Podcasts about Kaizen

BONUS: Zach Goldberg shares how to build high-performing engineering teams and master the startup CTO role In this BONUS episode, we dive deep into the world of startup leadership with Zach Goldberg, author of The Startup CTO's Handbook. We explore the critical transition from engineering to leadership, the art of balancing technical debt with startup urgency, and the communication skills that separate great CTOs from the rest. The Genesis of The Startup CTO's Handbook "My original training in software engineering was not enough for being a leader. All the people and leadership skills, I had to learn on my own." Zach's journey to writing The Startup CTO's Handbook began with a stark realization about the gap between technical training and leadership reality. Despite his classical software engineering background, he discovered that the people and leadership skills required for CTO success had to be self-taught. The book emerged from a growing Google Doc of topics and frameworks addressing the leadership and management challenges that CTOs consistently face - from hiring and performance management to making strategic decisions under pressure. Today, we can either buy the digital/print book on Amazon, or read the book on GitHub.  In this segment, we also refer to the book The Great CEO Within. Learning to Truly Learn: The Max Mintz Story "Max only cared about my ability to learn - to get curious about something hard. He wanted to help me deal with complexity." Zach opens his book with a deeply personal story about his mentor, Max Mintz, who fundamentally changed his approach to learning during what he calls "the most impactful single coffee" of his life. Over 1.5 years of conversations, Max taught him that true learning isn't about accumulating facts, but about developing curiosity for hard problems and building the capacity to handle complexity. This lesson forms the foundation of effective CTO leadership - the ability to continuously learn and adapt in an ever-changing technical landscape. The Three Critical CTO Mistakes "As a CTO, the most important 3 things: people, people, people. Do the people have the right energy, the right passion? Assemble the right team." Zach identifies consistent patterns in startup CTO failures across his experience. The first and most critical mistake is undervaluing people decisions - failing to prioritize team energy, passion, and the right assembly of talent. The second category involves investment mistakes, particularly the challenge of balancing short-term survival needs with long-term technical goals. In startups, the ROI timespan is exceptionally short, requiring optimization for immediate objectives rather than hypothetical scale. The third mistake is treating technology as religion rather than tools, losing sight of what the business actually needs. Optimizing for Velocity and Developer Experience "You are optimizing for velocity! What are you doing to help developers get their work done? Look at developer experience as a metric." Successful startup CTOs understand that velocity - the time from idea to valuable market delivery - is paramount. This requires a fundamental shift in thinking about technology decisions, focusing on features that deliver real customer value rather than technical elegance. Zach emphasizes measuring developer experience as a key metric, recognizing that anything that helps developers work more effectively directly impacts the company's ability to survive and thrive in competitive markets. The Professional Skill Tree Concept "It's like a character progression in an RPG. When we learn one type of skills, we don't learn other types of skills. We make investments every day and we have a choice on where we learn." Drawing from gaming metaphors, Zach explains how technical professionals often reach Level 100 in engineering skills while remaining Level 1 in management. The skill tree concept highlights that every learning investment is a choice - time spent developing one skill area means less time available for others. For engineers transitioning to leadership, the key is recognizing opportunities to serve as tech leads, where they can begin setting culture and quality standards while still leveraging their technical expertise. Balancing Kaizen with Startup Urgency "Pick the high-impact debt, and pay that down. This is not always easy, especially because we also need to pick what debt we don't invest on." The tension between continuous improvement and startup speed requires sophisticated thinking about technical debt. Using financial analogies, Zach explains that technical debt has both principal and interest components. The key is identifying which debt carries the highest interest rates and can be paid down most quickly, while consciously choosing which debt to carry forward. This approach maintains the healthy tension between quality and speed that defines successful startup engineering. The Power of Audience Empathy "The single hardest skill, especially for very tech leaders is that of 'audience empathy.' When you explain ideas to people, you usually assume a lot - but they might not." According to Zach, the most undervalued communication habit for startup tech leaders is developing audience empathy. Technical leaders often suffer from the curse of knowledge, assuming their audience shares their context and understanding. The solution requires deliberately considering what the audience already knows before crafting any communication, whether it's explaining technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders or providing clear direction to team members. In this segment we refer to the concept of “the curse of knowledge”, a cognitive bias that occurs when a person who has specialized knowledge assumes that others share in that knowledge. About Zach Goldberg Zach Goldberg is a seasoned technical entrepreneur, executive coach, and author of The Startup CTO's Handbook. With a founder's mentality and a passion for systems thinking, Zach helps engineering leaders build high-performing teams. He also founded Advance The World, a nonprofit inspiring youth in STEM through immersive experiences. You can link with Zach Goldberg on LinkedIn, and visit Zach's website at CTOHB.com.

Send us a textAnyone who's ever thought about writing a book knows the feeling: a mix of excitement, hope, and, yes—fear. In this episode of Authors Who Lead, I dive deep into the emotional realm of writing, pulling back the curtain on the ten most common fears that keep writers from taking the next step.Timestamp:00:00 Overcoming book-writing challenges04:23 Organized writing: audience & strategy08:37 Overcoming writing fears10:58 Kaizen: power of small steps15:53 Exclusive podcast for aspiring writers17:09 Join our writing communityFull show notesCOMMUNITY PROGRAMS

As we give ourselves to God, our life and work flows out as sacrificial labor as we strain to produce good things for others. This brings us back to the idea that we, the ones creating value for customers, are in a position of givers. We give of our time, strength, ideas, resources, and skills. And our work to produce value for our customer through a Disciplined Offering has eternal ramifications. There is a transcendent moral good in our physical labor. Kaizen is more than Continuous Improvement.Kaizen is Disciplined Offering.

Tracy Young has been on our radar for some time, having co-founded PlanGrid (acquired by Autodesk) and now co-founder of TigerEye - a GTM modern analytics platform. As a successful co-founder, Tracy has a natural sales background combined with her engineer background - a powerful combination.  On the TigerEye website, the company's core values are: Wholehearted, Humility, Kaizen, Trust, and Simplicity. Tracy discusses how she leads the company and has battled in her own head what a construction CEO or a tech co-founder looks like. It looks like her: a petite, Asian woman.  Tracy belives that the focus on a great leader should not be whether they are masculine or feminine but rather how they build their team - they have a vision, they're authentic, genuine, and are great communicators who care.  Follow Tracy on LinkedIn More about Women Sales Pros - we have a website, we are on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.  Subscribe to our 2x a month news, and share the podcast with others! We'd love a 5 star rating and comments on iTunes if you are so moved! It really makes a difference.  subscribe: https://bit.ly/thewspnews Contribute: https://forms.gle/v9rRiPDUtgGqKaXA6 Past News Issues: bit.ly/past_news_issues https://womensalespros.com/podcast/   

As we give ourselves to God, our life and work flows out as sacrificial labor as we strain to produce good things for others. This brings us back to the idea that we, the ones creating value for customers, are in a position of givers. We give of our time, strength, ideas, resources, and skills. And our work to produce value for our customer through a Disciplined Offering has eternal ramifications. There is a transcendent moral good in our physical labor. Kaizen is more than Continuous Improvement.Kaizen is Disciplined Offering.

Tim, Phil, & Elaad are joined by Kaizen Asiedu to discuss a grand jury indicting a liberal judge accused of aiding an illegal immigrant evade ICE, a federal judge ruling that the Trump administration can resume using the Alien Enemies Act, a former NYC Democrat explaining why he abandoned the left, and CNN saying White South Africans should go back to Europe.   Hosts:  Tim @Timcast (everywhere) Phil @PhilThatRemains (X) Elaad @ElaadEliahu (X) Serge @SergeDotCom (everywhere) Guest: Kaizen Asiedu @thatsKAIZEN (X)

#402 Is your business leaking customers without you realizing it? In this episode hosted by Brien Gearin, we chat with Samantha Irwin, founder of Kaizen Coaching and Consulting, about why customer experience is everything — and how failing your team means failing your customers. Samantha shares her journey from middle school teacher to boutique hotel owner and explains why even 1% better service can transform your business. We unpack her "customer journey Ferris wheel," practical retention strategies, and real-life examples of exceeding expectations when things go wrong — including a behind-the-scenes story of how she turned a nightmare booking error into a glowing review. Plus, we dive into empowering employees, creating a culture of hospitality, and simple ways any business can boost loyalty and retention without breaking the bank. If you want loyal customers (and happy employees), this conversation is packed with must-hear insights! What we discuss with Samantha: + Why customer experience = business success + The link between staff churn and customer churn + Creating a “customer journey Ferris wheel” + Real-life story of exceeding expectations + Practical retention strategies for small biz + Empowering employees to enhance service + The true cost of high employee turnover + Small actions that build customer loyalty + Communication's role in customer retention + How to train (and hire) for hospitality Thank you, Samantha! Check out Kaizen Coaching and Consulting at Kaizen.zone. Watch the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠video podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ of this episode! And follow us on: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Tik Tok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To get exclusive offers mentioned in this episode and to support the show, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠millionaireuniversity.com/sponsors⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://nordvpn.com/millionaire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! Want to hear from more incredible entrepreneurs? Check out all of our interviews ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Read the blog postSince 2012, I've had the opportunity to visit Japan six times, each trip a deep learning experience–rich with lessons about Lean, Kaizen, leadership, culture, and continuous improvement.This June, I'm heading back for my seventh visit–and what makes this one especially exciting is that it will be my fifth trip focused on Lean in healthcare… and the first that I've helped design from the ground up.It's my first trip in this format, but I was invited to partner up with two amazing individuals who have a great deal of experience in organizing and facilitating such tours — Dave Fitzpatrick, a Canadian who has lived and worked in Japan for a long time, and Reiko Kano, who I know as a translator on my earliest trips — and she's highly experienced with Lean and TPS implementations in healthcare in both the U.S. and Japan.And I want to personally invite you to consider joining us. If not from June 23 to 29, in a later trip. We're also planning on the week of October 23, 2025 along with trips in April and October of 2026.

My guest for Episode #527 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Dave Fitzpatrick, co-founder of Zenkai Improvement Partners and a 30-year resident of Japan. Dave brings a unique perspective as a Canadian Lean practitioner who has worked extensively in both manufacturing and healthcare, guiding international leaders on immersive study experiences throughout Japan. Episode page with video, transcript, and more In this episode, Dave and I share details about a new collaboration we're leading together--the Lean Healthcare Accelerator Experience. This is a jointly developed series of immersive visits to high-performing organizations in Japan, designed specifically for healthcare executives who want to see Lean principles in action across both hospitals and manufacturing settings. We talk about why we're creating this experience, what makes it unique, and how cultural context, leadership behaviors, and intentional long-term commitments drive sustainable improvement--not because it's "just Japan," but because of the systems and mindsets these organizations have cultivated. Dave shares his personal Lean journey, including how he transitioned from working in aeronautics to leading study tours for visiting professionals. He reflects on the differences between Japanese and Western companies when it comes to employee engagement, psychological safety, and respect for people. We also preview the first Accelerator trip taking place in June 2025 and discuss what makes these experiences so valuable and transformational for participants. Whether you're in healthcare or another industry, this conversation is packed with insights about creating a culture of continuous improvement--and how a visit to Japan can accelerate your learning. Questions, Notes, and Highlights: Can you share your origin story--how did you first get involved with Lean, Kaizen, or the Toyota Production System? What initially stood out to you when you began visiting Japanese manufacturing and healthcare organizations? From your experience, what cultural factors give Japanese organizations an advantage--or do they? How do successful Japanese companies build deep employee engagement and commitment to improvement? What lessons can visitors take home from Japan--and why is it not just about being "Japanese"? What are some common misconceptions people have before visiting Japan on these study experiences? How does hierarchy or seniority in Japanese companies affect psychological safety and speaking up? What kinds of organizations will we be visiting during the Lean Healthcare Accelerator? What role will Reiko Kano play in these visits, and how does her expertise go beyond translation? What's the value of including manufacturing visits in a healthcare-focused learning experience? How do Japanese companies view improvement work in relation to headcount and job security? Why is respect for people and time such a noticeable theme in Japanese customer service and operations? What do you hope participants in the Lean Healthcare Accelerator take away from this experience? This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

Fragestellungen aus der Unterhaltung mit Nadja Klein: Wo beginnen klassische Onboarding-Prozesse? Was wurde bisher vernachlässigt und welche Konsequenzen ergeben sich daraus? Wer ist an den erweiterten Onboarding-Prozessen beteiligt? Wie verändern sich die Führungsrollen dadurch? Welche Voraussetzungen sind dafür notwendig? Wie reagieren die beteiligten (Führungskräfte) auf diese Veränderungen und ggf. zusätzlichen Aufgaben? Wie reagieren die neuen bzw. potenziellen Mitarbeitenden auf diese frühzeitige Integration? Welche weiteren Veränderungen/Erweiterungen sind für die Zukunft noch vorstellbar?

C'est le scandale sanitaire de ce début du XXIe siècle : les PFAS. Ces polluants éternels sont des substances chimiques très persistantes. On en trouve dans nos objets du quotidien : produits de beauté, pesticides, emballages alimentaires, revêtements antiadhésifs... Mais ils sont aussi apparentés à des perturbateurs endocriniens, et leurs effets sur la santé humaine, avérés ou potentiels, sont multiples. En France, une loi a été votée en février dernier sur le sujet. Objectif : interdire les cosmétiques, vêtements ou encore les chaussures qui en contiennent à partir de 2026. Une législation bien loin de satisfaire les habitants de la « vallée de la chimie », près de Lyon. Dans la région, alors que près de 220 000 personnes sont concernées par cette pollution, la lutte contre les PFAS s'organise : une action judiciaire de masse a été lancée par plusieurs ONG pour aider les habitants de la région. « Là, c'est le centre d'essai et derrière, c'est Daikin avec ses ateliers ». Thierry Mounib habite Pierre-Bénite, dans le sud de Lyon. Face à lui : les usines Daikin et Arkema. « Si on se retourne, on a les stades de foot. Là, c'est l'école maternelle. On a fait des prélèvements sur l'école maternelle, c'est une catastrophe. »Avec son association Bien vivre à Pierre-Bénite, Thierry Mounib alerte sur la pollution de son environnement, et sur des problèmes de santé dans son entourage, qu'il soupçonne être liés aux PFAS. « Ma femme a été opérée d'un d'un cancer du sein et elle a Parkinson. Autour de moi, dans toutes les maisons, il y a des cancers. Aux États-Unis, qu'est-ce qui s'est passé quand c'était prouvé ? Les entreprises 3M et DuPont ont été obligées de verser des milliards pour le suivi de la population. Arkema et Daikin, ils refusent. Ils ne vont pas verser les milliards pour la population de Pierre-Bénite. »À lire aussiPFAS: peut-on se débarrasser des polluants éternels ?« Un sérieux doute sur la qualité désormais des légumes »Tous ces espoirs reposent désormais sur une action judiciaire de masse. Objectif : que 500 victimes potentielles des PFAS dans la région lyonnaise demandent en même temps des réparations financières aux entreprises Arkema et Daikin pour de multiples préjudices subis concernant la santé, le moral ou une perte de valeur immobilière par exemple. Alain a déposé son dossier après avoir fait une prise de sang. Il s'est aperçu être contaminé en regardant les microgrammes de PFAS présents par litre de sang.« Moi, je suis à 22,6. Quand vous regardez la grille donnée par le laboratoire, au-dessus de 20, il y aura des problèmes sur la santé. Ceux qui ne sont pas le plus proche de l'usine, comme nous, par exemple, à un kilomètre et demi, ils ont l'impression quand même d'avoir échappé au problème. On a quand même un sérieux doute sur la qualité désormais des légumes qui nous sont fournis ou des œufs. »À lire aussiPFAS: «La France doit prendre des mesures urgentes contre la pollution de l'eau potable»Une action judiciaire unique en FranceCette action au civil sur les PFAS est une première en France. Louise Tschanz est avocate spécialiste du droit de l'environnement au cabinet Kaizen, celui qui s'occupe des potentielles victimes de contamination aux PFAS.« L'idée, c'est qu'on crée de la jurisprudence qui ait vraiment beaucoup d'impact et que ça amène les entreprises à ne pas faire des décisions comme celles qui étaient prises par Arkema. C'est-à-dire de savoir qu'il y a une pollution très grave qui est en train de se passer et de continuer à faire des profits. L'idée, c'est que ça leur coûte tellement cher que la prochaine fois, lors de leur décision business et dans leur comité de pilotage, ils se disent, "Ok, ce n'est pas possible de réagir comme ça". Il faut préserver l'environnement et la santé, sinon la population va faire des actions en justice qui vont nous coûter très cher. »Selon l'avocate, cette action judiciaire de masse est unique par son ampleur et pourrait être la plus importante d'Europe.À lire aussiPFAS: une vaste enquête journalistique révèle le coût astronomique de la dépollution en Europe

Is your clinic's marketing feeling all over the place with little to show for it? It's time to apply the principle of Kaizen and build a lean, high-performing marketing system—starting with your website. In this episode of Online Marketing For Doctors TV and Podcast, we explore how consistent, strategic improvements to your website design and UX can turn it into a powerful patient-generating machine.  

欢迎收听雪球出品的财经有深度，雪球，国内领先的集投资交流交易一体的综合财富管理平台，聪明的投资者都在这里。今天分享的内容叫京东集团与美团外卖大战分析及投资展望，来自KAIZEN投资之道。2025年，京东以“品质外卖+低佣金+物流协同”策略高调进军外卖市场，与占据70%份额的美团展开正面交锋。这场战役不仅涉及用户补贴、商家争夺与运力比拼，更是即时零售基础设施与生态协同能力的终极对决。以下从竞争格局、核心竞争力、估值及后市投资价值展开分析。竞争现状与策略对比1. 京东的进攻逻辑一方面，差异化定位：主打“品质堂食外卖”，以连锁品牌商家（如瑞幸、海底捞）为核心，通过“0佣金初期政策+长期5%低费率”吸引优质供给，并依托达达130万骑手和智能调度系统实现30分钟送达。另一方面，物流协同：利用京东物流午间运力闲置（波谷利用率38%），通过外卖订单摊薄边际成本，同时以“外卖赠PLUS会员”反哺电商用户黏性。再者，数据整合：打通外卖消费与3C家电购买行为，探索跨场景精准营销（如“买空气炸锅用户减少炸鸡订单”）。2. 美团的防守策略一方面，护城河加固：凭借680万活跃骑手、5.82亿年交易用户及超脑算法调度系统，强化履约效率；推出“钻石商家计划”降低KA客户抽成至18%，并通过“二选一”协议限制商家多平台运营。另一方面，即时零售扩张：美团闪购日均单量近1000万单，覆盖全品类，2024年已实现微利，形成“高频外卖+低频闪购”的流量闭环。再者，成本控制：通过无人配送试点（如无人机）及算法优化，应对骑手社保成本上升（2025Q2起缴纳），预计运营效率提升可覆盖新增支出。核心竞争力与护城河1.美团 ：首先，强大的即时配送网络 ：拥有 745 万骑手，日均处理 8000 万单，30 分钟送达率达 98%，其闪电仓的前置仓网络深入社区末梢，生鲜损耗率仅 0.3%，能够高效满足用户的即时需求，形成了强大的物流配送优势。其次，庞大的用户和商户基础 ：依托美团 APP 日均 3 亿活跃用户，以及 800 万中小商家的入驻，形成了用户习惯和价格敏感型消费的强锁定效应，通过 “高频打低频” 的策略，实现了业务的协同发展。再者，技术与数据优势 ：凭借 “超脑调度系统” 优化配送路径，动态平衡骑手安全与时效，提升了运营效率。同时，积累了大量的用户消费数据和商家数据，能够实现精准营销和个性化推荐。2.京东 ：首先，卓越的供应链管理能力 ：作为自营电商巨头，京东拥有完善的供应链体系，能够实现从采购、仓储、物流到配送的全流程控制，保障商品的品质和供应的稳定性。通过将家电等品类的配送时效压缩至30 分钟，展示了其供应链的强大竞争力。其次，高品质服务与品牌形象 ：京东以品质和服务著称，在用户心中树立了良好的品牌形象。其推出的 0 佣金吸引海底捞等连锁品牌、骑手五险一金等举措，不仅提升了平台的吸引力，也体现了其对品质和服务的重视，有助于增强用户对平台的信任和认可。再者，强大的电商平台协同效应 ：京东集团的电商资源为外卖业务提供了有力的支持，实现了从线上购物到即时配送的无缝衔接，拓展了用户的消费场景。同时，达达秒送的配送网络也为外卖业务提供了坚实的物流保障。后市投资价值分析1.美团 ：虽然面临着京东等竞争对手的挑战，但其在即时零售和外卖领域的领先地位短期内难以撼动。其强大的配送网络、庞大的用户和商户基础以及丰富的运营经验，构成了深厚的竞争壁垒。随着消费市场的复苏和外卖行业的持续增长，美团有望继续保持稳定的业绩增长，为投资者带来较为可观的长期回报。2.京东 ：京东的外卖业务虽然起步较晚，但凭借其强大的供应链管理能力和品牌优势，有望在外卖市场中占据一席之地。其差异化的发展战略，满足了部分用户对高品质外卖和即时配送的需求，具有较大的发展潜力。此外，京东在电商领域的稳定增长也为外卖业务的发展提供了有力支撑，其多元化的业务布局有助于降低单一业务的风险，从长期来看，具有较高的投资价值。总结京东与美团的竞争本质是“基础设施效率战”与“生态协同战”。美团凭借其强大的即时配送网络、庞大的用户和商户基础以及丰富的运营经验，在短期内仍将占据主导地位；而京东则以卓越的供应链管理能力、高品质服务与品牌形象以及强大的电商平台协同效应为依托，有望在外卖市场中逐步扩大份额。投资者在选择投资标的时，应综合考虑自身风险承受能力、投资目标以及市场环境等因素，对美团和京东的投资价值进行全面评估，以做出合理的投资决策。最后我是持有美团，也坚定看多后市。此时此刻奉上苏轼的《王复秀才所居双桧二首·其一》：“凛凛相对敢相欺，直干凌云未要奇。”

Kaizen 19 has arrived! Gerhard has been laser-focused on making Jerod's pipe dream a reality by putting all of his efforts into Pipely. Has it been a big waste of time or has this epic side quest morphed into a main quest?!

Kaizen 19 has arrived! Gerhard has been laser-focused on making Jerod's pipe dream a reality by putting all of his efforts into Pipely. Has it been a big waste of time or has this epic side quest morphed into a main quest?!

In this episode Adam explores how to deal with setbacks and rejection, how to reframe failure and how to master the art of Kaizen. A little bit about Adam... Adam Daniel is an accomplished sportsman, fitness entrepreneur and a Performance and Personal Impact Coach with an innate desire to see individuals, teams and businesses truly thrive. He has developed and delivered educational programmes for some of the world's leading fitness brands, coached fitness professionals and industry leaders in over 20 countries and has led the educational teams for some of the most prestigious fitness industry names. Episode 1: https://soundcloud.com/user-883127547/business-mastery-with-adam-daniel-episode-1-the-fundamentals-of-business Episode 2: https://soundcloud.com/user-883127547/adam-daniel-business-mastery Episode 3: https://soundcloud.com/user-883127547/adam-daniel-business-mastery-episode-3

1/ ILL PEKEÑO. Dolcce Rotta Freestyle (Prod. Rvbi).2/ PIEZAS & JAYDER. Salomé.3/ LEV. Solo(ending).4/ NADO D & DJ SOBE. La Horca.5/ SILENCIO ESCRITO. Fuera de serie. feat. SHEK, MK ORTIZ.6/ EL CHOJIN. Quiero tu orgullo. ft SABINO, KEI LINCH y La LOQUERA.7/ EAZYBOI & SASKE. Another one.8/ Nach. Tácticas de supervivencia. feat. Akapellah.9/ RAFAEL LECHOWSKI. Rubaiyat. feat. SHARIF. Prod TITÓ.10/ JUICY BAE. Trapstar. feat La Zowi.11/ TREMENDO & GRIFFI. Deprisa.12/ DANO. Notorio ft. Duki & Lua de Santana.13/ Mnak. Langostinos.14/ OG GARA. The shit is real.15/ RIME. Kaizen.16/ DJ PIMP. Mi cruz. Lass Suga, Nadie Trece.(Escuchar audio

0:00 – Welcome & IntroductionMatt introduces the Off the Wire Podcast, an integrated approach to mind, body, and soulGuest introduction: Bobo Beck, founder of Wisdom Calling1:07 – How Matt & Bobo MetTheir story of friendship and shared passion for faith-based leadership coachingExploring how faith and personal growth intersect2:48 – Bobo's Personal Journey & UpbringingGrowing up as the youngest of 6 in AtlantaInfluenced by lifelong educator parents → exposure to growth mindset and learning cultureChildhood entrepreneurship: started a candy business in 6th grade to buy Air Jordans8:01 – Early Leadership Development in Church & Youth MinistryServing in volunteer leadership roles as a teenLearning event planning, motivating peers, leading without authority9:47 – Redefining Leadership as Influence, Not PositionLeadership story: reimagining a missionary awareness program in collegeBobo's philosophy: “Leadership is influence, not title”14:01 – Leadership, Faith & Personal DevelopmentMatt & Bobo discuss leadership as inspiring people toward a greater purposeThe role of wisdom in personal development coaching15:15 – Wisdom Coaching: Applying Ancient Wisdom TodayBobo's focus on helping young professionals navigate career, calling, and faithBiblical wisdom offers timeless guidance for modern challenges18:45 – Holistic Wisdom for Whole-Life CoachingWisdom encompasses physical, emotional, relational, intellectual, and spiritual healthBobo's coaching process: addressing sleep, fitness, mindset, friendships, and more23:52 – Coaching Beyond Surface Goals: Addressing the Interior LifeHelping clients move past external goals to focus on identity, soul care, and faithWhy integration > compartmentalization for sustainable growth31:39 – The 4 Pillars of Wisdom KnowledgeKnowledge of God → foundational to wisdomKnowledge of Self → cultivating self-awarenessKnowledge of Others → understanding relational dynamicsKnowledge of Creation → recognizing systems, structures, environment40:16 – Overcoming Compartmentalized LivingThe Western tendency toward segmented living and productivity obsessionCoaching as a safe, objective space to connect the dots between life areas49:47 – Practical Steps for Goal AchievementFocus on systems and habits over goals aloneBackward design: breaking 2–3 year goals into quarterly action plansExample: growing income by $25K → mindset shifts, networking, accountability56:56 – How to Sustain MotivationIntrinsic vs. extrinsic motivationUsing environment design (e.g., laying out workout clothes) to trigger habits1:01:43 – Balancing Ambition with GraceEmbrace human limitations → avoid tying self-worth to productivityBiblical wisdom → celebrate weakness, depend on God's strength1:07:51 – Avoiding Productivity IdolatryYou are more than your output → resist culture's push for endless achievement1% daily improvement (Kaizen) as a sustainable growth mindset1:10:54 – Connect with Bobo Beck (Wisdom Calling)Website: wisdomcalling.orgInstagram: @wisdomcallingnowLinkedIn: Bobo Beck1:12:13 – Closing Prayer & Final Reflections

In this solo episode, I share a few thoughts on my episode with Kaizen Asiedu. I also talk about where I get my news, the state of legacy media, and plans for my new podcast, "Something Different".

Julie Simmons, now retired, worked with her husband Scott as part of the Scott Wade Simmons & Associates, LLC providing leadership coaching and training in Strategy Development and Deployment, Leadership Development, and the Improvement Kata & Coaching Kata. Julie always had a passion for helping others develop their skills, capabilities, and confidence to solve complex challenges in their organizations using scientific thinking. Julie had the honor to be a frequent speaker and presenter at KataCon. Julie retired as the Executive Director for the Northwest High Performance Enterprise Consortium (NWHPEC) in January 2018 after leading the organization for fifteen years. As the Executive Director, Julie was responsible for promoting the vision, mission, and purpose of the consortium within the Portland and Vancouver business area. Prior to joining NWHPEC in 2004, Julie worked at the The Boeing Company for 14 years as Flight Line Expeditor, Shortage Controller, Supply Chain Analyst, and Manufacturing Process Analyst. She developed her skills as a Continuous Improvement practitioner while working as a Manufacturing Process Analyst where she became a Certified Accelerated Improvement Workshop leader and supported several Shingijutsu led Kaizen events. In retirement, Julie spends her time planning future travel, cooking for family and friends, and spending time with her husband Scott in all of their shared hobbies.Link to claim CME credit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3DXCFW3CME credit is available for up to 3 years after the stated release dateContact CEOD@bmhcc.org if you have any questions about claiming credit.

Inspired by actor Nani's viral comment on Gen Z's shrinking attention spans and the rise of reels and shorts, this podcast dives deep into the digital age's biggest paradox: faster content, lesser patience. Join us as we explore how Kaizen—the art of continuous improvement—can help us reclaim focus, build patience, and grow meaningfully in a world ruled by the scroll. Expect real talk, mindful habits, and thoughtful conversations that last more than 10 seconds.

Explore the life-changing concept of constant and never-ending improvement—known as "Kaizen"—and how small, consistent actions can create massive transformation over time. From relationships and health to business and personal growth, you'll learn practical strategies to implement micro improvements in every area of your life, making your goals more attainable and your journey more fulfilling. Own your power with this Success Tip.  For more about Rod and his real estate investing journey go to www.rodkhleif.com  

Apply for the Nov 2025 Japan Leadership Experience - early registration rate now through May 31st! https://kbjanderson.com/japantrip/ How much of the Toyota Way is dependent on Japanese culture?And how much of it all comes down to… being human?There are questions I've explored with 130+ global leaders who've joined my Japan Leadership Experience programs. To help you answer this question, I've invited Tim Wolput – Japanologist and Toyota Way Management expert, to Chain of Learning.Together, we take a deep (and fun!) dive into the differences between classical Japanese and Western management and explore the cultural and historical roots of real lean leadership.In this episode, we travel through Japanese history—from Confucius' teachings to samurai and rice farming traditions, and Deming's influence on Japanese management. If you've ever wanted a masterclass on Japanese management and Toyota Way principles—and how you can apply these lessons to create a culture of excellence—these two episodes are a must-listen.YOU'LL LEARN:Misconceptions about the Toyota Way management practices and applying the principles across culturesDeming's influence on Japan and the development of the Toyota Production System and Toyota WayThe way of the samurai: Focus on the process, not just the outcomeShu-ha-ri: The process towards mastery and turning knowledge into wisdom by learning through doing The power of leading through influence and “doing the right thing”: true leadership inspires growth, not just resultsSubscribe so you don't miss Part 2, where we continue along this path of learning to explore the nuances of Japanese concepts like kata and obeya and their relationship to lean management practices today.ABOUT MY GUEST:Tim Wolput is a Japanologist and Toyota Way Management expert passionate about helping people transform themselves, their organizations, and the world for the better. Since 2023 Tim has been my in-country partner for my immersive Japan Leadership Experiences. Originally from Belgium, Tim has lived in Japan since 1999 where he attended Tokyo University Graduate School and studied traditional Japanese mathematics. Tim is a certified Toyota Way Management System instructor and consultant to global organizations on Lean, Agile, and Toyota Production System (TPS).IMPORTANT LINKS:Full episode show notes: ChainOfLearning.com/42Connect with Tim Wolput: linkedin.com/in/timwolputCheck out my website for resources and working together: KBJAnderson.comFollow me on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kbjanderson Learn about my Japan Leadership Experience program: kbjanderson.com/JapanTrip TIMESTAMPS FOR THIS EPISODE:03:53 Biggest misconceptions about Toyota Way management practices05:10 Katie's perspective Japan versus the west08:46 The meaning of Shu Ha Ri and the traditional way of learning10:23 Deming's influence on Japan and The Toyota Way13:05 Why Japan embraced PDCA15:45 Difference in mindset between Asia and the west17:28 The working culture in Japan and how work together in the community22:17 Power of the supplier relationship23:40 Japanese leadership style29:15 Concept of doing the right thing30:56 How to focus on processes as the way to get results34:13 Powerful words of wisdom about the way of the samurai Apply for the Nov 2025 Japan Leadership Experience - early registration rate now through May 31st! https://kbjanderson.com/japantrip/ 

欢迎收听雪球出品的财经有深度，雪球，国内领先的集投资交流交易一体的综合财富管理平台，聪明的投资者都在这里。今天分享的内容叫浅谈美股中概股退市风险以及后市如何操作，来自KAIZEN投资之道。今天我们谈谈美股中概股的退市风波。在金融市场的海洋中，每一次波涛汹涌都考验着舵手的智慧和勇气。美股中概股的退市风险，就像一场突如其来的风暴，让大家面临选择，是坚守还是撤离？这不仅是对财富的考验，更是对大家智慧和心态的挑战。以下综合分析风险和后市操作：一、美股中概股退市风险评估退市风险核心来源有很多。美国《外国公司问责法案》是主要导火索，要求外国公司连续三年未通过上市公司会计监管委员会审计检查则面临退市。美国证券交易委员会自2022年起开始执行该法案，将百济神州、百胜中国等企业列入“预摘牌名单”，并要求其提交审计底稿。若中美未达成审计合作协议，最早2024年中概股可能集中退市。且目前约280家在美中概股中，约48-50家符合回港二次上市条件，剩余中小型企业退市风险较高。中概股财务造假等事件的曝光，如瑞幸咖啡事件，损害了投资者对中概股的信任，导致市场对中概股整体的负面认知。此外，中美关系的紧张局势也影响了市场对中概股的信心，投资者担忧地缘政治因素可能导致中概股企业受到不公平对待，从而引发股价波动和退市风险。目前，中美监管博弈激烈。中国证监会与上市公司会计监管委员会持续沟通，但核心矛盾在于审计底稿跨境监管的法律冲突。中国《证券法》规定境内工作底稿不得直接向境外提供，而美国要求完全审查，双方尚未达成技术性妥协。若谈判无果，退市风险将实质性落地。对此，企业应对策略有三种：策略一：回流港股。阿里、京东等头部企业已通过二次上市或双重主要上市规避风险，后续拼多多、唯品会等可能跟进。策略二：私有化退市。部分中小型公司可能选择私有化，但面临流动性折价压力。策略三：A股上市。科创板、创业板注册制改革为中概股回归提供通道，但需解决可变利益实体等问题。二、美股中概股退市对港股和A股的影响首先，对港股的影响：短期来看，中概股退市消息可能引发港股市场的波动，尤其是对已在香港上市的中概股公司股价产生影响。部分投资者可能会因担忧退市风险而抛售相关股票，导致港股市场出现短期的流动性紧张和股价下行压力。从长期来看，中概股的回流有望为港股市场带来新的活力和发展机遇。一方面，增加了港股市场的上市公司数量和规模，丰富了投资标的，提升了港股市场的整体吸引力和竞争力；另一方面，一些优质的中概股企业回归港股后，有望获得更高的估值和更好的市场表现，从而带动港股市场的整体估值提升。此外，中概股的回归也促使港股市场不断完善自身的上市制度和监管规则，进一步提升市场的国际化水平和稳定性。其次，对A股的影响 ：A股市场与美股中概股的直接关联度相对较低，因此中概股退市对A股市场的直接影响相对有限。不过，部分中概股企业可能会选择回归A股上市，这将对A股市场的资金面和情绪面产生一定的影响。中概股退市可能引发市场对中国经济和企业发展的关注，进而影响投资者对A股市场的信心。此外，若中概股退市导致海外市场对中国企业的投资热情下降，也可能间接影响到A股市场的外资流入情况。但另一方面，中概股的回归也可能为A股市场带来更多的优质企业资源，促进A股市场的结构调整和转型升级。三、后市操作建议投资者可以采取以下三个策略：要么转换持仓至港股，对已双重上市的中概股，可将美国存托凭证转换为港股，降低退市风险。要么聚焦头部企业，符合港股二次上市条件的公司抗风险能力更强，如拼多多等。亦或者规避高风险标的，未满足回港条件的小市值中概股可能面临流动性枯竭，需谨慎。从行业配置的角度来说，回港中概股以互联网、创新药为主，长期受益于中国数字经济及医疗升级趋势，可关注科技与生物医药行业。通过配置港股能源、材料板块及黄金ETF，对冲市场波动。从政策跟踪的角度来说，若中美达成审计合作协议，中概股估值有望快速修复。并且关注国内政策支持，如科创板国际板推进、可变利益实体合规化等政策信号。最后，做一个总结。美股中概股退市风险主要源于政策、市场信心、企业自身及流动性等方面，其退市可能对港股产生短期冲击但长期带来机遇，对A股直接影响有限却有间接影响及潜在优质资源回归的可能。大家在后市操作中应密切关注相关动态，根据自身情况合理调整投资组合，注重企业基本面分析，把握投资机会，降低风险。美股中概股退市风险，如同一场风暴，考验着每一个投资者的智慧和勇气。在这场游戏中，我们需要冷静分析，敏锐洞察，坚定执行，才能在波涛汹涌中找到属于自己的航标。此时此刻奉上屈原《离骚》：“路漫漫其修远兮，吾将上下而求索。”

1/ OG GARA. The shit is real.2/ FIVE FINGERS. Rap game.3/ ENKHI X TISSET. Barras de pan mordidas.4/ RIME. Kaizen.5/ TRIBADE. Entre dos aguas. feat. ELANE.6/ Las Ninyas del Corro. Pobres Ricos ft. Faenna (Prod. Esse Delgado).7/ DANO. Notorio ft. Duki & Lua de Santana.8/ GALGO ROCK. We need love night.9/ JUICY BAE. Trapstar. feat La Zowi.10/ DJ PIMP. Mi cruz. Lass Suga, Nadie Trece.11/ MNAK. Kid’s don’t cry.12/ DOBLENNE. Un amor de antes.12/ MIDAS ALONSO. Álgebra. Prod. DELSON ARAVENA. 13/ C. POLO & J. CURTO. Presión.14/ K.O. TÉCNIKO. Si te apuñalan, sangras.15/ ERICK HERVÉ. Mars.16/ YSERN. Dejame entrar.17 / EL KLAN DE LOS DEDETÉ. SuenaEscuchar audio

Bob Malone has quite literally helped shape the sound of modern trumpet playing around the world. He's been designing trumpets for nearly 40 years and is widely recognized as one of the premier trumpet designers in the world. His instruments are played in major orchestras across the globe, and his influence can be heard through the artistry of many of the finest trumpet players of our time.I've had the privilege of knowing Bob for almost 50 years, and watching his evolution—from passionate trumpet player to visionary instrument designer—has been nothing short of inspiring. So it was a real pleasure to sit down with him and explore the journey that has defined his life's work.In Part 1, we kick off our conversation by diving into how Bob has applied the Japanese concept of Kaizen—the philosophy of continuous improvement—to his work over the years. From there, we go back to his early days as a trumpet player and explore how his passion for the instrument led him to the world of design and craftsmanship. He shares how key figures like Larry Minick and Tom Stevens mentored him and helped shape his path, leading to the founding of Bob Malone's Brass Technology, and eventually, his pivotal role at Yamaha Corporation.Bob also recounts his first major design collaboration with trumpeter Bobby Shew—a project made possible through the support of his close friend, Kenzo Kawasaki.In Part 2 [Subscriber Content], we get into some of Bob's experiences working with a remarkable roster of trumpet luminaries, including Håkan Hardenberger, John Hagstrom, Allen Vizzutti, David Bilger, Chris Martin, Tom Rolfs, Wayne Bergeron, Bo Nilsson, and conductor Andris Nelsons. His stories are a fascinating glimpse into the minds of these incredible musicians and the collaborative process behind great instrument design.And since Bob has spent so much of his career on the road, we also talk about his favorite travel destinations, memorable meals, and how he manages the inevitable jet lag that comes with a global career.Would you like more inspirational stories, suggestions, insights, and a place to continue the conversations with other listeners? Visit anthonyplog-on-music.supercast.com to learn more! As a Contributing Listener of "Anthony Plog on Music," you'll have access to extra premium content and benefits including: Extra Audio Content: Only available to Contributing Listeners. Podcast Reflections: Tony's written recaps and thoughts on past interviews, including valuable tips and suggestions for students. Ask Me Anything: Both as written messages and occasional member-only Zoom sessions. The Show's Discord Server: Where conversations about interviews, show suggestions, and questions happen. It's a great place to meet other listeners and chat about all things music! Can I just donate instead of subscribing? Absolutely! Cancel at anytime and easily resubscribe when you want all that extra content again. Learn more about becoming a Contributing Listener @ anthonyplog-on-music.supercast.com!

Monday Motivation: Insights from Business Coaching Secrets  Had the chance to catch the latest episode of "Business Coaching Secrets" with Karl Bryan and special guest, Tom Kavanaugh. Packed with wisdom for business coaches and entrepreneurs alike! Here are three key takeaways that really stood out: Purpose Drives Progress: Tom emphasized the critical role of having a clear, precise purpose—not just for business, but for everything you do. Purpose isn't just motivation; it activates your subconscious mind and helps you learn, integrate, and execute at a higher level. Flexibility & Resilience Win: In business (and in life), plans rarely survive first contact with reality. Tom referenced Mike Tyson's classic quote: “Everybody has a plan till they get hit in the face.” The ability to pivot, adapt, and stay resilient through setbacks is what separates lasting success from short-lived ventures. Daily Goals Are Your Secret Weapon: Rather than seeing goals as tasks, Tom reframes them as measurements of daily improvement—a Kaizen approach. Write your goals down, start the day with a win (even if it's just making your bed!), and invest in continual learning and self-care to build sustainable momentum. If you haven't tuned in yet, highly recommend checking it out for a full dose of actionable strategies and motivation to kickstart your week! Ready to elevate your coaching business? Don't wait! Listen to this episode now and make strides towards your goals. Visit Focused.com for more information on our Profit Acceleration Software™ and join our community of thriving coaches. Get a demo at https://go.focused.com/profit-acceleration

Easter is the perfect time to reflect on what seeds you want to plant, where you want to put your energy, and what brings you joy. Laura also shares insights on the art of kaizen to make small changes that lead to big changes.Laura's Blog:Kaizen: The Power of Small Steps to Transform Your LifeFor more information about Laura and her work you can go to her website www.healingpowers.net or find her on X @thatlaurapowers, on Facebook at @realhealingpowers and @mllelaura, and on Instagram, TikTok and Insight Timer @laurapowers44.

Ever feel like you're always doing but not really getting anywhere? In this episode, I share 8 powerful concepts from Japanese culture that offer timeless wisdom for modern challenges. These words aren't just philosophy—they're practical tools to help you live with more intention, patience, and peace.

Ever feel like you're always doing but not really getting anywhere? In this episode, I share 8 powerful concepts from Japanese culture that offer timeless wisdom for modern challenges. These words aren't just philosophy—they're practical tools to help you live with more intention, patience, and peace.

D'un côté, Inoxtag et les 42 millions de vues de Kaizen, le documentaire sur son ascension de l'Everest. De l'autre, Andrew Irvine, jeune alpiniste disparu sur les pentes de l'Himalaya en 1924. Entre les deux : un siècle, et une même ambition. Sauf que l'on ignore encore si Andrew Irvine et le premier junkie de l'Evevest, George Mallory, ont atteint le toît du monde. La découverte d'une chaussure réveille l'une des plus grandes énigmes de l'histoire de l'alpinisme. Avec Marie Parra de Sciences et Avenir, on a enfourché nos crampons pour rouvrir ce cold case en altitude. En avant, marche !

欢迎收听雪球出品的财经有深度，雪球，国内领先的集投资交流交易一体的综合财富管理平台，聪明的投资者都在这里。今天分享的内容叫浅谈“疯狂的贸易战”造就“飞起来的国际金价”，来自KAIZEN投资之道。今天我们谈谈国际金价。随着特朗普政府“疯狂的贸易战”推出，国际金价突破3200美元/盎司并持续走高，这也让黄金成为动荡的国际金融市场里最好的避险投资。以下综合分析黄金上涨逻辑和后市操作策略：一、国际金价上涨的核心逻辑首先，避险需求激增地缘政治与贸易摩擦，全球主要经济体之间的贸易争端升级，关税政策的不确定性加剧市场对经济衰退的担忧，投资者转向黄金避险。例如，特朗普的“对等关税”政策引发市场恐慌，黄金作为“避险资产”需求激增。经济政策不确定，部分国家频繁出台经济政策，如加息、降息、财政刺激等，市场对政策效果的不确定性导致资金流入黄金。其次，央行持续增持黄金去美元化趋势下，全球央行加速黄金储备多元化，以降低对美元的依赖。2024年全球央行购金量达1045吨，已连续第三年超1000吨，预计2025年仍将保持高位。中国央行连续增持，黄金储备达7361万盎司，连续四个月增持，成为全球央行购金的重要推动力。再者，美元走弱与实际利率下降美联储政策转向，市场预期美联储将因经济衰退风险启动降息，美元指数走弱，黄金受益。实际利率下行，美国10年期国债实际收益率从2022年至今已上升318个基点，但金价仍逆势上涨68%，显示实际利率对金价的压制减弱，避险和去美元化逻辑主导。并且，通胀预期与大宗商品联动在高通胀压力下，全球主要经济体通胀水平居高不下，黄金作为抗通胀工具需求上升。能源与大宗商品价格波动，地缘冲突，如中东局势推高能源价格，间接支撑黄金的通胀对冲属性。最后，供应端约束黄金开采成本上升，金矿开采深度增加，成本攀升抑制供应增长。世界黄金协会指出，黄金年开采量相对稳定，供需缺口可能进一步支撑价格。二、受益黄金上涨的股票与行业第一类是黄金开采与矿业公司中国黄金龙头比如山东黄金和招今矿业等。山东黄金是中国最大黄金生产商之一，受益于国内黄金储备增持和金价上涨。而招金矿业则黄金产量稳定，成本控制能力强。国际矿业巨头比如纽蒙特矿业、巴里克黄金等。纽蒙特矿业是全球最大金矿公司，产量和储量优势显著；巴里克黄金高杠杆受益于金价上涨，股息政策吸引投资者。第二类是黄金ETF与贵金属服务商黄金ETF管理公司比如SPDR黄金基金和黄金ETF。其中，SPDR黄金基金的资金流入量创新高。而黄金ETF国内龙头，跟踪金价紧密。贵金属加工与珠宝企业里的龙头公司有老凤祥、周大福等。老凤祥是黄金珠宝零售龙头，金价上涨可能提升库存重估价值。而周大福是高端黄金饰品品牌，需求端受益于消费复苏与金价上涨。第三类是其他相关板块比如黄金回收与科技公司，主要有紫金矿业，黄金业务贡献稳定现金流。再比如贵金属催化剂与设备供应商，如金诚信等。三、后市展望与投资建议先来看看金价未来走势判断短期1-3个月来看，有美联储降息预期、地缘政治风险，如中东冲突、中美贸易摩擦、央行持续购金等支撑因素，但由于特朗普关税政策反复、美元阶段性反弹、黄金ETF短期获利回吐，也存在风险点。长期1-3年来看，去美元化、央行储备多元化、通胀中枢上移，金价中枢或持续抬升；但由于全球经济超预期复苏、黄金供应大幅增加、地缘局势缓和等银色，也存在潜在风险。再来看看投资策略建议在配置方向上，黄金股要优选低成本、高储量的黄金开采企业；黄金ETF则通过GLD、华安黄金ETF等工具直接跟踪金价；黄金主题基金，要选择专注贵金属的主动型基金，捕捉结构性机会。再者要注意风险控制。考虑分散投资，黄金与股票、债券相关性低，可作为组合避险工具。关注政策信号，跟踪美联储货币政策、地缘冲突进展及央行购金动态。避免杠杆，将黄金作为非生息资产，不建议过度杠杆化持仓。四、风险提示政策风险：美国若快速加息或贸易政策缓和，可能导致金价回调。供应风险：新金矿投产或回收技术进步可能增加供应。市场情绪波动：短期流动性危机可能引发抛售黄金补充保证金。总结当前黄金上涨的核心逻辑是避险需求、央行储备多元化与美元弱化，短期或延续震荡上行，长期受去美元化支撑。大家谨慎布局黄金股与ETF，需警惕政策与地缘局势的不确定性。建议采取“核心+卫星”策略，以黄金作为组合避险底仓，并动态调整弹性品种。最后说说我的持仓，我持有黄金ETF，不过持有时间比较长了，不作为参考依据。此时此刻奉上元好问《无题》：“人间只道黄金贵，不问天公买少年。”

TUNE IN TO LEARN:  We've all been there—vowing to completely transform our diet, fitness routine, and sleep habits all at once, only to abandon the whole plan days later.  What if the problem isn't your willpower but your approach?   In this eye-opening exploration of behavioral change, we explore why our brains actively resist massive lifestyle overhauls and how tiny, almost ridiculously small steps might be the secret to lasting transformation.  Drawing from the Japanese concept of Kaizen (continuous improvement through small steps), I explain the fascinating neuroscience behind why your brain treats big changes as threats.  The solution?  Actions so small they fly completely under your brain's radar.  Whether you're struggling with personal health goals or leading organizational change, this episode offers an evolutionary framework for making progress without triggering resistance.  You can change your life.  Just not one leap.    Text Me Your Thoughts and IdeasSupport the show Brought to you by Angela Shurina EXECUTIVE & OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE COACH

You're doing great work….yet you know you could have a greater influence.You have a vision for more. More strategic work. More influence.Only question—how do you get there?The issue isn't your talent or skills. It's how you are positioned—how your clients or organization see (and value) your role.In this episode, I'm joined by Betsy Jordyn—former Disney OD consultant turned brand positioning strategist—to help you reshape how others perceive your value and become the one leaders turn to when it comes to making significant changes to their leadership and culture.Besty shares actionable ways to communicate your value so you can land the roles and work you truly deserve. And we both share insights we've learned from evolving the framing of our own positioning over time.Whether you're an internal change leader tired of being stuck in execution mode or a consultant struggling to land strategic engagements, this conversation is your road map to stop playing small.YOU'LL LEARN:What positioning actually is—and why it mattersHow to spot the signs your positioning isn't landing the way you wantThe 3 levels of positioning every leader and consultant should masterReal examples from our own careers on how we've evolved our positioningA simple process to clearly articulate your value and stand out in your marketABOUT MY GUEST:Betsy Jordyn is a Brand Positioning Strategist who helps consultants and coaches clarify their message, amplify their influence, and monetize their strengths. Drawing on her experience as a former Disney OD consultant and leader of an external practice serving brands like Wyndham and AAA, she empowers clients to make a bigger impact through authentic thought leadership.IMPORTANT LINKS:Full episode show notes: ChainOfLearning.com/41Watch the Bonus Video – Elevate Your Positioning to Lead Transformational Change: https://youtu.be/O0W9dq3jYnw Connect with Betsy Jordyn: linkedin.com/in/betsy-jordynBetsy's Meeting Discovery Script: betsyjordyn.comBetsy's Podcast, Consulting Matters: betsyjordyn.com/podcasts/consulting-mattersMy website for resources and working together: KBJAnderson.comFollow me on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kbjandersonMy Japan Leadership Experience program: kbjanderson.com/JapanTripFREE KATALYST™ Change Leader Self-Assessment: KBJAnderson.com/katalystTIMESTAMPS FOR THIS EPISODE:03:26 What positioning is and why it matters06:48 Why your brand is your reputation07:54 Signs your brand positioning is off10:38 Betsy's personal story in understanding the importance of positioning18:28 How Betsy helped Katie improve her positioning25:37 Changing the name from Japan Study Trip to Japan Leadership Experience28:42 Clarity - the highest level of positioning32:25 Second level of positioning that happens a client approaches you with a request35:25 How to clarify the strategic frame and position yourself against that42:15 Third level of positioning in positioning yourself as a strategic partner46:12 How to position yourself when working with a new client48:44 The opportunity of stepping out of the box and become a thinking partner50:06 One key learning to reposition your own work54:07 The strategic framework to pivot your messaging

In this inspiring and wide-ranging episode, Nick sits down with Julian Guthrie, a Pulitzer-nominated journalist, bestselling author, and now AI startup founder, who calls Hayden, Idaho home.Julian opens up about:Her path to the San Francisco Chronicle, covering the tech boom, interviewing billionaires and astronauts, and telling underdog stories that matter.How her deep empathy, resilience, and pursuit of excellence shaped her storytelling and life choices.What she learned from Larry Ellison about Kaizen and how that daily discipline drives her today.Her leap from journalism to tech with the creation of Alphy and HarmCheck, a tool using AI to reduce harm in digital communication.Why she believes leadership can be powerful and kind, and how she's leading with authenticity rather than aggression.This is a conversation about words, power, purpose and why story matters more than ever.

Hay cosas en el alma que, como la basura no tradicional, no sacamos seguido… pero pesan. En este episodio hablamos de todo eso que acumulamos sin darnos cuenta: heridas, resentimientos, ideas viejas. Y cómo, como en el método Kaizen, podemos hacer una limpieza profunda que nos libere.

Interview on Profiles in Leadership with Rebecca FitzsimmonsOutlineIntroduction and Background of Rebecca Fitzsimmons Rebecca Fitzsimmons, founder of Tactical Harmony, an online business focused on holistic leadership and mindset strategies.Rebecca shares her background, starting from her upbringing in a small town in northeastern Ohio, her degree in forensic and investigative science, and her internship with the FBI.Rebecca explains her transition from forensics to becoming an NCIS Special Agent, detailing her 13.5 years with NCIS and her roles in criminal investigations, counter-terrorism, and counter-intelligence.She discusses her decision to leave NCIS after nearly 15 years to explore new sectors and eventually start her own business.Rebecca's Journey from NCIS to EntrepreneurshipRebecca elaborates on her reasons for leaving NCIS, including her desire to serve in a different sector and her leadership experience.She describes her transition to a technology company and her current role as an entrepreneur running Tactical Harmony.Rebecca emphasizes the importance of holistic leadership, which involves leading oneself and others in a comprehensive way.She highlights the components of holistic leadership, including emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and self-regulation.Holistic Leadership and Mindset StrategiesRebecca defines holistic leadership as a whole-person approach to influencing and inspiring oneself and others.She explains the importance of leading by example and the role of emotional intelligence in building strong relationships.Rebecca discusses the power of mindset, stating that it is the starting point for achieving greatness and that thoughts determine feelings and actions.She shares her belief in the transformative power of gratitude practices and how it can positively impact one's biochemistry and neural pathways.Client Profiles and Gratitude PracticesRebecca describes her typical clients, which include ambitious professionals, aspiring leaders, and businesses looking to enhance their mindset and leadership skills.She explains the concept of gratitude practices, advising clients to think of three things they are grateful for each morning and evening.Rebecca emphasizes the importance of feeling the emotion associated with gratitude to create positive biochemical changes in the body.She shares her own experience of initially dismissing gratitude practices and how it eventually became a transformative part of her routine.Resilience and High-Performance HabitsRebecca discusses the importance of building resilience through continuous hard work and incremental improvement.She introduces the concept of Kaizen, focusing on getting 1% better each day, and compares it to the analogy of turning a tractor slightly to achieve greater distance.Rebecca highlights the significance of raising standards and maintaining high-performance habits, such as physical exercise, mind-body-spirit nourishment, and focusing on high-impact activities.She emphasizes the need for self-care and the benefits of incorporating fun and enjoyable activities into daily routines.Spirituality and Self-Care in LeadershipRebecca explains the role of spirituality in holistic leadership, describing it as connecting to one's truth and highest self.She shares her personal practice of meditation and how it helps her achieve coherence between her heart and brain, leading to peak performance.Rebecca discusses the importance of self-care and how it contributes to being the best version of oneself.She describes her approach to self-care as a harmony rather than a balance, allowing for flexibility based on different life demands.Legacy and Personal GrowthRebecca talks about the concept of legacy and its importance in leadership.She explains the process of identifying one's values, mission, and vision, and how it ties into the legacy one wants to leave behind.Rebecca emphasizes the need for continuous personal growth and the role of coaching in helping leaders understand themselves better.She shares her experience of witnessing clients' transformations as they explore and nourish their personal growth.Client Relationships and Keynote SpeakingRebecca discusses the varying lengths of her client relationships, ranging from short-term engagements to long-term collaborations.She explains how her work with clients often starts with addressing their immediate needs and then evolving into more comprehensive support.Rebecca expresses her passion for public speaking and her plans to focus more on keynote speaking in the future.She mentions her goal of speaking internationally and the energy she derives from engaging with audiences hungry for growth and development.Tactical Harmony Podcast and Future PlansRebecca provides an overview of her Tactical Harmony podcast, which she started last year and has been a solo show so far.She plans to introduce guests in 2025 and aims to balance short, digestible episodes with longer, in-depth conversations.Rebecca describes her approach to creating content that is easy to fit into busy schedules and targets high performers.She shares her process of recording episodes based on her intuition and the topics that resonate with her at the moment.

My guest for Episode #526 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Bill Canady, a seasoned global business executive, U.S. Navy veteran, and current CEO of Arrowhead Engineered Products. Bill has led over 30 operating companies and thousands of employees across the industrial and consumer products landscape. Formerly CEO of OTC Industrial Technologies, he helped drive impressive growth-boosting revenues by 43% and earnings by 78%. Bill is also the author of The 80/20 CEO and the upcoming From Panic to Profit, and he's a vocal advocate for using Lean and the 80/20 principle as complementary tools for transformation. Join Bill for a live Q&A webinar on April 23rd via KaiNexus! We discuss Bill's personal Lean journey, which began with Six Sigma and evolved into a deep appreciation for the power of Lean and continuous improvement. He shares how daily management, Kaizen events, and a focus on flow became core to his leadership toolkit—not just on the shop floor but also across the “carpeted” functions like order-to-cash and sales. As CEO, Bill doesn't just support Lean; he expects it. He talks candidly about making continuous improvement a condition of employment, not through fear, but by creating a culture where people feel safe, engaged, and energized by problem-solving. You'll hear Bill's insights on applying Lean as a strategic enabler for profitable growth—not just a cost-cutting tool. He explains how the 80/20 principle helps companies focus their improvement energy on what really matters and how Lean helps teams sustain those improvements. He also shares real-world lessons on leadership, cultural alignment, and navigating resistance to change—especially among those clinging to old firefighting habits. Whether you're a Lean practitioner, an executive, or someone aspiring to lead, this conversation is packed with practical wisdom. Bill offers a compelling blueprint for how to lead with humility, clarity, and purpose—using Lean and the 80/20 mindset to build resilient, high-performing organizations. Questions, Notes, and Highlights: Can you share your origin story with continuous improvement and Lean? What was the context in which you were first introduced to these methodologies? How did your role evolve from operations into broader P&L responsibility? How did your perspective on Lean shift when you became a CEO? What role does daily management play in sustaining operational excellence? How do you apply Lean principles outside the factory floor—especially in “carpet land”? As a CEO, how do you strike the balance between solving problems yourself and enabling others to be problem solvers? How do you respond when leaders or team members resist Lean thinking or default to old firefighting habits? What does it mean to make Lean a “condition of employment,” and how do you introduce that mindset? How do you ensure people understand Lean isn't about layoffs, but about redeployment and growth? How do you connect Lean initiatives with business growth, not just cost reduction? Do you have an example of how improving quality or delivery led directly to business growth or profitability? What inspired you to write your first book, The 80/20 CEO? Why are the first 100 days so critical for a new leader? How does the 80/20 principle help leaders prioritize improvement efforts? What's the relationship between 80/20 analysis and Lean execution in your approach? What can we do to help more CEOs understand and embrace Lean as a strategic business system? How can companies start building momentum with Lean—even if they're just getting started? What's the focus of your new book From Panic to Profit, and how does it expand on your first? This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

Tired of “What went well?” and “What didn’t”? Brian Milner is here to help you cook up retrospectives that actually get your team thinking, collaborating, and improving. From creative themes to actionable frameworks, this is your behind-the-scenes guide to better retros. Overview Do your retrospectives feel more “check-the-box” than game-changing? Brian Milner shares his full recipe for planning and facilitating retrospectives that actually matter. Whether your team is stuck in repetition, tuning out, or phoning it in, Brian’s step-by-step approach will show you how to bring structure, creativity, and energy back into the room. Brian walks you through the five essential components of a retrospective, including how to match formats to your team’s personality, align activities with Agile's three pillars (transparency, inspection, and adaptation), and spark meaningful change with every session. References and resources mentioned in the show: Stranger Things Retrospective Download Agile Retrospectives by Esther Derby & Diana Larsen Retromat Blog: Overcoming Four Common Problems with Retrospectives by Mike Cohn Blog: Does a Scrum Team Need a Retrospective Every Sprint? By Mike Cohn #139 The Retrospective Reset with Cort Sharp Retrospectives Repair Guide Better Retrospectives Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input. Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one. Got an Agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com This episode’s presenters are: Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work. Auto-generated Transcript: Brian Milner (00:00) Welcome in Agile Mentors. We are back for another episode of the Agile Mentors podcast, like we always do. And I'm with you as always, Brian Milner. Today we have with us, me, just me. Now, before you get frustrated with that or think we're copping out in some way, this is intentional. I wanted to have an episode to myself because and working through all this stuff around retrospectives, I thought that it might be good to take an episode here. And I kind of thought of it sort of like a cooking episode, right? Like if you watch a cooking show, you know, Gordon Ramsay show or something, they'll walk you through how they make something. And it's from start to finish. They show you the ingredients. They show you how everything's put together. And then you see this beautiful dish at the end. Well, I've often compared the way that you can format a retrospective to a little bit like a meal, because a meal has different courses in it. And a retrospective should have these themed areas or repeatable sections of it. And so I thought of it a little bit like making a meal. So I thought I'd just walk you through a little bit step by step. what I'm thinking here and how I would go about doing it. this is, you know, we're cooking up something special here. It's a kind of a recipe here that's, you know, equal parts creative and effective. It's a way to try to keep your retrospectives interesting, but also keep them to be solid and where you can have an actual outcome that comes from this. And you actually make definitive changes here with your team as a result. So there's a couple of retrospective courses that I have coming out where I go into detail about all these things, but I wanted to take an episode where I could walk you through and just have you kind of peer over my shoulder a little bit about how I might do this if I was going to create a retrospective for a team. So first starters, I think we have to understand that there is a menu to follow, right? And I kind of use this menu metaphor because one of the great things about when you go out and you have a meal at a nice restaurant is there's a repeatable pattern to it. You kind of expect that they're gonna bring you a drink first and then maybe you have, if it's a really fancy restaurant, maybe you have appetizers first or hors d'oeuvres even before appetizers, then you maybe have appetizers or not. Then you have a main course and maybe you have a salad even before the main course and then you have a a meal, and then you have some kind of a dessert afterwards, maybe even some kind of a cocktail at the end of the meal or coffee at the end of the meal. But there's sort of a pattern to it. And regardless of what restaurant you go to, you kind of repeat that same pattern. Now, I know that there's times you'll be, this is where the metaphor kind of breaks down a little bit, I get it. You may not have the same pieces every time. And what we're going to be talking about here as a retrospective pattern is that, yes, you should sort of follow the same pattern. You can't really get to, let's say, dessert. You can't just skip and go to dessert, right? You've got to go through this journey of the other sections so that you can end up at dessert and really fully appreciate it, right, and get the most out of it. So that's where this metaphor is a little bit of a, starts to break down a little tiny bit. But. I want to talk about here first why retrospectives matter and why they often go stale. I think they often go stale for a lot of reasons, but one of the chief reasons I've encountered when I work with teams is that the Scrum Master on the team really only has a small amount of formats and styles that they have to work with. They have a small little set in their toolbox. And they may even rotate through a few of them. But at the end of the day, it's kind of a small toolbox. There's only a few tools in there. And if I'm a team, if I'm a member of that team, you can imagine how I might get bored. And I might think this is not really worthwhile if I'm showing up every single time and I'm hearing the same exact questions. What did I do? What do we do well? What do we not do so well? Do I have any roadblocks? If I'm just asked that same thing every time, then I might not feel like this is a very worthwhile thing. Or I might get to the point where I feel like, gosh, I've answered the same question, you know, three sprints in a row. I just, got nothing more for you Scrum Master. I just, I can't dig any deeper. I've given you everything and it just feels like this is the, you know, groundhog day. We're doing the same thing over and over again, but nothing's really changing. So. I think it's important that we be able to switch things up, but it's not change just for change sake. That's why I think that having a structure of some kind can give you that pattern to fall back on that can make it effective, but then also can provide variety, can make it something that changes over time as you do this with your team. Doesn't mean that you can't ever repeat a format that you've used. I don't think that's a bad thing. I just wouldn't want to repeat the same, just handful, small little number of them over and over again. That's going to get repetitive and it's going to make people a little frustrated. The other thing is I think you have to match these to the personality of your team. Your team might be more outgoing or they might be more introverted. You might have people who prefer activities or little more, you know, kind of quiet activities or some that are more verbal, you know, require more discussion. That's really an individual thing for your team. So I think you have to think as you go through this, what's going to work for these people, right? For this set of individuals that I am working with. You know, I always say there's kind of a first commandment for Scrum Masters, know thy team. And I think that's really something that's important for us to grasp onto is we have to know our team. can't coach to the average. Right? We have to coach to the individual, to what we have on our team, because your team is unique. That set of individuals has never come together anywhere else in the world. Right? Those personalities. And what you want is to find out how to make that set of people work well together. Right? How do they work best together? Not how does every other team in the world work best or how does the average team work best? How does your team work best? Right? So with all of this is sort of setting this and saying that there should be a pattern. I do want to give the hat tip here and say that the Esther Derby Dinah Larson book on retrospectives is one I strongly recommend. In fact, pretty much my whole career as a trainer, I have said, when people say if there's one book, if I'm to be a Scrum Master, if there's one book that you would say would be really impactful to me from pretty much day one, I have pointed to that book. It's called Agile Retrospectives, Esther Derby, Dinah Larson. And in that book, they lay out a pattern of kind of five phases that go through it. I'm going to distill it down because to me, it's sort of the three middle ones that are the most important. I will talk about the two on the ends here as well and kind of put that on top of these three. But sometimes I find people find it easier if they just remember what I'm gonna teach you here about the three that are in the middle. So in Scrum Master classes, we will talk often about how there's these three pillars of the Agile process or three pillars of empiricism. Empiricism says that we learn through experience. Well, I always say in class, it's not enough to just do the wrong thing over and over again. I gain a lot of experience by doing the wrong thing over and over, but I don't learn from it. And the three pillars are what's needed to make sure you learn from them. And I'm sure you've heard these before, but if you haven't, transparency, inspection, adaptation. Those are the three. Transparency meaning we're not going to be clouded about how we do the work. We're going to be very transparent, open about it. We're going to try to reveal how we work best as much as possible. Inspection, that we're going to actually take time and pause and try to figure out not just what happened, that would be transparency, right? What's the reality of what just happened? But inspecting says, why did this happen? Right? What's the root cause of it? I don't want to just deal with the symptoms, right? If we just try to cure the symptoms over and over again, we still have the same disease, we still have the same illness, and we're not really getting to the root cause. So inspection says, we're going to take time out to actually get to the root cause. And then adaptation, the last one, is probably the most important step here, because if you figure out what's wrong, but you don't ever do anything about it, well, we're doomed to have the same exact discussion again. So adaptation says, now that you know what the problem is, what are you going to try different? We may not even know exactly what the right thing to do is, but we got to try something. What we know for certain is what we did didn't work. That's the one thing we absolutely can't do again, is exactly what we did. We've got to try something new so that we move on, right? So that we find out more information and get closer to whatever our final solution is. So transparency, inspection, adaptation, those three actually serve as a good guideline or three phases you can think about for your retrospectives. There needs to be a transparency phase where you try to figure out what happened this last sprint. there needs to be an inspection phase where now that we know what happened, we got to ask the question, why did it happen? And we need to get to the root cause of why it happened. Now that we know what that is, then we have to move on to adaptation to say, what are we going to do about it? How are we going to take this knowledge we just gained and actually make a change? So we need activities around all three. And what I'm saying here to you is that can serve as your menu. I can do lots of different activities that would match these three areas. Now, I do, again, want to go back to the Esther Derby, Dinah Larson book, because their five phases adds one on the beginning, one on the end, which I actually do think are very helpful. The first one is kind of opening the retrospective. It's a way of trying to just start to get voices in the room. And this is something I will often do as well. Just a quick, quick exercise to just get people to start talking. And that's one of the ways you can start to get a quieter group to get involved is throw them something really easy to respond to right out of the gate. And then the last one is to close the retrospective. Closing the retrospective is a great way to then try to sum it all up and say, well, here's the takeaways, here's the things we're going to do about it, and we're going to move forward from here. Opening the retrospective to that introduction can also then review what you talked about at the end of the last. retrospective. You can say, here are the things that we decided, and let's talk about what's been done about them before you start to inspect the current retrospective. So given that, right, I know I'm going fast here, but you can rewind and listen back to this if you need to. But if you think about that, that you have these kind of phased approaches, and think of it like a menu, right? There's different courses to my menu. Well, I'm not going to serve the same meal every time. That would be boring. So I got to find out different things I can serve for each course of my retrospective. Now, here's where it gets interesting, right? Because there are lots of tools out there. And there's a website that I often recommend called RetroMAT. RetroMAT is a great site where you can go to, and it has those five phases. You can kind of scroll through different exercises for each of the five phases. they sort of have, you you can kind of mix and match and create your own menu based off of that. And doing that is absolutely free. Now they have paid things there as well. They're not a sponsor. I don't get any kickbacks or anything from them. But they have some paid activities as well as far as having things like Mural and Miro templates that you can use if you want to do that as well. So there's lots of things you can do there to thank them for what they put together. But there are times when Maybe you're trying to fit this to your team specifically, or you've grown tired of the exercises that you're used to, and you want to find some new dynamic to add into your retrospective. So what I'm going to do is kind of walk you through what I would do if I wanted to take some kind of a theme and create a new retrospective that's themed around a certain topic. Now I will say that this theme is gonna go just in one of our sections. So it's not going to go throughout it. I'm not gonna be that creative here with you on it, because I don't think you need to be. I don't think you need to have this, it's not like a theme to party, right? You can just take the theme and use it in one of the sections. So what would I do for something like this? Well, I'd start with, as I said, some way to kind of open the retrospective. And I like to have little quick activities as I said, that just get voices in the room. an example of things I've done in the past. Ask the team a quick question like, if this last sprint were a song title, what song title would you use to describe this last sprint? And people can use whatever kind of music they like, right? It doesn't matter. They can just call it any songs that they're familiar with. Or do movie titles. I've had a lot of fun in the past doing that with teams where I'll say, hey, shout out a movie title that might represent this last sprint. You just want to find something quick that people can shout out like one or two word answers, right? Or a small sentence in the case of a song title or movie title or something like that. But something that they can tie it into, right? And it doesn't have to be anything that makes perfect sense, right? It can be kind of crazy. It can be... You know, if this last sprint were a flavor of Starburst or, you know, an color, what color would it be and why? And just have people, you know, shout out whatever they think the answer would be. They might have to be a little creative with their answers when they do that. But that's okay. You're just giving them an opportunity to have a few voices start to enter the conversation. Don't force anyone, right? Don't force anyone to shout out, but give them an opportunity to. So I'm going to open the retrospective with some kind of fun, quick exercise like that. Probably won't take more than five minutes, okay? Then I want to move into that transparency section. And the way I frame transparency is what actually happened this last sprint? What was the reality of what happened this last sprint? So here's where I'm going to inject a themed kind of approach. And I just, I go through a couple of examples in our courses where I talk about doing this, but I picked a different one here for this podcast episode that I've put together right before this recording to try to walk you through a little bit of how I did this. So I tried to pick something that was a little more relevant to today. I know that this is popular and people are looking forward to the next season, which is about to come out. sometime soon, I know they've been shooting it, but I picked the theme, Stranger Things. And I just thought, what if my team, you know, had, I knew there were some people on my team really into Stranger Things, or what if I just knew they were aware of it, they knew what it was, and I wanted to have a theme built around this. So here's how easy it is to do this. I went to chat GPT, and I asked it to give me some, you know, putting together a retrospective that I want to theme it around stranger things. And give me some major themes from Stranger Things that might align to Some different ways of collecting information around what actually happened this last sprint. And. They gave me a long list of different things. And I read through these and kind of tweaked them, talked back and forth with it a little bit, kind of refined. And I distilled it down to five sort of themes or categories I thought would be fun and would kind of challenge the group to think along different lines of thought. So here's what I came up with with Chat GPT's help. My first category. I called running up that hill. And what I put for the prompt for this one is what felt like an uphill battle this sprint? Now just think about that, right? In traditional sprints, there's lots of things that are just, I'm essentially asking what was the obstacles? What were the hurdles in this sprint? But I'm getting them to think about it in little different way by saying, what was an uphill battle in this sprint? And even that subtle rewording, of that prompt can trigger people's brains to work in a different way and get them to think along different lines. If I just ask over and over again, you know, what was a blocker of this sprint or what blockers do we encounter this sprint? If I use those same words over and over, I get sort of immunized against them and I can't really think about anything new. But just phrasing it that little slightly different way, what felt like an uphill battle this sprint I think can really trigger some new ways of thinking. So that was my first category. The second one that I came up with, big theme here in Stranger Things, was the upside down. And I related it this way to say, what is completely upside down right now? What is the opposite of what it should be right now? Now here, I'm trying to get them to think about things that are not really going well, right? Things that are going the opposite direction that they should, and it's upside down from what should be the normal. Right? And again, we're just thinking along this theme of stranger things and I'm tricking their brains a little bit into thinking along a different line, right? To examine it from a different point of view. My third category that I thought would be fun was I titled Vecna's Curse. And what I prompted here for this one was what haunted the team this sprint or kept coming back up to bite us. And The idea here is to get them to think about things that were maybe decisions we wish we had made differently. These could have been decisions in the past. It didn't have to be a decision from this sprint. But what are those things that we felt kind of like was like Vecna's curse? It was just something that kept rearing its ugly head. And it was just a struggle for us to get around. My fourth one, just to have a little fun. I call the fourth one Surfer Boy Pizza. And what I put as a prompt on this one was, where did we bring the chill? Where did we bring the creative spin to a tough solution during the sprint? So here I'm wanting to celebrate good things, right? And I'm asking that in a funny way. So it brings some humor to it, puts them in a better mood, and also gets them to think along a maybe a little bit of a different line in this area to think, all right, well, what do we get really creative about? What do we have to be really creative about in this sprint? What kind of tough solutions did we really conquer? Did we really nail in this sprint? And I'm just theming around that loose theme of that surfer boy pizza from the last season. And then the last one, I couldn't have categories here without mentioning Hellfire Club. So the last one was Hellfire Club. And the prompt I put for it was, where could we bring more of kind of that Hellfire Club vibe, planning, teamwork, shared adventure, right? Just the fun. Where could we put more of that vibe into our team and to how we operate? Now, this is getting them to think about something that might otherwise be a little bit of a uncomfortable thing to think about, right? Because Now we're getting into interpersonal dynamics. We're getting into how the team actually works and fits together. And that's why I chose this theme, because I wanted it to be just kind of a, even maybe a sneaky back doorway of getting their brains to start to examine, yeah, what would have made this more fun? Or what would have made this, how could we have, I've asked often in retrospectives, what would it take for us to be the team that everyone else wishes they were on? Well, That's what I'm asking here, essentially. So I've got my five themes. And I even then went forward and created and kind of get some images for each one of those, like icons for each one of those things. Just created a board and mural for this and put each of those things up. Had a big block space next to each one where people could put Post-it notes. So what I would do here in the retrospective is I'd introduce this. I'd give them the prompts for each of the section and say, all right, let's take a few minutes. Everyone can add Post-its to any of these sections, but try to think through several of them and put several of them up here on the screen or physical board if we're in the same space. But take a few moments here to think through each category and see if there's anything that you can think of that you would add to each area. So we take, I don't know, five, 10 minutes to do that. normally time that, I just see when it starts to slow down. And there's generally a point there where you can kind of intuitively feel it and feel like, you know, the group's ready to move on. So whenever that time comes, I'll call a halt to it and I'll say, all right, now that we've done this, I want us to try to narrow down what's on the board. So let's give you each three votes. And I do this usually with dot voting or something along that line. where they have three dots they can place on three different sticky notes across all five categories. And what I tell them is find the three that are the most important of all the things here, what are the three that are most important and put your vote on those top three. And by doing this, having the team vote on it, then we surface the most important three out of the entire group, right? It's not to say we ignore the others, but we're going to try, we can't focus on everything in our time that we have. So, whether our top three, and then I start with the first one, right? So right now, all we've done is kind of the introduction of the sprint. We've done a transparency section. Now we move into the inspection. Now there's lots of different things you can do here, but what I put together for this retrospective was taking them through sort of a five whys activity. So I would take that first one, I'd have them examine it and look at it and say, all right, let's ask the question why five times for this one. Why did this happen? whatever they answer, then we say, all right, well, why did that happen then? And we ask why, it doesn't have to technically be five times, but you need to ask it enough to where you get down to something that you can say, yeah, that's definitely the root cause, right? That's what's underneath all this. All that followed it, all that came afterwards was all stuff that came as a result of us making that decision. So once we have our root cause, we can repeat that again for the other two. if we have time, but if we're starting to run out of time, I kind of watch my time box there. And once I realize we need to move into solutioning, then we'll move on into the adaptation portion. In adaptation, we just take each single one, and we kind of repeat this process of getting possible answers across the team. So for the number one issue that you guys identified, here's our root cause. Let's take some post-its here. or let's take some suggestions of what we might possibly do to counteract this in the next sprint. So we get those things that come up. Then we'll talk through each one, and we'll try to build consensus as a team as to the most important step to take. So for each item, I want what's the one most important thing to do. So we'll identify that, again, as time allows, I want to at least do the most important thing. If we have time for more than that, great, we'll get to the second and third. But I think it's so important to just, whatever the biggest, most important thing is, make sure you have an action item for that thing. And here's where I just caution you. It doesn't have to be, hey, we've knocked it out. We've cleared it. We've solved it in the next sprint. It just has to be that we've taken a step towards solving it, right? What's the old phrase, a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. Well, the same thing goes for our teams. And this is oftentimes why teams get stuck, is they just feel paralyzed. Hey, there's nothing we can do about this. It's such a huge issue. Well, that's not true. What's the next step you can take? So take the next step. Make sure that the team understands what it is. And make sure we understand who is going to be responsible for that. And do that for as many as you can get through. Then get to the closing the retrospective part of it. Kind of wrap up. Remind them, here's the journey we've taken, here's what we've uncovered, and here's what we're gonna do differently for next time. And now those items, they should go straight into your next sprint backlog, not product backlog, sprint backlog, right? They don't need to be prioritized because the product owner has been with you, they should have been with you in this meeting, it's the entire Scrum team. So the product owner has weighed in as well. This has been a team collective decision. So now those items should go into your sprint backlog, and you should do something about them in this next sprint. That's the whole concept of the Kaizen comes first, right? The good change should happen before we do anything else so we can get the benefit of it over a longer period of time. So that's kind of the idea here. And I wanted to give you that kind of really quick flyby to help you kind of see how to go about doing something like this, right? And I just picked one theme. I just picked Stranger Things because I thought it would be fun to work on. I thought it would be a fun kind of theme. And it might be fun for a team I was working with. But maybe that's not something that aligns to your team. Maybe your team has a bunch of people who are really into cricket. Well, do a cricket-themed one. Maybe you have a team that's around the Academy Awards time. And everyone's talking about, and now people don't do this as much anymore, but. Maybe they're all talking about who's going to Oscars this year or something. Well, do an Oscar-themed one. Or it can be around anything. Do it around award shows in general. It doesn't have to be just Oscars, but do it around any kind of award show. And you can pick up different themes. Again, if you're stuck, ask your favorite large language model and see what it comes up with. It's not all going to be gems that comes from that, but you can pick and choose and refine it, which is exactly what I did with my five themes for this. So I hope you see how easy it is to do that. It doesn't have to be complicated. You don't have to be extremely creative to do this. You can make use of the tools that you have available to you. And as a Scrum Master, you can keep this fresh. You can tailor this to the team that you have. What is your team really into? What's the theme that they would really resonate with? Choose that. Go with that. Create a theme around that and see what they think about it. Afterwards, ask them, hey, did this work all right? Did you like this? I hope that's been useful to you. If you like this and you want to hear more like this, come to our website to mountngoatsoftware.com and check out our courses that we're launching actually this week, Better Retrospectives and the Retrospective Repair Guide. Those are the two that we really want to have you kind of think about. Come to our site, find out more about them. Better Retrospectives is all about just the expert level retrospectives course really gets into the heart of a lot of these issues at a very, very deep level. The retrospectives repair guide is taking the 10 most asked questions that we have about retrospectives at Mountain Goat Software and giving you really deep dives on how to solution those, how to problem solve those top 10 issues. And the great news for you is if you're listening to this in real time, right, when we've launched this, We're launching this as a two-for-one special. We'll not have that special again. So it's $99 that you get both of those courses. You don't have to pick and choose from them. You can give $99. They're prerecorded. You can watch them at your own pace. This is for people who want this knowledge, who want these answers. And I know when I was a Scrum Master starting out, there was a lot of, I followed a kind of the pattern that Mike established with his sprint repair guide. I bought that when I was coming up as a scrum master because I needed answers to some of the questions that he had in that scrum repair guide. Well, take a look at the 10 that we have for our retrospective repair guide. Maybe you'll find one of those things that's really tripping you up and maybe just getting the answer to one of those is going to be worth the money for you. I encourage you to go to our site, check it out. Don't miss this. It's a limited time cart that's opened. It's only going to be open for a week. So if you're listening to this when we launch it, don't delay, don't wait until next week. If you hear this next week, then you're running out of time. So make sure that you take advantage of the time that you have here so that you can get these two courses, two for the price of one here at our launch. Again, we won't do that again. So I hope you found this to be useful. It's just a little taste of the kind of thing that's in those courses for you. And if retrospectives are something that you're struggling with, or if retrospectives are something that you just feel like, man, it really could be more. It really could deliver more for my team. Check out these two courses. I really think they're gonna help a lot of teams out there. That's why we put them together. So that'll wrap it up. I hope you've enjoyed this and we'll talk to you next time. on another episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast.

In this week's mini-episode we explain kaizen, a Japanese concept translating roughly to "continuous improvement."Get our Intro to Mechanics audio course, normally $79, FREE:https://bjjmentalmodels.com/freeintroDon't forget to check out BJJ Mental Models Premium!If you love the podcast, you'll definitely love our premium membership offerings. The podcast is truly just the tip of the iceberg – the next steps on your journey are joining our community, downloading our strategy courseware, and working with us to optimize your game. We do all this through memberships that come in at a fraction of the cost of a single private.Sign up here for a free trial:https://bjjmentalmodels.com/Need more BJJ Mental Models?Get tips, tricks, and breakthrough insights from our newsletter:https://bjjmentalmodels.com/newsletter/Get nitty-gritty details on our mental models from the full database:https://bjjmentalmodels.com/database/Follow us on social:https://facebook.com/bjjmentalmodels/https://instagram.com/bjjmentalmodels/

Do you ever feel overwhelmed that you are responsible for doing too much?Maybe you're frustrated that your team relies on you for answers instead of developing their own solutions.Or you're disappointed that improvements fall apart as soon as you step away.The problem: You're likely stuck in the Doer Trap—and it's holding you (and your team) back from the results you want. The good news? There's a way out.In this episode, I dive into three simple shifts that will instantly help you break free from the Doer Trap and into true transformational leadership.Your power and influence doesn't come from doing it all.Whether you are an executive manager, internal change leader, or lean consultant, your ability to create lasting impact lies in knowing the outcomes you want and your role in getting there.Are you ready to break free from the Doer Trap and lead with real impact? YOU'LL LEARN:What the Doer Trap is—and why it's so easy to fall into5 Doer Trap roles (and which ones you might be stuck in)3 simple shifts to instantly break free of the Doer Trap and make immediate impactHow to gain clarity on your role and step into true leadership by modeling the wayA simple way to frame a contracting conversation to clarify roles and expectationsIMPORTANT LINKS:Full episode show notes with links to other podcast episodes and resources: ChainOfLearning.com/40Check out my website for resources and to learn more about my trusted advisor, coaching, and learning experiences KBJAnderson.comFollow me on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kbjandersonDownload my FREE KATALYST™ Change Leader Self-Assessment: KBJAnderson.com/katalyst TIMSTAMPS:03:14 What the doer trap is—and why we fall into it04:55 Mode 1: The Hero – Not everything needs your rescue05:48 Mode 2: The Rescuer – Why you need to let others struggle06:52 Mode 3: The Magician – Doing it all behind the scenes07:43 Mode 4: Pair of Hands – When you default to doing09:53 3 simple shifts to break free from the trap10:06 Shift 1: Clarity – Know your role and who owns what14:14 Why so many operational leaders feel overwhelmed15:12 The power of a purposeful pause17:10 Shift 2: Contracting – Align on roles and expectations23:03 How to frame a clear contracting conversation27:58 Shift 3: Model the way and label your intent28:19 Two ways to reflect and invite real feedback31:49 A real-life example of how one leader found freedom33:42 Questions to reflect if you're falling into one of the doer traps

Whether you're an entrepreneur, aspiring business owner, or a leader in your company, Jeff's actionable principles will help you navigate through challenges and unlock your potential. From building strong relationships to taking immediate, decisive action, this episode covers the strategies that can transform your business and your life.   Join us as Jeff shares the importance of Kaizen (continuous improvement), making friends, having fun, and knowing when to embrace change. No matter your background or industry, Jeff's formula is agnostic—applicable to your health, wealth, relationships, and business.   Key Takeaways: •How to scale success with daily micro-improvements •The power of relationships in achieving business growth •The mindset needed to tackle challenges and make great decisions •Why it's not about if you'll succeed, but when   Don't miss out on these actionable insights that can change your entrepreneurial journey today!

You will never transform your company by point kaizen alone. Learn why traditional Japanese consultants were not enough in order to propel Danaher into a space all by themselves. Kaikaku (radical change) was a hallmark of Danaher's Strategy Deployment process.

This week Seoirse is joined by three very special guests, Oli, Rachel and Phil, who are all part of Kaizen Game Works and came on the podcast to talk about their upcoming open world narrative game Promise Mascot Agency. This promises to be one of the most unique games coming out and you can learn all about this game as well as their previous game Paradise Killer in this interview. And if that's not enough they also have time to talk about the original version of Until Dawn, which Oli worked as developer on ten years ago. All that and much more!Kaizen Game Works Official SitePromise Mascot Agency Official SiteParadise Killer Official SiteAdventure Games Podcast Official SiteIf you would like to stay up to date make sure you subscribe to the podcast. You can subscribe and listen to this podcast on Itunes and Spotify and all other major Podcast Platforms! You can also subscribe to our Youtube channel for extra video content such as video reviews, video interviews, trailers and gameplay.You can also support the podcast at our PatreonYou can review this podcast here:https://ratethispodcast.com/adventuregamespodcastYou can also find this podcast on our social media below:FacebookInstagramDiscordYou can also find the RSS feed here:http://www.adventuregamespodcast.com/podcast?format=rssLogo created by Siobhan. You can find her on Twitter and InstagramMusic is Speedy Delta (ID 917) by Lobo Loco and can be found here:http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/Welcome/Speedy_Delta_ID_917_1724

Optimization and maximization are common buzzwords in our fitness culture, and for good reason; they sell. Because who doesn't want the best exercises, the best diet, and the best workout routine?The hunt for optimization can have a dark side to it which, ironically, can hold you back, and prevent you from getting what you want, while adding stress on your body mind and lifestyle. Optimization is great for a select few, but it's not a practical solution for most people. Instead, focusing on Kaizen, or continuous self improvement is the way to go. R.D.P. Books and equipment resources available at https://www.reddeltaproject.com

Retrospectives shouldn’t suck the energy out of your team—or get skipped entirely. In this episode, Brian and Cort share how to fix the most common retro fails and announce two brand-new tools to help you run retros that actually work. Overview In this episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast, Brian Milner and Cort Sharp break down why retrospectives are more than just a “Scrum box to check.” They’re the powerhouse behind continuous team improvement. From battling retro fatigue and quiet-room energy to creating psychologically safe environments and tying retrospectives to real results, they cover it all. Plus, Brian reveals the launch of two new on-demand courses—Better Retrospectives and The Retrospectives Repair Guide—designed to help teams stop skipping and start optimizing their retros. Whether you're a Scrum Master, coach, or facilitator, this episode is your practical guide to making retrospectives worth everyone’s time again. References and resources mentioned in the show: Cort Sharp Blog: Retrospectives With a Quiet Team Blog: Does a Scrum Team Need a Retrospective Every Sprint Mike Cohn’s Better User Stories Course Scrum Repair Guide Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input. Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one. Got an Agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com This episode’s presenters are: Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work. Cort Sharp is the Scrum Master of the producing team and the Agile Mentors Community Manager. In addition to his love for Agile, Cort is also a serious swimmer and has been coaching swimmers for five years. Auto-generated Transcript: Brian Milner (00:00) Welcome in Agile Mentors. Welcome back for another episode of Agile Mentors podcast. I'm with you as always, Brian Milner, but today we're gonna have a continuation of something we tried, a little experiment we tried a few weeks back here. I've got Mr. Court Sharp back with us. Welcome back in court. Cort Sharp (00:18) Hey, Brian, thanks for having me on again. I had lot of fun last time I was on here and it was a great discussion. So thanks for bringing me back. Brian Milner (00:21) Yeah. Yeah, it's, oh, absolutely. Yeah, know, got a lot of people said, hey, we kind of like that court guy. Kind of like hearing from court. So we wanted to have court back, you know, because you guys told us that you liked him. And we also wanted to have him back because we just thought this format kind of worked for various reasons. And last time we kind of hit on some things that were kind of more hot button issues of the day. things that have been flowing through social media or other things around Agile. But we wanted to have a little bit more of a focus for today's episode. And we're going to focus really on the topic of retrospectives. And maybe make a little announcement here along the way as we go along. But we're actually going to switch roles here a little bit. I'm going to kind of pass the ball over to Court. And I'm going let Court drive this, just like he did in the last episode. Ball's in your court. Ha ha, get it? Cort Sharp (01:18) Ha ha, court, there you go. Well thanks, Brian. Once again, I love coming on here, I love chatting with you. And like you said, yeah, we're gonna be talking about retrospectives today, mostly because I have been struggling with answering questions about retrospectives. I think this is one of the more common meetings within Scrum that just gets skipped over, just people don't find value in it. Brian Milner (01:42) Yeah. Cort Sharp (01:43) or people just struggle with understanding why we have retrospectives. And sometimes I get a little slipped up and I struggle with answering the questions about why do we do this? So can you give me some clarification? Why do we have retrospectives? Why do they matter? Brian Milner (01:58) Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's a great question. And I think everyone should, should, you know, want to know that answer. If you're doing this, you one of things I say in class all the time is, you know, it's important to know the purpose behind the meetings that we have in scrum. If you don't know the purpose, then, you know, that, how are we gonna, how are we gonna have a successful meeting? How are we gonna get the most out of it? so yeah, it's, it's a funny kind of meeting, because all the other meetings and scrum are, are really, around one ultimate purpose and that's building the increment. This is not, right? This is sort of a timeout. It's an intentional kind of timeout to step away and say, all right, now that we've done that, how did it go? What kind of happened along the way? I think it's a vitally important meeting. And when I hear people sometimes say, is it okay to skip it or should we do it once ever so often? you know, again, I try to be pragmatic and say, you know, I don't, I don't know any possible situation out there, but, you know, I would tell you, I would advise you not to, I don't think that's the right path to go. I know scrum doesn't teach to do that. I think it's really, really important because it is that, that moment of let's pause for a little bit. Let's figure out what we need to do differently and then let's actually take a step to do it. There's actually an interesting little background for this. So I'm going to take a little side trip here. Retrospectives actually come from an idea that has been around for a while that actually started kind of in lean manufacturing, some of the things that came out of Japan. There was actually a phrase that they would use on the assembly line at the auto assembly plants there in Japan. They referred to this concept of Kaizen. Kaizen was kind of a, I don't speak Japanese, but what I understand is the word loosely kind of translates to good change. And they had this concept there on the assembly line floor that anyone who was on the floor had access to the big red button that could stop the entire thing. They could stop the entire assembly line, which you know, on an auto assembly plant, that's a huge deal to stop the entire production. And they were very deliberate about it and said, no, we want everyone to have access to that because the phrase they use was the Kaizen comes first. And what they instructed the employees was if you along the way, as you're doing your job, if you see something that we could change that would make it more efficient, that would be a better way of doing this, then we want you to hit the red button because we want to implement whatever that change is as soon as possible. The sooner we implement the change, the longer we have as a benefit, like an investment. The earlier I invest, the more I get as a return. So the same thing here, the earlier I invest in this good change, the longer I have to have a return from it. So that phrase, the Kaizen comes first, is sort of a central thing that we think about here with retrospectives. It's identifying those good changes. there's actually even an intention behind it that it doesn't go on the product backlog. It goes in the next sprint backlog. Because we don't want to have any even inkling of deprioritizing something that comes out of a retrospective. It's that Kaizen portion. So we want to make sure that comes first. So yeah, it absolutely is going to go into the next sprint. Whatever we decide is the most important thing, we're going to make an impact on it in the next sprint. So that's why I think that it's the most important thing for us is it's the engine that really drives continual improvement. And without it, I think teams stagnate. I think they just get kind of stuck in a rut. problems that we have, we just continually repeat. if we don't have the time to stop an exam. Cort Sharp (06:00) Yeah. All right. So I kind of got one bigger idea from there. And for whatever reason, when you were like, we gave everyone the red button to stop the assembly line. And that's kind of, we're stopping, we're pausing, we're inspecting, and then we're going to come up with a plan to adapt. Whatever reason, this phrase stuck in my head, it just popped out to me. But it sounds like we're giving power to the people. Brian Milner (06:06) Okay. Cort Sharp (06:26) where we're, you know, the team has the power, the people have the power to say, whoa, let's stop here. Let's hang on a second. Let's take some time and let's figure out a better way to move forward. And from that, I just think of sports. I think of sports teams. We're in the middle of March Madness as we're recording this right now. And I can pretty much guarantee you that every single one of those teams who's advancing on past, I think round one is going on right now, so passing on through round one, they're probably watching some film on their opponents. They're trying to see, what are they gonna do? What are some plays? How can we kind of counteract it? But more often than not, I would wager, I'm not a gambling man, but I'd wager, that they're looking at their own film and they're trying to see what did we do well in this game that got us the win? What can we improve? so that we could maybe have a little bit more of a bigger margin of victory. And what is it that we should probably stop doing? What is there that wasn't working out? Maybe our pick and rolls were not good, maybe we weren't executing well on those, or not to get too into basketball terms there, but maybe we should stop shooting so many threes or something like that. I don't know, right? But yeah, that's, yeah. Brian Milner (07:42) I think you're right. I think you're absolutely right that, you know, sometimes we think this retrospective thing is maybe, is this just a weird thing that we do in software development? No, this happens in a lot of professions. There's a lot of different professions out there that take time to analyze. And by the way, I'll throw this out there as well, because you mentioned kind of sports. Sometimes people will, I've encountered teams at times that think, You know what, we're good enough. We don't need to do this anymore. This is really only for teams when they're starting. We don't need to have retrospectives once we've become mature. Well, to them, I'd say, well, then why do championship teams continue to watch their film? Right? If a team won the Super Bowl last year, don't you think that they still go through training camp and get ready for the season? Yeah, they absolutely do. But they're on top of their game. So if they think it's necessary when they're on top of their game, is there really a moment that we would be so on top of our game that we have nothing left to learn and get better at? I'd say no. I think that there's always something that we can get better at. And I think that's a great analogy to kind of drive that home. Cort Sharp (08:54) Yeah, awesome. I totally agree with you there. Even just outside of the team sports world, I come from a more individual sport background. And it's so important to take some time and just reflect on, how did I perform? How was my performance, even on an individual level, so that I can take some action steps throughout this next period of training or work or whatever it is that I'm doing so that I can make the next next performance or the next time I race or the next time I get out there on the court or on the field or whatever. That's how I can make that next time better than this last time. So awesome. Thanks for clarifying. Thanks for. Brian Milner (09:28) Yeah. Well, yeah, yeah, no, no, it's a great question. I think this is, probably time for us to kind of let the cat out of the bag here a little bit and just say, one of the reasons we wanted to focus on it for the episode is, drum roll, we kind of have a couple of courses coming out. here that we're going to offer at Mountain Goat Software that you can take around retrospectives. They're on demand videos that I worked on. They're two different separate courses. And we just thought this was an area that really needed some focus and attention and we were getting lots of questions around it. So we always try to listen to what you guys are telling us. And what we were hearing was, this is where you wanted us to focus. yeah, not a lot of details that I'm going to say right out of the gate. But yeah, we do want to kind of announce that those are coming here very, very soon. Cort Sharp (10:22) Yeah, so if I heard you right, I think you said this, but there's two courses coming out, right? Okay, cool. We're letting that out of the bag. Brian Milner (10:28) That's correct, yeah, two. right, right. I mean, you might think, one course I can understand, but two? Yeah, there's so much material that there was too much for one. And people could not consume all that in one go. And so we created two and kind of found different aims, different goals for both of them. to target what people were really asking for. So yeah, there are two separate courses. One that's going to be called Better Retrospectives, and another one that's called Retrospectives Repair Guide. So yeah, you can sell just from the names, kind of taking two different approaches here on focusing on retros. Cort Sharp (11:07) That's so awesome to hear that we have two separate types of courses that solve kind of two problems. So what were the reasons why you decided or Mountain Goat decided, hey, we probably need to make these to help solve some pain points. What were those pain points and what are these common struggles that you're seeing? Brian Milner (11:19) Yeah. Yeah, completely fair question, right? I mean, why didn't we do one on sprint planning? Or why didn't we do one on daily scrums or whatever, right? Well, maybe we will in the future. I think the kind of genesis of this idea or why we decided to focus on it was we periodically survey users. We watch what people do when they come to the site, what they search for. And one of our top search terms and one of the top search areas that we've seen over the years, really, it's been consistent, is around retrospectives. So we know that's an area people want to know more about and want to get help with. So that gave us the first little inkling that this might be something to focus on. That led us to doing just a free open webinar that we did. I hosted that, I put together a presentation to give some tips around it and help people, just a short little presentation, but wanted to just give some really quick tips people could apply. And we had over a thousand people sign up for that. not, I shouldn't say that. We had over a thousand people attend that. just, lots of people sign up and don't come, but. We had over thousand people who showed up and attended to hear that. And that kind of blew us away. think, wow, this is really, know, people made time in their day to come and listen to this, you know, short little webinar on it. There's interest here. And with a thousand people, we didn't have nearly enough time there on that webinar to answer everyone's questions and get through everything that was coming at us. But, you know, we love data. So. We pulled all that data from all the questions that had been submitted and people had presented to us and grouped them, categorized them, tried to sort them through and try to find what's the biggest kind of pressure, pain points that people are having that they wanna know answers to. And that's what led us to really create these courses is there were reoccurring themes, right? There was a kind of set of things that are common amongst people. common issues, common problems that people are having, common root causes of those problems. And we just thought, this is doable. It's not an impossible thing to fix. There are actually practical, real ways of solving these things. And we wanted to give people solutions to the things they wanted to hear about. So that's why we decided to focus on retrospectives. Cort Sharp (13:50) Awesome, sweet. That's still crazy to hear. I knew that you had a thousand people or a little over a thousand people attend that live stream, I think is what you did, right? Because it was like a YouTube live stream or something like that. That's still mind blowing to me that there was that much turnout and... Brian Milner (14:09) Actually, I just wanna say, I don't know that it actually even was on YouTube. That's what makes it even more kind of impressive to me is people had to like get a link and go into it. So it wasn't just, hey, I'm flipping through YouTube on my lunch break and it turned up. It was people who deliberately said, no, I'm making an appointment to go to that. Yeah. Cort Sharp (14:29) Man, that's even, yeah, that's crazier to me too. That's awesome. That tells me, yeah, there's a ton of demand for this, right? So can you give me just a brief overview without oversharing or sharing a little too much about what each course kind of offers and what problems they're working to solve or we're solving within each course? Brian Milner (14:31) Yeah. Sure. Yeah, I guess it's probably important to know the strategy of both of them and why there's two. As I said, there's just a lot of material, so it was too much to fit into one. But I tried to follow the pattern in creating these that we've established at Mountain Goat with previous classes. So the first one that I put together, we titled Better Retrospectives. And that's following the pattern that we've done with other things like better user stories. So better retrospectives, the focus is sort of the expert deep dive on retrospectives. We go deep on the meaning behind things and kind of facilitation techniques that are useful to do, patterns you can use in creating a retrospective, ways you can create brand new. themes for your retrospective that no one's ever done before in the past because it's yours. It's something you created on your own. And just kind of all the ins and outs of how to really make a retrospective work and be productive, produce things that actually make differences on your team. So that was better retrospectives. But we wanted to then address head on those most common questions that people have. Again, try to follow the pattern that we've established with some previous things here at Mountain Goat. Mike has a course that I took years ago called Scrum Repair Guide. And it was about the most common problems that Scrum teams have. so I follow that pattern here. And the second course is called Retrospective's Repair Guide. And what we did was we took those highest volume asked questions, the most common questions we got from that webinar. got just the top 10 and said, these are the biggies. These are the big ones that people are asking about that really want to know the answer to. And we put together a repair guide course for it so that people can maybe consume that in a little bit different way. If I'm having one big problem right now and I need an answer to that, or maybe I have two or three problems, I'm not having all the problems, but I need an answer. I need help with this big thing that's going on with my team. We wanted to get that to them as soon as possible. So the retrospective repair guide is that ability for someone to look at our list of top 10 questions. And you'll probably find three or four of them on there that you'd say, oh, yeah, that's one I've experienced. Yeah, that's one we're having right now. And then you can just kind of to the chase and get right to where it is that you need to get help. And then practically go and make those changes immediately. So better retrospectives. The expert course, Deep Dive on Retrospectives, makes you an expert at delivering them and working with them. Retrospectives Repair Guide, more for those finding the solutions to the problems you're having right now. Cort Sharp (17:37) Awesome. I want to kind of double click a little bit into the retrospective repair guide. Man, tongue twister, right? The retro repair guide. Can you share just like one or two, maybe three of those questions that are answered or some of those bigger questions that were asked that are answered and that you give a solution to and a very clear solution to within that course? Brian Milner (17:43) Yeah, it is a little. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. just know for each one of these, it's not a, the answer is, here's a sentence. Each one of these, we go really deep on how to answer that and strategies. And I give you multiple things that you can do. Because a lot of these maybe even have multiple root causes to them that could be causing them. And there could be something different you might need to do to solve that for your team. But you know, Like one of the biggest questions that we heard, probably the most popular question that we got was, how do you handle retrospectives when you have a quiet team? When you have a team of people that are a little more introverted or shy, not uncommon with a group of software developers. So how do you get them a little bit out of their shell or how do you get them to just feel safe enough there to actually contribute? That was a big one. Um, you know, a big one for our, our day and age is how do you handle retrospectives when you have people that are remote? Uh, you know, do you have an entirely remote team? Do you have people that are, uh, you know, parked your team? Part of your team is, is in-house part of your team is remote. Uh, how do you, how do you handle that split? Um, that was another big one. Um, you know, how do you handle it when you're, you have a team that just hates retrospectives? Um, you know, how do you, how do you, uh, How do you get your team to start really making progress, real progress, from the things that you talk about in your retrospectives? So these are just a couple of them. we really thought that these, for each one of them, as I went through each one of them, I thought, yeah, this is a big one. This is one I get questions about all the time in class. So there was none of them that I looked at and thought, this is a filler. Am I going to make it to 10? No, mean, it was hard to limit it to 10, you know? But yeah, we limited it to 10 and all of them are really, really important ones. Cort Sharp (19:47) You Yeah, nothing but heavy hitters here. Nothing but bangers. Here you go. Yeah, that's it. Awesome. OK, well, thanks for the overview. Thanks for introducing these courses. That last question there, what do I do? How do I manage a team within my retrospectives when they hate going to retrospectives or despise that? That'd be super useful for me. Man, I might buy this course right now. Brian Milner (19:55) Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Ha Yeah. Cort Sharp (20:23) But I would like to, we strive to have some pragmatic approaches. We strive to provide practical, immediately useful tips on this podcast. I know that's a big point for this podcast that you really work on and you really focus on. Do you have any just practical, immediately useful tips? Let's start out, I guess. This might be a little teaser, a little preview. You might repeat something that you gave out into the Retro's course there, the Retro Repair Guide. With quiet teams, can you just share something that I can immediately take away and go off if I have a really quiet team and it's like pulling teeth to get them to talk and participate in Retro's? Can you give me just some useful tips or something that I can go away with? Brian Milner (21:08) Yeah. Cort Sharp (21:13) after listening to this episode and go off and use with my team to help my quiet team be a little more active and a little more beneficial. Show them that, this retro is for you. What can I do to work with my quiet team here? Brian Milner (21:29) Yeah, yeah, no, mean, how can I tease the number one thing without giving any kind of advice on it, right? And no, I mean, we're doing this because we want to get this information out route. We want to help teams to be successful with this. So no, I don't mind at all going into some things that might help there on it. There'll be much more in the course because I just have more time to do that. I think that the number one thing when you have a quiet team is trying to understand the why behind it. So for starters, I think it's important for us to understand that there are different personality types. I mentioned things like introvertedness. There are people who are more introverted than others. And if that's a of a spectrum in itself. There are people who are extremely introverted, and there's people who are only mildly introverted. Not to mention, one of my favorite topics, thinking about kind of different neurodivergent traits and how they interact and participate and things of that nature. So all that's to say, that I think the number one thing that we have to do is know our team. We have to understand who is in the room. Because I think we make the mistake a lot of the times of, I'm gonna just put together a retrospective. Let me go find out what that guy on YouTube said about doing a retrospective. yeah, that was a fun little theme that he came up with. Let me go put that in place. But that may not match at all. the personality of your team. It may not match the way that they prefer to interact. If I have a team full of introverts, I'm not gonna do a big role play kind of exercise in my retrospectives, because everyone's gonna be uncomfortable and everyone's gonna shut down. They're gonna go into defensive kind of stance, right? So I think that's the number one thing I'd say is, first of all, just understand and respect. respect the differences there in personalities to understand that they're not broken or in need of repair in any way. If they are quieter, that's just who they are. That's just how they're made. So I think that's part of it, right? I think part is that you have to understand your team. But there are other possible root causes here as well. One of the biggest is they could be quiet because they don't feel safe to actually speak in that room. That's a huge one, right? And it's so important. If they come into that room and they are fearful that what they say in that room is going to be reported outside the room to someone else, or they're going to be made fun of in that room for voicing their opinion or belittled in some way for it, well, That's a killer to a retrospective. If there's not that sense of safety in the room, doesn't matter how brilliant your pattern is for the retrospective or what great idea you came up with for it. If I don't feel like this is a safe space where I can speak up and not be made fun of or not fear retribution for something I've said, I'm not gonna speak up. whether I'm an extrovert or an introvert. It doesn't really matter my personality type at that point because the fear is what's driving everyone in that room. So I think you have to maybe even gauge the team. Maybe even ask them in an anonymous poll. I've done this before by just giving slips of paper and everyone puts in a hat. And you can do something like a safety check where you say, give me a number from one to five. five being the highest and one being the lowest, how safe do you feel today in this room to speak honestly without fear of retribution or being made fun of, that sort of thing? And it could very much surprise you what the answer is. That's actually an activity that I repeat periodically when I have a team because I want to chart it. I want to see where they are now. I want to see if it goes up or down. If there's some kind of a change, how does that affect it? We had, we lost a team member or two team members and we had new people come on. Safety is going to drop because we have new people. God forbid if we have somebody who's an outsider who insists on coming into it. I try my best to keep them out, but hey, if my boss says, well, I'm overruling you, I'm coming in. Well, are you gonna quit immediately because that happens? Probably not. What can you do? Make it transparent, the effect. You can say, hey, we periodically take these safety checks. So here today, I took another safety check. Our normal average is 4.2. Today, it dropped to 2.1. Why do you think that happened? It's data. So I think safety is another big reason. Cort Sharp (26:13) Right. Right. Brian Milner (26:18) So let's, personality type, gotta understand personality type, gotta make sure the environment's safe. And by the way, kind of corollary to that is not only that it's safe, but that their opinion matters. So if they speak up and say things and no one pays attention to them, no one listens to them, well again, you're telling them your idea doesn't matter, learn this lesson, next time don't speak up, right? Cort Sharp (26:30) Mm-hmm. Brian Milner (26:44) So they've got to have a safe space. And then I think you've got to match your activities to your team. You've got to find ways of connecting to them that will feel comfortable for them, that make them feel. I say this all the time in classes, facilitation, the root word in facilitation is facilis. It's a Latin word. means to make easy. So we're facilitating a retrospective. Make it easy. If your team doesn't want to role play, and you've got an activity that's a role play thing, then that's not easy. That's difficult for who they are. But if your team, another kind of difference, are they verbal processors? Do they need to talk things out to find a solution? Or do they need quiet space? that they need introspective time to find solutions. If that's the case, well, maybe I start with something like quiet writing. I don't even have an activity where they're talking to each other at the beginning. So I think that's third thing I'd throw out there is to say, Once you know your team, make sure you are matching the format, matching what you come up with for that retrospective to the personality of your team. It's hard, right? Someone can't walk in off the street and deliver a great retrospective to a team they don't know. But the good news is you know your team, right? You work with them all the time. You're the expert on this. Cort Sharp (28:08) you Yeah, yeah, as a more introverted person, nothing sounds worse to me than trying to, to do any kind of role playing, putting myself in some position that I just don't normally put myself into and I'm not comfortable with right that that is not my jam. That is not my thing. Brian Milner (28:27) Yeah. Yeah, and can you blame it when, if that happens, can you blame the team for saying they hate the retrospectives and that they don't want to do them anymore? Yeah. Cort Sharp (28:39) No, not at all. Not at all. If my scrum master came to me and said, right, we're going to, Brian, you're acting as this person, Court, you're acting as this, and we're going to reenact little Romeo and Juliet, bring that into there in this. And it's like, what? No, this isn't valuable. Brian Milner (28:47) You Right. Yeah, it's one thing to say, we're going to pretend to be each other and talk through. But it's another thing to say, pretend you are a peanut. you're like, that kind of thing. When you're an employee, you're like, god, really? I have to be a peanut now? Great, great. Yeah, no, this is fun. It's that kind of thing that if you don't, maybe your team would enjoy that kind of thing. If so, then match it to them. Cort Sharp (29:10) Yeah. Yeah. Brian Milner (29:19) They're not in that mode. No, no, no, no, no, no. Cort Sharp (29:23) Yep. Well, awesome. think I have a couple more questions for you here. Should be relatively quickly, right? Thanks for giving a little preview and giving some practical advice for what we can do to help our more quiet teams. But I want to take a step back. I know we double clicked into that one course, but I just want to take a step back a little bit. how do I decide which courses is right for me? Brian Milner (29:28) Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Cort Sharp (29:48) Do you have any guidelines for that? Any advice for if I'm interested in both courses, but I don't know which one would be a little more beneficial for me? How do I make that choice? Brian Milner (29:58) Yeah, that would be an extremely difficult decision to make because you have to really know these courses intimately, think, to make that, or maybe not intimately, but you probably have to dive a little bit deeper into what the agenda is for each one to kind of know the answer. But here's the good thing. When we're launching these, I can tell you this as well. We're going to be launching it as sort of a two for one. So. The good news is when we, know, for the initial launch of this, that's going to be the bonus for being in the first group is you don't have to decide. You'll get them both and you can then, you know, choose on your own. can dip in and see, you know, if one's better for you than the other, great. But you can consume it any way you want. And, you know, I'm just really excited for people to get to see the stuff and to hear it. I think there's some. there's some stuff that's really gonna help people in it. Cort Sharp (30:47) Awesome, great. Helping my decision fatigue there, Brian. That's great. Wonderful. One less choice that I have to make. Well, great. Awesome. That's kind all the questions that I have for you. Are there any kind of key takeaways or anything that you want to single out about retrospectives as a whole or anything about these courses that are going to be offered here anytime soon or anything like that? Brian Milner (30:50) Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah, I wanted to do this kind of an episode about this because, you know, I feel like the listeners here to our podcast, you guys know me, you know, the kind of stuff that I talk about. And, you know, I wanted you to be the ones who kind of heard this and knew about it first. I think it's going to be really beneficial and it's going to really kind of turbo charge a lot of teams. We talked about why retrospectives are important. Well, as I said, it's the engine for that continual improvement. If you don't have it, then the team stagnates. If you do have it and they buy in and this is, they're really all in on that Kaizen continual. improvement, know, Kaizen comes first mindset that kind of comes along with it. Then they look forward to this meeting. It's not just, know, something to check the box at the very end of our sprint, but it's actually, you know, when are we going to have that retrospective? I've got some stuff I want to talk about and that's our time now. You know, we can shut out the rest of the world. We can shut out, you know, everyone who's not here in our team. And now we can focus on us. You know, the question I often ask the teams when I do this is, do retrospectives is, what would it take for us to be the team everyone else wishes they were on? And, you know, that's really what you can accomplish through a retrospective is you can be that team, everyone else in the group and the organization looks at and goes, man, I wish I was on that team. That team's the, that team looks like a great team to be on. You know, I know there's, we're not given a lot of details here because this isn't We're not opening sales to this at the time that you hear this, when this podcast comes out. This is just a preview. I wanted to announce it here in the podcast first and let you guys know about it. Stay tuned. We're gonna have some stuff coming out soon. You can come to our website, mountaingoatsoftware.com and you'll find more information about this. But stay tuned here to the podcast as well. We're going to talk about some other things around podcasts in the next few weeks. we'll let you know when it's going to be open. I'll tell you as well, this is going to be a limited time thing. It's not something that we're launching and then kind of keeping open forever. This is something that we're going to launch. And there's a window for you to actually purchase this. receive both these at the same time. We'll talk about pricing and all that other stuff later down the road. But I just wanted you guys to know that these two things were coming. And hopefully, that gets you excited. And you can start now saying, hey, boss, there's something I'm going to be asking you for here for the training budget or something somewhere along the way. So stay tuned. We'll have more information here about it in the coming weeks. Cort Sharp (33:51) Yeah So we're starting the hype train now. Hype train is starting to pull out of the station. And the next station it comes into, it's only going to be there for a limited time. So make sure you get on board and get on with this. Because these sound like really awesome classes. And they sound like a really great way to either elevate where you're at already or where I'm at already for retrospectives and whatever techniques I'm using. I know we didn't talk much or really at all. Brian Milner (34:01) Yeah, exactly. Cort Sharp (34:26) other than the title of the Better Retrospectives course. But having been through the Better User Stories course, that really elevated my ability to write and facilitate user story work or story writing workshops. But it allowed me to be more effective on the user stories front. if it's anything following that trend line, which it sounds like it kind of is, that Better Retrospectives course sounds like a fantastic way to elevate. Brian Milner (34:46) Yeah. Cort Sharp (34:53) my ability to not only facilitate, but also just get more value out of retrospectives. And then the retro repair guide. Awesome starting point. Sounds like it's a great spot if I'm struggling with anything. Really, really common. Well, not really common. The biggest questions, biggest problems that are seen throughout retrospectives. Great starting point in order to. help myself grow and get up there. And the fact that I don't have to choose between the two, that's fantastic to me. makes me really excited. Brian Milner (35:25) Yeah. Bonus, right? Yeah. Well, and I do want to throw out there as well. know, the pattern here, I'm copying Mike, right? This is what Mike Kona has done previously. And I'm with you, Court. When I took the Better User Stories course, you know, I really wanted to go deep on user stories. I wanted to understand them at a level that I just didn't previously. And I wanted to know the ins and outs. I was ready to go deep on it. And I agree with you. did the same thing for me. It helped me to really fully understand kind of what this method is and how to get the most out of it. So that was my idea when I wanted to copy that into the retrospectives. I wanted the same thing. I wanted people who were at that point where they're ready to go deep. Here it is, right? It's ready for you. And retrospectives, the repair guide as well, I was a consumer of Mike's Scrum Repair Guide before I joined Mountain Goats, you know, when I was a Scrum Master on a team. And I remember when I saw that course and I saw the list of things that, you know, he was going to talk about in that course. There were two or three of them on that list that I just said, yeah, star that one, star this one, like that. I need that answer. I just remember that feeling of, I really need the answer to this. So my thought at that time was, whatever this is, It's worth it because I don't know how to do this on my team right now. We're having this problem and I need it fixed. So I need guidance on how to do this. And I know there's people out there that are gonna feel that way about some of these topics they're gonna see that we have in the repair guide. So all that's just to say, it's from the point of view of someone who benefited from that pattern, you know, from Mike and other courses. And I'm hopefully going to be able to do that for people here with retrospectives as well. Cort Sharp (37:15) Well, I'm excited. So a couple action points for anyone else who's interested in this. Stay tuned, right? Stay tuned for future episodes on the podcast. Keep an eye out on stuff. Can they visit mountainghostsoftware.com right now and sign up for a list or anything or get any pre-emails or anything like that or not quite yet? Brian Milner (37:33) I don't think there's anything that you can do at the moment. mean, if you're on our email list, I think that's probably the best thing you can do. You sign up for our email list. You can do that pretty easily at mountandgoatsoftware.com. And that'll keep you informed when we send out our newsletters. We're gonna have information on it there as well. But it's kind of like, you you get those emails sometimes that just say nothing right now, but, so nothing right now, but, you know, kind of just... File this away, know this is, you in the next few weeks, you're gonna hear more about this and then it'll be that limited window that you can actually, you know, take advantage of it. Cort Sharp (38:07) Awesome. Yeah, so keep listening in, keep an eye out, and we'll keep giving you some practical approaches, practical tips that you can use to go into your next retrospective. Maybe your team isn't the quiet team, but maybe they're the ones that just don't really like retros. know, Brian, thanks for helping me out with my quiet teams, or any time that I interact with quiet teams, and even the ones that are a little more just passive and don't. Brian Milner (38:28) Nah. Cort Sharp (38:34) don't really see the value in retros. Thanks for sharing those tips and for helping me out with all the teams that I work with. So I appreciate that. Thank you. Brian Milner (38:42) Yeah, absolutely. If you can't tell, I'm really excited about it. I can't wait for people to start diving into this stuff. more than anything, I can't wait for it to start to make a difference in teams. Cort Sharp (38:53) I'm excited, Brian. I can't wait. I'm stoked. Brian Milner (38:54) you

In this episode of the Mi365 Podcast, Pete Cohen explores the power of the 1% rule—making small, consistent changes that lead to significant transformation over time. He challenges listeners to invest just 14 minutes and 24 seconds of their day (1% of a 24-hour period) into personal growth and self-improvement. Pete discusses the importance of shifting perspectives, identifying key areas for growth, and overcoming the common obstacles that prevent us from making progress. He shares insights from Atomic Habits by James Clear and the philosophy of "Kaizen"—continuous improvement. Key Topics Covered: ✔️ The Power of 1% Daily Improvement: Small, intentional actions create a compounding effect over time. ✔️ The Importance of Perspective: Real change happens when we see things differently, not just when we're told what to do. ✔️ Slowing Down to Reflect: Taking time to pause and assess where we are and where we want to be. ✔️ The Three Key Areas of Growth: Health & Energy Relationships (including the relationship with yourself) Wealth, Work & Service ✔️ The Gap Between Where You Are & Where You Want to Be: How to bridge that gap through small daily investments. ✔️ Overcoming Resistance to Change: Why we naturally avoid difficult things and how to push past initial discomfort. ✔️ The Power of Starting: Once you start, momentum makes it harder to stop. Action Steps: ✅ Pick One Area – Choose one part of your life (health, relationships, or work) to invest 14 minutes and 24 seconds in each day. ✅ Commit to Small Steps – Focus on small, consistent changes instead of overwhelming transformations. ✅ Get Started Today – Don't wait for motivation; action creates momentum. ✅ Join the Conversation – Share your biggest takeaway from this episode in the Mi365 WhatsApp group  Resources & Links:

Enter to win a copy of Lisa Bodell's book "Why Simple Wins" ... and Apply for the Nov 2025 Japan Leadership Experience - super early registration rate now through March 31st! Ever feel like your to-do list never ends? Running from meeting to meeting with no time to think—let alone lead or create? You're not alone.The problem isn't you – that you're not working hard enough. You're probably stuck in the complexity trap—buried in endless demands, inefficiencies, and busywork that keep you (and your team) from doing what truly matters.To help you simplify and focus on meaningful work, I sat down with Lisa Bodell, CEO of FutureThink and bestselling author of Why Simple Wins and Kill the Company. Lisa has a clear message:

Running a successful Kaizen event requires more than just gathering a team—it's about strategic planning, leadership support, and long-term sustainment. In this episode, Kirby Sneen sits down with Robert Dewane, Sr. OpEx Change Agent at Trane Technologies, to uncover the essential elements of impactful Kaizen events. Discover how to secure top-down buy-in, engage the right stakeholders, and implement changes that last. Whether you're new to Kaizen or looking to refine your approach, this conversation is packed with practical ideas and examples to help you eliminate waste and drive continuous improvement.  Not a Manufacturers Alliance member? Request a Demo Have a question or topic you'd like featured in a future podcast episode? Ask Here! Podcast Resources: Robert's Kaizen Leader Standard Work Lean Practitioner Certification

This episode is brought to you by Cozy Earth, Manukora Honey, and Aqua Tru. Political and social discussions have become increasingly divisive today, often leaving little room for nuance or open dialogue. Differing viewpoints are frequently shut down, met with hostility, or dismissed outright, despite the fact that real growth comes from curiosity and engaging with opposing perspectives. Today's guest joins us to explore the courage it takes to question our beliefs, understand where they come from, and embrace complexity in a world that often demands rigid certainty. Today on The Dhru Purohit Show, Dhru sits down with cultural commentator Kaizen Asiedu to explore the importance of understanding our beliefs, where they come from, and the courage it takes to question them. Kaizen shares his personal journey of challenging lifelong beliefs and embracing alternative perspectives. He also discusses how this willingness to question ideas is often missing in today's political climate, where fear of dissent has led to tribalism and dehumanization. Additionally, he shares his insights on the MAHA movement, health and wellness discussions, and the concept of antifragility. Kaizen Asiedu is a cultural commentator dedicated to empowering people by simplifying complex political and social issues into messages that leave listeners informed and appreciative of nuance. After earning a philosophy degree from Harvard, he entered the gaming industry, ultimately becoming Head of Global Esports Events at Riot Games. While leading the League of Legends World Championship and winning an Emmy, he felt a growing restlessness—a desire for a deeper, more personal purpose. Today, he helps high achievers who feel burnt out or lost transition from unfulfilling careers to meaningful work, whether as entrepreneurs or in roles that excite them as much as playing their favorite game or reading a beloved book. In this episode, Dhru and Kaizen dive into: Recognizing that you are in the “Matrix” of living a life expected of you (00:00:25) The ideas Kaizen was called to question (2:50) Fear-based conditioning and morality (7:40) RFK's confirmation hearing and steelmanning concerns about his positions (20:20) The discouragement of open conversations and the rise of cancel culture (30:10) The rejection of humanity and the divisions it has caused (40:36) Red flags that indicate we are stuck in tribalism (44:36) Kaizen's views that diverge from the current administration (47:46) Kaizen's personal journey and the significance of "kaizen" in Japanese culture (54:16) The role of psychedelics, mindfulness, and shifting belief systems (58:56) Engaging with people as they are in the present moment (01:07:46) The intersection of lifestyle choices and systemic issues (01:14:46) Respecting alternative viewpoints, embracing different perspectives, and the concept of antifragility (01:19:16) Final thoughts (01:34:46) For more on Kaizen, follow him on Instagram, X/Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube. This episode is brought to you by Cozy Earth, Manukora Honey, and Aqua Tru. Right now, get 40% off your Cozy Earth sheets. Just head over to cozyearth.com/dhru and use code DHRUP. Upgrade to the creamiest honey, packed with antioxidants and prebiotics. Just go to manukora.com/dhru to get $25 off the Starter Kit and boost your energy, immunity, and digestive health today! AquaTru is a countertop reverse osmosis purifier with a four-stage filtration system that removes 15x more contaminants than the bestselling water filters out there. Go to dhrupurohit.com/filter/ and get $100 off when you try AquaTru for yourself.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices