishing the vision of the company, which is the mission, values and questions, they really should be able to go layer by layer as they're walking around seeing how those, their constancy, their intended constancy is being interpreted and executed. And so that's where beyond understanding how someone is operating a lathe or an accountant is doing a particular calculation, return on invested capital, whatever.   0:38:47.5 Bill Scherkenbach: Beyond that, I think it's important for management to be able to absolutely see what is happening. But the Gemba that I originally spoke about is just the other way. You've got the strategy people that are higher up, and you have the operations people that are typically, well, they might be the same level, but typically lower. You want the lower people to sit in on some higher meetings so they have a better idea of the intent, management's intent in this constancy of purpose. And that will help them execute, operationalize what management has put on paper or however they've got it and are communicating it. It just helps. So when I talk about Gemba, I'm talking the place where the quality is made or the action is. As the boardroom, you need to be able to have people understand and be able to see what's going on there, and all the way up the chain and all the way down the chain.   0:40:14.4 Andrew Stotz: That's great one. I'm just visualizing people in the operations side thinking, we've got some real problems here and we don't really understand it. We've got to go to the actual place, and that's the boardroom[laughter]. It's not the factory line.   0:40:31.7 Bill Scherkenbach: Yes. Absolutely. And if the boardroom says you're not qualified, then shame on you, the boardroom, are those the people you're hiring? So no, it goes both ways, both ways.   0:40:46.8 Andrew Stotz: Now, you had a final slide here. Maybe you want to talk a little bit about some of the things you've identified here.   0:40:53.4 Bill Scherkenbach: Okay, that's getting back to, in the logical area of this TDQA is my cycle: Theory, question, data, action. And it's based on Dr. Deming and Shewhart and Lewis saying, where do questions come from? They're based on theory. What do you do with questions? Well, the answers to questions are your data. And you're just not going to do nothing with data, you're supposed to take action. What are you going to do with it? And so the theory I'm going to address, the various questions I've found helpful in order to, to some extent, make the decisions better, the ability to operationalize them better and perhaps even be more creative, if you will. And so one of the questions I ask any team is, have you asked outside experts their opinion? Have you included them? Have you included someone to consistently, not consistently, but to take a contrarian viewpoint that their job in this meeting is to play the devil's advocate? And the theory is you're looking for a different perspective as Pete Jessup at Ford came up with that brilliant view of Escher's.   0:42:47.1 Bill Scherkenbach: Different perspectives are going to help you make a better decision. And so you want to get out of the echo chamber and you want to be challenged. Every team should be able to have some of these on there. What's going to get delayed? The underlying theory or mental model is, okay, you don't have people sitting around waiting for this executive committee to come up with new things, time is a zero-sum game. What's going to get delayed and what are they willing to get delayed if this is so darn important to get done? Decision criteria. I've seen many teams where they thought that the decision would be a majority rule. They discuss and when it came down to submit it, they said, "no, no, this VP is going to make the decision." And so that completely sours the next team to do that. And so you have to be, if you're saying trust, what's your definition of trust? If the people know that someone is going to make the decision with your advice or the executive's going to get two votes and everyone else gets one, or it's just simple voting.   0:44:35.3 Bill Scherkenbach: The point is that making the decision and taking it to the next level, the theory is you've got to be specific and relied on. Team turnover, fairly simple. We spoke about executive turnover, which was a huge concern that Dr. Deming had about Western management. But at one major auto company, we would have product teams and someone might be in charge of, be a product manager for a particular model car. Well, if that person was a hard charger and it took product development at the time was three and a half years, you're going to get promoted from a director level to a VP halfway through and you're going to screw up the team, other team members will be leaving as well because they have careers. You need to change the policy just to be able to say, if you agree that you're going to lead this team, you're going to lead it from start to finish and to minimize the hassle and the problems and the cost of turnover, team turnover. And this is a short list of stuff, but it's very useful to have a specific "no-fault policy."   0:46:20.6 Bill Scherkenbach: And this is where Dr. Deming speaks about reducing fear. I've seen teams who know they can really, once management turns on the spigot and says, let's really do this, this is important, the team is still hesitant to really let it go because that management might interpret that as saying, "well, what are you doing, slacking off the past year?" As Deming said, "why couldn't you do that if you could do it with no method, why didn't you do it last year?" but the fear in the organization, well, we're going to milk it. And so all of these things, it helps to be visible to everyone.   0:47:23.0 Andrew Stotz: So, I guess we should probably wrap up and I want to go back to where we started. And first, we talked about, where is quality made? And we talked about the boardroom. Why is this such an important topic from your perspective? Why did you want to talk about it? And what would you say is the key message you want to get across from it?   0:47:47.1 Bill Scherkenbach: The key message is that management thinks quality's made in operations. And it's the quality of the... I wanted to put a little bit more meat, although there's a lot more meat, we do put on it. But the quality of the organization, I wanted to make the point depends on the quality of the decisions, that's their output that top leaders make, whether it's the board or the C-suite or any place making decisions. The quality of your decisions.   0:48:28.9 Andrew Stotz: Excellent. And I remember, this reminds me of when I went to my first Deming seminar back in 1990, roughly '89, maybe '90. And I was a young guy just starting as a supervisor at a warehouse in our Torrance plant at Pepsi, and Pepsi sent me there. And I sat in the front row, so I didn't pay attention to all the people behind me, but there was many people behind me and there was a lot of older guys. Everybody technically was pretty much older than me because when I was just starting my career. And it was almost like these javelins were being thrown from the stage to the older men in the back who were trying to deal with this, and figure out what's coming at them, and that's where I kind of really started to understand that this was a man, Dr. Deming, who wasn't afraid to direct blame at senior management to say, you've got to take responsibility for this. And as a young guy seeing all kinds of mess-ups in the factory every day that I could see, that we couldn't really solve. We didn't have the tools and we couldn't get the resources to get those tools.   0:49:47.9 Andrew Stotz: It just really made sense to me. And I think the reiteration of that today is the idea, as I'm older now and I look at what my obligation is in the organizations I'm working at, it's to set that constancy of purpose, to set the quality at the highest level that I can. And the discussion today just reinforced it, so I really enjoyed it.   0:50:11.2 Bill Scherkenbach: Well, that's great. I mean, based on that observation, Dr. Deming many times said that the master chef is the person who knows no fear, and he was a master chef putting stuff together. And we would talk about fairly common knowledge that the great artists, the great thinkers, the great producers were doing it for themselves, it just happened that they had an audience. The music caught on, the poetry caught on, the painting caught on, the management system caught on. But we're doing it for ourselves with no fear. And that's the lesson.   0:51:11.8 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. Well, I hope that there's a 24-year-old out there right now listening to this just like I was, or think about back in 1972 when you were sitting there listening to his message. And they've caught that message from you today. So I appreciate it, and I want to say on behalf of everyone at the Deming Institute, of course, thank you so much for this discussion and for people who are listening and interested, remember to go to deming.org to continue your journey. And of course, you can reach Bill on LinkedIn, very simple. He's out there posting and he's responding. So feel free if you've got a question or comment or something, reach out to him on LinkedIn and have a discussion. This is your host, Andrew Stotz, and I'm going to leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Dr. Deming, and it doesn't change. It is, "people are entitled to joy in work."

John Baldoni brings calm, clarity, and uncommon wisdom to leadership in a world defined by volatility. In this conversation, you will hear why innovation stalls when fear is left unchecked, how leaders create real psychological safety, and what grace under pressure actually looks like when decisions matter most. Experience our episodes in a whole new way—watch every video version on our YouTube Channel. Subscribe now to be the first to catch our next release. https://www.youtube.com/@manageselfleadotherspodcast?sub_confirmation=1  Sound Bites [2:16] How leaders embed innovation into culture and why innovation starts with removing fear, not adding tools. [3:04] What leaders must stop doing before asking for change. [4:05] Fear of judgment, silence in meetings, and how unsafe cultures shut down innovation. [5:01] Innovation as applied creativity. Small process changes that unlock productivity and fresh thinking. [8:27] Grace under pressure. How leaders maintain composure and connection during volatility and crisis. [8:53] The leadership pillars of connection, candor, commitment, courage, and community. [10:11] Why culture must be shared and lived, not worshipped, to truly scale leadership. [11:32] Grace as forgiveness. Letting go of mistakes in yourself and others to move forward. [11:56] Candor versus artificial harmony. Why truth telling strengthens teams. [13:52] Conversational equality. Drawing out quiet voices and balancing dominant speakers. [15:23] Language of influence. Disagreeing without blame through curiosity and respectful challenge. [17:23] Gemba leadership. Going to where the work happens to gain real insight. [17:59] Leading in volatility. The reflection practice of asking what is happening and what is not happening. [18:49] Using real time reflection as a team exercise to influence action. [20:04] Reading the white space. Why noticing what is not said builds strategic awareness. [20:30] Political savvy and influence. Understanding where real power and momentum live in organizations. JOHN BALDONI https://www.johnbaldoni.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbaldoni/   ABOUT PODCAST HOST, NINA SUNDAY Nina Sunday's latest book, ‘'Manage Self, Lead Others: Constructive Conversations, True Self-Leadership, and Culture You Can't Fake'' now on Amazon - paperback or kindle. Amazon USA ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://a.co/d/3WaplI9⁠⁠⁠⁠ Amazon Australia ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.asia/d/0KwghaM⁠⁠⁠⁠ You can read any Kindle eBook on your PC, laptop or phone; you don't need a Kindle device.  === To learn more about face-to-face training programs with Nina Sunday or one of her experienced Facilitators from Brainpower Training Pty Ltd in Australia Pacific, visit: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.brainpowertraining.com.au...⁠ === To visit Nina Sunday's speaker site for global in-person speaking bookings visit: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.ninasunday.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ === Connect with Nina Sunday on LinkedIn ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/ninasunday/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠=== To subscribe to Nina Sunday's blog go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.brainpowertraining.com.au/⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠and scroll to bottom of the page to register. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Natalia Curusi: Measuring What Matters Beyond Velocity and Story Points Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.   "We as Scrum Masters need to put a scope for ourselves—we need to aim to leave the place where we work a little bit better than it was, and to make sure that this place could improve itself without us." - Natalia Curusi   Natalia defines success for Scrum Masters with crystal clarity: leave the organization better than you found it, and ensure it can continue improving when you're gone. This means fostering independence and ownership in teams so they can perform whether you're on vacation, in another meeting, or have moved to coaching other teams.  The opposite pattern—where everything falls apart when the Scrum Master isn't present—reveals someone who hasn't truly succeeded in the role. Natalia also emphasizes the importance of establishing metrics early, but not the traditional ones.  Using velocity as a metric is an anti-pattern that focuses teams on the wrong outcomes. Instead, she recommends metrics like predictability, team morale, psychological safety measured through 360 feedback, and the quality of conversations both within teams and with stakeholders. But metrics alone don't tell the story.  Natalia champions the concept of Gemba walks—going to see what's actually happening, talking to people, observing the reality rather than just reviewing dashboard numbers. Some metrics are easily gamed, others provide only narrow perspectives on reality. The most important practice is using metrics to trigger reflection and adaptation, not as fixed targets. Natalia believes strongly that the quality of conversations—how teams discuss options, make decisions together, and adapt when facing pressure—reveals more about a Scrum Master's success than any velocity chart ever could. The ultimate question: can your team succeed without you?   Self-reflection Question: If you disappeared from your team tomorrow, would they continue improving, or would progress stop until someone replaced you? Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: Spotify Squad Health Check "This is a multidimensional retro that I run with teams every 2 to 3 months—you need around 30 minutes for it, and I often get insights and new ideas from this retrospective that help me as a Scrum Master." - Natalia Curusi   The Spotify Squad Health Check is Natalia's favorite retrospective format because it provides a comprehensive view of team health across multiple dimensions. Unlike traditional retrospectives that might focus on a single sprint or specific issue, this format examines the team's overall state across areas like teamwork, support, mission clarity, and technical quality. Teams rate themselves on various health indicators, creating a visual representation that reveals patterns over time.  What makes this particularly valuable is that it works whether you know the team well or are just starting with them—either way, you gain insights and "aha moments" about where the team truly stands. The multidimensional nature prevents teams from optimizing just one aspect while neglecting others, and the regular cadence (every 2-3 months) allows you to track trends and celebrate improvements.  For Natalia, this format consistently surfaces the hidden challenges that teams might not raise in regular retrospectives, making it an essential tool in her Scrum Master toolkit.   [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

Natalia Curusi: Demonstrating Your Value When the Market Questions Agile Roles Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.   "My challenging topic is about the demand of agility in the market—how do we fit ourselves as scrum masters in that AI era? How can we demonstrate our competence and contribution when there's a perception that agile roles bring little value?" - Natalia Curusi   Natalia faces the challenge every Scrum Master in 2025 grapples with: how to demonstrate value in an era when business perceives agile roles as optional overhead. The market has contracted, companies are optimizing budgets, and Scrum Masters often appear first on the chopping block.  There's talk of "blended roles" where developers are expected to absorb Scrum Master responsibilities, and questions about how AI might replace the human facilitation work that coaches provide. But Natalia believes the answer lies in understanding something fundamental: the Scrum Master is a deeply situational and contextual role that adapts to what the team needs each day.  Some teams need help with communication spaces, others need work structure like Kanban boards, still others need translation between technical realities and stakeholder expectations. The challenge is that this situational nature makes it incredibly hard to explain to business leaders who think in fixed job descriptions and measurable outputs. Natalia's approach involves bringing metrics—not velocity, which focuses on the wrong things, but metrics around team independence, continuous improvement, and organizational capability. She suggests concepts like Gemba walks—going to see what's actually happening rather than relying only on numbers. The real question Natalia poses is this: the biggest value we can bring to an organization is to leave it better than we found it, but how do we make that visible and tangible to business stakeholders who need justification for our roles?   Self-reflection Question: If you had to demonstrate your value as a Scrum Master using only observable evidence from the past month, what would you show your leadership?   [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

Mark DeLuzio discusses the absence of engineers from the Gemba in both manufacturing and design. He also discusses the sin of engineering, which he calls "Catalogue Engineers."  

How is INSEAD reshaping executive education for a world where senior leaders need both global exposure and greater flexibility? In this episode of In The Know, we speak with Anne Bresman, Senior Director for Degree programmes, and Daniella Wagner, Director of Recruitment and Business Development for Executive MBAs. Together, they break down how the GEMBA Flex format blends in-person learning with virtual and asynchronous components, creating a pathway for high-potential executives who previously could not commit to a fully in-person programme. Timestamps 0:00 – Introduction and episode overview 1:25 – Who the GEMBA is for 1:41 – Global structure across three regions and Flex 2:51 – Cohort diversity and participant profile 3:36 – What candidates seek in an Executive MBA 4:45 – Global campuses and formats for busy executives 7:59 – One global cohort: electives and networking 10:43 – Choosing your section and planning mobility 13:08 – Why INSEAD created GEMBA Flex 15:20 – How GEMBA Flex works in practice 18:54 – Flex benefits, time on campus and participant stories 21:06 – Anne's advice for prospective GEMBA participants 25:43 – Navigating the admissions process 28:05 – Ideal candidate profiles and support from the recruitment team

If you keep handing work to software, templates, or other people and still feel out of control on your projects, this episode will show you why. Jason Schroeder shares a simple but game changing idea from Toyota, great builders keep their fingerprint on the process.  You'll learn: Why Toyota leaders manually designed logistics routes before automating them. How building your own master schedules and lift drawings changes your judgment and instinct. What it really means to use AI and software without abdicating responsibility. How having your fingerprint on the process makes Gemba walks, field presence, and follow up actually work. This episode is not about doing everything yourself, it is about owning what matters. Because if you do not have your fingerprint on the process, you cannot truly lead it. Listen now and start building systems that work because you understand them, not because you outsourced them.   If you like the Elevate Construction podcast, please subscribe for free and you'll never miss an episode.  And if you really like the Elevate Construction podcast, I'd appreciate you telling a friend (Maybe even two

Only a few weeks into taking over Sperrin Metal, Ryan Tierney is revealing the first real progress inside one of the most chaotic factories he has ever stepped into in this podcast recorded live at the Gemba Summit.This is the story of what he found on day one, what has changed already, and how Lean Thinking is beginning to transform a 63-year-old manufacturing company from the inside out.In this first-phase update, Ryan shares the breakthroughs, the challenges, and the mindset shifts that accelerated improvement faster than anyone expected.From disorganised processes to early wins, from scattered workflows to the foundations of daily improvement, this episode shows the real-world reality of starting Lean in a place that desperately needed it.You'll see:

What if the real "king" of every project isn't the one in the trailer, but the one holding the tools? In this episode, Jason breaks down a timeless Toyota lesson - the worker is the king. The foremen and craftspeople are the ones who create value; everyone else exists to support them. Through this lens, he challenges leaders to stop hiding behind software, desks, and meetings, and start serving the field. You'll learn why leaders are a cost until they remove waste for others, how true Lean companies stay close to the Gemba, and why projects collapse the moment we forget who actually builds. If you want job sites with trust, flow, and respect where workers feel like heroes, not afterthoughts, this episode is the wake-up call you need. Listen in and remember: the king is the one who builds. If you like the Elevate Construction podcast, please subscribe for free and you'll never miss an episode.  And if you really like the Elevate Construction podcast, I'd appreciate you telling a friend (Maybe even two

Fresh off the Gemba Summit in Belfast, Andrew shares lessons from across the pond with Jay. What starts as a deep dive into lean culture at the Titanic Belfast turns into a candid conversation about scaling small businesses, visiting your vendors, and rethinking what it means to “fix what bugs you.”Andrew and Jay unpack how lean principles evolve when your company outgrows the two-second mindset. Andrews tells about conversations with Toyota UK's Alan Weir, British Rototherm's Oliver Conger, and Tom Hughes of GembaDocs. They also discuss the practical takeaways from Greg Crabtree's Simple Numbers and Jerry Wright's The Insanity Trap.

The blog postToo many organizations treat Leader Standard Work (LSW) as a scheduling tool — a calendar filled with Gemba walks, meetings, and routines. But Lean leadership isn't about how you plan your time — it's about how you show up.In this episode, Mark reads and reflects on his LeanBlog.org article, “Leader Standard Work Is About Behavior, Not Just Your Calendar.” He explores what it means to make leadership a daily practice of intentional behaviors — listening, asking, thanking, reflecting — instead of just checking boxes.You'll hear about:Why a color-coded schedule doesn't make someone a Lean leaderHow mindset and presence define real Leader Standard WorkA behavior-based checklist for leaders to use as daily reflectionThe connection between psychological safety and consistent leadership habitsRead the full post: leanblog.org/2025/10/leader-standard-work-is-about-behavior-not-just-your-calendarLearn more about Mark's work, books, and speaking: MarkGraban.com#LeanLeadership #LeaderStandardWork #LeanCulture #PsychologicalSafety #ContinuousImprovement

In this episode, Jason tackles a powerful listener question about tiered huddles and the real meaning of ownership in construction. He challenges one of the biggest myths in the industry,  that you can “shed risk” without shedding responsibility and explains why this mindset is holding companies back from true Lean flow. You'll learn: Why “we're a country of lawyers” is more than a joke, it's a cultural barrier to teamwork. How to build a daily tiered-meeting system that actually drives results across projects. What the Japanese get right about afternoon huddles, make-ready planning, and Gemba leadership. How PMs and Supers can stay connected without burning out. Jason also drops updates on Elevate's global impact from Spanish, German, and Japanese translations to the free Takt Production System for Students course now available for universities. If you've ever felt stuck between accountability and overload, this one will re-wire how you lead your teams. Listen now and stop shedding what you were built to own. If you like the Elevate Construction podcast, please subscribe for free and you'll never miss an episode.  And if you really like the Elevate Construction podcast, I'd appreciate you telling a friend (Maybe even two

Learn how digitizing Gemba walks transforms audit preparation and strengthens integrated quality management systems - practical steps manufacturing leaders are taking to move beyond paper checklists toward unified, real-time quality operations. Learn more at: https://www.alphasoftware.com/blog/gemba-walk-checklists-a-free-template Alpha Software City: Burlington Address: 70 Blanchard Road Website: https://www.alphasoftware.com/

What if your construction site had two gates, one for entry, and one for alignment? In this electrifying episode recorded live from Kyoto, Jason Schroeder takes lessons from ancient Japanese castle design and transforms them into a modern leadership framework every builder needs to hear. Drawing from the Masu Gata (a defensive courtyard designed to trap intruders) and the Genkan (the sacred entryway of every Japanese home), Jason reveals a radical truth: your morning worker huddle is your Genkan - the moment that separates chaos from flow, and disunity from one team. You'll hear powerful lessons from Japan's culture of respect, Toyota's leadership philosophy, and a story of how one former Lexus CEO explained why Suzuki fell while Toyota rose. It all comes down to loving the Gemba people , the workers and creating a jobsite culture where no one walks in unaligned. In this episode, you'll learn: Why Japan's entry rituals can revolutionize your project culture. How to protect your team from “enemies of alignment”. The real reason every job must have a morning worker huddle. How two gates can prevent disrespect, chaos, and safety risks. Why loving and training your Gemba people is the ultimate leadership act. This isn't just about construction, it's about honor, respect, and discipline. Step into the Genkan. Leave your shoes and your ego at the door.   If you like the Elevate Construction podcast, please subscribe for free and you'll never miss an episode.  And if you really like the Elevate Construction podcast, I'd appreciate you telling a friend (Maybe even two

What happens when two builders visit the birthplace of Lean and realize it's not just a system, it's a way of living? In this powerful and emotional episode, recorded live from Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Jason Schroeder and Kevin reflect on their life-changing journey through Japan with Paul Akers' Two Second Lean Study Tour. What started as a professional training trip turned into something much deeper, a rediscovery of purpose, humanity, and what it truly means to lead. Jason shares how Japan didn't just refine his understanding of Lean, it healed it. From Toyota's leadership philosophies to the culture's deep respect for people, he found a nation that values consideration, alignment, and connection. For Jason, the revelation was personal: “I feel whole. I finally found a place where kindness isn't weakness, it's the standard.” Kevin opens up about his own transformation, from learning new tools to completely rethinking leadership and fatherhood. Inspired by Japan's shoulder-to-shoulder culture, he now sees that leadership isn't about sending people off to figure it out, it's about walking beside them. In this episode, you'll learn: Why the true power of Lean begins with love and respect for people. How Japan's “Gemba-first” mindset reshapes leadership and humility. The lessons from Toyota executives that every builder should hear. How a simple app and mindset shift rebuilt Kevin's productivity and peace. Why real leadership at work or home means standing shoulder to shoulder. This isn't just a recap of a trip. It's a blueprint for becoming whole again as leaders, as parents, as people. If you like the Elevate Construction podcast, please subscribe for free and you'll never miss an episode.  And if you really like the Elevate Construction podcast, I'd appreciate you telling a friend (Maybe even two

In the first half of our conversation with Adam Malone, founder of The Tenacious Operator, we explore the Power of Trust — how it drives leadership, strengthens teams, and turns potential project failure into growth. From large-scale ERP rollouts to everyday collaboration, Adam shows that the Power of Trust is what truly separates good teams from great ones. Why the Power of Trust Matters Adam begins with a story familiar to many project leaders: a major ERP implementation where everything looked perfect on paper. All dashboards were green, metrics were solid, and executives were confident. Yet almost overnight, the project unraveled. The root cause? A loss of trust. Team members stayed silent about risks. Operations fixed issues without communicating them. The requirements were “complete,” but in reality, they were incomplete. When trust fails, clarity disappears — and even the best teams lose momentum. When everyone claims “we're on track,” but no one feels safe to speak up, the Power of Trust has already broken down. The Power of Trust in Psychological Safety One of the key insights Adam shares is how psychological safety amplifies the Power of Trust. Proper safety allows people to say, “I'm concerned,” or “This might fail,” without fear of backlash. He recommends creating space for negative feedback through deliberate questions: “How could this project fail?” “What are we not seeing yet?” Conducting a reverse post-mortem helps uncover weak points before they become disasters. This proactive honesty fuels progress and strengthens the Power of Trust across the entire team. Seeing Work Clearly: The Power of Trust in Transparency Drawing from Toyota's famous Gemba concept — “go to the actual place” — Adam urges teams to physically and mentally visit where value is created. In manufacturing, that's the factory floor. In software, it's the analyst's spreadsheet, the developer's codebase, or the tester's environment. When teams observe each other's real work, they develop empathy and shared understanding. That transparency reinforces the Power of Trust — helping communication thrive where silos once stood. Disagree and Commit: The Power of Trust in Alignment Conflict doesn't destroy trust; it refines it. Adam calls this the disagree and commit principle — a hallmark of mature teams. Healthy disagreement surfaces risks, values, and differing priorities. Once discussed openly, the team commits to the final decision together. No finger-pointing, no second-guessing. This habit embodies the Power of Trust by turning friction into forward motion. The Power of Trust isn't about avoiding conflict — it's about using it to align around shared goals. Guiding Principles: Building Systems Around the Power of Trust Before a project begins, Adam recommends defining guiding principles — the rules of engagement that sustain the Power of Trust. Examples include: “Customer satisfaction must stay above a 4.0 rating.” “Average call time can rise by no more than 10 seconds.” “All initiatives must deliver ROI within two quarters.” When these principles are written down, decisions become consistent and fair. Trust grows because everyone understands how success will be measured and maintained. Leading Through the Power of Trust For leaders, the Trust means striking a balance between empathy and accountability. Adam suggests two types of sponsors for every major initiative: An executive sponsor who clears political obstacles. An operational sponsor who stays close to day-to-day work. Add in a skilled project manager who encourages honest conversation, and the Power of Trust becomes the foundation of performance — not just a talking point. Key Takeaways from Part 1 The Power of Trust transforms fear into feedback and silence into success. Psychological safety isn't soft — it's how great teams stay sharp. Transparency fosters empathy, and empathy in turn builds trust. Healthy conflict strengthens alignment when teams disagree and commit. Guiding principles establish a framework that fosters trust. Connect with Adam Malone If you enjoyed this conversation and want to learn more from Adam, he's always open to sharing insights and connecting with like-minded professionals. LinkedIn: Adam Malone on LinkedIn Website: http://thetenaciousoperator.com/ Visit him on LinkedIn and drop him a message to continue the discussion around leadership, reliability, and building consistent customer experiences. Coming in Part 2: Adam returns to discuss how culture, consistency, and clarity sustain Trust across global teams — and how leaders can turn these lessons into long-term results. Subscribe or follow the Building Better Developers podcast to catch Part 2 with Adam Malone.” Stay Connected: Join the Developreneur Community We invite you to join our community and share your coding journey with us. Whether you're a seasoned developer or just starting, there's always room to learn and grow together. Contact us at info@develpreneur.com with your questions, feedback, or suggestions for future episodes. Together, let's continue exploring the exciting world of software development. Additional Resources Passive Networking and Building Trust Building Customer Trust in Business: Turning Mistakes into Opportunities Trust But Verify – Avoid Business Assumptions Building Better Foundations – With Bonus Content

In this KaiNexus Continuous Improvement webinar, Mark Graban (author, speaker, consultant, and Senior Advisor at KaiNexus) is joined by Tracy O'Rourke (Lean consultant, coach, and co-author of The Problem-Solver's Toolkit) for a powerful session on:“Leveraging Psychology for Effective Behavioral Change with Process Gemba Walks.”Get slides and moreGemba walks are a cornerstone of Lean and continuous improvement, but too often they fail to create real change. Why? Because simply walking the floor and asking questions isn't enough. To truly shift behaviors and sustain improvements, leaders need to understand the psychology of how people think, feel, and respond in the workplace.In this webinar, you'll learn how to:✅ Use psychology to make Gemba walks more effective and engaging✅ Identify behaviors that support or undermine a culture of improvement✅ Encourage employees to speak up without fear, building psychological safety✅ Avoid the pitfalls of Gemba walks that feel like “management by walking around”✅ Reinforce positive change through coaching and structured follow-up✅ Apply practical strategies for habit formation, motivation, and cultural alignmentTracy shares lessons from her work helping organizations implement Lean in healthcare, government, and private industry, while Mark offers insights from his books Lean Hospitals, Measures of Success, and The Mistakes That Make Us. Together, they highlight how blending Lean tools with behavioral science leads to stronger, more sustainable results.Who should watch:Leaders seeking to improve employee engagement and cultureLean practitioners and continuous improvement professionalsManagers frustrated by Gemba walks that don't “stick”Anyone interested in connecting psychology, leadership, and operational excellenceResources & Links:Learn more about KaiNexus Continuous Improvement SoftwareExplore our full webinar libraryTracy O'Rourke's resources

What if the real secret to customer loyalty and transformation isn't just about great ideas, but about how you build consensus within your organization—before you make a single move? Too often, even the smartest strategies can get derailed by resistance, misalignment, or simple miscommunication inside a company. That's why I was eager to dig into the Japanese concept of "Nemawashi," a systematic approach to consensus-building that's been central to Toyota's legendary pursuit of customer delight and continuous improvement. Imagine cutting through internal silos and getting people not just to "buy in," but to truly commit—streamlining innovation from inside out. The impact? Smarter, faster, and more sustainable change that sticks. If you care about transforming customer experience and sparking lasting organizational change, you don't want to miss this episode with Dr. Graham Hill. He brings not only a global perspective but also hands-on experience as the former head of CRM for Toyota Financial Services—where these very principles drove jaw-dropping results. Dr. Hill's blend of academic rigor, practical insight, and international expertise makes this a must-listen for anyone looking to break down barriers and drive real, measurable progress. Here are three standout questions Graham answers on the show: What is Nemawashi, and how does it fundamentally change the way organizations drive internal consensus and transformation? Why is commitment more important than simple executive buy-in when trying to make organizational change succeed? How can the A3 model and concepts like Gemba and Kaizen help teams collaborate more effectively and boost campaign results? Don't miss this fascinating exploration—listen and subscribe to the Delighted Customers podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or find us on all your favorite podcast platforms. Meet Dr. Graham Hill Dr. Graham Hill is a recognized global authority on customer experience, loyalty, and organizational transformation. With an extensive background spanning over thirty-five years, Graham has worked with top brands such as British Airways, Ford Motor Company, the Royal Bank of Scotland, and notably spent over five years with Toyota Financial Services in Germany as Head of CRM. There, he learned firsthand the power of Japanese business principles like Nemawashi, the A3 model, and Kaizen—applying them to drive breakthrough improvements, including a leap from a 5–10% to a 35% response rate in customer campaigns. He's also held senior roles at firms like PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG Consulting, bringing both rigorous academic and practical expertise to the table. While Graham humbly resists the title of "Japanese culture expert," his immersion in Toyota's approach has given him a unique perspective on the art and science of organizational change. Today, he's active on LinkedIn—passionate about sharing what he's learned and helping others cultivate more collaborative, customer-centric organizations. Connect with Graham Hill on LinkedIn: Graham Hill Show Note References Toyota's Secret Weapon: The A3 Report by John Shook (MIT Sloan Management Review): Read Article Culture's Consequences by Geert Hofstede: Learn more Steve Blank's quote: “There are no facts inside the building.” Steve Blank Servqual/ RATER Model: Overview 40 Years, 20 Million Ideas: Toyota's Suggestion System: Book Info Tom Fishburne, Marketoonist: Marketoonist Cartoons Connect with Dr. Graham Hill: LinkedIn

Download the free Look, Listen, Learn Guide from the podcast website for practical tools. Go to the guest resources and look up Chris on https://enterpriseexcellencegroup.com.au/resourcesSummary Keywords#leadership  #culture  #engagement  #psychologicalwellbeing  #continuousimprovement  #looklistenlearn  #Shingo Prize  #adaptive leadershipIntroductionIn this episode of the Enterprise Excellence Podcast, host Brad Jeavons welcomes back Chris Butterworth, renowned author and four-time Shingo Prize winner. Together, they explore the powerful concept of “Look, Listen, Learn” activities—a leadership approach that goes beyond the traditional idea of Gemba walks to foster engagement, psychological well-being, and sustainable cultural growth.Chris shares his global experience, fresh from international book launches, and unpacks how leaders can shift their mindset to lead with humility, curiosity, and respect. The conversation dives into practical strategies leaders can use to connect purpose, behaviours, and systems in order to achieve ideal results.Episode Links:Youtube Main Topics Covered:·       Why “Look, Listen, Learn” matters – moving beyond the narrow idea of Gemba walks to a broader activity mindset.·       The role of psychological well-being – how respect, diversity, and inclusion underpin cultures of continuous improvement.·       Leadership behaviours – humility, curiosity, listening, recognition, and kindness as cornerstones of effective leadership.·       Key Behavioural Indicators (KBIs) – practical ways to measure behaviours that drive ideal results.·       Leader Standard Work systems – how leaders can plan, reflect, and visually track activities to sustain culture.·       Closing the loop – why action, accountability, and visible follow-through build trust and long-term engagement.Contacts

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Anamaria Ungureanu: Goal Clarity—The Missing Piece in Agile Team Performance Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Anamaria shares her experience working with a platform implementation team that appeared engaged but was actually struggling in silence. Despite initial assumptions that everything was fine, the team's quiet demeanor masked their lack of understanding about project goals and deliverables.  Through strategic intervention including goal clarification with the Product Owner, confidence level assessments, and story mapping sessions, Anamaria helped transform a disengaged team into one capable of successful delivery. Her approach emphasized the importance of fostering constructive conflict, asking open questions during sprint planning about demo expectations, and facilitating better PO-team interactions to create transparency and shared understanding. In this episode, we refer to User Story Mapping and the concept of Gemba, or Gemba Walk Self-reflection Question: How might your teams be silently struggling, and what signs should you watch for to identify when apparent engagement actually masks confusion or disengagement? [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

Go to www.LearningLeader.com for full show notes The Learning Leader Show with Ryan Hawk This is brought to you by Insight Global. If you need to hire 1 person, hire a team of people, or transform your business through Talent or Technical Services, Insight Global's team of 30,000 people around the world have the hustle and grit to deliver. www.InsightGlobal.com/LearningLeader Ryan Petersen is the founder and CEO of Flexport, a technology-driven global logistics company. He's a leading voice in supply chain innovation and has been at the forefront of solving major trade and shipping challenges worldwide. Notes: “Arrogance is its own form of stupidity.” The Tweetstorm That Saved Christmas: Ryan shares the now-legendary story of how he rented a boat, brought tacos, and took another high-powered CEO with him to tour the Port of Long Beach during the supply chain crisis. His viral Twitter thread sparked immediate action, California Governor Gavin Newsom called within hours, and the policy changed shortly after. A masterclass in “doing the thing.” Frontline Obsession & Gemba Walks: Why Ryan frequently travels the world (visiting 19 countries last year) to meet employees and customers. He explains the power of Gemba walks, being physically present on the frontlines, and how it shapes his leadership. How He Runs Flexport: Ryan's leadership playbook includes: Managing through writing. Every one of his 26 teams writes a six-page memo monthly, followed by deep conversations. Daily conversations with 30-40 employees to stay connected. Living Flexport's values: Empower Clients, Play the Long Game, Act Like an Entrepreneur, Commit to the Vision, Ask Why 5 Times. Leadership & Decision-Making: He shares his “must-haves” for hiring leaders: Relentless Work Ethic Intellectual Curiosity Humility (“Even wise people are wrong 30% of the time.”) Reliability Charisma Lessons from Mentors: Ryan talks about advice from Paul Graham (Y Combinator) and Brian Chesky (Airbnb), including how gathering your top leaders in person sparks innovation and alignment. Hard Decisions & Mistakes: He candidly discusses Flexport's CEO transition gone wrong, hiring Dave Clark from Amazon, and what he learned from that difficult chapter. Personal Growth & Life Philosophy: Ryan shares his approach to lifelong learning, inspired by Charlie Munger and René Girard. He emphasizes reading widely, asking questions, and choosing role models wisely. "We're all imitative people. Choose your role models wisely." “We're making global trade as simple and reliable as flipping a light switch.” “Even wise people are wrong 30% of the time. You must stay humble.”

Transitioning from a law and communications degree into a marketing role is a huge leap, however for Veronica Steer, she made it happen.In this episode taken from the recent SportsGrad Meetup in Sydney, AFL Marketing Manager Veronica Steer takes us through her career transition and what it truly takes to market Australian Football in growth markets like Sydney and Queensland.If you're wanting to learn more about what it takes to work in sports marketing, this episode is for you.ABOUT THE GUEST:Meet Veronica Steer, Marketing Manager at the AFL's Fan Hub whose job is all about helping more people fall in love with Australia's game. Whether it's planning campaigns, creating content, or diving into community engagement, her mission is clear: grow the game, especially in places and communities where footy isn't front of mind.We cover:00:23 - Interview begins01:20 - Quickfire questions04:03 - Did Veronica think sport was an option out of uni?05:56 - What did the AFL take a liking to in Veronica's application?07:34 - What's the overarching goal for Veronica's department?10:43 - What are employment challenges that Veronica has seen?12:15 - What was an outstanding recent hire that Veronica made?13:13 - How is the culture at the AFL as a work environment?13:53 - What's the process behind landing a game development role?14:53 - What's exciting Veronica about the future of the AFL?16:14 -Veronica's experience with Round 017:08 - Q&A Starts18:13 - Are there any plans for the AFL to go international again?19:05 - What's one underrated skill that a marketing manager should have going into a role?20:02 - Does Veronica's department look into community clubs?21:00 - How can Veronica tell when campaigns resonate with fans?21:35 - What's the most underrated channel of communication that Veronica uses?22:20 - How does Veronica see AFL 9s developing?23:34 - A pinch me moment for Veronica?24:45 - Interview endsIf you like this ep, give these a go next:#289: How to move from London to Australia and work in Sports Marketing | George Ludlow's journey to Gemba.#286: Inside the GWS Giants social media strategy with Jacob Gaynor#280: How to get a Sports Marketing job in the English Premier League with Alex KingWant a job in sport? Click here.Follow SportsGrad on socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok Follow Reuben on socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTokBig thanks to Deakin University for making this episode possible. Check out their Master of Sport Management, ranked #1 in Australia.Thanks for listening, much love! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, I share a clip from the book chapter I wrote for "Lean Six Sigma for Good: Lessons from the Gemba" Volume 1. I explain how I used net promoter score (NPS) to assess the attendee feedback of a fundraising conference I helped organize.By the way, this entire podcast was spoken by my AI voice created by Eleven Labs. Links for this episode:Lean Six Sigma for Good: Lessons from the Gemba (Volume 1): ⁠https://www.leansixsigmaforgood.com/lean-six-sigma-for-good-lessons-from-the-gemba-volume-1-real-life-stories-and-experiences-written-by-lean-and-six-sigma-volunteers-working-with-not-for-profit-organizations/⁠Eleven Labs (affiliate link): ⁠https://try.elevenlabs.io/lp5v7zzfm8mz⁠Learn more about BPI7 Continuous Improvement Best Practices: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://mail.biz-pi.com/lss-best-practices-funnel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Need help in your organization, or want to discuss your current work situation?⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Let's talk! Schedule a free support call⁠⁠⁠⁠Podcast Sponsor: Creative Safety Supply is a great resource for free guides, infographics, and continuous improvement tools. I recommend starting with their 5S guide. It includes breakdowns of the five pillars, ways to begin implementing 5S, and even organization tips and color charts. From red tags to floor marking; it's all there. Download it for free at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠creativesafetysupply.com/5S⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BIZ-PI.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LeanSixSigmaDefinition.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Have a question? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Submit a voice message at Podcasters.Spotify.com⁠⁠

“I'm still learning to fully understand the sports industry”That was Pruthvi Shivaram at this past Thursday's Meetup in Melbourne, where we hosted a panel featuring not only Pruthvi, but Brant Hubber and Bianca Litchfield.In this chat, we go through a range of topics, including each of the panelists career journey's and some valuable career advice for people from all perspectives, among other things.If you're in the UK and want to meet people in sport, come to our final SportsGrad Meetup in London on Wednesday July 3 here.ABOUT THE PANEL:Bianca Litchfield is the Community Foundation Partnerships Coordinator at Collingwood FC, specialising in developing partnerships to help facilitate Collingwood's community programs.Brant Hubber is the Partnerships Account Coordinator at the AFL, working with stakeholders to help deliver partnerships with the AFL.Pruthvi Shivaram is a Strategy Consultant at Gemba, specialising in solving a range of commercial, strategic, or operational problems for clients relating to sport.We cover:09:13 – Panel begins11:07 – How did Pruthvi end up in a consulting role?16:09 - Bianca's career journey20:32 - What was Brant's approach to get into the AFL?27:24 - What does life at Gemba look like for Pruthvi?30:46 - How can people learn about strategy?35:10 - What does Bianca's role look like?39:24 - What did Gather Round look like for Brant?45:17 - What kept Brant motivated in his early years at the AFL?47:46 - How would the panel describe a managerial or leadership position and how would they lead effectively?51:33 - How does Brant navigate being on maximum term contracts?54:18 - How did Bianca progress to the Community Foundation Partnerships Coordinator role from her previous roles at Collingwood?57:30 – Panel endsIf you like this ep, give these a go next:#314: How Kiri Madhani pivoted into commercial partnerships at DAZN#303: Gemba, Marketing Strategy Consultant | Sam Waring#265: From Westpac to the Adelaide Crows in 29 days with Community Engagement Manager, Parth SuriWant a job in sport? Click here.Follow SportsGrad on socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok Follow Reuben on socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTokBig thanks to Deakin University for making this episode possible. Check out their Master of Sport Management, ranked #1 in Australia.Thanks for listening, much love! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this solo episode of the Everyday Business Problems podcast, Dave Crysler explains why walking the process, also known as a Gemba walk, is one of the most overlooked yet powerful habits leaders can adopt. From manufacturing floors to office environments, Dave shares real-world stories and lessons learned from skipping this critical step. He outlines how walking the process reveals hidden inefficiencies, improves decision-making, and builds trust with your team. What You'll Discover: What a Gemba walk really is, and why it's essential in any business environment. Real-life examples of how walking the process uncovered unexpected bottlenecks. Why dashboards and process maps can't replace firsthand observation. The dangers of making decisions without context and frontline input. A practical prioritization tool and free download to help you turn observations into action. How to avoid the "change whiplash" that kills morale and stalls improvement efforts.

In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with Maggie Nelsen. Maggie is the Associate Director of Global Programs with Darden's Center for Global Initiatives, and she works closely with our Executive MBA students on the global residency portion of their program. We talk with Maggie about her background, recent global residencies, the value of doing multiple global residencies, why students should consider the GEMBA format and more. For more insights, tips, and stories about the Darden experience, be sure to check out the Discover Darden Admissions blog and follow us on Instagram @dardenmba.

Pivoting careers at 30 can be seen by a lot of people as daunting, but for Charlie Barlow, she made a change into motorsport work.Charlie is the Development Manager at Motorsport Australia, leading programs like Girls on Track, First Gear, and Esports to get more people doing more motorsport, more often. But her journey into the industry didn't begin until she made a bold decision at 30 years old to go all in on a career she truly loved.After years in real estate, construction, and admin roles, Charlie went back to uni, studied journalism, worked unpaid gigs, and eventually became a journalist at Supercars, before stepping into her current role shaping the future of motorsport participation in Australia.She's also built a following on Social Media as a leader for Women in Motorsport, and recently was part of Channel 7's national coverage of the Shannons SpeedSeries.In this episode, we discuss how Charlie made a career change at 30, how she was able to break into motorsport, and how she managed to accomplish her career goals even when it seemed impossible.Lastly, Charlie is our guest speaker at the Brisbane SportsGrad Meetup coming up on Thursday June 24, so if you want to connect with her, grab a ticket from our website.We cover:(02:38) – Interview begins(04:33) – Quickfire Questions(15:14) – What Charlie did about her career once she turned 30(30:45) – How Charlie started to build experience in sport(42:58) – Charlie's role with Motorsport Australia(30:45) – How Charlie started to build experience in sport(57:47) – The impact of Charlie's personal brand on her career(1:08:13) – What opportunity exists for those wanting to grow their personal brand on social media?(1:14:05) – Advice to her younger selfIf you like this ep, give these a go next:#289: How to move from London to Australia and work in Sports Marketing | George Ludlow's journey to Gemba#265: From Westpac to the Adelaide Crows FC in 29 days with Community Engagement Manager, Parth Suri#208: How to make a career change into the sports industry with Kerry GassnerWant a job in sport? Click here.Follow SportsGrad on socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok Follow Reuben on socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTokBig thanks to Deakin University for making this episode possible. Check out their Master of Sport Management, ranked #1 in Australia.Thanks for listening, much love! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jurriaan de Jong, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Operations and Business Analytics at The Ohio State University explains the value and power of taking improvement students to the gemba at a variety of organizations.

BONUS: Maria Chec Explores the Divide Between Agile Leaders and Practitioners In this BONUS episode, we explore Agile leadership with Maria Chec, author and host of Agile State of Mind. Maria shares insights from her analysis of Miro's Agile Survey, revealing a concerning disconnect between how Agile leaders and practitioners experience agile methodologies. We explore the roots of this divide, discuss practical approaches to bridging the gap, and consider the implications of recent industry developments like the PMI-Agile Alliance merger. Maria offers valuable perspectives on creating truly collaborative environments where frameworks serve the teams, not the other way around. The Disconnect Between Leaders and Practitioners "Practitioners feel pressured to comply with agile practices when they don't seem to add value." Maria highlights a stark divide revealed in Miro's survey of 1,200 agile practitioners and leaders. When asked if agile is living up to its original values, leaders and practitioners gave drastically different responses. For example, 69% of practitioners felt processes and tools overshadow individuals in their organizations, while only 43% of leaders shared this view. Similarly, 58% of practitioners believed documentation was prioritized over delivering final products, compared to just 39% of leaders. These disparities point to a fundamental disconnect in how agile is experienced at different organizational levels, with practitioners often feeling frameworks are imposed rather than collaboratively implemented. When Frameworks Become the Problem "The framework is too rigid... The framework is too complex... We have to change too much to use the framework." The issue isn't with agile frameworks themselves but how they're applied, Maria argues. Leaders often implement frameworks like SAFe without sufficient practitioner input or adaptation to organizational context. This creates an anti-pattern of "magical thinking" where companies believe they can install off-the-shelf solutions that worked elsewhere without considering their unique circumstances. The practitioners, who must live with these frameworks daily, experience frustration when rigid implementations fail to address their actual needs. Conway's Law comes into play here – the structure imposed by leadership often doesn't align with how teams naturally need to collaborate based on the systems they're building. The Role of Psychological Safety "Can I really admit that something the leadership made me do is not working for me? Will I be the only one admitting it?" This disconnect reveals deeper issues around psychological safety and trust within organizations. Many practitioners fear speaking up about framework problems, especially when they've just endured yet another organizational transformation. Maria emphasizes that without psychological safety, feedback loops break down, preventing the continuous improvement that's central to agile philosophy. Leaders must create environments where teams feel safe to provide honest feedback about what's working and what isn't, without fear of being singled out or dismissed. Without this safety, frameworks become rigid implementations rather than adaptable approaches that evolve with team needs. Reconnecting Through Gemba Walks "Be there where the value is created and know what's going on." To bridge the gap between leadership vision and practitioner reality, Maria strongly recommends Gemba walks – a concept from Lean and Toyota where leaders go to where value is created. This practice helps leaders understand the actual work being done and build relationships with team members. Maria references Project Aristotle at Google, which found that trust and psychological safety are fundamental to team success. She also notes the importance of leaders articulating a meaningful mission to inspire teams, sharing her experience at a taxi-hailing app where the CEO's vision of reducing urban parking needs made her feel she was "building something for the future." Leaders should regularly spend time where the actual work happens Teams need to understand how their work contributes to a larger purpose Open communication channels must be genuine, not just symbolic In this segment, we refer to Management 3.0 and Managing For Happiness by Jurgen Appelo.  The PMI-Agile Alliance Merger and the Future of Agile "Have we really found better ways? Why are Agile Alliance and PMI merging?" The recent merger between the Project Management Institute and Agile Alliance represents a surprising development in the industry. Maria takes an optimistic view, wondering if this indicates PMI recognizing that agile is truly the way forward. She acknowledges the perception that "Agile is dead" discussions highlight a crisis in the movement, but suggests the merger might be an opportunity to influence project management with agile values. She emphasizes how AI is creating massive changes that require experimentation and adaptation – precisely what agile approaches enable. This industry shift offers agile practitioners the chance to shape how traditional and agile methodologies might complement each other in the future. The merger could be seen as closing a circle or as an opportunity for cross-pollination "Agile is dead" discussions reflect growing pains rather than true failure Rapid technological changes with AI require more experimentation, not less Breaking Down Silos with "Glue Roles" "What are the 'glue roles' that you need in your organization?" Maria introduces her concept of "glue roles" – positions that help break down silos and foster collaboration regardless of what they're called. Whether they're RTEs (Release Train Engineers), Agile Coaches, or Technical Project Managers, these roles can transform organizational effectiveness when focused on enabling teams rather than enforcing processes. She observes that nature constantly changes, yet we expect our companies to remain static. This mindset prevents the adaptation necessary for true agility. Instead, organizations need individuals who can facilitate communication, remove barriers, and help teams collaborate effectively across boundaries. Focus on the function of collaboration rather than rigid role definitions Adapt roles to organizational needs rather than forcing organizational change to fit frameworks Use these roles to foster psychological safety and open communication Learning Through Experimentation "We need to experiment." Looking toward the future, Maria emphasizes the importance of experimentation in the face of rapid technological change, particularly with AI. She notes that while tech professionals are often thought to be early adopters, AI tools like ChatGPT are being embraced across all industries. The accelerating pace of change means we can no longer plan years ahead with certainty – what we use today may be obsolete in two years. This reality makes agile approaches even more relevant, as they embrace change rather than fight it. She encourages agile practitioners to openly discuss how they use these new tools, adapting their practices rather than clinging to outdated methods. The accelerating pace of change makes long-term planning increasingly difficult AI is already transforming work across all industries, not just tech Agile principles of adaptation and experimentation are more relevant than ever About Maria Chec Maria Chec is a seasoned Agile leader, ProKanban Trainer, and creator of Agile State of Mind. With over a decade of experience, she specializes in transforming teams through SAFe, OKRs, and process optimization, achieving remarkable productivity gains. Maria's mission is empowering teams to thrive through collaboration and adaptability. You can link with Maria Chec on LinkedIn and subscribe to Maria Chec's Substack.

How do you pivot your career to the commercial side of sport so you can grow the game you love?Kiri Madhani breaks down how she transitioned from game development roles to become a Senior Commercial Partnerships Manager at DAZN growing women's football in Europe.If you feel like your career is a bit stuck, this is your roadmap.About the guest:Kiri Madhani Senior Commercial Partnerships Manager at DAZN, and is part of the team recently short-listed for Football Business of the Year Award at the 2025 Women's Football Awards.Plenty to look out for in this conversation including Who is DAZN and what makes them a massive player in the sports media world. How Kiri consciously pivoted her career from game develop roles across university sport and charities into the Commercial world working with $Million deals and major rights holders. Plus tools on how to handle difficult conversations and work with others effectively. Kiri is one of my oldest friends in the sports industry, so naturally we go off topic a little from time to time, but I hope you enjoy.We cover:(00:00) - Interview begins(03:05) - Introduction(08:35) - Quick fire questions(20:01) - Kiri's role at DAZN explained(29:58) - Kiri's involvement in branding & pitching process(32:14) - Selling brand deals(37:25) - Understanding DAZN's offering(41:00) - Working with FIBA Media growing Women's Basketball(45:10) - How Kiri landed the role at DAZN(50:09) - How the FISU Forum in France influenced Kiri's career(58:07) - How a side role at London Rowing Club helped Kiri in landing a job in commercial sport(01:04:03) - Tips for a successful interview(01:10:10) - How to have tough conversations with colleagues(01:20:11) - Advice to her younger selfIf you like this ep, give these a go next:#289: How to move from London to Australia and work in Sports Marketing | George Ludlow's journey to Gemba#290: Inside the 2025 FISU World University Games with Mirinda Kidman#309: How I landed a dream job at Cricket Australia | Reuben Williams, Founder of SportsGradWant a job in sport? Click here.Follow SportsGrad on socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok Follow Reuben on socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTokBig thanks to Deakin University for making this episode possible. Check out their Master of Sport Management, ranked #1 in Australia.Thanks for listening, much love! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New research from The Gemba Group suggests a credibility problem for the sports sponsorship industry arising when agencies both advise brands on sponsorship opportunities and sell rights for those same properties, leading to potentially biased recommendations. The discussion highlights the increasing involvement of procurement departments, the need for greater transparency and better analytical tools, and the importance of long-term, sustainable relationships between brands and rights holders. Our guests view these issues as crucial for sponsorship to continue growing as a vital revenue stream for sports organizations. Guests:Rob Mills, Global CEO, GembaClaire Kelly, Managing Director of Europe and Middle East, Gemba.Unofficial Partner is the leading podcast for the business of sport. A mix of entertaining and thought provoking conversations with a who's who of the global industry. To join our community of listeners, sign up to the weekly UP Newsletter and follow us on Twitter and TikTok at @UnofficialPartnerWe publish two podcasts each week, on Tuesday and Friday. These are deep conversations with smart people from inside and outside sport. Our entire back catalogue of 400 sports business conversations are available free of charge here. Each pod is available by searching for ‘Unofficial Partner' on Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher and every podcast app. If you're interested in collaborating with Unofficial Partner to create one-off podcasts or series, you can reach us via the website.