Podcasts about lean six sigma master black belt

Host Jeremy C. Park talks with Domonique Townsend, CEO of We Optimize Work, who shares how she transitioned her years of experience as an Industrial Engineer and Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt to launch We Optimize Work and specialize in helping organizations align strategy with people to lead change with confidence without burning out teams or losing momentum.During the interview, Domonique introduces their WOW Framework, which equips organizations to lead with clarity, gain stakeholder buy-in, and activate high-performing, engaged teams. She discusses the importance of challenging assumptions and finding misalignments and bottlenecks, tapping into the skills and experiences of employees for ideas and solutions, and adapting to different generations in the workplace and leveraging their wisdom. Domonique shares tips and recommendations for how to regain momentum in initiatives at work and for owning our role to make work feel good. She emphasizes the importance of having a personal purpose statement and showing employees how their roles make an impact. She also discusses positive trends in open conversations among leaders and the return to office, but also highlights the need to improve the culture being fostered. Domonique wraps up talking about her book, "Inspired to Innovate," and her philanthropic efforts and focus on education and advocacy for youth, serving on the board of Purpose Preparatory Academy and mentoring aspiring engineers from underrepresented backgrounds to help provide access to opportunities for success.Visit https://www.weoptimizework.com/ to learn more about We Optimize Work and Domonique Townsend's book, "Inspired to Innovate."https://www.linkedin.com/company/weoptimizework/

In this episode, I share an inspiring interview with Dr. Lucas Chesla, Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt with Value Added 616, and founder of the nonprofit, Full Armor Ranch. In a world where continuous improvement leads to transformative change, he stands out as a master in blending Lean Six Sigma methodologies with meaningful purpose. Continue Reading

Dr. Khwaja Moinuddin grew up in India with what he calls a “normal childhood”. He attended high school and then received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in his home town. With some convincing and soul searching he then came to the United States and attended Texas Tech university where he obtained his Master's degree and began working toward obtaining a PhD. Khwaja tells us about his time at Texas Tech including how, when funding grew hard to get, he overcame his fears and adversity and found a job that helped him stay in school. Even so, while working on his Doctorate degree he secured a job with 3M and, as he tells us, he learned a lot and even today he is grateful for the opportunities he had at this company. Eventually, however, under the advice of others he did finish his PhD, but not in Mechanical Engineering as such.   Khwaja began learning about organizations, how they worked, why often they didn't work well and he developed ways to help people at all levels of organizations learn how to stop being so resistive to change and thus develop more positive attitudes and constructive methods of accomplishing tasks.   We get to hear much wisdom from Khwaja on leadership, resistance to change and how to better accomplish tasks by being more open to new ideas. This episode is a MUST for everyone if you are at all open to learning some new ideas and growing to be better in whatever you do at work, in life and at play.       About the Guest:   Dr. Khwaja Moinuddin is a renowned leader in Continuous Improvement, Change Management, and Business Transformation, with over 22 years of hands-on experience driving measurable impact across diverse industries. His mission is clear: to help organizations embed a culture of excellence, resilience, and continuous learning - not as a temporary initiative, but as a way of working. Whether leading large-scale change programs, coaching executives, or transforming operational models, he has built a reputation for delivering tangible business results and lasting cultural shifts. With deep expertise in Continuous Improvement, Change Leadership, and Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Dr. Moinuddin partners with organizations to challenge the status quo, eliminate inefficiencies, and create high-performing teams. He has worked across multiple industries, functions, and global markets, collaborating with executive leaders, middle managers, and frontline employees to break down silos and drive sustainable transformation. His holistic approach ensures that strategy, execution, and people engagement work in tandem, because real change happens when employees at every level take ownership of improvement. A passionate thought leader and author, Dr. Moinuddin has distilled his years of experience into two books that serve as practical guides for transformation:   "I.N.S.P.I.R.E. - An Adaptive Change Excellence Model and Guide of the people, for the people, by the people" – A framework for leading people-centered, high-impact change initiatives. "Are You (Really) Listening?: Decoding the Secrets of Unheard Conversations" – A deep dive into the power of listening as a critical leadership and change management skill.   Dr. Moinuddin's philosophy is simple: transformation is not about tools, it's about people, mindset, and discipline. If your organization is struggling with change fatigue, leadership misalignment, or resistance to new ways of working, he can help you turn obstacles into opportunities and create a culture where excellence thrives. Let's connect and explore how we can drive real, measurable business impact, together!     Dr. Khwaja Moinuddin's journey is a testament to the power of perseverance, continuous learning, and an unstoppable mindset. Born and raised in a simple middle-class family in Pondicherry, India, a former French colony - he completed his schooling and earned a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering before moving to the U.S. to pursue his Master's in Industrial Engineering. At Texas Tech University, he excelled academically, achieving a 4.0/4.0 GPA in his major (Manufacturing) and an overall GPA of 3.83/4.0. While pursuing his degree, he also worked as an intern for Rhodia Inc., a chemicals manufacturing company, gaining valuable hands-on industry experience. Khwaja began his career as an Industrial Engineer with 3M, where he learned the foundations for his expertise in Continuous Improvement (CI) and Change Leadership. Over the years, he obtained multiple professional certifications, including Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Certified Change Practitioner, Certified Prince2 Practitioner and Certified Scrum Master. His career took him across the globe, leading large-scale transformation initiatives in world-renowned organizations such as Ocean Spray Cranberries, Shell, Maersk, GARMCO, HSBC, and PDO (Petroleum Development Oman). Despite a demanding global career, Khwaja pursued his passion for learning, earning a Doctorate in Management Studies and a second Master's degree in Psychology while working full-time. His belief "To Learn is to Breathe" has shaped his leadership philosophy, helping organizations embrace change, embed a culture of excellence, and achieve breakthrough results. Beyond his professional accomplishments, Khwaja is a devoted husband and father. He fell in love with and married his wife, Sangeetha, while in the U.S., and together they have a 15-year-old son, Tanish. They now reside in Chennai, India. Dr. Khwaja travels frequently for his consulting work, and he continues to inspire businesses, leaders, and professionals to transform their organizations, and themselves - with an unstoppable mindset.   Ways to connect with Dr. Khwaja:   https://www.processexcellencenetwork.com/contributor/khwaja-moinuddin https://www.journeytowardsexcellence.com/ https://www.khwajamoinuddin.com/ https://www.journeytowardsexcellence.com/ https://www.khwajamoinuddin.com/     About the Host:   Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/   https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening!   Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast   If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset .   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review   Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.       Transcription Notes:   Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:20 Well, hello again, everyone. I am your host once again. Michael hingson, and you are listening to unstoppable mindset. We're really glad you're with us, wherever you happen to be in the world, and wherever we happen to be talking in the world. And today we're actually talking to Dr Khwaja Moinuddin from India. So it's a long distance boy signals travel a lot faster today than they did when we used covered wagons or Coney pony expresses. So I'm really grateful for the fact that we get to use Zoom and computers and do things in such a meaningful way. So anyway, here we are. Kwaja has written two books, and I know he's going to tell us about those, so I'm not going to give a lot of that away. He has been a transformational leader. He also has a background in mechanical engineering, and that fascinates me, because it seems to me, it's interesting going from mechanical engineering to being a transformational subject matter expert and expert by any standard. So I'm going to be curious to hear about that. But anyway, meanwhile, Khwaja, I want to welcome you to unstoppable mindset, and thank you for being here.   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 02:28 Thank you. Thank you, Michael, it's, it's indeed an honor to be on your podcast. And you know, as as we have been discussing, I'm no expert by any means. I have just gathered years and years of experience, 22 plus years of experience, and I'm still learning and continuous improvement, transformation. It's an ocean. So the more you know I learn, the more I feel like I don't know much. Yes, there is to learn, yes.   Michael Hingson ** 03:05 Well, I know exactly what you're saying. I think if we stop learning, then we have really let ourselves down and let the world down. We need to continue to learn. And I very much enjoy doing this podcast, because I get to learn so much from so many people. It's really a lot of fun. So I want to again, thank you for being here and looking forward to all that we get to talk about today. So let's get to it. I'd like to learn a little bit about maybe the early Khwaja Growing up and so on. Tell us a little bit about you growing up in India and so on.   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 03:38 Yep, I'm from a very small town in Pondicherry called Pondicherry in in India, the closest big city is Chennai. It's about 160 kilometers south of Chennai. It used to be a former French colony. Now the place has been changed. I mean, the name has been changed from Pondicherry to Puducherry. But growing up, I'm the youngest of two kids. I have a brother. He's four years older than me, and my parents were typical middle class, lower middle class, both working parents. They worked really, really hard to put me and my brother through to school. They took care of us, they protected us. So I'm really grateful for my parents, my mom, my dad and my brother also could be quite me, you know, when I was young. So I'm really grateful to my family, because we were just the four of us in our family. Growing up, I went to a public school, initially, I went to a private school, and. Uh, but then my parents couldn't afford the fees, so we moved to public school, and I did all my schooling and my bachelor's in mechanical engineering in Pondicherry. So born and brought up in Pondicherry, which was a small fishing village, didn't know much about the real world until, you know, I graduated and stepped out of India for the very first time to go to the US to do my master's degree. My childhood was, was, was normal, you know, on a living on a on a coast. So I really enjoyed living near the beach. We didn't live very far away from the beach, just maybe, you know, maybe 100, 200 meters away from the beach. Growing up, I had a lot of friends, so we would be, would take our bicycles and and, you know, ride all over the town because it, you know, it wasn't as crazy as it is now with all the traffic and stuff, it was less congested. And the good thing about Pondicherry, an interesting fact is, because it was designed by the French, all the streets in Pondicherry are at right angles to each other. So you would never get lost if you are in Pondicherry, in the middle of the Pondicherry, because wherever you go, if you take a right turn and another right turn and another right turn, you will end up at the same place. So you will never get lost. That's an interesting fact in Pondicherry. How about Pondicherry?   Michael Hingson ** 06:39 So it certainly is a whole lot easier to travel around pontichery than it is to travel around Washington DC by any standard, I think. So yes, there's a lot of Angular streets and streets that go in different directions in Washington. So yeah, I think I'd like pot of cherry that's pretty good. So did you learn to fish?   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 07:03 Not, not, yeah. I mean, I did learn how to fish, but more swimming. Used to go to the ocean almost every day. You know, I think I practically spent a lot of time on the beach with my friends and in the playgrounds. Our playgrounds used to be huge growing up, unlike now, they have become so small and condensed with all the, you know, development, the real estate that's growing in India, in Pondicherry and in India in general. But, but yeah, I did learn how to fish, you know, not using, like a fishing rod in the in the US, but using, you know, the the fishing, the the thread, you know, the nylon wire, fishing net, yeah, yeah. Not, not the net, but the wire, just was the single wire,   Michael Hingson ** 07:58 well, so you what, what got you into mechanical engineering?   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 08:05 Well, you know, as, as all of my fellow Indians would say, in India, you are either an engineer or a doctor first. So, so I really had no choice. I had to become an engineer or a doctor. I didn't score enough to become a doctor, so I naturally became an engineer. But since I have to become an engineer, I was looking at, you know, all the different fields of engineering. What fascinated me was, you know, the field of mechanical engineering, because I heard from several of my friends and colleagues that mechanical engineering is an evergreen field, and typically, mechanical engineers can fit anywhere. And they were really, really they were, they were 100% correct. And I'm glad I chose mechanical engineering and I really liked my subject, because that what I am today would not be if I hadn't learned about mechanical engineering. Well.   Michael Hingson ** 09:07 So you, you got your bachelor's degree, but then you, as you said, you stepped out and you, you actually came to the United States and went to Texas Tech to do your advanced degree. What made you do that? That's moving a long way from home, yep.   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 09:23 So some of my my my friends and my seniors, also, when I was doing my mechanical engineering, they were talking about something called as a GRE or a TOEFL. It sounded Greek, like Greek and Latin to me. I didn't know what it was. I had no intention of going to the US initially. My intention was to get a job and earn a lot of money and and I was almost done studying at that point of time, you know, learning subjects like thermodynamics and lot of advanced mechanics. Engineering stuff for four years really wears you out. But my my seniors and and my cousin also, and my uncles and a lot of my relatives, they said, you know, if you don't do your masters now, and if you go straight away to work, you may not have the inclination to learn more. So they really, they really prompted me or nudged me to do my Masters also, and and my mom, of course, she has been a great, great, great driving force behind me. She She encouraged me to always, always, always learn. She herself has, you know, so many degrees I cannot, I don't even know how many degrees she has. She has master's degrees and Bachelor's degrees in in, you know, all sorts of areas. And to this day, you know, she she keeps learning, and she has been a teacher for about 45 years now. So so my mom, along with my relatives and my friends. They said, You know, you need to study more so. So, you know, I had actually got a job, you know, in my fourth year. And I got a job through on campus interviews, you know, like a career fair in the in the US, similar to a career fair in the US. So I gave up that job and I wrote GRE and TOEFL. I worked hard. Got I did not get like flying colors, but I got, I got good grades in GRE and TOEFL, and then I applied to universities. Initially I was going to be an aerospace engineer, but then my friends also told me that maybe that's a difficult field to get a job in in future, because it requires, you know, us, security clearance and stuff. So you're you're better off doing something which is related to mechanical engineering, or even mechanical engineering. I didn't want to go too much into technical stuff, so I explored industrial engineering, and I found, you know, the courses and all that stuff were really to my liking and to my interest. So, so then I chose industrial engineering and Texas Tech specifically because of the industrial engineering program they had. So then and, and that's one, one thing led to another. And then I landed in Texas Tech University.   Michael Hingson ** 12:26 Well, that must have been fun. So you had lots of new experiences. You learned about football and all sorts of other things in addition to your academic studies. Yes,   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 12:36 yes. Red Raiders. Go Red Raiders. Yeah, right.   Michael Hingson ** 12:40 Well, and I, I went to UC Irvine. I don't know, I still don't know if we have a much of a football team today. We have a good basketball team, but go anteaters anyway. So it's, it is interesting how our lives change and how we end up, how God gives us different opportunities? And then, of course, the issue really is us taking those opportunities and moving forward with them. When you You certainly did. You stepped out and you moved to the United States, you went to Texas Tech, you got your bachelor's, and where did you get your PhD?   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 13:19 So I got my master's from Texas Tech, and I was, I also started to do my PhD in industrial engineering in Texas Tech, but unfortunately, I didn't finish, because the the department ran out of funding, and I had to search for a job. So I started to, I got my job in 3m as an industrial engineer. But I also did an internship in another company called Rodia, which is a chemicals manufacturing company. But then, you know, while I was doing, while I was, you know, still pursuing my full time job, I really wanted to go back to Texas Tech and complete my PhD, because I had completed all my coursework, except for the which was the dissertation which was pending. And you know, at that time, one of the professors told me, quadra, try and complete your PhD, otherwise you will regret it. I still remember his words to this day. I should have, you know, looking back, I should have stayed back in Texas Tech and finished my PhD. I should have, you know, borrowed some more money and finished my PhD in industrial engineering in Texas Tech. But nevertheless, what I did is I did my doctorate, professional doctorate in management studies in Indian School of Business Management. So slightly different. But, you know, I didn't, I didn't actually want to go for an MBA. So I want I did the doctorate in management studies because I was more interested in organizational behavior, operations. Management in that field. So I got it in 2012   Michael Hingson ** 15:07 Wow. So you, you, you did complete it, even though, again, it went in a slightly different direction. But what was your interest that that took you into a little bit more of a business oriented environment, because you had clearly been in mechanical engineering and in that discipline for most of your studies.   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 15:25 Yes, yes. So, you know, when I was doing my master's degree in Industrial Engineering, you know, and I got interested in continuous improvement, lean, Six Sigma, transformation, change management in that field, more as I was doing my masters in industrial engineering. And then when I got my first job in in 3m 3m is a great company, as you know, you know, I learned all the basics of my lean, Six Sigma change management, you know, hands on in 3m and I'm still grateful to this day that my very first job was in 3am actually, it's a funny story, because, you know, I got the job in 3m on the same day I was interviewed. So the I was very lucky. I think the the line manager really liked me, and he said, kwaja, I'm going to hire you on the spot. So I was, I was really, really, you know, ecstatic on that day, and I still remember that feeling to this day, yes. So what interested me to coming back to your question was when I was working in 3m they have a good mentorship program. So they asked me, you know, how do you want your career to be? You know, where do you see yourself in five years? In 10 years? In 15 years? How do you see yourself growing? And I said, I want to grow in the technical field. I want to become like a subject matter expert in Lean, Six Sigma, Black Belt, Master, Black Belt. And I want to grow in the technical field. And I remember the mentor, she told me, kwaja, while that's a good thought, but you will not grow much if you are purely technical, you will grow more if you combine your technical expertise with management, how to lead people, how to manage people, how to do change management with people so she actually, you know, planted the seed in me to do more of, you know, people management role. And for that, she prompted me to do more courses in people management, leading teams, how to work and collaborate with, you know, cross functional teams. And that interested me, and I started to search for courses that would give me that exposure. And then, you know, given the fact that also I took some courses in my master's, or when I was doing my PhD in industrial engineering, it prompted me more to move away from technical rather than getting a PhD in industrial engineering, to do adopt rate in management studies. And hence I, you know, slightly moved into the people management, operations management, into the softer stuff of managing people and getting stuff done through people, through others.   Michael Hingson ** 18:14 Well, nothing, nothing wrong with that. I know my background was in physics. But along the way, there came a time that I was confronted with an opportunity to take a job that wasn't directly related to physics, and I chose to do it. But out of that, I ended up being put in a situation once where I had to make a choice to either go find a new job or change from doing kind of human factors studies and other things related to a product going in instead into sales, and I chose to go into sales, but my reasoning was, It's difficult enough for blind people to get jobs. Finding a new job would be really a challenge, whereas an opportunity was being offered, and it was a good opportunity, so I accepted it. So again, I know that many times we do find that there is a an opportunity that comes along that maybe we don't expect, and if we take it, it's the right way to go.   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 19:14 Yes indeed. And your story has been fascinating, Michael, to be honest with you, it has been, you know, it's very inspirational. Your story, me and my wife, we were sharing, you know, how you how you overcame adversity, that's really, really, really inspirational.   Michael Hingson ** 19:33 Well, thank you. And I, I appreciate that. And you know, to me, it's just how we live life, and we sometimes we're presented with challenges and and we have to deal with those challenges, which is, of course, our role, and if we don't, then we're the losers for doing it. Well, in your case, did you ever have a defining moment or a situation where, if, since we call this unstoppable mindset, where. Kind of a mindset really affected you and to help you through it.   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 20:05 Yeah. I mean, many, many, many, many situations, there's never a dull day in continuous improvement, so it's full of challenges. Always, always. You know, in every organization I have worked for, there have been challenges in terms of, you know, how to deploy continuous improvement, how to take people with you in the journey of continuous improvement. But one of the things you know early on, when I was doing my my master's degree, is, you know, I think that that laid the foundation also for me to become more resilient and more adaptable. You know, when, when my department said they didn't have funding I wanted to, and this was, you know, when, when I was doing my master's degree, not, not, you know, when I went into my PhD, when I was doing my master's degree, after a semester, they said they didn't have enough funding. So a lot of my colleagues, you know, those who are in engineering, whether mechanical or industrial or or chemical or petroleum engineering, they would they were searching for jobs. I think it was the summer of 2001 and since it was summer, a lot of professors were on were on vacation, and I went door to door, knocking on every professor's, you know, Office, Office door. And almost everybody you know, kind of, you know, either shoot me away or said, you know, we don't have funding. Or, you know, their doors were closed because they were on vacation. So one of the, one of the things I did, you know, you know, I was very, very frustrated. I couldn't sleep. So I thought, What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing wrong here? Why am I not getting the funding. Why am I not getting a research assistantship? So as I was laying on my on my bed that that night, one evening, I thought to myself, and an idea came to me, why don't I go into Texas Tech University's Health Sciences Center, which is slightly far away. It's, you know, we have to walk, like, at least half an hour to get to the Texas Tech University's Health Sciences Center. And it's predominantly, you know, biology, Health Sciences Center. So nobody, none of my colleagues, had gone there to look for a job. So I thought, why not go there? Maybe I will find some luck. So initially, you know, I was told, No, you know, you don't have a biology background or, you know, we don't have jobs here. But on the third day, one professor, you know, as I was, I thought, you know, my day, on that day also is going to be a disappointment. Around five o'clock that evening, when I was about to go home and I noticed one professor's door was open. His name is branch Schneider, so if he's, if he's watching, you know, I'm grateful to him also for this brand Schneider. He is the professor in oncology department in Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. So I approached him, his door was open, and I told him, I'm searching for a job. Any job? Would you be able to give me a job? He thought, he thought about it, and without hesitation, you know, he said, I do have a job, but you may not like it. And he said, You know, it's it involves washing dishes, bakers. Are you comfortable in doing it? I said, I thought about it, and I said, I can do it if it helps me to get in state tuition. And he also thought about it, and he said, Yeah, I think that should not be a problem. And once I agreed to do that, then he said, I don't want you to just do that. I want to use your engineering skills to help me with research. You know, doing some reports, research, reports and analysis using your engineering skills. Would you be able to do that? I said, That's my specialty. I would be glad to do that. So, you know, one thing led to another, and then, you know, he gave me the research assistantship, and you know, I was able to continue with my with my master's degree without, you know, burdening my parents. Because, you know, I had got a huge loan to go to the US, as you know, going to the US during those times is not, is not cheap. It's very expensive. So, you know, I think that's what, that's what laid the foundation. So I thought, you know, nothing is impossible. So if I can do that, I think I can convince people to do change management, at least my change management skills, and, you know, my Lean Six Sigma skills to do the continuous improvement in organizations. So I think that one moment, I think, was, you know, when, when I got that. I didn't realize that, you know, when I got back to my room and I told my friends that, you know, I had got this job, everybody's jaw dropped. They said, You have done something impossible. So they said, you know, we are now going to go to Health Sciences Center also. So I think a lot of our engineering guys went and knocked doors in Health Sciences Center, and they began to get jobs there. I   Michael Hingson ** 25:24 remember once, one of the first jobs my brother ever got. He was, I think, in high school. He had gotten to high school, and he went to apply at a restaurant for a job, just to earn some money. And the owner said, Well, you know, let me think about it. Would you go outside and we got some weeds out in the in the area around the restaurant, would you just pull the weeds? And my brother said, Sure, why not? I don't have anything else to do. So he went out on like, in a half hour, he had, excuse me, he had pulled all the weeds. The manager came out and was just absolutely amazed that he had had done all of that. And he said, Well, okay, and I thought about it, I'll give you a job. And of course, he was really being tested. Would he go out and do whatever he was asked to do? Which Which he did do? And when he came home and told my parents, and I was there at the time about that, they said, you understand that this guy was just testing you to see whether you would do whatever needed to be done to help the restaurant. And you passed, and he got the job. We never know where things are going to come from. And indeed, yes, we should be open and be willing to explore. It's always a good thing when we do that. I haven't thought about that in years, but you just reminded me of that story, and it's a great story, and for me, it was a lesson that you've got to do sometimes different things, and when, when you're really asking for someone's assistance, you also need to look at what they're asking you to do, and you need to do what they're asking   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 27:01 yes, unless it's to shoot No, I'm not going to go out and   Michael Hingson ** 27:07 shoot someone. But that's a different story. But well, that's great. Well, now, while you were in the United States, you also went off and got married, huh?   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 27:18 Yes, I did.   Michael Hingson ** 27:21 Well, that was a that was a good thing. That's another good reason to have come to the US. Yes, now, is your wife from India or the US?   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 27:33 Well, it's a, it's an interesting story. Once again, we she, she is. She's two years younger to me, and, you know, we met at a birthday party, and in, you know, at a professor's daughter's birthday party. And I initially thought I knew her from somewhere, so I was very, very shy to to approach her. But then some of her, some of her friends, or, I think some of my friends who knew her, they asked me if you know I would be okay to drop them to their house. So when I was, when I was driving, I looked at her through the, you know, the rear view mirror, yeah, and I, I liked her a lot, so, but I didn't know whether she was looking at me at that time or not. But then later, I told her that I was looking at you when I was driving. And then, you know, one thing led to another, and you know, we dated. She's from India, so she was also doing her master's degree. When, when, you know, at the time, you know, I was doing an internship in in a chemicals manufacturing company in Vernon, Texas, which is in the middle of nowhere. And I used to drive three hours from Vernon to Lubbock because I thought Lubbock was in the middle of nowhere. But then, when I was when I was working in Vernon, which is just no like a small town of 10,000 people, then when I used to drive back to Lubbock, it was like heaven, Paradise. I could see many people in Lubbock. So when I was driving back and forth. And I was in, I met her in this, in this party, and then we started to date. And then, you know, we got, we got married in the US in 2000 we were dating for a very long time. We lived together also for for a long time, we got to know each other. And then we got married in 2008   Michael Hingson ** 29:42 Ah, well, that's great. Congratulations. How long have you been married now? Thank you.   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 29:48 Well. We have known each other now for 21 years since 2004 Yes, and we have been married since 2008 so 17 years. Wow. Congratulations. Thank you, thank you. And we have a son, 15 years old. And yeah, we, we are still, you know, happily married to each other, and she, you know, she has been a great support for me, not only in times of happiness, but but especially, you know, when I get frustrated, when when I'm not in such a good mood, or when I feel dejected, she has supported me tremendously, and she's still supporting me tremendously, but   Michael Hingson ** 30:30 I bet that goes both ways.   30:33 Yes,   Michael Hingson ** 30:35 you have to be more stable than you.   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 30:41 Yes, well, I think she's more emotionally matured also. Then I don't want to tell her that, but she may know after this podcast   Michael Hingson ** 30:52 well. So you do a lot of work in working with people involved in resistance and change and continuous improvement, and you deal with people with resistance and change. How do you push back? And how do you push beyond that? How do you get people who are so resistive to change to to agreeing to change? You know, the reason I ask is that we all we all hear people talk all the time about how change is important. Changes is necessary, but none of us really want to change. How do you deal with that?   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 31:26 Yes, so, you know, over the years, this is what, this is what I have learned also. And you know, I, I did my masters, my second masters in psychology, and that helped me a great deal. Also, I've always been, you know, fascinated with the psychology of human behavior. So I always wondered, you know, even when working in 3m or in my first company as an intern, I always wondered, you know, why? You know, even if a change is good, why are people resisting? And years and years passed by, I always, I always thought that, you know, we can, we can always convince people with rational, logical stuff, with data. But then I found out, you know, through through trial and error, I don't get convinced using logic. I have my own ways to resist. So when I learned about how I am resisting, I thought that's natural. Then how people, other people would resist. Because, you know my girlfriend at that time, who is my wife. Now, when she used to suggest something I would resist, that. She would say, quarter, you're not organized, you know, let's, let's get the house organized. And I would resist it because, you know, getting organized is a good thing, but then I had my own way of doing stuff. So, you know, to this day, I still resist, by the way, and she's still trying to convince me to get organized, but you know, I know why I resist. You know why I'm resisting. I know how I resist. So you know that, that you know early on, helped me, that, you know, people resist because we are trying to change them. It's not the change, but it's we are trying to change them into something that they don't want to so, for example, you know, one of the one of the line managers, or one of the leaders in a company that I worked for, he was completely against continuous improvement. He was telling me, I have been doing continuous improvement quadra, for 20 years, I don't need you to come and tell me how to do my job and how to improve it. And he was very open about it. I'm so glad he was. He was so open about it. Because, you know, I have also seen people who resist very covertly. They would say yes in front of you, and then, you know, go back and do their own stuff, or, you know, they won't do anything at all. So I wanted to understand him, why he felt that way. And, you know, I went on, you know, plant walks with him, and he was very proud when we were when we were walking around the plant, he showed me all the improvements that he did. So I told him, Bill, his name is Bill, what you're doing is continuous improvement. Bill, so I'm not trying to tell you to do your job. I'm here to tell you how to I'm here to help you how to do your job in a more structured way. And that's what CI is all about. So when I said that, immediately, he said, you know, guaja, I wish somebody you know, in your place, had told me that earlier, because people who had before you, who came before you, they were all about tools and templates. And I hate to use tools and templates. I'm more of a practical guy. So then that was a learning for me, also that, you know, that was an aha moment for me, that people, you know, certain people, have. Certain way of learning, and certain people have certain way of improving, but we all want to improve. So if we guide people in the right direction, and we talk their language, you know, we use their frame of reference, we use their language and and we see what are their pain points, and we try to help them overcome those pain points, then people would naturally, you know, you know, get the we would get the buy in for for the change, and people would not resist so much. So at the end, you know, what happened is Bill became a huge supporter of CI, not only a huge supporter of CI, he passed my green belt exam. Also, I coached him, and he passed my green belt exam. And he was, he was very happy. Initially, he was, he was, he was reluctant to even attend my course. But then, you know, after he went through the course, and then, you know, after we built the rapport. And then I, and then I told him, I'm not trying to replace you or, or I'm not trying to steal your job or, or I'm not telling trying to, you know, tell you how to do your job, because that's not what I'm here for. I'm here to help you. And continuous improvement is a more structured way of doing things, because you may be doing in trial and error, and by doing trial and error, you know, you may be making some costly mistakes, but when we apply it in a structured way, we can avoid 19 99% of errors, most of the time. So he really liked that approach. And he liked my approach of making things very, very practical, not speaking, you know, in heavy technical terms, not using the jargon and explaining it to him, you know, in his own language. That's what helped, you know, reduce the resistance. And over the years, what I have done is also, you know, adapt my way of how I'm approaching resistance. One of the courses which I took, and it was a certification course, also was, you know, instead of waiting for resistance to happen to you, we should approach resistance proactively. You know, when we announce a change, we should naturally expect resistance, and when we have resistance, it's a good thing. I have never, I never heard about it before, before I attended the course. I thought always resistance is bad. I thought resistance is something that we need to fight. We need to convince people, and those people who resist, they don't know what they're talking about. I used to see them as, you know, almost like enemies at workplace. This guy is against CI, why doesn't he or she gets CI, why are they, you know, resisting so much. Why are they criticizing me so much? I used to take it personally also. Later, I learned, you know, not to take things personally as well. So what I what I found, was that we should surface resistance proactively, whether you know it is in work life or in personal life, you know, when we are trying to do something out of the ordinary. When we are trying to improve something, we should expect resistance. And if there is no resistance, then that means either the resistance has gone underground, right, which has gone into COVID stage, or people have not understood the why. You know, what is this change? What is this? How is this going to affect me, people have not understood what you're talking about. So when we explain things, we should naturally expect resistance, and resistance helps in improving, you know, what is whatever we are trying to implement, you know, whether it is like a ERP implementation or, you know, Lean Six Sigma, or a transformation project, digital transformation, anything that we are trying to do, if people are resisting or if people are expressing concerns, it's a good thing. That's what I have learned over the years. Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 38:50 at least, at least then they're open and they're talking to you about it, which is important. So how do you deal with the person who says, you know, like, like, Bill, I've been involved in continuous improvement, and maybe they really have, but you're talking about change, but in reality, what we have is working, and I'm not convinced that changing it is really going to make a difference. And you know, how do you deal with that?   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 39:21 Yep, again, you know, over the years, I have so many stories this. This story, again, is some of the organizations I have worked in this. This particular person was, was saying the same thing. You know, it was one of the TETRA pack manufacturing lines, you have seen the TETRA pack, right? So the the TETRA pack where juice is packed, or milk is packed, or any beverage is packed, right? So these Tetra packs, when they were producing those Tetra packs of juice, they had. An issue of the juice packs being either overweight or underweight. So they had this continuous issue on the line, not just one line, but I think three or four of the lines, so consistently, it would be either overweight or underweight. And if you are consistent, if you are having the overweight or underweight, you would be audited, and you would get into all sorts of trouble. And moreover, you know, you're losing money if you if the pack is overweight and if the pack is underweight, somebody can, can, you know, file a claim. Customer complaints would increase. So this, this particular line manager, he said, you know he was, he was avoiding me. And I know that he would, he would avoid me so, but he, you know, at that point of time, he had no choice. So he said, kwaja, I have a few ideas, you know, I don't before, you know, you come and tell me, you know, continuous improvement, blah, blah, blah. I have a few ideas. I want to test them. And he gave me, he gave me, you know, the his thought process, and he wanted to try that before, you know, he before he agreed to listen to me. So I said, Bob, I'm all for it, please. Please, go ahead and let's see whether you know what you're trying to do. Works or not. So basically, in, you know, in our language, what we call it as as an experiment in continuous improvement terminology, we call it as an experiment. He was trying to do, you know, an experiment with one factor at a time, meaning that, you know, he would try to change one variable, and he would try to see whether that has any impact on, you know, the over overfilled packs or under filled packs. So he wanted to change one variable at a time, and there were three, four variables at that time, which he thought were, you know, suspects. So he wanted to change those variables and see what the impact would be. So I told him, Bob, yeah, let's, let's, let's try that. And I told him, you know, very politely, if that doesn't work, would you be willing to try what I am asking you to do? Because I have an idea. Also, he said, Yeah, let's, let's, let's do that. So I worked with him. I worked with him on the line, with his supervisors also. And he tried, you know, one factor at a time. He trained. He changed this, he changed that. It didn't work. So reluctantly. But then the good thing was, he was open minded also, reluctantly, he said, Okay, let's, let's sit in my office and let's talk. So I told him about a concept called Design of Experiments, DOE, in that, in that me using that you know, methodology, you can basically, you can basically have three, four factors which you can vary them simultaneously, and then see the impact on over packing and under packing. So when I explained to him, when I when I taught him about the concept him and his supervisors and the line operators, he said, Yeah, let's let's try. Let's see if this works. And at the end of the day, we were both trying to improve the process. We were both trying to get rid of this problem, sure, so we should be rolling. And then it worked within, within a few days, the problem got resolved. So what I learned from that is, sometimes, you know, you need to let people you know hit the wall before you offer them a solution. So that's something that I have learned. But of course, you know, in this case, it was not such a costly mistake. It was not, it was not like a disaster, but it was the controlled disaster. So, so what   Michael Hingson ** 43:28 was the actual change? What what change was made that fixed the problem? Or what was your idea that fixed the problem because he was changing variable at a time, but that was one example   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 43:39 at a time. Yep. So we had to do the root cause analysis. And through the root cause analysis, whatever variables that he was going after were not the root causes because he was not using a structured methodology. Okay, when we use the structured methodology, we went into root cause analysis. We did a structured like a fish bone diagram. I don't want to go into the technical details, but we did the in depth root cause analysis, and then we did something called as a design of experiment, where we chose three factors and we varied it simultaneous, so it is a controlled experiment which we did, and immediately, you know, it's not that you know you would do that, and you would get result. One month later, you would get results immediately, you would see the result immediately when you do that experiment versus what he did, it involved a certain bit of time. It would take one week for us to see a change. So when I showed him this and this versus this, he was really impressed. And from that day onwards, he became a huge supporter of CI, in fact, you know, the plant in which I was working in, you know, with the support of, you know, one of the plant managers, Tim, his name, I'm I'm still, you know, in touch with him, and you know we share thoughts with each other. I see him as a huge mentor. Also, you know, we got plant of the Year Award for a plant to talk. About to be shut down, back in 2009 so that's, that's, you know, how we were able to, you know, build the, get the buy in from all the line managers and, you know, get started on the continuous improvement journey. Because the the the management had told that if you don't improve within a few months, you would be shut down. So we all work together, and we did experiments like this, and we were able to turn around a plant, of course, you know, not just me, so I just played one small role in that we did as a team. It was a team effort,   Michael Hingson ** 45:34 and that's how you really overcome resistance to change when, when people see that you bring something to the table that works, then they're probably more apt to want to listen to you.   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 45:49 Yep, indeed. We need to know what we're talking about. You know that that builds trust? Definitely.   Michael Hingson ** 45:54 Yeah. And then the issue is that you what you're talking about is is, in a sense, different than what they understand, and it's a matter of establishing credibility. Yes, which is, which is pretty cool. Well, so tell me about your books. You've written two books, and you've written I n, s, p, i R, E, and you've, you've written another book, tell us about those.   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 46:25 Yes, so I, you know, I have always wanted to share my knowledge, and I have always been sharing my knowledge, you know, through training, through coaching, I have conducted so many training sessions, so many and I have learned also, you know, from from shop floor employees, frontline employees, from middle managers. I have learned so much from them. And also executives, top executives, you know, leaders from various industries. You know whether it is manufacturing or logistics or, you know, back offices, banking, you know, pure manufacturing or logistics container, container shipping business, or aluminum rolling business. So I wanted to write this book to share my knowledge, because when I see that change management or change is being implemented very poorly, that really frustrates me. So I wanted to share this, and I have seen, you know, numerous books being written on this. You know, numerous frameworks, also, you name it. You know, there are so many books out there. What I wanted to do is give a simple framework, which is, I, N, s, p, i, R, E, which is, you know, if you have to implement change you need to inspire employees. There are no two ways about it. If we can talk about logic, we can talk about change management, we can talk about what's in it. For me, everything, but in my experience, if anyone is, if any employee or if any individual is not inspired by the change, the change is not going to go anywhere. They may do out of compliance, but we will not really get their hearts in it. And that's why I, you know, came up with this framework called Inspire, which is I basically is inspired the need for change in employees. N is navigate the organization and build a coalition. And stands for that. S is to surface resistance proactively, meaning, as we discussed, don't wait for resistance to hit you. You know when you least expect it, and then, and then, you know the change goes nowhere. Surface resistance proactively. And P is plan, your implementation. You know, when I say plan, not just, you know, like a, like a 20 step bullet point, there are so many plans that need, that need to come together, like a communication plan, resistance management plan, a training plan. There are so many plans that need to work together. And again, depending on the complexity of the change, you know, I never advocate, you know, over complicating stuff. And then you have, I, which is implementation When, when, you know, this is where rubber meets the road, if we don't implement the change in a structured way, you know, leaders are not role modeling on the shop floor. Leaders are just, you know, we call it as EMR. And this is, again, from another framework called Aim. Aim, you know, basically what we what we mean here is you can express. Leaders can express about the change, role model the change and reinforce the change. EMR, so if leaders are just expressing the change, it will lead to one times the improvement, but if leaders are role modeling the change, it will lead to three. Times the change acceleration. And if leaders are reinforcing the change, it will lead to 10 times accelerating the change. So that's what I talk about, in terms of implementation, you know, experimentation and stuff, which is i, and then you have reinforce and sustain, which is r, and then E stands for evaluating and learning. You know, after we close a change initiative, after we signed off on a change initiative, have what have we learned from it? What have we learned from it, and what, what if we had a, if we had a chance to make a do over, what would we do differently? What have we learned from it? And what would we do differently, and if we were to do implement another change, what are the learnings that we can take from this change that we have implemented and apply the learnings in our next change? And also, you know when, when leadership transitions, many, many changes, what? What happens? And you know this is what I have experienced, and this frustrates me a lot as well. Is, you know, when leadership changes, the change gets, you know, messed up. I want to say fucked up, but you know, and I don't know if I'm allowed to say that. You know, every leader, every leader, wants to come in and you know, right or wrong? You know, I'm not blaming a leader wants to leave their mark in the organization, which is good, but what they what they inadvertently do, is undo the change which their predecessors have done. And then people get confused, you know, they say it as a flavor of the month. Or they say, Okay, let's wait until this leader moves on, so that, you know, we can, we can, you know, just wait until this change passes away and it leads to, you know, production of morale and lots of issues. So this is what I talk about in my book, as well, how to avoid these, these situations. So it's like a practical framework where you know which anybody can take and apply to any change of any complexity, and you know if, even if it is very, very simple change which is going to take maybe 10 days or five days only, they can quickly go through the Inspire framework and see, you know, what are the gaps and whether we have, whether we are implementing the change in a proper, structured way. And these are in this is just a framework, you know, and you know, we don't have to use all the tools that I have mentioned in the book. We can pick and choose the tools which are relevant for the change that we are trying to implement.   Michael Hingson ** 52:38 What is the the key to making change sustainable when maybe leadership changes or the company environment shifts,   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 52:48 yes. So, you know, as Dr Deming said, constancy of purpose, right? So, so if I'm a leader, Mike, and you know, if I'm changing my role, and if I'm going to, you know another function or another department, whether in the same organization or in a different organization, and let's say that you know, Mike, you are taking over my role. What is the constancy of purpose? You know? Are we? Does the organization, you know, it starts from our organization level. Does the organization have a constancy of purpose, and is it aligned with the vision and mission and whatever I have, whatever changes I have implemented, have I communicated them to you? Is there a smooth handover between me and you, so that you understand what are the changes I have done, what are the improvements I have done, and you know how you can take it forward and continuously improve upon it. So one thing is completely undoing and the other thing is continuously improving upon it. So that, you know, people see it as a natural, continuous improvement, rather than continue, rather than, you know, abruptly undoing something and then, and then, you know, starting from, you know, scratch, starting from scratch, and saying that, Oh, no, no, no, no, whatever this person did is total crap. And now we are going to change or revolutionize the whole organization where, which, you know, nine out of 10 times is, is, you know, you're just rehashing what this person has done into something new, into, you know, a different framework or a different bottle, however you want to frame it. So the there has to be a smooth hand over. So that's, that's, you know, point number one, and point number two is the the employees, the middle managers have the middle managers and the in the whole leadership team. They have an obligation. They have a accountability to make sure that, you know, they are aligned, to make sure that if one of their leadership team members is moving on, whenever a new leadership team member comes on board, to onboard them in a structured way, not to leave them, you know, hanging, not to, you know, not to let that person. Know, implement his or her own way completely. You know, let on board them and let them know what has happened in the organization. How they can, you know, continuously improve upon it. I'm not saying that, you know, revolutionary change is not required all. I'm saying that there are times when a revolution is required, but most of the times, continuous improvement is good enough. You know, when, when we, when we continuously improve. It keeps the continuity going. And people don't see it as you know, change after change after change. You know, we don't, we don't induce change fatigue in the organizations if we, if we do it as a continuum   Michael Hingson ** 55:40 makes sense, and it's all about and it's all about communication, yep,   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 55:44 indeed. And that's where, you know, that's why I have written my second book, which is, which is about active listening. You know, I'm a bad listener, I have to be honest. So I used to be a very, very bad listener. Now I'm just a bad listener. So I have continuously improved on my listening skills, and at least I know now that you know, I'm aware of my how I need to improve my listening skills. So over the years, I have done, I have I have learned the techniques of how to listen and when and when I say listen, it is not to many people, many of us, you know, even even now. Also sometimes I catch myself, you know, trying to listen to reply or listen to respond. So when I catch myself doing that, I consciously, you know, try to listen to the person. So again, in this book, I have shared, you know, the the techniques which would help anybody to become a better listener, which, you know, one is one of the requirements for being a great leader, how to listen to people and how to listen to people, truly, truly listen to people. So I talk about simple, simple techniques in the book. You know, for example, paraphrasing, remembering, listening without judgment, right? Or suspending judgment, as I say so. You know, I rank these techniques in increasing order of complexity, suspending judgment being the most difficult, you know when, when someone starts speaking, or, you know, even if, even when we see someone immediately, in the first five seconds, we judge that person. And, you know, right or wrong, we judge that we and in this book, also, I talk about, you know, why we are prone to judging people, and why we have such a such a difficult time in suspending judgment. So if we are aware that you know, let's say that you know when I'm talking to you, Mike, if I catch myself judging you right, so at least I know that I'm Judging You right. So at least I can I know that I'm judging you, and I should not do that. I should listen to you, and I should try to understand where you are coming from, instead of saying, instead of just thinking in my mind, oh, whatever Mike is saying is it doesn't make any sense. So maybe initially it may not make sense. But you know, when we open our ears, we have two years, and that's for a reason, and only one mouth. So we need to listen, and we need to completely understand where the other person is coming from, whether you know it is in personal life or in work life. You know, when we, if we don't listen to the teams whom we are managing, and if we just say, you know, do as I say, it's my way or the highway, people will do because you know you are their line manager. But it won't last long. No, the minute you, you know, change your team, or the minute you go out, people will, people will be, you know, good riddance. So, so that's what they'll be thinking. So how to listen to people, and also it will help the leader to grow. You know, over the years, when I listen to my wife, I have understood my own shortcomings, and if I had listened to her 20 years back, maybe I would have been a different person. Maybe, maybe I would have been a more mature person. So this is what, you know, I talk about in the in the book as well. How can we truly, truly listen? And some techniques like paraphrasing. You know, when, when our mind wanders, you know, it will be good to paraphrase the person to whom you're you're speaking so that you know you you remember, so remembering, paraphrasing, empathy, for example, you know, not just talking about KPI, KPI KPIs to the team members. Understand how they're doing. You know, are they having any personal issues? How is their family? You know, work is not, you know what, what? Work is a part of our life. But you know, we spend eight to 10 hours at at a workplace. So we need to know the team members whom we are managing, and we need to listen to them. If somebody is, you know, performing badly, right? It's very easy to give them a negative feedback. But. So if we listen to them, and if they feel heard, maybe they are going through something, or maybe they are not getting enough support. If we listen to them, and if we create that environment of active listening in the whole team, suspending judgment and listening actively, then we create a more stronger bond, and the team would would become like a world class team. This has been my experience. So this is what I have shared in my, in my in my second book,   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:29 and certainly words to to remember. Well, we have been doing this an hour now, and I think it's probably time that we we end it for the day. But if people want to reach out to you. How can they do that?   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 1:00:43 Well, I am there on on LinkedIn, and people can reach me through email, and I'll be more than happy to, you know, respond to anything they need. And I'm I know if people want to reach out to me to conduct any training sessions, my website is also their journey towards excellence. You know where I have my offerings. So   Michael Hingson ** 1:01:04 what is the website? What is the website called, again, journey towards excellence. Journey towards excellence.com, okay, and your email address, khwaja.moinuddin@gmail.com and spell that, if you would   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 1:01:21 Yes, please. K, H, W, A, j, A, dot, M, O, I n, u, d, d, I n@gmail.com,   Michael Hingson ** 1:01:32 great. Well, I hope people will reach out. I think you've offered a lot of great insights and inspiration for people. I appreciate hearing all that you had to say, and I knew I was going to learn a lot today and have and I always tell people, if I'm not learning at least as much as everyone else, I'm not doing my job right. So I really appreciate your time, and it's now getting late where you are, so we're going to let you go. But I want to thank you again for being here, and I do want to thank everyone who is listening and watching us today. We really appreciate it. If you would, I'd love it. If you'd give us a five star review. Wherever you're watching us and listening to us, if you'd like to talk to me or email me about the episode and give us your thoughts, feel free to do so. At Michael H, I m, I C, H, A, E, L, H i at accessibe, A, C, C, E, S, S, I, B, e.com, or go to our podcast page. Michael Hinkson, that's m, I, C, H, A, E, L, H, I N, G, s, o, n.com/podcast, love to hear from you if any of you have any thoughts as to someone else who might make a good podcast guest. And quad you as well. Would love it if you let us know we're always looking for more people to come on and be guests on the show. But again, kwaja, I want to thank you for being here. This has been wonderful.   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 1:02:47 Thank you. Thank you so much, Mike, and it's been a real pleasure talking to you, and it's an honor to be part of your podcast. I wish I had met you earlier and learned I would have learned so much from you, I would definitely, definitely, definitely, you know, reach out to you to learn more. And you know, thank you for the opportunity. Thank you definitely for the opportunity.   **Michael Hingson ** 1:03:15   You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to inter

Are you the one everyone turns to—but deep down, you're running on empty? In this episode, we're diving into the silent struggles of modern women: the burnout, the self-neglect, and the pressure to have it all together. How to say no when you've been the “yes” person Women can do it all, but should they?  The biggest mistakes you may be making that keep pushing away your goals The sneaky habits and mindset traps that sabotage your success How IKIGAI can help you reclaim your purpose The power of reflection—why looking back is the secret to moving forward Game-changing action steps to finally move toward your goals The truth about self-care: Balancing ambition, boundaries, and well-beingDisclaimer: Dr. Amelia Duran-Stanton's views are hers and do not reflect the official policy of the United States Army, Department of Defense or the US Government.Dr. Amelia Duran-Stanton, author of The LOTUS Within: Grow Your Purpose and Ignite Your Passion, was born in the Philippines. She is a colonel in the US Army and has served for over thirty-two years, which includes eight years enlisted, with deployments to Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and twenty-four years as a PA (physician assistant /associate). She holds a PhD in postsecondary and adult education and a doctor of science in PA studies in orthopedics. She is certified as a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt with multiple awards and decorations. She has mentored, coached, sponsored, and taught several women over the years. She has published over 100 articles and presentations, with topics ranging from medicine and mentorship to management.Website: https://www.ameliads.com/thelotuswithinThe LOTUS Within on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/LOTUS-Within-Purpose-Ignite-Passion/dp/B0DDRDXB89Social Media (LinkedIn, Instagram, X, and Facebook): @pinayarmypa

Many of the concepts of lean manufacturing are deceptively simple. It's easy to read or hear about them without understanding how big of an impact they can have. Eric Hayler will be presenting a workshop called The Power of Lean at The Quality Show in Nashville on April 15. His hands-on workshop will include a manufacturing simulation and allow attendees to practice using lean skills right away. Hayler is the Principal of the Hayler Group, Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, and Adjunct Professor of Business Analytics at the University of South Carolina Upstate in Spartanburg, South Carolina. He has led Continuous Improvement efforts at BMW Manufacturing and Amazon. He is a long time member of ASQ and has served in a variety of roles including Chair of the Board of Directors in 2017. Eric's workshop will take place on Tuesday, April 15, from 10:30 to 12:30. ⮞ The Assembly Show South Agenda Image courtesy of Eric Hayler

In this episode, business coach Todd Rodden shares his expertise on preparing businesses for a successful exit. With over 30 years in corporate leadership and a specialization in Lean Six Sigma, Todd transitioned into coaching to help business owners scale, streamline operations, and plan for long-term success. He discusses the importance of thinking with the end in mind, building a strong management team, and creating a business that can thrive without its founder. Todd also shares real-world success stories, including how strategic pricing and process improvements helped a struggling business owner turn their company around and sell it for a profit.About Tom Rodden:Todd Rodden is an experienced business coach and former corporate leader with over three decades of expertise in business process improvement, leadership development, and strategic planning. A Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Todd specializes in helping business owners scale, optimize operations, and prepare for successful exits. Through his work with Action Coach, he guides entrepreneurs in building sustainable, profitable enterprises that can operate independently. Passionate about mentorship and long-term business strategy, Todd is committed to empowering leaders to achieve financial freedom and lasting success.Learn more: https://toddrodden.actioncoach.com/about-us/About ActionCOACHActionCOACH is a global business coaching firm founded in 1993 by Brad Sugars. It offers coaching services to all types of businesses, providing guidance and support in various aspects of business management, including marketing, sales, finance, team building, and systems development. ActionCOACH operates through a network of trained business coaches who work directly with clients to help them achieve their business goals and overcome challenges. The company's vision is to "create world abundance through business re-education," aiming to empower entrepreneurs and business owners to build profitable enterprises that work without them. Learn more about ActionCOACH: https://www.actioncoach.com/Become A Coach: https://www.actioncoach.com/

Chad Bareither is the owner and principal consultant of Bareither Group Consulting. Chad shares his journey from working as a civilian engineer in the U.S. Army to becoming a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and consultant for medtech and pharma companies. Chad discusses his process improvement framework, the importance of understanding both systems and people, and insights from his recently published book "Improve LESS." He also covers the transition from being an employee to an entrepreneur and the qualities essential for leadership in the industry.    Guest links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadbareither/ | https://www.bareithergroup.com/ | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTjC2ZBL3mqnriCeAIkmSlQ Charity supported: Polaris Project Interested in being a guest on the show or have feedback to share? Email us at theleadingdifference@velentium.com.  PRODUCTION CREDITS Host: Lindsey Dinneen Editing: Marketing Wise Producer: Velentium   EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Episode 045 - Chad Bareither [00:00:00] Lindsey Dinneen: Hi, I'm Lindsey and I'm talking with MedTech industry leaders on how they change lives for a better world. [00:00:09] Diane Bouis: The inventions and technologies are fascinating and so are the people who work with them. [00:00:15] Frank Jaskulke: There was a period of time where I realized, fundamentally, my job was to go hang out with really smart people that are saving lives and then do work that would help them save more lives. [00:00:28] Diane Bouis: I got into the business to save lives and it is incredibly motivating to work with people who are in that same business, saving or improving lives. [00:00:38] Duane Mancini: What better industry than where I get to wake up every day and just save people's lives. [00:00:42] Lindsey Dinneen: These are extraordinary people doing extraordinary work, and this is The Leading Difference. Hello, and welcome to another episode of The Leading Difference Podcast. I'm your host, Lindsey, and I am so excited to introduce you to my guest today, Chad Bareither. Chad is the owner and principal consultant of Bareither Group Consulting. He partners with med device and pharma company leaders to boost productivity. This is delivered through the Focus and Align Framework, the subject of his book, "Improve LESS.". Chad is a Certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Technological University, as well as Master's degrees in both Industrial and Systems Engineering and Applied Statistics from Rutgers University. He has over 10 years of experience in the med device and pharma industries and almost 20 years of professional experience. All right. Well, welcome to the show, Chad. I'm so excited to talk to you today. [00:01:42] Chad Bareither: Yeah, thanks for having me on. [00:01:45] Lindsey Dinneen: Of course! I'd love if you wouldn't mind by starting off telling us a little bit about yourself, your background, and maybe what led you to what you're doing now. [00:01:54] Chad Bareither: Sure. So I started my career in the US Army as a civilian engineer. So my background's in engineering, mechanical, I have a degree in mechanical engineering and also industrial engineering. So I started out in the U. S. Army as a civilian doing acquisition projects. So we would design and then purchase componentry for our warfighters from various defense contractors. And so my role in that was quality. So understanding are we designing all of the elements correctly. Then when they're being produced, are they meeting our specifications? And then once they're in stockpile, do they continue to work before we hand them to the brave men and women that are defending our freedom. And so I worked there for a while and pretty early found my niche that I was really into process improvement. So I would visit defense contractors, and if we had an issue, what I was really seem to have a knack for was helping to understand the process and make it better. So we could either expand capacity or have better quality. And so that kind of bridged right into a unique program they were introducing at the time, which was called Lean Six Sigma, which is a corporate program for reducing variation and improving efficiency of processes and the corporation at large. So I was pretty lucky that these two things coincide at the same time is that I was finding my niche and they were rolling out a program that really focused in that. So I was able to get into one of those programs, get trained and certified. And then I followed that path on to several other industries, including med device, pharma, and then was also a corporate employee in some utility, electric, natural gas. After my last corporate engagement, I went off on my own and I began consulting. So delivering the same services I had internally to those larger organizations. But now I have the ability to target smaller or growing organizations. In my consulting engagements, if you combine corporate experience and consulting engagement, it's somewhere around eight industries that I worked in. But I really enjoy the work and the challenges in med device and pharma a lot more. There's the purpose behind it of serving patients, and there's also some really significant technical challenges that I just find are fascinating to learn about. So for the last-- oh, it's six years now-- I've been consulting delivering those services in various industries, but really trying to focus my space into the medtech arena. [00:04:46] Lindsey Dinneen: Nice. Well, first of all, thank you for sharing a little bit about your background. I appreciate it. And it's fascinating to hear how you started off with one focus and then it just continued to evolve and twist and turn into this amazing consulting career that you have now. So many questions, but the first is could seven year old Chad have possibly anticipated what you're doing now, since it's different than what you started off with. [00:05:15] Chad Bareither: Yeah, no, I think seven year old Chad probably wanted to be a professional baseball player. But if I zoom forward a little bit from that, once middle school and high school, I always. naturally gravitated to our math and science was thinking it was going to be engineering. And I did, I studied engineering and most of my day is not engineering. It's really understanding people. But what's fascinating is if I look back, I think what all of my engineering education taught me was really a system for solving problems, right? So the problems that we solved happen to be mechanical design or industrial design. Got it. But taking that mindset of problem solving and now saying, well, the systems that I work with on a daily basis with my customers are a little bit more complex because you have mechanical systems, but you also have people systems that are intertwined with that, right? So, whether I've worked across the spectrum and still do of research and development, clinical trials, manufacturing and post market surveillance and across that. You can have systems set up, but people still operate it. So, it's difficult to just analyze your way into the perfect solution. Even if I can show on paper that it works, like you still need to understand the people elements of it. So I think that's been the biggest evolution through my career is early on, it was like, "I don't understand why we're doing this. It makes sense on paper." And it's like the change management component of that has been really something I've been able to develop personally, I'd say, over the last 6 to 10 years. [00:06:51] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. And I'm curious, so bridging that gap between systems and people and understanding that what looks good on paper might not translate as perfectly into real life as one would hope, because we're people and people are complex. So were there certain learning opportunities that you had that helped bridge that gap of gaining your expertise and knowledge in that way? Or what led you to be able to do that so efficiently now? [00:07:23] Chad Bareither: Oof, well, you're assuming I do it efficiently now, so but I'd say I still believe we learn more from failures than we do from success, right? So, there are specific projects or engagements I can look back to. So I'll talk about one specifically. This was a medical device assembly plant. And the particular production line that we were working on, we were trying to increase capacity on, and we even had the team engaged, right? So we were doing everything right in terms of the engagement project, had the teams involved, understood their pain points. We were trying to make it easier for them. And then like on paper again, showed we could do the production line, with the main assembly line, with three operators instead of four. And so we were really pushing for that because being just transparent, looking back now, it's like the productivity gain would have looked really sweet to management. But we had the operators telling us like, "I don't think it's going to work. I don't think it's going to work that way." And we're like, " No, it's going to work," right and pushing for it. And I don't know, you, you get a little focused on your own goals or whatever you, however you want to phrase that. And yeah it was a struggle to launch. And they ended up having to cover some of that with overtime. They made some adjustments long term, but that was a big learning for me of, I mean, if the people actually doing that work eight to 10 hours a day are telling you it's not going to work, like you should probably pull back and either, you've got more explaining to do, more improvements to do, or you should just maybe listen to them a little bit more. But you know, there's other scenarios I can look at that were. You know, when I say failure, right? Not everything means it's a flaming dumpster fire, but sometimes you don't get exactly what you expect out of it. And a lot of it can, I can point back to and say, " Ooh, you know, I could have done a better job. It's not that the analysis was wrong. It's not that the tool we put in place or the management technique or the visualization, it's that we didn't have the right level of buy in or the right people buying in." [00:09:35] Lindsey Dinneen: Okay. Well, I, thank you. I appreciate your honesty and transparency. But I do think to your point, failure or whatever we perceive to be as failure because it didn't work out quite the way we hoped for, is such a powerful learning tool if you can take it and go, "Okay, here's what worked. Here's what didn't. Here's what I can do better next time." And you don't have to go, "Okay, that was a waste." It's never a waste if you can learn from it. [00:10:01] Chad Bareither: A hundred percent. And I think only in recent years, I'd say the last four to five years, that I've really gotten into that of more of a bias for action of, " What's the worst that's gonna happen?" And honestly, I'm not talking about changes that are gonna bankrupt a company, right? It's if you're changing the direction, but " Well, let's try it." So having a bias for action and thinking, just like you pointed out, that it's going to be a learning experience, right? So if you treat it more of an experiment, success isn't necessarily binary-- it was a success or it wasn't-- we learned something. Maybe we got better. Maybe we didn't. But that means the next round, the engagement that we talked about before we started recording, I'm just coming back from-- we had two weeks of not going so well. And then the last week there was finally a breakthrough. And it was like, but I'm comfortable with it. The team was getting disengaged and I'm like, "We're going to get there! You guys stay positive, 'cause I know we're going to get there." And the failures we learned, we know so much more about that process now than we did three weeks ago. [00:10:59] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Yeah. And that brought up an interesting point. So persistence and the willingness or the bias to action, which I really liked the way you put that, the willingness to experiment is something that does take a level of comfort that maybe not everyone is so excited about. But I'm wondering what you have seen over the years as being some of the top qualities of a leader that contribute to that success and that willingness to experiment. [00:11:33] Chad Bareither: Yeah. So, it helps me to think about specific leaders when I, that are like embodying that rather than just speak generically about it. And there was an R&D manager that I work with, his first name was John, but really took the stigma of failure, and I think not even using that word as much, out of it, and just saying, " Let's try and see what happens." And kind of building that learning mindset of, I'd rather move fast and learn something than move slow and get it perfect. And in industries, especially like a bunch of the medtech fields, I know in some of the pharma clients I've worked with, they're looking at things like new technologies, new modality of disease and I'm not a scientist, but these are things that we've never done before. And so the mindset of trying to get it perfect-- like this leader I work with previously, John is like, "Why are we wanting to get it perfect? We won't get it perfect the first time. And if we try to, we're going to be moving too slowly." so that's kind of the first thing that I think of is taking the stigma out of failure and turning it more into trying, learning mindset, things like that. I think the other thing is keeping open communication. And what I mean by that is there's another leader I'm thinking of and his first name was Mickey. And trying to have more open conversations. Information can be used for power, in some cases, or if you're harboring information or knowledge, like, " I'm the conduit, right? So then I become what puts it all together." And he was big on breaking down some of those and having more open conversations about what we're learning and what works and what doesn't work. And I mean, you see teams grow together faster. And so then when you take those two qualities, if I take the stigma of failure off of the organization as a whole, and I work to build more open lines of communication and you build trust, right? So then I'm more, I don't want to say confident-- that's not maybe the right word to go after-- but there's less hesitancy, less fear, maybe. So not being confident doesn't mean I'm not fearful, but if I can take a little bit of that fear, a little bit of the stigma of failure out, I'm willing to try. I'm willing to go off on something new. And as we look at this industry of new advances in technology, new challenges of diseases, we're going to have to keep moving fast and do it in areas that are pretty uncertain. So those are some things that I think help, of saying that we're not going to get it right every time, opening up lines of communication to build trust in the team. And then we can really move faster to a shared goal. [00:14:08] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. I really like that. Thank you for that advice and insight. That's really helpful. So now with your own company, consulting, well, a couple of questions, but the first is what stage of business do you usually typically come in on? Or is there not necessarily a stage that's your sweet spot? [00:14:28] Chad Bareither: There's, I wouldn't say right now there's a stage where I could say I have a, a litany of business cases for one stage, so multiple stages. I work with some organizations that are still in-- I mean, so if you think about the business, the corporate stage, established businesses, so they're past what would that be? Series two funding. So commercialized product. So I'm either working with the R&D pipeline on next generation products, next innovation, or in the operation space of improving manufacturing operations are typically the two areas that I'm working in the most. [00:15:09] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Was there an interesting learning curve going from being an employee to being an entrepreneur? [00:15:18] Chad Bareither: Yeah, so let me answer that two ways. The first is moving from being an internal employee to being a consultant, right? Because it's just a different, you're of a different role in the company, right? And then there's also to your point is great moving from being an employee to an entrepreneur. So if you don't mind, I'll kind of tackle both of those. The first is moving from employee to consultant is interesting. Because I was on the employee side when you would have consultants come in. And so leaving the bad taste in my mouth from some consultants we had worked in, they're there to make an impact so that they can either upsell their services or whatever. And I can remember being on engagement. So it's like pushing so hard and just, " I have to work with these people when you leave. So you're kind of creating a mess for us." And just trying to meet people more where they're at. But you know, there's an adage of "a prophet isn't recognized in their hometown." It's sometimes they just need someone from the outside to point out what everyone has showing. And I know that sounds simple, but sometimes you just need to come in and say, "Independent third party here. And yes, that is the problem." So it's nice that you have that sense of authority, but I am personally, I am very cautious about the fact of, look, these people need to live with the solution when I walk away. The worst thing in my mind could be helping a client solve a problem, and then it returned for them. So even if they did want to call me back, that would be seen as not ideal in my mind. I want to help them get to a solution that then they can buy in and sustain. So that, that first change is going from internal employee to consultant where, you do have to make an impact, a splash, a return on investment, whatever you say. But, I'm cautious to also say, but they need to adopt the change. They need to own it. It can't just be my great idea. The other side that you talked about is going from employee to entrepreneur, which is also an interesting transition. As an employee, there's some perceived safety and stability, and I say that just perceived, because depending upon the industry that you're in, as markets change and things like that, layoffs come, things of that nature. So job security is never a hundred percent, but there is some perceived job security and stability there. But as you get past the startup stage, you start to specialize, which means your job responsibility narrows, right? So in a larger organization, typically you become a specialist, but not very broad in thinking, and, and so that can be comfortable as well. You develop some technical expertise. Moving into the entrepreneurial space, which you probably have dabbled in a little bit as an, as a business owner yourself is, you are simultaneously the chief marketing officer and IT support and delivery services, and fill in the blank. So you're wearing a lot of hats. And it can be difficult to gravitate towards the stuff you're really good at. So, I am best at the delivery, the actual client engagements. But I recognize if I'm not doing sales and marketing, and building new connections like that, eventually that work goes away. So it's trying to manage yourself and not stay where you're comfortable, if that makes sense. And not just deep dive all the way down to specialty in one area and have to learn some of these things. Or, you know, find the right people to do it for you. [00:18:49] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's very insightful. So you are also a published author and I was wondering if you could share a little bit about your book. [00:18:57] Chad Bareither: Yeah. So the name of the book I wrote in the fall of 2023, it was released, is called "Improve LESS" and intentionally thought provoking title that I got to it in a very roundabout way. The whole concept of the book started behind that, when I launched my consulting firm, I was still working full time as a corporate employee. So a friend of a friend asked if I can help. And I said, "Sure!" And that was a side gig. And then had another one come up and another one come up and then one of those clients wanted something more. And eventually I didn't have time to do a full time corporate job anymore. But then I had three clients that were all kind of different phases and asking for different things. And so I had one client that was really focused on strategy. And, " We need to align our strategy. We need a better way to cascade that in the organization." Another client that was really focused on process improvement. "We want to build our problem solving and process improvement skills for the organization." And I had a third client that really wanted to have better eyes on the business, so we would call it a daily management system, visualization of metrics and understanding the business so we can diagnose problems. Well, once you get good at strategy, then you actually have to go improve the processes. Once I'm pretty good at process improvement, I should probably align those strategically. Once I can see the problems in my business, I need to-- so essentially all of those three clients needed the three parts that were together. So I sat back and I said, "Well, this is starting to become a little bit of a mess. What would I do if I had a new client? What, where would I start?" So I started writing down the process really for my own benefit. And then working with a business coach, I was like, "I'm going to give this away as like a PDF or whatever." They're like, "No, you should turn this into a book." And I'm like, "Like a book?" And they're like, "Yeah." And I had no idea how to do that. So, you know, back to our conversation about entrepreneurs is, so I found someone who did. And I'm work with someone else, a publishing strategist helped me go through everything, which I thought it was pretty good, in terms of editing, that was not the case. So, went through some content editing and professional editing, and then, hired a professional illustrator from my hand drawn drawings. So, yeah, it was a journey, but that's how it started was me saying, " Well, what's my process?" And so really the purpose of the book is it is a framework. Anyone can pick it up and follow it. And I also tried to keep it short. I don't like to be very verbose in the communications to my clients because they need to understand it. So it's literally something that you could read in a weekend and start on Monday. [00:21:39] Lindsey Dinneen: I love that. Okay. So yeah. Yeah. So you've written this book, and you have your consulting firm, and what are you excited about coming up? Maybe both personally and professionally. [00:21:53] Chad Bareither: Yeah. Oh, I think it's easier for me to answer personally. So I'll start there. So my wife and I have three children and they're all pretty active in different competitive endeavors, gymnastics. We talked before, my middle daughter is a dancer, the two girls, the gymnast and the dancer, also play volleyball. And then my youngest son is on a baseball and a soccer team. And so, I mean, I just love supporting them in those. Now I say all that academics are also important. They're doing well academically. That's kind of the condition for doing the sports and stuff like that, but really pouring into them right now. It's It's going to sound so cliche, but our oldest is 13 right now. And some pictures came up, memories on my phone, and it's goes by quick. So personally, I'm just excited about in them right now. And they're turning-- I use this term and my coworker laughs at me-- but they're turning into real people, with their own personalities and their own likes, and it's frustrating at times because they have their own thoughts. Yeah. But it's fascinating right now. And just being able to spend more time investing in them is, is great. Professionally is exciting to really I'm niching back down into this medtech area, right? So I'm carrying a pharma client. I came off a pharma engagement. That was just at the beginning of this year and I've worked in other industries, but I'm just really fired up about the work, the technical challenges in these areas. So getting back into some client engagements that are med device and pharmaceuticals, and then, pharmaceuticals has stuff going on that I don't, I can't begin to understand. Bio therapeutic proteins and cell therapy stuff, which is-- it's fascinating technology, but it's still process, right? And so I might not understand the science, but I do understand process. And I've been able to help in those areas. And it's just, it's humbling to be contributing to the field. So I'm really excited to niche back down in that area and do some more work in this medtech field. [00:23:56] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. And when it comes to medtech, are there any moments working with clients that stand out to you as just confirmation that you are in the right place in the right industry at the right time? [00:24:10] Chad Bareither: Yeah. So, I know very little about cell therapy, but basically, you grow stem cells and you make them into other type of cells that would be beneficial. If there's people in cell therapy listening to this, you can correct me if I'm wrong. But I mean, it's just, it's mind boggling the science, but I was working with that group and so they were building up their pilot capabilities. And I'm looking at for more like an industrial engineering, manufacturing point of view, developing standard work. And so they're like, "Oh, this is so helpful." And I'm just thinking, I'm like, "I don't even understand what you guys do. So the fact that I can be of any contribution here is..." But I think, pulling back on that is, you need to invest in your strength. So here's, very skilled multi year experience, PhD scientists. And sometimes they just need someone to help them with structuring up the process flow and the capacities and the standard work that they need to do this consistently. And I'm good at that. And so this kind of harkens back to our conversations about entrepreneurship, right, of knowing what you're good at and knowing what you need help with. And I just, I know what I'm good at. And if I find clients that need help in that area, I'm thrilled to support it. But that was one engagement where it was like, "I understand about zero of what you just explained to me, but I think I can help you." [00:25:36] Lindsey Dinneen: I love that. That's fantastic. One of the things I've noticed and really appreciated about the medtech industry is everybody is really good about celebrating and acknowledging how we all fit into the efforts to make it successful. So even if you are not the scientist, or you are also an engineer, but say in my case, I'm not a scientist, I'm not an engineer, but I do have a marketing ability. And the respect mutually that occurs for everybody's contributions, I think is really special in the medtech industry. I'm wondering if you experienced that too. [00:26:17] Chad Bareither: Yeah. You know, I think there's definitely times it's kind of like a family, right? Families fight, the families get along together. There's definitely times where it's like people are like, "Ah, sales department doesn't know what they're doing," or and you're like, but at the end of the day, you recognize you do need all those parts. Unfortunately, these technologies and this research is expensive. So you do need to sell, right? I mean, that's a reality. So you're right. They do all need to get to, and if people slow down, I think you're right. Eventually everyone's, " Yes, we need all these parts to work." I think there's definitely times where people are having a bad time and they get a little grumpy and they're like, "That department doesn't know what they're doing." But it's, but no, I think all the departments are actually really good at what they're doing. So, you just look at the growth that you're seeing in the industry and the valuation of some of these companies and it's, they know what they're doing and they're serving a need that, that we have supporting our health and wellness. And so it's cool. It's really cool to see that all come together. I think you get a very interesting view of that at some of the smaller organizations 'cause there is a lot more of that trust and that team camaraderie, but even, you know, I worked for a fortune 500 company when I was in in med device, as a corporate employee. And you still have that, within the product teams, within the production teams, that they're there to support each other, they're there for the win. There's also a healthy dose of competition in the industry, I think, that makes it a really driven. So it's, it's fun to be a part of it's fast paced because of the personalities. It's fast paced because of the science. It's fast paced because of the competitiveness with other competitors in the industry. So yeah, it's a fun space to be in. [00:28:00] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, so pivoting the conversation just for fun, imagine that you were to be offered a million dollars to teach a master class on anything you want. It could be in your industry, but it doesn't have to be. What would you choose to teach? [00:28:17] Chad Bareither: Yeah. So this is maybe, I'm hopefully not being risk averse here, because I would teach something that I'm already good at teaching. So some of my favorite things to teach are structured problem solving. So most people that are in any type of leadership position got there because they were probably good at solving problems. And I think where we have challenges in, as organizations grow, is that not everyone solves a problem the same way. So how do you develop the new talent coming up to be like those next leaders? And you can't, you shouldn't just rely on individual people to be like, "We'll just find the good problem solvers and they'll go up." I've seen in organizations where you can really multiply, even exponentially grow, the pace of improvement by having structured problem solving in. So that's what I would do. Personally, that's DMAIC formatted problem solving. It's a five phase problem solving approach: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control. So that's something that I love teaching because I love the lightbulb moment that goes off in people's heads and we teach them that. There is a portion of that is statistics and I love teaching statistics because most people think this is going to be the worst thing ever and I tried to make it a little bit fun and they're like, "Oh, that was fun. And I learned something." And that's what fires me up. So yeah, it would be structured problem solving. That's what I would teach a masterclass on. [00:29:43] Lindsey Dinneen: Okay, I like it. And how do you wish to be remembered after you leave this world? [00:29:49] Chad Bareither: Oh, my. So my love language that I express as in service. Helpful, that's, I think that's the main thing. Whether it's in a client engagement or in the neighborhood or the family, I enjoy helping people. And so whether that's consulting on the launch of a new diagnostic device or helping someone repair their tractor, right? I enjoy engaging and learning with people and solving problems together. So I really like helping people. So I think I'd like to be remembered in that way. Helpful. [00:30:27] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, I like it. Absolutely. And then final question. What is one thing that makes you smile every time you see or think about it? [00:30:38] Chad Bareither: One thing. Well, I don't know. I've smiled a lot this week, seeing pictures of my kids when they were younger, because I don't know, maybe my iPhone's just paying tricks on me. It keeps showing pictures of my kids when they were little. So that's it. I think right now, just the point of life that I'm at right now as kids, two of my brothers just had babies as well. So little kids and just me realizing like my kids are never going to be that age again. I've been on travel and seen a lot of little kids in different cities, and it's sweet because it's so simple. Their world is so simple at that age. So I think it makes me smile just because the innocence is there. Yeah. I'm gonna stick with that. [00:31:17] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, great answer. It's, it's special to witness and it always brings a smile too. Especially little kids at airports that are dragging their tiny little backpacks or rollie bags behind them and they've got their best stuffed friend. Oh my gosh, it's so cute. [00:31:35] Chad Bareither: So one thing that's been interesting to see is when people have younger kids, and maybe they're misbehaving or maybe they're just excited, right? And the parents are kind of flustered. It's just it's, it brings a smile to my face. Not because the parents are flustered. It's just because I can remember being a parent and you make a big deal out of it, and it's man, but I just appreciate the innocence and the genuine joy that this small human is trying to have right now. And it's, I think, that's the thing right now in my life. That's bringing a smile every time I see it or think about it. [00:32:05] Lindsey Dinneen: I love it. I love it. Well, Chad, this has been an incredible conversation. I really appreciate your insights and advice and everything that you're doing. If anyone's listening and needs some outside support, please definitely get in touch with Chad. We are so honored to be making a donation on your behalf as a thank you for your time today to the Polaris Project, which is a non governmental organization that works to combat and prevent sex and labor trafficking in North America. So thank you for choosing that organization to support. And we just wish you the most continued success as you work to change lives for a better world. [00:32:42] Chad Bareither: Thanks a lot. And you got a lot going on. So I wish you continued success in all your endeavors as well. [00:32:49] Lindsey Dinneen: Awesome. Well, thank you so much. And thank you also to our listeners for tuning in. And if you're feeling as inspired as I am right now, I would love it if you would share this episode with a colleague or two, and we will catch you next time. [00:33:04] Ben Trombold: The Leading Difference is brought to you by Velentium. Velentium is a full-service CDMO with 100% in-house capability to design, develop, and manufacture medical devices from class two wearables to class three active implantable medical devices. Velentium specializes in active implantables, leads, programmers, and accessories across a wide range of indications, such as neuromodulation, deep brain stimulation, cardiac management, and diabetes management. Velentium's core competencies include electrical, firmware, and mechanical design, mobile apps, embedded cybersecurity, human factors and usability, automated test systems, systems engineering, and contract manufacturing. Velentium works with clients worldwide, from startups seeking funding to established Fortune 100 companies. Visit velentium.com to explore your next step in medical device development.

In this episode of "ExpertISE," author, certified Lean Six Sigma master black belt, and continuous improvement expert Tina Agustiady answers: "How important are group projects and teamwork in the ISE profession?"

In this week's "ExpertISE," author, certified Lean Six Sigma master black belt, and continuous improvement expert Tina Agustiady answers: "What role does continuous learning play in the ever-evolving ISE landscape?"

What You'll Learn: In this episode hosts Catherine McDonald, Shayne Daughenbaugh, and guest Shane Wentz delve into the crucial first steps of implementing lean in an organization, emphasizing the vital role of training and the common pitfalls encountered.  About the Guest:   Dr. Shane Wentz has been nationally recognized for his leadership, continuous improvement, and innovation contributions, resulting in significant global organizational savings. His career began in the Army as an intelligence analyst, evolving into a role as a Human Capital Manager where he managed workforce development, planning, training, and operations. Notably, he was the top Human Capital Manager in the Army, inducted into the prestigious Audie Murphy Club, and became the first enlisted soldier to earn a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. Post-Army, Dr. Wentz led teams at Siemens, Nike, and Radial, and now heads Process Excellence at Crowley, a major supply chain logistics company. Married to Susie for 24 years, with a son, Tommy, and an exchange student, Alexa, he enjoys running, reading, professional collaboration, and traveling. Links: ⁠Click Here For Catherine McDonald's LinkedIn⁠ Click Here For Shane Wentz's LinkedInShane Wentz's TikTok: @bald_professor --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/leansolutions/support

In this week's "ExpertISE," author, certified Lean Six Sigma master black belt, and continuous improvement expert Tina Agustiady returns to answer: "What challenges did you face early in your career, and how did your college experience prepare you for them?"Learning more about IISE's educational and certification offerings at: iise.org/trainingcenter

In this podcast episode, host Rob Lawrence interviews Andy Skinner, the founder of AMS Business Consultants, about the critical role of business processes. Andy, a seasoned Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, shares insights from his extensive experience in process improvement; revealing the importance of understanding and designing effective processes for startup businesses to enhance productivity and customer satisfaction. Andy also describes practical steps for capturing and mapping business processes and emphasises the need to measure processes from a customer's perspective. The conversation also explores the value of aligning processes with customer requirements to drive operational efficiency and growth.In this episode you'll learn:Introduction to AMS Business Consultants (00:01:00) Andy's background, AMS Business Consultants, and qualifications in process improvement.Understanding Business Processes (00:02:02) Andy explains lean six sigma, process improvement, management, and design for businesses.Early Career and Lean Six Sigma Training (00:03:12) Andy's early career, introduction to lean six sigma, and becoming a certified blackbelt.Importance of Processes for Small Businesses (00:06:21) Discussion on the significance of processes for startups and the impact on productivity and customer experience.Capturing and Mapping Processes (00:10:37) Practical steps and tools for capturing and mapping business processes.Founder's Involvement in Processes (00:13:59) The role of business owners in performing processes and the importance of designing processes for the business and customers.Process Design and Improvement (00:15:49) The application of process management, improvement, and design based on business needs and customer perspectives.Understanding Customer Needs (00:22:26) The importance of understanding and meeting customer needs to deliver value-added services. The importance of communication, customer service, and continuous improvement in online retail businesses.Continuous Improvement and Program Evolution (00:24:35) The importance of continuous improvement and evolving processes in the "Start Build and Grow" program.Process Design and Redesign (00:25:07) Process entitlement, process design methodology, and redesigning processes for rapidly growing businesses.Implementing Performance Metrics (00:26:51) Establishing a dashboard for visualising and understanding performance metrics in business.Measuring and Improving Speed of Response (00:27:30) Measuring speed of response, using the right tools, and setting up processes for tracking performance metrics.Aligning Tools with Processes (00:28:53) The importance of defining processes first and then finding tools that fit the process, not the other way around.Essential Business Measures (00:31:40) Example of critical measures like speed of response, speed of order, dispatch, and target delivery time for product-based businesses.Utilizing Data Analytics (00:33:43) Leveraging website data analytics for future marketing activities and gaining valuable insights.Importance of Good Processes (00:35:15) The significance of good processes in delivering consistent outputs and understanding customer needs.Process Improvement for Reducing Carbon Footprint (00:37:22) Using process improvement to...

In this week's "ExpertISE," author, certified Lean Six Sigma master black belt, and continuous improvement expert Tina Agustiady answers: "How do you handle resistance or pushback when implementing new systems or changes?"You can find this episode as well as full episodes of "Problem Solved: The IISE Podcast" anytime at podcast.iise.org or wherever you download your favorite podcasts.

This week's guest is Carlos Pereyra. Ron and Carlos discussed Carlos's recent graduation from our Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt program, what it means to create psychological safety, measuring success, and more. An MP3 audio version of this episode is available for download here. In this episode you'll learn:  The quote Carlos likes (3:31) His background (4:16) Failing faster (7:20) How we can encourage a culture of experimentation (11:21) Some personal examples (12:31) Getting people excited about lean (17:03) Advice for leaders (19:12) Why it is so difficult for leaders to create psychological safety (21:10) Measuring success (23:01) Podcast Resources Right Click to Download this Podcast as an MP3 Carlos on LinkedIn Get All the Latest News from Gemba Academy Our newsletter is a great way to receive updates on new courses, blog posts, and more. Sign up here. What Do You Think? How do you get people excited about lean?

“Culture is not owned by HR, it's owned by every single leader.”-Jessica BacherWhat is your organizational culture like? Who drives it?  Who sees themselves as driving it?  In some companies, people look to HR to take the lead - or the blame - on company culture.  In this episode, my guest and I explore how HR can support culture with an innovative structure and respect for people's time.My guest is Jessica Bacher who is the Chief People Officer at Prolink. Jessica is a proven Human Resources leader with global, multi-discipline experience in operational and executive talent acquisition, talent management, C-Suite succession building/placement, organizational design leadership, and process excellence. She has 20 years of cumulative and progressive leadership in leading complex organizations through talent branding, pipeline building, internal movement best practices, and hiring strategies using data to drive decisions and build workforce strategy. Jessica is an influencer in building strategy and programs that drive inclusive hiring practices and build succession plans with a priority lens for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I). She holds an MBA from the University of Phoenix and earned a master's degree in Human Resources from the University of Cincinnati; Jessica is also a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. She and her husband are Cincinnati natives and currently live on the west side of the city with their four children.In this episode of Talent Management Truths, you'll discover:The difference between a virtual first model and a remote only oneHow empowerment and autonomy drive culture ownershipHow HR can integrate themselves into the work their clients are already doingLinksJessica Bacher on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-bacher-084b10b/Stay Connected JOIN our free, value-added Community of Peers and Learning! Lisa hosts regular FREE Talent Talks for HR and Talent Management Leaders to expand your network, spark ideas and learn with your peers. We leverage large group discussion and small group breakouts: https://www.greenappleconsulting.ca/TalentTalks Share the Show Like what you've heard? Pretty please with an apple on top - kindly leave me a 5* review so that others can find the show and elevate their impact too! Here are the simple instructions: Launch Apple's Podcast app on your iPhone or iPad. Tap the Search icon (on the botton) and search for “Talent Management Truths.” Tap the album art. On the podcast page, tap the Reviews tab. Tap Write a Review at the bottom of this page. Follow me LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-mitchell-acc-ctdp-7437636/ Instagram: @greenappleconsulting Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greenappleconsulting.ca

As the owner and principal consultant of Bareither Group Consulting, Chad Bareithet enables organizations for sustainable continuous improvement. Chad partners with his clients to clarify and deploy their strategy, make process improvements to achieve those goals, and establish a system for daily management of the business. Why do most companies not achieve their strategic goals? How should a leader think about starting their continuous improvement journey? How do I identify problems? What is the key to sustaining performance? How do you create a culture of continuous improvement? Chad Bareithet As the owner and principal consultant of Bareither Group Consulting, Chad Bareithet enables organizations for sustainable continuous improvement. Chad partners with his clients to clarify and deploy their strategy, make process improvements to achieve those goals, and establish a system for daily management of the business. These three elements of The Focus and Align FrameworkTM are the subject of a forthcoming book to help even more organizations and leaders Improve LESS … and get better performance. Chad is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and holds a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Technological University as well as master's degrees in both Industrial & Systems Engineering and Applied Statistics from Rutgers University. Chad and his wife reside in Southwest Michigan with their three children. Excellent Executive Coaching Podcast If you have enjoyed this episode, subscribe to our podcast on iTunes. We would love for you to leave a review. The EEC podcasts are sponsored by MKB Excellent Executive Coaching that helps you get from where you are to where you want to be with customized leadership and coaching development programs. MKB Excellent Executive Coaching offers leadership development programs to generate action, learning, and change that is aligned with your authentic self and values. Transform your dreams into reality and invest in yourself by scheduling a discovery session with Dr. Katrina Burrus, MCC to reach your goals. Your host is Dr. Katrina Burrus, MCC, founder and general manager of Excellent Executive Coaching a company specialized in leadership development.

In this episode of the Learning While Working Podcast, Susan Stocker uncovers the world of computational thinking and its relevance in the age of artificial intelligence. With the skills gap becoming a concern in the era of AI and data-driven decision making, Susan's research on computational thinking in the workplace is timely and informative. Listen, as we explore what computational thinking is, the importance of critical thinking, and how these skills can shape our approach to problem-solving in the age of AI.About Susan Stocker    Susan Stocker is a Digital Transformation L&D Consultant where she helps organisations quickly change and get ahead of the skills and capability curve. She is committed to hands-on learning that enables teams to accelerate their success and companies to retain their people. She is also a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Certified Product Owner, Certified Scrum Master, and Certified BADIR Citizen Analyst.Key takeaways:Computational Thinking and AI in the Workplace: Computational thinking is a key skill in the age of AI and data-driven decision-making, so reflect on how you can build the relationship between these skills.Reimagining Work and Learning with AI: it's an exciting time to rethink work in strategic areas for impactful organisational change as we are incorporating AI in day-to-day work and collaborating with the business.The skills gap in computational thinking is a real concern. According to Susan's research, a significant percentage of people in the workplace lack critical and computational thinking skills. As professionals, we need to develop these skills to effectively work with AI and data.Segmented time stamps:(00:00) Introduction(04:46) The struggle with critical and computational thinking(10:01) Value drivers for AI transformation in business(11:33) Understanding AI's use cases and problem-solving approach(15:09) Moving beyond technical AI to include critical thinking and behavioural responses(20:29) Rethinking work Links from the podcastConnect with Susan Stocker on LinkedInVisit the Aryng WebsiteRead Boston Consulting report Navigating the Jagged Technological Frontier: Field Experimental Evidence of the Effects of AI on Knowledge Worker Productivity and QualityRead Ethan Mollich thoughts the Boston Consulting report Centaurs and Cyborgs on the Jagged Frontier 

Episode page with video, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #494 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Chad Bareither, the founder and principal consultant of Bareither Group Consulting. He brings a wealth of experience as a change agent in the corporate world, having worked with organizations that include several Fortune 500 companies. He's now the author of a new book, Improve LESS: The Focus and Align Framework for Sustainable Continuous Improvement. Chad holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Technological University, is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, and has further honed his expertise with Master's degrees in both Industrial & Systems Engineering, and Applied Statistics from Rutgers University. In this episode, we discuss his experience in various industries where, of course, Lean is not about building cars. We also discuss his book, the "Focus and Align Framework," and why trying to improve less can lead to greater results. Questions, Notes, and Highlights: What's your Lean origin story? Civilian role with the U.S. Army – working with the manufacturers / suppliers vs. internal Army processes? Can't copy and paste? “We don't build cars”?? Becoming a consultant? Being an outsider vs. insider – what have you learned about that? The story behind the book — why this book? Tell us about the common problem statement and the current state — trying to do too many things, being too busy? The “focus and align” framework? The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in its 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare industries. Learn more. This podcast was also brought to you by Arena, a PTC Business. Arena is the proven market leader in Cloud Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) with over 1,400 customers worldwide. Visit the link arenasolutions.com/lean to learn more about how Arena can help speed product releases with one connected system. This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network.   

William Chesnutt is the Founder and CEO of Strategic Development Group LLC and Strategic U. He retired from the Marine Corps in July of 2021. He has a master's in organizational leadership, an MBA, and is pursuing a DBA in Organizational Leadership. He holds numerous industry certifications including Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and Resilience-Building Leadership Professional – Trainer. He is the author of “The 3P Business Framework: People, Process, & Performance, The Foundations on Which Great Organizations Should be Built” and “Your Strategy, Your Success: The Essentials of Strategic Planning for Organizations”.

Join me and Lisa for a deep dive into the wild world of entrepreneurship. I love this one, because of how bravely she faced the unknown. Sometimes plunging headfirst into it is the best way to make waves! Lisa tells us all about her journey from corporate to business owner, and the bigger vision she had for companies as a trusted consultant. (And if you're a roller coaster fan, we've got a LOT of great metaphor in this one!) Can't-Miss Moments From This Episode:Plot twist: if you hate something in your biz, there's no law saying you HAVE to do it. So what do you do instead? Lisa and I have some thoughts on playing to your strengths and doing things you *gasp* ENJOY…  Take the ick out of sales: opening your sales call with “Hey, Just checking in” might just be tanking your chance of closing a deal (and making everyone uncomfortable in the process). Ditch the fake pleasantries and try out Lisa's ‘human connection-inspired' approach instead… Spoiler Alert: Things break down (I'm looking at you, technology). So how do you stop the $hIt hitting the fan when they do? Lisa's take on documenting systems and processes may just be your lifesaver when the worst inevitably happens… Ever been told you're wrong for doing what feels right? Here's what it means to embrace what works for you (all the while having fun flipping the bird to the conformity police)... Hands up if you LIKE change. (If your hands are up, I'm checking for flaming pants.) Humans and change? Classic combo for a resistance party. Lisa's unveiling the Hogwarts-level magic that happens when you not only embrace change but keep it alive over time...This one is jam-packed full of advice. Don't miss out - listen now! Lisa's Bio:Lisa L. Levy loves a good puzzle. After witnessing the confusion that ensued after new technology systems were integrated into offices in the early 2000s, she didn't panic. She saw an opportunity to establish effective processes that support employees and businesses grappling with evolving technology. Then a pattern emerged: internal teams kept failing to communicate with one another in the wake of change. To respond, Lisa founded Lcubed Consulting. Lisa helps companies align people, processes, and technology to utilize agility as a strategic advantage and acknowledge change is a business constant. Her secret sauce to success is leveraging key elements of Project Management, Process Performance Management, Internal Controls, and Organizational Change Management to build teams with the skills and capabilities to drive strategic results.Lisa is a 3-time #1 best-selling author. In her book, Future Proofing Cubed, she shares her insights on productivity, profitability, and process refinement in business. Lisa's goal is to prepare her clients with the skills, capabilities, and self-reliance they need to thrive in the future without Lcubed's guidance. With this notion, she has broken the typical consulting model.She holds her Bachelor of Science in Electronic Media Management from Northern Arizona University. She is a Project Management Professional and Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt.Lisa was recognized as one of the Top 50 Female Leaders in Phoenix, by Women We Admire in 2022, as one of the Top 10 Women Leaders, by Industry Era in 2021 and Lcubed was recognized as a Top Change Management Consulting Company, HR TECH Outlook in 2020. Resources and links mentioned:www.lcubedconsulting.comwww.lisallevLcubed Consultingy.comwww.youtube.com/lcubedconsultingwww.twitter.com/LisaLLevy1www.linkedin.com/in/lisallevyFree Gift: 7 Mistakes You Can't Afford to Make to Adapt & Thrive www.disruptandinnovate.com Come kick ass with me:Permission to Kick Ass websiteAngie's Facebook PageAngie on InstaAngie on YouTubeIf you dig the show and want to be part of bringing more awesome episodes to the world, consider buying a coffee for the production team

Ian Golding ought to know a thing or two about the CX profession.  He was a founding member of the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA) and the very first Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP).  He's the author of Customer What?,  Keynote Speaker,  and writer.  He's written over 600 articles on CX and hosts International Customer Experience Awards all over the world. This episode is different because we didn't have any set agenda of what to talk about.  We just explored some hard realities about the CX profession head on. I provides some deep insights about what CX leaders need to know and why they need to know it including:Problem: The 1st Step - Admit you have a problemDirection: Customer-led vs Product-led organizationTrust: It's role in the corporate worldEmpathy: Why it's lacking in the CX professionSkeptics: Dealing with them in the "acknowledge phase"Facts: The importance of not basing CX on opinionsResponsibilities: What CX leaders are 100% accountable forAnd so much more!Contact info: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iangolding/Meet IanIan Golding is a Certified Customer Experience Professional and CustomerExperience Specialist. A certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Ian hasspent over twenty years in business improvement, working hard to ensurethat the businesses he works for are as customer focused as possible.Ian spent 17 years working in a variety of corporate organisations,including The Royal Bank of Scotland, GE Commercial Finance, GEReinsurance and Brake Brothers Foodservice. In his last permanent role asHead of Group Customer Experience, Ian developed and deployed the Customer Experience strategy for one of Europe's largest online retailers – Shop Direct.In 2012, he became an independent consultant, delivering projects in over 50 countries worldwide in the automotive, financial services, logistics and utilities industries. Ian has continued to work with a plethora of businesses across several sectors, including the pharmaceutical, banking, professional services, retail, manufacturing, education and technology industries. Ian has published more than 600 articles on the subject and delivered keynote speeches globally. Ian also served on the inaugural board of Directors of the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA), of which he was a founder member.Ian was also the first person in the world to be authorised by the CXPA to teach the Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) accreditation. He is also the Course Director, Customer Experience for the Chartered Institute of Marketing.Ian hosts Customer Experience Award ceremonies around the world, including the UK, European, US, Turkey and International Customer Experience Awards.Ian's first book was published in April 2018 – ‘Customer What?' The honest and practical guide to Customer Experience' – is already being well received by professionals around the world.In 2021, Ian was awarded the title of the number 1 influencer in Customer Experience in the UK by Customer Experience Magazine.Examples of companies Ian has worked with are:PfizerAbbVieAlexion (Astra Zeneca)Boehringer IngleheimVolvoNedbankKCB BankErste BankBudapest BankOld Mutual GroupTata SteelToyotaGeneral ElectricTetra PakWeledaCiscoThomSubscribe to The Delighted Customer Podcast so you don't miss an episode: https://www.empoweredcx.com/podcast Subscribe to The Delighted Customer Newsletter for practical tips and insights: https://www.empoweredcx.com/delightedcustomersnewsletter

When using Statistical Process Control (SPC) charts to monitor your process, you are comparing your current data to historical data to determine if the process is similar or different. The basis for this decision lies in the Western Electric Rules (now called Nelson Rules) for detecting out of control conditions. For example, if you detect 6 consecutive data points going upwards from the previous data point, that is considered a trend, and the process should be stopped to investigate if there is a problem or not. Brion Hurley, Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt with Business Performance Improvement, will discuss these rules in depth, and explain how they can help you more quickly identify problems in your process. Q&A will follow the presentation. Watch the video of this presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmcN25qf49Y Learn more about our upcoming Lean for Social Good Unconference on December 5, 2023! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lean-portland-virtual-unconference-tickets-701112705977? ABOUT US:   Lean Portland is a socially-driven community built organization for both new and experienced continuous improvement professionals. We've been gathering for happy hour since 2012 and every First Tuesday since 2015!  As of April 2020, Happy Hour is happening online. Until we can safely meet again in person, we hope to see you here soon!   Learn more about Lean Portland at https://leanportland.com/ To check out upcoming Lean Portland events, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/o/lean-portland-16044200704

At The Quality Show, Dr. Hayler will be discussing low cost technology applications in Lean. We spoke to him before the show to learn more about his session.Eric Hayler is the Principal of the Hayler Group and a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. He has led Continuous Improvement efforts at BMW Manufacturing and Amazon. For more information go to the 2023 Quality Show Agenda.

Tanya Stinson, Founder and Owner of Leaning Towards Change, LLC, is a renowned leader in healthcare quality and safety improvement. With expertise as a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, she has successfully led impactful initiatives, mentored professionals, and transformed healthcare organizations. — Tanya Stinson Links: Website: www.leaningtowardschange.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/leaning-towards-change-llc/ — PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: https://www.womleadmag.com/podcast/ Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3YJHMoy  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2GkmpVInAQR7Fgco0pUa1B  RSS: https://feeds.libsyn.com/409442/rss  YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYDpQX16k5Uh7G7PFjMjZ8KimqoOpFF-t — CONNECT: - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/WomELLE - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/womelle - Twitter: https://twitter.com/womelle - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/womelle - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realwomelle/ — OUTLINE: 1:28 - How she got into the healthcare space. 3:12 - How she got into healthcare. 7:36 - The inspiration behind starting her own consulting firm. 12:37 - Passion for process improvement. 18:36 - How much does it cost to become a white belt? 24:04 - What's next for coaching? 30:06 - Advice to healthcare professionals.

Progress Over Perfection Coaching is a podcast focused on career management and development by offering insight on how to build an intentionally balanced and purpose-filled career.Today, we have another Career Deep Dive, and I'm joined by my past colleague, and someone who I'm honored to consider a mentor and friend, Nick Montalbine.Nick's career is truly multifaceted and spans deep process expertise through his work as a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, as an Operations Executive, a Strategist and an Executive Advisor and Leadership Consultant across industries including Aerospace and Defense, Financial Services, Healthcare, and Footwear and Apparel, always with a focus on systems, be they process driven, or centered around people.-----------------------------------------------------------------------For more on Nick, and how to connect with him:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickmontalbine/Email: nick@montalbineconsulting.comConversation Nick had about Burnout: https://bnoinc.com/2023/04/beat-workplace-burnout/Link to Nick's article on Burnout: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/burnout-term-being-too-broadly-applied-nick-montalbine%3FtrackingId=izn%252F8au0T5WgoOFumHE8NA%253D%253D/?trackingId=izn%2F8au0T5WgoOFumHE8NA%3D%3D-----------------------------------------------------------------------Past episodes:Internal Drivers of Ikigai: https://rss.com/podcasts/prgscoach/615969/Goal Setting Using the Harada Method: https://rss.com/podcasts/prgscoach/676640/Putting Your Plan to Work: https://rss.com/podcasts/prgscoach/653435/Networking Effectively Through Authentic Connection with Will Sandman: https://rss.com/podcasts/prgscoach/1013110/-----------------------------------------------------------------------More information about Progress Over Perfection Coaching can be found at:https://prgscoach.com/https://app.delenta.com/ta/@prgscoachhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/progress-over-perfection-coaching/-----------------------------------------------------------------------Intro and Outro music:Music: Right Ways [Original Mix] by Imperss is licensed under a Creative Commons License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Support by RFM - NCM: https://bit.ly/3po6gnm

Welcome to Episode 555 of the Yeukai Business Show. In this episode, Yeukai Kajidori and Chad Bareither talk about the importance of having proper processes in place and how to implement them for business success. So, if you want to know more about The Power of Streamlined Processes, tune in now! In this episode, you'll discover:  The importance of processes in business transformationThe Power of Proper ProcessesSteps to Establish Effective ProcessesOvercoming Common Challenges About Chad Bareither Chad has years of experience as a change agent for larger organizations, including several Fortune 500 companies, Chad takes the operational excellence mindset beyond the “shop floor”. The owner and principal consultant of Bareither Group Consulting, and he enables organizations for sustainable continuous improvement. Chad partners with his clients to clarify and deploy their strategy, make process improvements to achieve those goals, and establish a system for daily management of operations. Chad is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and holds a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Technological University as well as master's degrees in both Industrial and Systems Engineering and Applied Statistics from Rutgers University. More Information  Learn more about The Power of Streamlined Processes at https://www.bareithergroup.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chad-bareither-32712222/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BareitherGroup Thanks for Tuning In! Thanks so much for being with us this week. Have some feedback you'd like to share? Please leave a note in the comments section below! If you enjoyed this episode on How to Expand Your Business, please share it with your friends by using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic episode updates for our "Yeukai Business Show !" And, finally, please take a minute to leave us an honest review and rating on iTunes. They really help us out when it comes to the ranking of the show and I make it a point to read every single one of the reviews we get. Please leave a review right now

Welcome to another episode of the Reliability Matters podcast. For those of you keeping track, this is episode number 127.In recent episodes, we've covered high-level issues, such as hiring best practices, novel, training, methods, design for manufacturing, highly accelerated, life, testing, and more. On this episode, we're going to go back to the basics. What common problems are assemblers experiencing today? What are the basics of assembly best practices? Which problems seem to live in perpetuity?To answer these and other questions, I've invited two of my favorite experts on to the show. If you've been in the electronic assembly industry for some amount of time, there's little doubt you've heard of Phil Zarrow and Jim Hall. Phil has been involved with PCB fabrication and assembly for more than 36 years. Phil is the President and Principal Consultant of ITM Consulting. Jim Hall has been involved in the electronic assembly industry for the past 27 years. He's a principal consultant and resident Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt with ITM Consulting. He's also an instructor in the Lean Six Sigma programs offered at Dartmouth College. Together with Dr. Ron Lasky, Phil and Jim designed the SMTA's SMT Processes Certification Course.A couple of years ago, Phil and Jim published a book in titled “troubleshooting electronic assemblies, tales from the board talk crypt”. I'll talk to them more about that book later in this broadcast.Phil and Jim host the popular audio series “Board Talk” a question and answer show hosted on the Circuit-Insight website. On their show, you'll hear serious questions, and often comical but real answers.Phil Zarrow's Contact Info:phil_zarrow@itmconsulting.comJim Hall's Contact Info:jim_hall@itmconsulting.comITM Consulting:https://itmconsulting.com

In recent episodes, we've covered high-level issues, such as hiring best practices, novel, training, methods, design for manufacturing, highly accelerated, life, testing, and more. On this episode, we're going to go back to the basics. What common problems are assemblers experiencing today? What are the basics of assembly best practices? Which problems seem to live in perpetuity? To answer these and other questions, I've invited two of my favorite experts on to the show. If you've been in the electronics assembly industry for some amount of time, there's little doubt you've heard of Phil Zarrow and Jim Hall. Phil has been involved with PCB fabrication and assembly for more than 36 years. He is president and principal consultant of ITM Consulting. Jim Hall has been involved in the electronics assembly industry for the past 27 years. He's a principal consultant and resident Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt with ITM Consulting. He's also an instructor in the Lean Six Sigma programs offered at Dartmouth College. Together with Dr. Ron Lasky, Phil and Jim designed the SMTA's SMT Processes Certification Course. A couple of years ago, Phil and Jim published a book titled “Troubleshooting Electronic Assemblies, Tales from the Board-Talk Crypt.” Mike Konrad talks to them more about that book later in this broadcast. Phil and Jim host the popular audio series “Board Talk,” a question-and-answer show hosted on the Circuit-Insight website. On their show, you'll hear serious questions, and often comical but real answers.  

Episode page with transcript and more For episode 483, we are joined today by Amanda Zimmerman + Dominic Stokes, two Lean Six Sigma professionals who co-host a new podcast called “Squishy Lean.” Amanda Zimmerman is a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt with a global background. Amanda has worked in Oil and Gas, Software, and in a variety of industries all over the world mentoring professionals in Continuous Improvement. She holds an MBA from Imperial College of London. In 2020 she launched Beautiful Opportunities, aiming to empower people in continuous improvement worldwide and make it easy for people to start applying the tools. Dominic is an industrial engineer with a background in manufacturing engineering and management consulting. Ever since he first learned about lean manufacturing principles, Dom has looked for more opportunities in and outside of work to learn and practice. His overall goal is to find ways to convert commercial lean tools to residential uses. When he isn't learning about lean, he is spending time with his wife and dog or cutting his hair.

In this episode, David Larsen and I discuss respect for people, and CI in the office. What You'll Learn: 1. Share about your professional journey and background. 2. Tell me about your day job… 3. Recently you spoke at the Lean and Six Sigma World Conference in Orlando…. Why did you seek the speaking opportunity? 4. What do you think sets your work or approach apart from others in your field? 5. What brings you joy? About the Guest: David is a certified Planning and Scheduling Professional, certified Project Management Professional (PMP ®), Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, content creator, public speaker, writer, podcast guest and subject matter expert with more than 20 years of experience with projects, process improvement, data analytics, and facilitation across industries including government, manufacturing, healthcare, human resources, and finance. Links: Click here to connect with David Larsen on LinkedIn Click here for The Lean Solutions Summit --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/leansolutions/support

Richard Argentieri, President of NextEra Analytics (NEA), an energy analytics and consulting firm leading the industry in advanced modeling, predictive analytics, data science, high-performance computing, and he's a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt.

Lisa loves a good puzzle. After witnessing the confusion that ensued after new technology systems were integrated into offices in the 90s, she didn't panic, she saw an opportunity to establish effective processes that support employees and businesses grappling with evolving technology. Then a pattern emerged: internal teams kept failing to communicate with one another in the wake of change. To respond, Lisa founded Lcubed Consulting. As CEO of Lcubed, Lisa helps companies align people, processes, and technology to utilize agility as a strategic advantage and acknowledge change in a business constant. Her secret sauce to success is leveraging key elements of Project Management, Process Performance Management, Internal Controls and Organisational Change Management to build teams with the skills and capabilities to drive strategic results. Lisa is the #1 best-selling author of Future Proofing Cubed, a book she created to share her insights on productivity, profitability, and process refinement in business. Lisa's goal is to prepare her clients with the skills, capabilities, and self-reliance they need to thrive in the future without Lcubed's guidance. With this notion, she has broken the typical consulting model. Lisa holds her Bachelor of Science in Electronic Media Management from Northern Arizona University. She is a Project Management Professional and Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. Lisa enjoys spending free time with her family and basset hounds.   Questions • We'd like to hear in your own words, did you arrive on this journey? How did you get to where you are today? Could you share that with our audience? • Now, could you tell us a little bit about your company, Lcubed Consulting and also your book, Future Proofing Cubed? • If you could share with our audience maybe you could skew it down to a particular type of industry, maybe 1 to 3 things that if you're really trying to run a successful business with the right people, what are 1 to 3 tips that you'd recommend in terms of the culture and the environment needs to be existing for you to attract and keep the person that you want? • Emerging out of the pandemic, what has been your experience with some of your clients in terms of customer experience, have you seen customers maybe be more demanding for service experiences or delivery? Are they putting on their foot to ensure they're getting a certain type of service? Or have you seen maybe a more relaxed type of customer, what has your experience been with your clients as well as you as a customer yourself? • So, I would also like for you to share with our listeners, Lisa, what's the one tool, website or app that you absolutely cannot live without in your business? • Could you also share with our listeners, maybe one or two books that you've read recently, or even a book that you read a very long time ago, that has had a big impact on you. • Could you also share with our listeners, Lisa, let's say, we have listeners who are business owners and managers who feel like they have great products and services, but they lack the constantly motivated human capital. So, the people are just not motivated. If you're sitting in a room with that person right now, what's the one piece of advice you would give them to have a successful business? • Could you also share with our listeners, what's the one thing that's going on in your life right now that you're really excited about? Either something you're working on to develop yourself or your people. • Where can listeners find you online? • Before we wrap our episodes up, we always like to give our guests an opportunity to share with us a quote or saying that during times of adversity or challenge, you will tend to revert to this quote, it kind of helps to get you back on track if for any reason you got derailed. Do you have one of those?   Highlights  Lisa's Journey Me: Now, we always like to give our guests an opportunity to share in their own words, a little bit about how they got to where they are today. So, I know that your bio kind of gives a pretty good summary of how it is that you got to where you are today. We'd like to hear in your own words, did you arrive on this journey? How did you get to where you are today? Could you share that with our audience?    Lisa stated that because the journey really is the story, it's what matters in our personal lives, our professional lives. She is an accidental entrepreneur, she left college with the desire to find safety and security in a corporate job, she was looking for a place where she would go to work, she would have paid vacation time, she would have bonuses, she would have things that seemed like they would give security. And those were important to her because her parents were entrepreneurs. And that journey isn't always a smooth one.  And so, she wanted something that she perceived at the time to be easier and to be safer. Fifteen years into that journey, she realised it was the early 2000s. And actually, things were a little difficult. And it was in 2008 and 2009, she was working for a start-up, it was her dream job, it was everything she had hoped that it was going to be, she was building a project management team, they were growing and scaling and going to do amazing things until she looked around and realised that every executive leader had built a fiefdom of external consultants who are coaching and guiding and advising them on how to protect their fiefdom. And none of them were working with each other and it was not safe and it was not secure and the economy tanked.  And she looked around and said, “Oh my gosh, I can do something better.” And in that moment, she became an entrepreneur, and started a business and it's 14 years later, it has not been seamless, it has not been without obstacles and challenges. But it's been fantastic because she's the one designing the journey and the bumps in the road are learning moments, and she wouldn't change anything. It's been great.   About Lisa's Company Lcubed Consulting and Lisa's Book Future Proofing Cubed Lisa shared that Lcubed was born out of that frustration that she had watching consulting teams come into environments over her entire career and land and expand. And she would see that they were in these environments under the auspices of helping the client, but really what they were doing was growing their revenue stream. And she finds that somewhat abhorrent and counter to what consulting is supposed to be about. And she decided that she wanted to do things differently. She wanted to take all of the knowledge and the skills and the experience that she had built up in larger corporations, learning and understanding the impact of Project Management, Process Management, Organisational Change, and using all of those tools and capabilities to help her clients deliver better products and services for their clients, while building self-reliance so that she can take herself and her team eventually out of that equation. She didn't want them to become dependent on her.  The book Future Proofing Cubed: The Definitive Guide to Improving Productivity, Refining Processes, and Bolstering Profitability takes their business model, what they call adaptive transformation, and sort of explains how they use all of those baked best practices in a much more effective and efficient way so that companies can build those skills and capabilities without large investments in internal teams, or large consulting groups.   In Running a Successful Business - Tips to Attract and Keep the Person That You Want Me: Now, in an organisation, as a consultant, I'm sure you know, there's some key things that a lot of companies still struggle with, having the right kind of synergy among the team. A lot of organisations struggle sometimes with recruitment, getting the right person and actually keeping them. And so, if you could share with our audience maybe you could skew it down to a particular type of industry, maybe 1 to 3 things that if you're really trying to run a successful business with the right people, what are 1 to 3 tips that you'd recommend in terms of the culture and the environment needs to be existing for you to attract and keep the person that you want?   Lisa stated absolutely, it may be an oversimplification. But she thinks that knowing what success in the environment looks like. With some of her smaller companies, they do work and they use Lencioni's idea of hungry, humble and smart, that if you have an employee who has the ability, they're hungry, they want new opportunities, they want to learn, they want to grow, they want to make an impact. If they're humble and able to say I don't know what I don't know. And they're smart, meaning that they can pick up and reader a room and understand what's going on with internal and even with your client engagements. If you have those three things, any technical capability can be taught. But if a person shows up hungry, humble and smart, you can build a team of people who can do anything.   Experiences Customers Are Desirous of Now Me: Great. So, I love those three points that you just brought across. So, we've identified the three things we want to ensure that the team member has and as you mentioned, you can teach any technical skill, I guess it kind of goes back to you really want to ensure you have persons with the right attitude versus aptitude. Because you can't train on attitude, right? But even getting further and deeper into that, our programme is about navigating the customer experience and the experience that the customer has is not just on the outside, but also on the inside. And I'm a firm believer that if you really want to have a strong customer experience, it starts from within. If it's strong internally, then it's quite easy for your employees to perpetuate, and relive that externally with your actual clients that are paying, they're the reason why you're in business.  And so, what has your experience been? We've just emerged out of the pandemic, some countries are still feeling somewhat of the effects of it. I mean, COVID is not completely gone. But what has been your experience with some of your clients and wherever you are in, in which part of the world in terms of customer experience, have you seen customers maybe be more demanding for service experiences or delivery? Are they putting down their foot to ensure they're getting a certain type of service? Or have you seen maybe a more relaxed type of customer, what has your experience been with your clients as well as you as a customer yourself?   Lisa shared that there's so many things in that to play with. She wants to play with the language right, that the experience starts within. She absolutely agree with that, that internally, we have to understand the experience we want our customers to have. There's a disconnect, more often than not, when we think from the inside out and think that we know what our customers want and need. And she likes to sort of flip that upside down a little bit and teach her clients to think from the outside in.  And what she means by that is actually asking their customers what they want, what they need, so that they're not making guesses. And they're not making assumptions, and they're not applying their own wants and needs onto potentially what their customers wants and needs are. Because oftentimes, when we do that, on the inside, we're really wrong and we don't truly understand. So, starting on the outside and understanding the customer, where are they at? What do they need? And with her clients in the pandemic, they had to do a lot of that because all of their wants and needs in March of 2020 changed dramatically. And so, polling and getting that data and asking the questions so that they can adapt their products and their services to those needs. And it's the need they have today, but the big impact is what does their needs going to be tomorrow, in 30 days, 60 days, 90 days.  During the pandemic, she had the opportunity to watch one of her clients respond to the shutdown. So, the company is a food distribution organisation and they have a national presence in the United States. Their primary job is to take food from a warehouse and deliver it to restaurants, and service providers in hospitals, in airports, in large conference centres, getting food to places where it's going to be cooked and served and sold. Overnight, their business shut down for two weeks or so they thought. And they had the opportunity, they basically froze and did nothing initially, until they brought the leadership team together in this world called Zoom that they had never interacted in. There were people meeting each other, seeing each other in face to face interaction for the first time in 20 years, they've just never been in the same space together. They're panicked, they're at home, everything is a nightmare.  And one person is raising their hand literally shaking their hand in front of the camera trying to get everybody's attention to say, “Hey, I have an idea. We have all this food in our warehouses. And it's not getting to people who need to eat, we have produce, we have things that are going to start spoiling and serve no use to anybody if they're rotting in the warehouse. How about we figure out how to take our food and deliver it to shelters, to food kitchens, to places where there are people who cannot get to food, we're going to spoil it off, we're going to write it off, it's going to waste one way or another, why don't we make it a donation.” And for the first 30 days of the pandemic, that national company donated food because their customers, people who need to eat needed food. It had nothing to do with their bottom line, it had absolutely nothing to do with anything except doing the right thing.  In that first interaction where one individual had an idea, they all thought about it, they experimented about how to make it actually happen. They learned how to innovate on the fly. And that's important because they were speaking to the customers need and for them, it wasn't their customer, it was their customers' customer, a hungry person. And they were solving a problem that did absolutely nothing to drive their business forward except they did the right thing.  What they learned from that was how to innovate and how to think outside of the box, think from the outside in. And as a leadership and management team today, they are still doing that on a quarterly basis and trying to evolve their business model in a way that it hasn't in 40 years. It is wow because they thought from the customer's perspective wants and needs, they solved the problem. We need to solve problems.   Me: And as you mentioned that, Lisa, that we need to solve problems. That's the primary reason why everyone is in business. I remember when I started my company in 2009, it was because one of my greatest pet peeves was I thought service was just so poor. And I said, I'm going to stop complaining. And I'm going to start being a part of the solution, and try to help these organisations to improve on their service delivery. So, when I go and have interactions, I can walk away with a better feeling than the one that I'm currently having. So, I think every business is solving a problem, whether you're selling a pencil or a fan, or you're servicing somebody's motor vehicle, or you're providing some innovative solution or product that's going to revolutionize the industry for aviation, or whatever it is. I think all businesses are solving a problem for someone. And I think, if we come, as you mentioned, from the outside in, to kind of understand where the customer is coming from, and how can we ease their frustration? How can we make life easier for them, that we can definitely create a better experience, both internally and externally.   App, Website or Tool that Lisa Absolutely Can't Live Without in Her Business When asked about online resources that cannot live without in her business, Lisa shared that there are so many, but she's going to go with the one that surprises her the most, because she would never have imagined this, she cannot live without Canva. She would never in a million years have ever thought that she would use a marketing tool, a graphic design, well, now it's kind of an everything tool, right? Presentations, video, audio, whatever, it does it all. She loves it, it makes everything so much faster, so much easier. She's doing work for herself that she probably should be outsourcing but it's kind of fun to do it and it looks really good. So yeah, she cannot live without Canva.   Me: Agreed, Canva has definitely revolutionised the industry and it's made graphic designing not seem like, “Oh, my goodness, I can't do this.” Because simple things that you'd have outsourced as you mentioned, you can do on your own. And they look pretty good. So, you're saving a few bucks there for sure.   Lisa stated that saving a few minutes of time even right? So, you outsource it and things turn into, hopefully days, not weeks. But it's easy enough that a person who has no skills in graphic design can turn something out in minutes, it's fabulous.   Me: My daughter is in her final year in high school and she's a part of the school newspaper and she sees me use Canva and she asked me if she could, like play around with it a bit to put out some stuff that she wanted to do promoting for the newspaper and for the school. And I guess at that age at 17, you're creative and innovative. But she wasn't even using the platform for like an hour and I was just so surprised that the newsletter that she produced, the video that she was able to generate from all of the pictures that she had taken. I mean, just simply amazing, I'm not saying that she couldn't have used other applications but as you mentioned, Canva kind of found a way to bundle everything in one so you could just do all the things in that one platform.   Lisa absolutely agreed. And they made it easy for an end user who has no skills in those areas. There are lots of applications out there and she'll use video editing as an example, but you have to be very, very, very skilled in the application to make it work properly. And Canva just sort of magically does it for us.   Books that Have Had the Biggest Impact on Lisa When asked about books that has had a big impact, Lisa shared that the number one book that always comes to her mind first and foremost is Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High by Kerry Patterson. As leaders and as people, we need to understand how to communicate effectively and that one, it's so foundational to everything that it affects your personal life, your business life, how we show up, how we support others. It's always kind of the first thing that pops to her mind.  There's another book called Flip the Script: Getting People to Think Your Idwa Is Their Idea by Oren Klaff. And as her business was growing and evolving, and off the top of her head, she can't think of the author's name. But it's taking people who run and have their businesses, sales is part of what we have to do. But we may or may not have ever been trained to be salespeople. And we may or may not even like the connotation of being a salesperson, and Flip the Script really did a lot in her mindset to help her understand that selling is a by-product of building good and effective relationships.  And that is far more comfortable to her than the idea of going after and creating a sales pipeline and all of the technical things about what selling is, and reminding her that after now 14 years, she obviously must be able to close a deal, or she wouldn't still be doing what she's doing. And she doesn't have to have the traditional sales process to make it work, because relationships are really where business comes from.   Me: Agreed. I liked that statement you made, Sales is a by-product of building effective relationships, that's really, really true. And you said that you got that mindset, or it shaped your mindset towards that from the book called Flip the Script.   Advice for Business Owners and Managers who Lack Constant Motivated Human Capital Me: Could you also share with our listeners, Lisa, let's say, we have listeners who are business owners and managers who feel like they have great products and services, but they lack the constantly motivated human capital. So, the people are just not motivated. If you're sitting in a room with that person right now, what's the one piece of advice you would give them to have a successful business?   Lisa stated that there's a challenge in that question because if we have a room full of employees who aren't motivated, there is a very flippant part of her personality that wants to say, “Do you have the right people in the room to grow and scale your business?”  And that's a very scary question because if the answer is, “No, I don't”….then what.  So, and then, the then what mindset we need to understand what motivates our employees and if we have really good people that have been with us, and are no longer performing, do we understand what's changed in their world? Do they need a new opportunity, internally within the organisation in a different role? Have they lost the drive to contribute to this type of business? Do we need to help them find an opportunity outside of this business?  Which is a scary thought, but sometimes the right one, and just because we're separating from a relationship doesn't mean that we're ending it poorly. And Lisa's experience, she's had several examples of times when she's taken employees, help them find their next opportunity.  They were so much more successful, her existing team was more successful, and they've maintained a relationship over time. So, finding that alignment of what's in it for me, and why are they still there? And if they aren't being fulfilled, are there opportunities to train them, coach them? Give them the opportunity to make a change inside or is it that it's time for them to move on onward and outward? And there's nothing wrong with that, if that's the right choice.   Me: Love it. I've asked this particular question, I don't ask it very often. But I've asked it a few times since I've started podcasting and I must say your answer, I really like it's different. Most people didn't take it from the angle that you took it from and I liked the fact that you focused on the fact that maybe we just don't have the right people. And if so, even though it's scary, what can we do to make that transition? Because that's the only way we're going to be able to have success, right?   Lisa agreed, absolutely. And the reality is, it's a little bit of everything. You're going to have some people who probably need to move on, you're going to have some people who probably need upskilling….training new opportunities. There's lots of different things, it's never going to be just one thing. But taking on the scary one of “Oh my gosh, I don't have the right people in the right roles.” That's totally addressable.   What Lisa is Really Excited About Now! When asked about something that she's working on that she's excited about, Lisa shared that the one thing that she's working on right now that's exciting for her is taking the stories that she has from her business and starting to share them as a keynote speaker, and having the opportunity to inspire through some of her great foibles and some of the successes.  But the very real journey that she's had over the last 14 years to help other emerging leaders, potential entrepreneurs, or business owners, be able to attribute and say, “Oh, gosh, I've been there done that.” or “Oh, my God, thank you for sharing that story. I never want to have that experience.”  And that opportunity and sharing to larger audiences is really a lot of fun. And it's eye opening for her to hear and get the response that something hit and it was meaningful. And hopefully, she's sharing some golden nuggets along the way that will help them learn lessons from her mistakes rather than having to make them for themselves.   Where Can We Find Lisa Online LinkedIn – Lisa L. Levy Website – www.lisallevy.com   Quote or Saying that During Times of Adversity Lisa Uses When asked about a quote or saying that she tends to revert to, Lisa shared that there's a quote, but it's a Hemingway quote that has been butchered by many. And so I'll continue to do it. But it takes from the idea that if we break something, if we break a bone in our body, when it heals that spot on that bone is stronger than the original bone around it. And so, when we're having difficult times, the purpose and the reason that it resonates for her is that we can learn from our hardest moments. She likes to think of everything as an experiment and it's not about success or failure, it's about what we learn from the outcome of the experiment.  And so, all of those things are always kind of in her mind whirling around in a not coherent fashion, the way that she's talking right now is very much what's in her head. But it's about being willing to take the risk, do an experiment, if something breaks, it'll heal, and it'll be stronger. And we don't really necessarily fail, we learn things so that we can make different choices the next time. And those are the things that drive her forward every day.    Please connect with us on Twitter @navigatingcx and also join our Private Facebook Community – Navigating the Customer Experience and listen to our FB Lives weekly with a new guest    Links ·  Future Proofing Cubed: The Definitive Guide to Improving Productivity, Refining Processess, and Bolstering Profitability by Lisa Levy ·  Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High by Kerry Patterson ·  Flip the Script: Getting People to Think Your Idea Is Their Idea by Oren Klaff   The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Service   Grab the Freebie on Our Website – TOP 10 Online Business Resources for Small Business Owners  Do you want to pivot your online customer experience and build loyalty - get a copy of “The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience.” The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience provides 26 easy to follow steps and techniques that helps your business to achieve success and build brand loyalty. This Guide to Limitless, Happy and Loyal Customers will help you to strengthen your service delivery, enhance your knowledge and appreciation of the customer experience and provide tips and practical strategies that you can start implementing immediately! This book will develop your customer service skills and sharpen your attention to detail when serving others. Master your customer experience and develop those knock your socks off techniques that will lead to lifetime customers. Your customers will only want to work with your business and it will be your brand differentiator. It will lead to recruiters to seek you out by providing practical examples on how to deliver a winning customer service experience!   The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience Webinar – New Date Register Here  

Lisa L. Levy loves a good puzzle. After witnessing the confusion that ensued after new technology systems were integrated into offices in the 90s, she didn't panic. She saw an opportunity to establish effective processes that support employees and businesses grappling with evolving technology. Then a pattern emerged: internal teams kept failing to communicate with one another in the wake of change. To respond, Lisa founded Lcubed Consulting. As CEO of Lcubed, Lisa helps companies align people, processes, and technology to utilize agility as a strategic advantage and acknowledge change is a business constant. Her secret sauce to success is leveraging key elements of Project Management, Process Performance Management, Internal Controls, and Organizational Change Management to build teams with the skills and capabilities to drive strategic results.Lisa is also the #1 best-selling author of 'Future Proofing Cubed', a book she created to share her insights on productivity, profitability, and process refinement in business. She is also a podcaster and her show, 'Disrupt and Innovate', can be found here: https://disruptandinnovate.com/Lisa's goal is to prepare her clients with the skills, capabilities, and self-reliance they need to thrive in the future without Lcubed's guidance. With this notion, she has broken the typical consulting model.Lisa holds her Bachelor of Science in Electronic Media Management from Northern Arizona University. She is a Project Management Professional and Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. Lisa enjoys spending free time with her family and basset hounds.In this episode, Lisa and I chat about:Her leadership roles Her leadership style Her leadership journey The leaders that helped her rise The challenges she faced on her journey How she navigated those challenges How she thinks you can become a strong and kind leader Her ‘take home' leadership messages for the listeners, and What she is currently excited to be working on.Lisa can be contacted either via her website https://lcubedconsulting.com/contactor via a DM to her LinkedIn page, namely https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisallevy-disruptandinnovate/Please reach out to Adam for individual coaching and/or organisational training via dr.adam@coachingmentoringdoctors.com.His web address and social media profile links / handles include:www.dradamharrison.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/dradamharrison/www.youtube.com/c/DrAdamPhysicianCoachhttps://www.facebook.com/coachingmentoringdoctors/https://www.instagram.com/dradamharrison/https://www.tiktok.com/@physiciancoachHe has co-written a new online course entitled ‘How to be Assertive, Maintain Boundaries, and Say “No!”‘ which can be accessed instantly here for only £55/$66:https://tenminutemedicine.podia.com/burnout-to-brilliance-assertiveness-and-saying-no

Matt Louis is a retired Lieutenant Colonel from the US Army and is currently a leading expert in career transition for veterans and public service professionals. He is the author of the best-selling and award-winning book Mission Transition, which provides practical guidance for veterans, their families, and employers during the transition process. Matt serves as the veteran Transition Assistance officer for his West Point class, is a National Speaker for the US Chamber's Hiring Our Heroes program, advises the nonprofit Soldiers To Sidelines, and actively serves several other veteran collaboratives around the country. Matt holds an MBA in Operations and Finance from The Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from West Point, and is a graduate of the US Army Command and General Staff College. He is also a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, holds the ASCM organization's Certified Supply Chain Professional designation, and is a certified Project Management Professional. In addition to his work with veterans, Matt is also the President of Purepost and previously led global strategy and transformation projects at Deloitte, the largest professional services firm in the world. Before Deloitte, Matt held global operational, production, and quality roles in multiple General Electric and Procter & Gamble divisions. He has also authored articles and reports for various publications and organizations, including Deloitte University Press and the Department of Defense. Matt's book Mission Transition has received multiple awards, including Gold Medals for Non-fiction Military and Business/Career/Sales at the 2022 International Readers' Favorite and 2021 eLit Book Awards, respectively. The book has also won several other awards, including the 2021 Nonfiction Authors Association Silver Book Award and the 2022 Global Book Awards Bronze Medal in the War & Military category. Matt is a sought-after speaker and advisor on veteran transition and is actively involved in various veteran collaboratives and organizations.

In this episode, Katie Labedz and I discuss trends and ways to become successful in terms of a person's CI journey as well as improving everything in every process. What You'll Learn: 1. Tell us about your new book "How to Improve Absolutely Every Process" 2. What trends are you seeing in the CI space? 3. Why are people hesitant to start or restart their CI journey? 4. Why do most CI journeys fail? 5. How can people set themselves up for success in their CI journey and where to start? About the Guest:  Katie Labedz is the President of Learning to Lean, LLC.  She is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and Project Management Professional. She has been practicing Lean, Six Sigma and Project Management concepts for over 20 years. She has a diverse background that includes manufacturing, materials, supply chain, HR and IT in the automotive and electronic industries. Katie makes it her professional goal to expose the genius in all of her students.  She has also authored two books: "How to Improve Absolutely Anything-Continuous Improvement in Your Home, Office and Family Life" and "How to Improve Absolutely Every Process-Kaizen for process improvement and fun." Links: Click here for more information on Katie Labedz Click here for Katie's New Book Click here for the Kaizen "Go" Bundle Click here for The Lean Solutions Summit  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/leansolutions/support

Gościem dzisiejszego odcinka był Paweł Hajnus - etatowy Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt z wieloletnim doświadczeniem w przemyśle produkcyjnym. Rozmawiamy o doświadczeniach Pawła z usprawniania procesów, o Six Sigma, Lean, kształceniu liderów oraz o tym, jak połączyć biznes i strategię z Six Sigmą.    Doradztwo i szkolenia Six Sigma, Lean: https://abk.pl/ 

José Pires is a cross-industry Excellence and Innovation executive leader and advisor with extensive experience in a variety of industries. In this episode he clearly defines the traits and skills of a collaborative leader. You don't want to miss this one! It's packed with research and experienced-based guidance.About the Guest:José Pires serves as cross-industry Excellence and Innovation executive leader and advisor for companies ranging from successful startups to Fortune 50 companies, guiding executives and high-performance teams on the journey to award-winning cultural, business, and digital transformations for value creation. Jose is an advisory board leader and keynote speaker for organizations and global conferences on innovation, operational excellence, leadership development, strategy execution, culture, business and digital transformation, customer engagement, exponential technologies, and growth acceleration.José is an executive Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt who holds a Bachelor in Engineering Physics from the University of Kansas and a Master in Business Administration focused in Investment Banking and Entrepreneurship from the University of San Diego. The best way to reach José is by email, info@excellenceandinnovation.com About the Host:Amy L. Riley is an internationally renowned speaker, author and consultant. She has over 2 decades of experience developing leaders at all levels. Her clients include Cisco Systems, Deloitte and Barclays.As a trusted leadership coach and consultant, Amy has worked with hundreds of leaders one-on-one, and thousands more as part of a group, to fully step into their leadership, create amazing teams and achieve extraordinary results. Amy's most popular keynote speeches are:The Courage of a Leader: The Power of a Leadership LegacyThe Courage of a Leader: Create a Competitive Advantage with Sustainable, Results-Producing Cross-System CollaborationThe Courage of a Leader: Accelerate Trust with Your Team, Customers and CommunityThe Courage of a Leader: How to Build a Happy and Successful Hybrid Team Her new book is a #1 international best-seller and is entitled, The Courage of a Leader: How to Inspire, Engage and Get Extraordinary Results. www.courageofaleader.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/amyshoopriley/ Call to actionDeclare your leadership purpose, what I like to call a leadership legacy. Here are 2 Resources to support you: More about Your Leadership Legacy https://courageofaleader.com/your-leadership-legacy/ and your Leadership Autobiography https://courageofaleader.com/LeadershipAutobiography/. Thanks for listening!Thanks so much for listening to The Courage of a Leader podcast! If you got inspired and/or got valuable leadership techniques you can use from this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share using the social media buttons on this page.Do you have questions or feedback about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcastIf you would like to get automatic updates of new The Courage of a Leader...

Did you know that Lean Six Sigma extends way beyond the world of manufacturing? Paul Stamper is a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, and he's done a magnificent job bringing this process to the County of Ventura in California. You'll enjoy Paul's passion for this topic and the practical ways the principles are applied across all departments in the County. You're sure to get ideas of how you can incorporate Lean Six Sigma into your own organizations. Paul is the Deputy Executive Officer for the County of Ventura, California. He oversees multiple program areas including their continuous improvement program, called Service Excellence, which has documented over $40 million in savings. Paul leads Strategic Planning and Economic Vitality efforts to support the 850,000 residents and 22,000 businesses in the County. You'll discover: What Lean Six Sigma means and what it looks like in actionThe natural strengths Paul brought with him when learning about Lean processesHow Ventura County has used the Service Excellence Program to improve services to its customersPositive changes that have occurred at all levels in the organization since adopting Lead Six SigmaWays that Paul has grown as a leader and what he's learned from his experience in this role

Sinead Sharkey-Steenson is The Career Elevator Coach at Generation Women where she helps women get the promotions and pay-rises they deserve. Passionate about equality and seeing more women in leadership,  Sinead blends practical strategies with simple mindset tools to achieve amazing results…with several getting over 100% payrises and multiple promotions!  To date she's helped close to 10,000 women take a step up. Sinead draws on over 20 years corporate experience in HR, Leadership Development, Business Improvement, and Cultural Transformation to help her support women to achieve their ambitions.  She has been recognised as one of 22 Leaders to Learn from in 2022 by Bunch Leadership App. She has developed and delivered career and leadership programmes for multiple global organisations including; Sensata, Citi, Deloitte, the IFA, and Lean In. Sinead has a lifelong love of learning and strives to bring the best academically and professionally to her work. She has a BA Hons in Psychology, MSc Computing, MSc Human Resource Management, is an NLP Master practitioner, Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, and an accredited ICF Coach and Positive Intelligence (PQ) Coach.  She's a mum of two girls who have made her even more passionate about equality. She also loves live comedy and music, sleep, and cold water swimming…in that order! In today's episode Sinead shares her story taming her imposter. For years others described her as shy - but she didn't feel like she was shy! She thought she observed and made her move when she was ready. It was always Sinead father's dream for her to be an international lawyer and that became her goal and ambition too. Suddenly, at the age of 15 her father passed away. But she didn't just loose her parent, she lost her compass. What did she want to do? Who was she really? Sinead went off to university, she studied psychology, and it didn't take long for the shy 7 year-old to come back out. Her imposter kicked in. She lived in fear of being found out, of speaking up in meetings, of being asked to do anything on her own. Sinead realized she was going to have to tackle her imposter syndrome, step up, and change things for the better, and that's exactly what she's done. To connect with Sinead visit her website https://genwomen.global and on LinkedIn here Facebook @GenerationWomen and Instagram @GenerationWomen Stories of Inspiring Joy is a production of Seek The Joy Media and created by Sydney Weiss. To learn more and submit your story, click here. *Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this episode are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Stories of Inspiring Joy.      

  What does a PhD candidate look like? What does a “Lean Six Sigma expert" look like? How about a CEO? My guest Kathryn McIver wants you to know why how we look impacts our opportunities. So, she changed the topic of her PhD dissertation to research lookism. She's here to share her research. Dr. Kathryn McIver  Dr. Kathryn McIver is a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and earned her doctorate from the University of Maryland where she studied the impacts of appearance on women's careers. Prior to shifting into operations management, McIver focused on Lean Six Sigma program inception and development where she strongly emphasized the employee's role in program sustainability and success. When she isn't designing Lean programs, McIver teaches at the University of Colorado Denver Business school and spoils both of her Bassett Hounds rotten.        KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST: Dr. Mclver's career background How her looks/pink hair impacted her profession  “Lookism” explained How making assumptions about other people's looks may affect them negatively  What does it mean to look “professional?” Why we believe that people in certain professions need to look a particular way, and how this is intersectional with sexism, racism and other biases.  What can leaders do to reduce lookism inside their organization?     KEY TAKEAWAYS Lookism is the prejudicial or discriminatory treatment of people based on their physical appearance. It can manifest as discrimination in hiring, promotion, salary, and other areas of employment. Combating lookism can be difficult, but raising awareness about the issue is a good place to start. Increasing understanding and acceptance of the different types of beauty can help to reduce the harmful effects of lookism..   Memorable Quotes From Dr. Kathryn McIver    “ It is okay to have a bad day, it's okay to have a bad week or a bad month or even a bad year that we don't always have to always be on. And that doesn't erode who we are, what our contributions are. And I certainly think coming out of the pandemic, everybody will resonate with this idea that it's okay to have a bad year.”   CONNECT WITH DR. MCLVER LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kathryndmciver  Email: kathryn@thecomplexmanager.com

Many of us start our continuous improvement learning in a training class. And many of us deliver CI training. How effective is that training? Does it prepare us to lead improvement?  Some training programs are more successful than others in preparing people for the real world. One way to measure the effectiveness of a training program is to look at the outcomes. Amita Sherwood joined me today to talk about what's missing from your continuous improvement training and share her insights on making training much more effective.    Amita Sherwood Amita Sherwood is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt with over 22 years of CI experience in Insurance, Federal (DoD and Civilian), Health Care, Higher Education, Financial Services, Information Technology, Energy, and Manufacturing. Amita has a B.S. in Management Science and Information Systems from The Pennsylvania State University. Amita is passionate about developing peoples' CI skills and "seeing the lightbulb go off".    Key Topics in this podcast: Amita's career background How she get into Lean Six Sigma and her involvement in training  What is was like being trained at GE training What is missing from a lot of CI training related? The importance of training The importance of effective communication Why coaching is one the most important aspects of team development     KEY TAKEAWAYS There is no point in providing comprehensive training if the person being trained never has the opportunity to put their new skills into practice. Training must be tailored to the needs of both the individual and the organization, and it must be ongoing.  By providing adaptive training that is aligned with the goals of the business, businesses can ensure that their employees have the skills and knowledge necessary to be successful. The role of a coach is to help individuals identify their areas of improvement and then create a plan to address those areas. Without the guidance of a coach, it would be difficult for individuals to make the necessary changes to their methods and procedures.  Certifications are important but the real value lies in the experience and learning that comes from the training itself.  Memorable Quotes From Amita Sherwood   “The focus should be that it's learning, it's learning the skill set, it's learning about the process area, You're attacking from the problem solving, it's learning about the people that you're working with?, there's many aspects of that learning.”   CONNECT WITH AMITA Company Website: https://www.esquaredsolutions.biz/ Blog: https://www.esquaredsolutions.biz/blog/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amitasherwood/

Learn about the right leadership principles for your business. Your business leadership is your capacity to set and achieve your business goals. Riaan is a dynamic and passionate leader, coach, facilitator, and Process Improvement. He is an expert in Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt with 20+ years of hands-on experience ____________________________ For more about Obehi Podcast, visit our YouTube channel - ObehiPodcast. Check out also our official website Obehiewanfoh.com. Join our Content Membership for content creation strategy and digital entrepreneurship --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/obehi-podcast/message

Dr. Cynthia “Cindy” J. Young is the Founder/CEO of CJ Young Consulting, LLC, a knowledge management consulting firm, as well as a curriculum developer and instructor with Leidos. About a decade ago, she retired as a Surface Warfare Officer after 23 years in the U.S. Navy which is where her love for knowledge management began. She holds professional certifications as a Project Management Professional, a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, and as an ASQ-Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence. Cindy is a past-Chair of ASQ Tidewater, Section 1128 in Virginia Beach as well as having held terms as the Vice Chair and Secretary. Her doctoral study, Knowledge Management and Innovation on Firm Performance of United States Ship Repair, provided her the opportunity to gain additional professional and academic expertise to facilitate improvements in organizational knowledge management.  In September 2020, she gave a TEDx Talk called “A Knowledge Mindset: What You Know Comes from Where You Sit." Pioneer Knowledge Systems has my permission to download and share on their site the following free Knowledge Management Short Guides as resources located at: https://www.cjyoungconsulting.com/kmshortguides/ as delineated below: A Short Guide Using Your Email to Improve Your Organizational Knowledge Management Practice (Without Being Obvious)A Short Guide to Help Organizational Leaders Have the Potentially Uncomfortable Conversations About Knowledge HoardingA Short Guide to Reusing Knowledge That In The End Buys You Time To Do More Important Things to Pay Those BillsA Short Guide to Managing Organizational KnowledgeA Short Guide to Starting a Knowledge Management Program in Support of Organizational Goals and Demonstrating Proof of ConceptA Short Guide for Identifying the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Needed for Knowledge Transfer in Support of Succession PlanningA Short Guide to Help Organizations Identify, Share, and Transfer Knowledge After Getting the Dreaded Two-Weeks Notice"

Sinead Sharkey-Steenson is The Career Elevator Coach at Generation Women where she helps women get the promotions and pay rises they deserve. Passionate about equality and seeing more women in leadership,  Sinead blends practical strategies with simple mindset tools to achieve amazing results…with several getting over 100% pay rises and multiple promotions!  To date, she's helped close to 10,000 women take a step up.Sinead draws on over 20 years of corporate experience in HR, Leadership Development, Business Improvement, and Cultural Transformation to help her support women to achieve their ambitions.  She has been recognized as one of 22 Leaders to Learn from in 2022 by Bunch Leadership App. She has developed and delivered career and leadership programs for multiple global organizations including; Sensata, Citi, Deloitte, the IFA, and Lean In. Sinead has a lifelong love of learning and strives to bring the best academically and professionally to her work. She has a BA Hons in Psychology, MSc Computing, MSc Human Resource Management, is an NLP Master Practitioner, Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, and an accredited ICF Coach and Positive Intelligence (PQ) Coach. She's a mum of two girls who has made her even more passionate about equality. She also loves live comedy and music, sleep, and cold water swimming…in that order!

A couple episodes ago, Reliability Matters host Mike Konrad spoke with Dr. Ron Lasky about a couple of books he wrote. He also recommended one he didn't write: "Troubleshooting Electronic Assembly: Wisdom from the BoardTalk Crypt" by industry gurus Phil Zarrow and Jim Hall, available on Amazon (both were prior guests on this show). This episode, we'll have a conversation with Zarrow and Hall about their book. If you've been in the electronic assembly industry for some time, there's little doubt that you have heard of Phil Zarrow and Jim Hall. Zarrow has been involved with PCB fabrication and assembly for more than 35 years. He is president and principal consultant of ITM Consulting. Hall has been involved in the electronic assembly industry for the past 26 years. He's a principal consultant and resident Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt with ITM Consulting. He's also an instructor in the Lean Six Sigma programs offered at Dartmouth College. Together with Dr. Lasky, Zarrow and Hall designed the SMTA SMT Processes Certification Course.

Episode 96: A Conversation with Industry Gurus Phil Zarrow and Jim Hall about their New BookA couple of episodes ago, I talked to Dr. and Professor Ron Lasky about a couple of books he wrote. He also recommended a book he didn't write. That book is titled Troubleshooting Electronic Assembly: Wisdom from the BoardTalk Crypt by industry gurus Phil Zarrow and Jim Hall available on Amazon (both were prior guests on this show). Well today, we'll have a conversation with Phil and Jim about their book. If you've been in the electronic assembly industry for some time, there's little doubt that you haven't heard of Phil Zarrow and Jim Hall. Phil has been involved with PCB fabrication and assembly for more than 35 years. Phil is the President and Principal Consultant of ITM Consulting. Jim Hall has been involved in the electronic assembly industry for the past 26 years. He's a principal consultant and resident Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt with ITM Consulting. He's also an instructor in the Lean Six Sigma programs offered at Dartmouth College. Together with Dr. Ron Lasky, Phil and Jim designed the SMTA's SMT Processes Certification Course. Phil and Jim host the popular audio series “Board Talk” on Circuit-Insight, available here:https://www.circuitinsight.com/channels/board_talk.htmlHere is a link to Phil and Jim's "Lessons Learned from the Trenches of SMT Assembly and a Decade of Board Talk” technical course:https://tinyurl.com/board-talk Here is a link to Phil and Jim's book:https://tinyurl.com/board-talk-book Contact Phil and Jim:Phil Zarrowphil_zarrow@itmconsulting.comJim Halljim_hall@itmconsulting.comITM Consultinghttps://itmconsulting.com

Niranjan Kulkarni, Ph.D., senior director of consulting services for CRB, who has a master's degree in industrial and systems engineering and is certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, discusses supply-chain and production efficiencies to better manage disruptions and streamline operations.

Ariel Driz is a top leader in the network marketing business alongside his wife Ambec. He is also a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt consultant and a respected voice in the electronics engineering space, having held leadership positions at Motorola Philippines, International Rectifier (now Infineon Technologies), Amkor Technology, and others. Ariel has spoken onstage countless times over the years to hundreds of thousands of fellow business owners of different walks of life. More than two decades later, Ariel believes that his journey as an entrepreneur has just begun, and that the market is now ripe for massive growth! Listen in as Ariel shares what inspired him to exit the corporate world to go all-in as an entrepreneur, consultant, writer, and international speaker. He also gives his thoughts on thriving amid the pandemic, the importance of building a personal brand, and how to inhabit the mindset of an entrepreneur. Access our totally FREE five-day email video course on using sales funnels to build a business that will attract a stream of qualified leads even while you're sleeping!: https://YourSovereignDownline.com

Ariel Driz is a top leader in the network marketing business alongside his wife Ambec. He is also a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt consultant and a respected voice in the electronics engineering space, having held leadership positions at Motorola Philippines, International Rectifier (now Infineon Technologies), Amkor Technology, and others. Ariel has spoken onstage countless times over the years to hundreds of thousands of fellow business owners of different walks of life. More than two decades later, Ariel believes that his journey as an entrepreneur has just begun, and that the market is now ripe for massive growth! Listen in as Ariel shares what inspired him to exit the corporate world to go all-in as an entrepreneur, consultant, writer, and international speaker. He also gives his thoughts on thriving amid the pandemic, the importance of building a personal brand, and how to inhabit the mindset of an entrepreneur. Access our totally FREE five-day email video course on using sales funnels to build a business that will attract a stream of qualified leads even while you're sleeping!: https://YourSovereignDownline.com

Presented February 10 from 1:00 - 2:00 pm ET Get slides and more: https://info.kainexus.com/continuous-improvement/methods-to-benefit-organizational-knowledge-management/webinar/signup Presented by Dr. Cynthia J. Young, Founder/CEO of CJ Young Consulting, LLC In this webinar, you will hear about some of the methods used in practicing knowledge management that also support achieving continuous improvement goals. Methods we will discuss include: Checklists and check sheets Reports Lessons learned After action reviews Mapping (Process, Knowledge, and Mind) Communities of practice Kanban Gamification Battle rhythms When you use these methods, you reduce the training required to bring your team up for speed, you can keep costs low because you aren't having to buy new tools, and it helps your workforce become better problem solvers. This webinar will also be beneficial for ISO 9001-2015 certified organizations since it includes knowledge management, as Clause 7.1.6 Organizational Knowledge and ISO 30401:2018 Knowledge Management Systems, while not a certifiable requirement, is applicable to any organization. Dr. Cynthia “Cindy” J. Young is the Founder/CEO of CJ Young Consulting, LLC, a knowledge management consulting firm, as well as a curriculum developer and instructor with Leidos. About a decade ago, she retired as a Surface Warfare Officer after 23 years in the U.S. Navy which is where her love for knowledge management began. She holds professional certifications as a Project Management Professional, a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, and as an ASQ-Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence. Cindy is a past-Chair of ASQ Tidewater, Section 1128 in Virginia Beach as well as having held terms as the Vice Chair and Secretary. Her doctoral study, Knowledge Management and Innovation on Firm Performance of United States Ship Repair, provided her the opportunity to gain additional professional and academic expertise to facilitate improvements in organizational knowledge management. In September 2020, she gave a TEDx Talk called “A Knowledge Mindset: What You Know Comes from Where You Sit" which provides actions organizations can take to improve trust and retention through use of knowledge management practices.

Founder/CEO of CJ Young Consulting, LLC Episode page: https://www.leanblog.org/436 My guest for Episode #436 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Dr. Cynthia J. Young, PMP, LSS MBB, CMQ-OE, the Founder/CEO of CJ Young Consulting, LLC. Cindy helps organizations optimize human-centric knowledge to increase trust and support collaboration and inclusion. She is a TEDx Speaker, an HBR Contributor, and a Veteran (23 years in the U.S. Navy) She is also a Curriculum Developer and Instructor with Leidos, an engineering and defense contractor. Cindy is also presenting a webinar on February 10th, part of the KaiNexus CI Webinar series… learn more and register here: Impactful Methods to Benefit Organizational Knowledge Management and Continuous Improvement Efforts She is also leading an upcoming “Knowledge Management Bootcamp.” Today, we discuss topics and questions including: Origin story as a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt? –> In the Navy Combining LSS, PMP, CMQ-OE certifications? What is “knowledge management” in the context of organizations? Leadership & technology?? Five Ways to Protect Yourself from a Layoff Using Knowledge Management We should “Resist hoarding knowledge” — is that counterintuitive? This sharing had big benefits to you and your career? Breaking down silos? Applying KM to Lean and applying Lean to KM? Waste of capturing knowledge that doesn't get used? Examples of good practices?  Mistakes people make with knowledge? The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in their 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare industries. Learn more. This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

Have you ever wondered why you should go to conferences or be a speaker (and how to become one)? Our podcast guest today is José Pires, a veteran of 20+ years in the conference business and a leader in helping organizations to improve their execution and innovation excellence. José serves as Excellence & Innovation (E&I) executive leader and advisor for cross-industry organizations ranging from startups to Fortune 50, where he oversees the global identification, prioritization and execution of high value business improvements and innovations for the companies, business partners, and customers in multiple markets. He is an advisory board leader, keynote speaker, and chairman for organizations and global conferences on innovation, operational excellence, leadership development, strategy execution, culture, business and digital transformation, customer experience, exponential technologies, and growth acceleration. He is an executive Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt who holds a Bachelor in Engineering Physics from the University of Kansas and a Master in Business Administration focused on Investment Banking and Entrepreneurship from the University of San Diego. In this episode we spoke about the following topics: Jose's background and how he came into the speaking/conference business as an introvert engineer The fear of public speaking and how to overcome it Getting good at your craft (your purpose?) and learn to communicate about it The change in the conference landscape due to the pandemic (disruption vs. dislocation) The objectives of participating in a conference or alternatives: learning, inspiration, networking Criteria of good conferences (virtual and in-person) How to get started to become a speaker Conferences as businesses What to look for when planning for attending events The "Three Rs": relationship, results, and reputation Please reach out to us by either sending an email to hello@whatsyourbaseline.com or leaving us a voice message by clicking here. The full show notes, including graphics, further links, credits, and transcript, are available at whatsyourbaseline.com/episode10.

In this episode, Andrew Parris, a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt with over 25 years of experience in NGO/humanitarian and Aerospace Development, recounts his lean journey from the beginning. He talked about the differences between aerospace and other sectors, as well as how the aerospace industry approaches process improvement. He explained how, using Lean, they were able to cut World Vision's annual expenditures in Africa by more than $1.5 million https://theleaneffectpodcast.com/ https://www.facebook.com/TheLeanEffectPodcast https://www.facebook.com/groups/272448766629082/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-lean-effect-podcast/ Insta: @theleaneffectpodcast Twitter @EffectLean Guest: Andrew Parris https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-parris-0b4ab28 andrewparris80288@msn.com Host: Mark Dejong: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-de-jong-investor-lean-advisor-0288695/ Mark@4ppartners.ca https://www.4ppartners.ca Phone: 1-778-807-9691  

Show notes and links: https://leanblog.org/431 My guests for Episode #431 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Sonia Singh, a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, executive coach, and professor with 19 years of experience in healthcare operations, management consulting, leadership development, and culture transformation. She's worked with dozens of companies in improving their performance, resulting in a collective financial impact of $30M. She's trained and coached over 2000 emerging and experienced leaders.  Sonia is the founder of Sonia Singh International, and one of her offerings is the Influential Leadership Academy, where she helps leaders build emotional intelligence and master their influence.  She was previously an employee at some healthcare systems and Cardinal Health. Sonia holds a degree in Psychology from Northern Illinois University, a Master's degree in Health Administration from Tulane University, and completed her professional coaching training at the University of California, Davis. Today, we discuss topics and questions including: How did you first get introduced to Lean or continuous improvement concepts? What were some of your best experiences working in healthcare improvement? What was a “school of hard knocks” lesson you gained working in healthcare? How did you decide to start working independently? Why go through professional coaching school and how did that change how you coach? It's hard to just ask questions To you, what are the differences between the words “coach” vs “consultant?” What has it been like shifting from lean coach to leadership coach? Getting to root causes of behaviors or reactions? How to help people shift from telling to asking questions? Influential Leadership Academy – who is this targeted to? “It's a strength when you can share your power.” The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in their 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare industries. Learn more. This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

Dr. Ellen Burts-Cooper is the senior managing partner of Improve Consulting and Training Group, a firm that provides personal and professional development training, coaching, and consultation. Improve has been featured in Time Magazine, Black Voices, Smart Business Magazine, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Cleveland Jewish News, Cleveland.com, and Crain's Cleveland Business. Ellen works across numerous industries, including manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, education, retail, utilities, governmental agencies, not-for-profit, and small businesses.Dr. Burts-Cooper is on faculty at Case Western Reserve University in the Weatherhead Executive Education Program and The Institute for Management Studies (IMS). She currently serves on the Board of Directors of First Federal of Lakewood and Sea-Land Chemical Company. She is the author of the books aMAZEing Organizational Teams: Navigating 7 Critical Attributes for Cohesion, Productivity and Resilience and Canine Instinct: A Guide to Survival and Advancement in Corporate America.Previously, Ellen served as a Senior Vice President and Senior Director of Operational Excellence, IT Performance Management, and Governance for PNC Financial Services. Prior to the financial services industry, Ellen worked in the electronics industry where she led global teams in several functions at 3M Company in St. Paul, MN.She earned a BS in chemistry from Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, AL, her Ph.D. in organic/polymer chemistry from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA, her MBA from the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Business, her Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt certification from 3M Company, and her Multicultural Competency and Wellness Certificate from the National Wellness Institute.Ellen is also an active volunteer and supporter for a host of community-related organizations across the US and provides college scholarships through her fund at The Cleveland Foundation. She is a member of the Private Directors Association and the National Wellness Institute.A Powerful Quote From This Episode"I want teams to be more productive, more cohesive, and more resilient. That is my life's work."Resources Mentioned in This EpisodeEllen's WebsiteAbout The International Leadership Association (ILA)The ILA was created in 1999 to bring together professionals with a keen interest in the study, practice, and teaching of leadership. Connect with Scott AllenWebsite

We talk to IoT teacher André Roussel about universal access to information and the development and future of the IoT. André currently teaches the Internet of Things course at the Collège Communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick in Canada, and has deep experience in process improvement, systems analysis, electrical wiring, databases, and programming - as well as a Master's degree in physics and a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt certification. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/arduino/message

Former kicker and punter for Iowa, various pro teams Show notes: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake99 My guest for Episode #99 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Brion Hurley, a friend of mine from Lean Six Sigma professional circles, who I recently learned was an American football kicker and punter in college (Iowa Hawkeyes) and a number of professional teams (the NFL and Arena Football). Brion is the founder of his company, Business Performance Improvement and he's a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. He's the author of a free eBook called Lean Six Sigma for Good: How improvement experts can help people in need, and help improve the environment and he's the host of two podcasts: Lean Six Sigma for Good and Lean Six Sigma Bursts. In today's episode, Brion shares his “Favorite Mistake” story about the practice routines he developed as a kicker at the University of Iowa. Why was it a mistake to focus so much on practicing long field goals and how did that affect his performance in games? What was it like to lose his starting job? What did that teach Brion about mistakes in our careers? Other topics and questions: Lessons from practicing wrong? Not evaluating the misses? What was your mindset on the pressure of a kick that might be seen live by 70,000 fans or more on TV? Game winning kicks or opportunities? Hayden Fry story about Northwestern Referee mistakes? Social media age – criticism and threats toward kickers A blog post I wrote about fans blaming a college kicker How has this affected your view on workplace pressure now? Can we develop bad habits without a coach? Video of Brion's kicking highlights from Iowa Read a piece he wrote about his kicking mistakes Find Brion onYouTube LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Twitter --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/favorite-mistake/support

This week I'm speaking with Brion Hurley, a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and founder of Business Performance Improvement, a sustainable process improvement consulting firm. In this episode, Brion and I talk about the major differences between Six Sigma and Lean and how continuous improvement can be applied to the social sector. What You'll Learn This Episode: Lean vs. Six Sigma, the differences and commonalities How Lean can be applied in the social sector How Lean can be applied in the environment How Lean can be applied to the government How to find opportunities when it comes to volunteering with nonprofits and social sectors. Why it's important to find your passion About the Guest: Brion Hurley is a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt at Business Performance Improvement. He teaches Lean and Six Sigma classes, facilitates workshops and events, performs statistical analysis, and mentors employees through improvement efforts. He volunteers his time with local nonprofits. He is also the author of the “Lean Six Sigma for Good” book series. Important Links: https://www.biz-pi.com/ https://www.leansixsigmaforgood.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/brion-hurley-432192 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/leansolutions/support

Webinar Recording -- Get video and more Motivational Interviewing: The Key to Effective Conversations About Change July 28 from 1:00 - 2:00 pm ET Presented by Paola Torres, Sr. Performance Improvement Manager at Healthfirst in NYC Learning objectives: Become familiar with the spirit, theory, and practice of Motivational Interviewing (MI) Identify your customer's readiness for change based on key communication indicators Learn basic MI communication techniques to help your clients resolve their ambivalence and develop intrinsic motivation to change Paola Torres Paola Torres is a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and continuous improvement professional with 17 years of experience in the Healthcare industry. She is currently a Sr. Performance Improvement Manager at Healthfirst in NYC. Prior to joining Healthfirst, she was the Director of Supply Chain Transformation and Integration at NYU Langone Health. As a Lean Six Sigma practitioner and coach, she has led over 40 cross-functional Kaizen/Rapid Improvement Events (RIE) integrating change management concepts and adult learning theory into applied process improvement science. A native of Colombia, she received her BS in Microbiology from Javeriana University in Bogota and MPA in Health Care Management from New York University.

Preview of a webinar coming up on July 28, register here. Motivational Interviewing: The Key to Effective Conversations About Change July 28 from 1:00 - 2:00 pm ET Presented by Paola Torres, Sr. Performance Improvement Manager at Healthfirst in NYC Learning objectives: Become familiar with the spirit, theory, and practice of Motivational Interviewing (MI) Identify your customer's readiness for change based on key communication indicators Learn basic MI communication techniques to help your clients resolve their ambivalence and develop intrinsic motivation to change About the Presenter: Paola Torres Paola Torres is a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and continuous improvement professional with 17 years of experience in the Healthcare industry. She is currently a Sr. Performance Improvement Manager at Healthfirst in NYC. Prior to joining Healthfirst, she was the Director of Supply Chain Transformation and Integration at NYU Langone Health. As a Lean Six Sigma practitioner and coach, she has led over 40 cross-functional Kaizen/Rapid Improvement Events (RIE) integrating change management concepts and adult learning theory into applied process improvement science. A native of Colombia, she received her BS in Microbiology from Javeriana University in Bogota and MPA in Health Care Management from New York University.

In this episode of Environmentally Concerned Nation, Brion Hurley and I discuss implementing Lean Six Sigma so that you can improve your business's bottom line. So, if you want to improve R.O.I. by optimizing business processes, learn the environmental impacts of process waste, and increase business profits while you help the environment. TUNE IN RIGHT NOW because we are telling you how this is done, step-by-step, and don't forget to subscribe to this podcast so that you get every episode like this one delivered to you automatically.Brion Hurley is;a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt at Business Performance Improvement has an M.S. in Quality Management the author of "Lean Six Sigma for Good: How Improvement Experts Can Help People in Need, and Help Improve the Environment." president of the nonprofit Recycling Advocates.Take Reducing Environmental Impacts with W.A.S.T.E. Walks from Brion Hurley on Udemy.The Most Advanced Landing Page Builder! Design Beautiful Landing Pages That Convert with The Best & Easiest Landing Page Builder Available!Live Stream Real-time & Recorded Videos! Go Live or Schedule Recorded Video Streams to 40+ Social Media Platforms Simultaneously!Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

This week, I'm speaking with certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Project Management Professional and CI Instructor Katie Labedz, about her new book “How to Improve Absolutely Anything.” In this episode we talk about Katie's recent book and the importance of continuous improvement including how to integrate it into your everyday life even outside of the office. What You'll Learn This Episode: Visual leadership and how to use it How you can use continuous improvement in your everyday life including at home How Katie got her start in Lean and Six Sigma Katie's favorite lean tools from her book What inspired Katie to write her book About the Guest: Katie Labedz is a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt with over 20 years of experience implementing continuous improvement solutions within non-manufacturing and manufacturing environments.  Her company is Learning to Lean. Katie also has her Master's certification in instructional design, her Project Management Professional (PMP) certification through PMI and is a certified instructor/facilitator through Langevin. Important Links: https://www.learningtolean.training/ https://www.amazon.com/How-Improve-Absolutely-Anything-Improvement/dp/B08ZDV42RF/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=katie+labedz&qid=1618940328&sr=8-1 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/leansolutions/support

Matthew J. Louis is one of the nation’s leading experts in career transition for veterans and public service professionals. He advises veterans on their transition efforts and employers on hiring programs designed to successfully assimilate these valuable talent pools. He is the author of the award-winning HarperCollins book Mission Transition, a practical guide for veterans in transition and their employers. Matt serves as the Veteran Transition Assistance officer for his West Point class. He serves as an advisor to the board of YourNexStage in Washington DC (the nation's first veteran collaborative focused on the needs of women veterans), and actively serves several other veteran collaboratives around the country. During his active duty commissioned service in the United States Army, Matt served in the Southwest Asia combat theater and in the 194th Separate Armored Brigade. During reserve commissioned service, Matt served on the staff of the Army’s Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and commanded multiple regions around the country for the US Military Academy’s Admissions Office. He is a retired Lieutenant Colonel from the US Army Reserves, holds a secret security clearance, and serves on the Service Academy nominating committee for his local Congressman. Matt holds an MBA in Operations and Finance from The Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from West Point and is a graduate of the US Army Command and General Staff College.  He is also a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, a certified Project Management Professional, and holds the ASCM organization’s Certified Supply Chain Professional designation. WEBSITE: https://matthewjlouis.com/meet-matt/ BOOK:  https://matthewjlouis.com/mission-transition-wins-the-nonfiction-authors-associations-silver-book-award/ "I'm on a mission...to SUCCESSFULLY OPTIMIZE the personal potential of veterans and public servants and the productivity of their prospective employers." Additional Advice From Transitioning Troops https://matthewjlouis.com/lessons-learned/ Military to Civilian Thesaurus https://matthewjlouis.com/military-to-civilian-thesaurus/ Understanding Your Financial Needs Exercises https://matthewjlouis.com/financial-needs-exercises/ “The most difficult part of the transition for me was disengaging from ongoing activities and responsibilities at my last duty station and focusing on my transition to civilian life. There was more to do than I realized, with medical appointments, moving, required transition workshops, finding a job, and more. It wasn't that I felt like I was indispensable in my last position, but I had projects that I wanted to see through to completion before leaving. Also, the Army was still providing my livelihood, so I felt it incumbent on me to continue to contribute.” Dave Raymond (Former Army Colonel) --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/mettle-of-honor/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mettle-of-honor/support

Author of new book, trainer, consultant My guest for Episode #408 of the Lean Blog Interviews podcast is Katie Labedz, the author of the new book How to Improve Absolutely Anything: Continuous Improvement in Your Home, Office and Family Life. Katie Labedz is a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt with over 20 years of experience implementing continuous improvement solutions within non-manufacturing and manufacturing environments.  Her company is Learning to Lean. Katie also has her Master's certification in instructional design, her Project Management Professional (PMP) certification through PMI and is a certified instructor/facilitator through Langevin. Topics and questions in today's episode include: What's your Lean origin story? What did you learn moving from IT to manufacturing to working with Lean in office settings? How is Lean different with “carpet walkers”? How do you define “continuous improvement”? When do you need to take a break from improvement to stabilize things? Lessons from working on virtual improvement this year? Why write the book? Favorite practical tips and tricks (Lean methods at home) from the book? Lessons about motivations and “resistance to change”? The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in their 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity and healthcare industries. Learn more. This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

In honor of International Women’s Day 2021, Her Story of Success was honored to join Collective615 for ChallengeHER, an event celebrating women who are affecting change in Nashville and beyond. As part of the event, Her Story of Success CEO Leah Glover Hayes hosted a panel discussion with three incredible women who are affecting change in Nashville and beyond — Mignon Francois, Domonique Townsend and Alexis Isham. They discuss some of the challenges they’ve faced as women business owners, especially during the difficulties of COVID-19. The women also share some amazing lessons about the things that have kept them going in times of hardship, and they talk about some of the ways we can all help each other succeed.  Their Stories of Success Mignon Francois was living on her last $5 when a neighbor asked to order cupcakes from her home bakery. Mignon took that $5 and continued to multiply, eventually building The Cupcake Collection into a multi-million dollar business. Mignon’s bakery helped revitalize her Nashville neighborhood, and she’s been honored as a Woman of Legend and Merit by Tennessee State University and an Emerging Business Leader of the Year. The Cupcake Collection, which now includes locations in Nashville and New Orleans, also won Black Enterprise Magazine’s Family Business of the Year Award.  Listen to Mignon’s full episode here. Domonique Townsend spent years being undervalued by the companies she worked for, and when she decided to take the leap to start her own business, she knew she was ready to reach a higher potential. Domonique is the founder of We Optimize Work, a company that creates strategies and systems to help working moms and mom CEOs. As an operations coach and workflow expert with more than 10 years of engineering experience, Domonique is able to help moms manage their work and raise a family without compromising their sanity or goals. Along with her years of industrial engineering experience, Domonique has trained or coached more than 3,100 people, and she’s a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt.  Alexis Cook Isham had to take a break from college after being diagnosed with Lymes Disease, and during her time off, she built friendships with people experiencing homelessness in Nashville. Alexis and her friend Corbin decided to build a business that would help people overcoming homelessness and other challenging circumstances. The result was Unlocked (recently rebranded under the name Resera), an ethical jewelry brand that employs and empowers women survivors overcoming homelessness, domestic violence, incarceration and forced relocation. Alexis is an Ingram Scholar alumna who graduated from Vanderbilt University in 2018, and she’s passionate about using her leadership to increase opportunity and elevate the voices of marginalized women. Sponsors: The ChallengeHER event was sponsored by HeyHey Creative, White Door Events, nFocus, Kathy Thomas Photography, OneHope, Walker Brothers, Johnson Squared, Copperheart Creative, WesterHouse Weddings, Nashville Audio Visual, Our DJ Rocks, Suzie Marketing and Bibs Balloons

Amita Sherwood, CEO of E Squared Solutions, is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt who is passionate about empowering people and organizations to achieve extraordinary results. She has spent over 20 years partnering with organizations in a variety of industries including Insurance, Federal (DoD and Civilian), Health Care, Higher Education, Financial Services, and […] The post Amita Sherwood with E Squared Solutions appeared first on Business RadioX ®.

Domonique Townsend spent years being undervalued by the companies she worked for, and when she decided to take the leap to start her own business, she knew she was ready to reach a higher potential. Domonique is the founder of We Optimize Work, a company that creates strategies and systems to help working moms and mom CEOs. As an operations coach and workflow expert with more than 10 years of engineering experience, Domonique is able to help moms manage their work and raise a family without compromising their sanity or goals.  Along with her years of industrial engineering experience, Domonique has trained or coached more than 3,100 people, and she’s a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. Domonique also serves on boards for Purpose Preparatory Academy, the WBENC Next Gen Initiative and WomenGetIT, and she’s a Senior Scholar Instructor for #BlackTechFutures. In This Episode: Domonique shares her inspiring story of feeling undervalued at her job, getting laid off and turning her experience into a business that’s helping working moms optimize their lives and work. She also explains how she’s found mentors to support her throughout her journey and offers practical advice to other working moms.  Episode Highlights: Supporting working moms through We Optimize Work (2:49)  Building a business as a working mom (7:46) Domonique’s story of turning a layoff into an opportunity for growth (11:24) The importance of clients who align with your own values (22:27) Finding mentors who remind you of your worth (25:45) Advice for working moms who are feeling overwhelmed (43:50) Sponsor: This podcast is sponsored in part by Piccolo Marketing, providing outsourced marketing professionals for business owners.  Piccolo Marketing is our go-to resource when it comes to comprehensive marketing strategies and execution. Learn more at piccolomarketing.com

In this first episode of several with Dell Birch, Ph.D., we discuss his background as a consultant, business strategist, and ministry leader. Dell takes us on a journey from childhood to adulthood where he overcame childhood adversity to become truly a trusted advisor to leaders in business and ministry alike. This episode is enlightening and inciteful and a must listen to both the believer and non-believing leader alike.Dell's Background:Dell is currently an executive in the automotive industry. He is responsible for strategy and strategic development for the division including market intelligence, industry research and outlook. Previously, Dell served as a senior consultant for many firms across multiple industries globally. He has held executive roles in software development, high tech firms, and service industries. Dell has also served in bi-vocational aspects including ministerial leadership. In ministry, Dell has led the design and development of campus development globally, new church launches, church expansions, and ministry development on a strategic and tactical level. He is also an ordained pastor and has served in pastoral leadership roles. He is also chairman of the board of a non-profit agency that provides afterschool support and development for middle school and high school students in Zimbabwe. Dell holds a Ph.D. in Organization and Management, an M.S., and a B.S. in Technology Management. He holds a Lean Master, Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt certification, and an Airframe and PowerPlant license. He has developed a curriculum on soft skills for STEM leaders and has co-authored articles on mentoring, leadership, and small business development. He also serves as a visiting professor for business and global supply chain management courses at DeVry University and Keller Graduate School of Management.

Em meio a demagogias e panfletagens propostas pelo mercado, discutimos com clareza o que é a certificação Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, trazendo a tona pontos como: onde se certificar, o que buscar em uma certificação, dificuldades, atribuições e muito mais!

"Powering Agile Decision-Making: Tim Judge & Nate Endicott" Supply Chain Now Episode 448 This Episode of Supply Chain Now features Tim Judge and Nate Endicott. Tim Judge is the President & Chief Executive Officer of Agillitics, the Supply Chain Analytics firm helping companies build repeatable supply chain data foundations and internal capabilities leveraging best in class Business Intelligence, Analytics, Supply Chain Design & Optimization solutions. This enables their many happy customers across retail, consumer goods, and logistics to drive better business outcomes through improved visibility, prediction, and actionable decision support. Prior to starting Agillitics, Tim worked in a number of Director and Practice Lead roles for supply chain leaders such as Manhattan Associates, Enterra Solutions, and enVista where he led supply chain transformation implementations across multiple customer verticals and service offerings including: Warehousing & DC Design, Labor Management, Transportation, Order Fulfillment and Business Intelligence and Analytics. Tim has an MBA and BS in Industrial & System Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and is a certified: Supply Chain Professional (CSCP), PMP, Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. Nate Endicott With a passion to help companies harness the opportunity of big data to substantially improve their supply chain and logistics visibility and performance, Nate Endicott joined RateLinx in 2014 as Senior Vice President, Global Sales and Alliances. Endicott is an expert at accurately diagnosing underlying problems and recommending custom RateLinx software and data service solutions. Endicott’s keen understanding of the RateLinx proprietary predictive modeling engine allows him to help businesses of all sizes to optimize their freight operations. Upcoming Events & Resources Mentioned in this Episode: Subscribe to Supply Chain Now and ALL Supply Chain Now Programming Here: https://supplychainnowradio.com/subscribe Leave a review for Supply Chain Now: https://ratethispodcast.com/supplychainnow Connect with Scott on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/scottwindonluton/ Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/gswhite/ Connect with Tim on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/timpjudge/ Connect with Nate on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nate-endicott-39aa6b3/ Supply Chain Now Ranked #1 Supply Chain Podcast via FeedSpot: tinyurl.com/rud8y9m Supply Chain Now Ranked #3 Supply Chain YouTube Channel: https://tinyurl.com/yazfegov Register for 6 River Systems' FLOW 2020: https://pheedloop.com/flow2020/site/home/ AIAG Virtual 2020 Supply Chain Conference: https://tinyurl.com/y8axeflc Download the Q2 2020 U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index: freight.usbank.com/?es=a229&a=20 Register for Reuters Events Supply Chain USA Virtual 2020 Summit Here: https://tinyurl.com/y4mj6jph Check Out News From Our Sponsors: U.S. Bank: www.usbpayment.com/transportation-solutions Capgemini: www.capgemini.com/us-en/ Vector Global Logistics: vectorgl.com/ Verusen: www.verusen.com/ ProPurchaser.com: tinyurl.com/y6l2kh7g This episode was hosted by Greg White and Scott Luton. For additional information, please visit our dedicated show page at: https://supplychainnowradio.com/episode-448.

"Optimizing Decision-Making in Supply Chain in 2020 & Beyond" Supply Chain Now Episode 441 This episode of Supply Chain Now features Shannon Vaillancourt and Tim Judge. Shannon Vaillancourt is president and founder of RateLinx. Since 2002, RateLinx has become a leading supply chain software and data services company with the only integrated Data-as-a-Strategy (DaaS) technology platform. RateLinx allows companies to gain access to all of their logistics intelligence in one platform, helping customers to create world-class logistics strategies, improve supply chain management, solve problems and reduce costs. Shannon is an innovator in supply chain and logistics data analytics, developing a data-first approach that is transforming logistics for the nation’s largest retailers, consumer goods manufacturers and industrial leaders. He is recognized as a leader in data services with a seat on the invitation-only Forbes Technology Council, where he writes about emerging technologies and trends. He is a regular columnist for DC Velocity, commenting on the intersection of data technology and supply chain management. He leads RateLinx’s strategy and business development while guiding the company’s data services, implementation, and software solutions. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. Tim Judge is the President & Chief Executive Officer of Agillitics, the Supply Chain Analytics firm helping companies build repeatable supply chain data foundations and internal capabilities leveraging best in class Business Intelligence, Analytics, Supply Chain Design & Optimization solutions. This enables their many happy customers across retail, consumer goods, and logistics to drive better business outcomes through improved visibility, prediction, and actionable decision support. Prior to starting Agillitics, Tim worked in a number of Director and Practice Lead roles for supply chain leaders such as Manhattan Associates, Enterra Solutions, and enVista where he led supply chain transformation implementations across multiple customer verticals and service offerings including: Warehousing & DC Design, Labor Management, Transportation, Order Fulfillment and Business Intelligence and Analytics. Tim has an MBA and BS in Industrial & System Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and is a certified: Supply Chain Professional (CSCP), PMP, Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. Upcoming Events & Resources Mentioned in this Episode: Subscribe to Supply Chain Now and ALL Supply Chain Now Programming Here: https://supplychainnowradio.com/subscribe Leave a review for Supply Chain Now: https://ratethispodcast.com/supplychainnow Connect with Scott on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/scottwindonluton/ Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/gswhite/ Connect with Shannon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannon-vaillancourt/ Connect with Tim on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timpjudge/ Supply Chain Now Ranked #1 Supply Chain Podcast via FeedSpot: tinyurl.com/rud8y9m Supply Chain Now Ranked #3 Supply Chain YouTube Channel: https://tinyurl.com/yazfegov Register for 6 River Systems' FLOW 2020: https://pheedloop.com/flow2020/site/home/ AIAG Virtual 2020 Supply Chain Conference: https://tinyurl.com/y8axeflc Download the Q2 2020 U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index: freight.usbank.com/?es=a229&a=20 Register for Reuters Events Supply Chain USA Virtual 2020 Summit Here: https://tinyurl.com/y4mj6jph Check Out News From Our Sponsors: U.S. Bank: www.usbpayment.com/transportation-solutions Capgemini: www.capgemini.com/us-en/ Vector Global Logistics: vectorgl.com/ Verusen: www.verusen.com/ ProPurchaser.com: tinyurl.com/y6l2kh7g This episode was hosted by Greg White and Scott Luton. For additional information, please visit our dedicated show page at: https://supplychainnowradio.com/episode-441.

Recorded: July 14, 2020 About the podcast Topic: Okay, the notion was noble, but the presentation might have been better.  If this was an episode of Master Chef with Antlerboy and JP being the wanna-be cooks, we would certainly have presented a repulsive-looking dish, but it tasted darn good. So here’s the story;  Antlerboy and JP had noticed that all of the guests at The Outliers Inn have been men.  Certainly, the men have themselves have been diverse in geography, industry and profession – but they have all been men.  So we wanted to consciously seek to make our guests more diverse and we came up with the idea to devote a show only to guests who were women – and decided to call the episode “Lady's Night” (I believe it was Antlerboy’s idea).  Try as he might, JP could not come up with another name with less sexist undertones, so we went with it.  We won’t do that again – we will find another name if we do a repeat. JP starts by sharing his joy of being back in action; in the States, client-facing, and in the field.  But JP’s primary engagement is with a nursing home and he is staying with his parents (who are both over 80 years old) while there.  So his COVID-RADAR is up and operational; social distancing, masks, limiting who he visits and under what circumstances.  It’s serious stuff and the risks are considerable.  Better safe than sorry – really sorry. Our first guest, Maria, is an industrial engineer at Spirit Airlines as Manager of Business Process Optimization.  She helps conduct improvement projects for the company and training employees in Lean Six-Sigma.  Since COVID has effected the airline industry especially hard, I asked what effects has it has had on her and the goings-on at Spirit.  It was refreshing to hear that Spirit was using the lighter load to improve the skillsets of their employees. Amanda joins us from Manchester, having crossed paths with Antlerboy recently doing a webinar on crisis communication (“which is exactly as it says on the tin”).  She police communications for 20yrs in charge of all communication.  She started before 9/11 and the world is a very difference place looking back.  Amanda’s personal turning point and most poignant moment was dealing with the terrorist attack at the Manchester arena and how important the people and communication were so critically important in working through a crisis situation.  She recently started her business (on the day of lockdown in the UK).  Her book, Crisis Communication Strategies (May-2020) is available on Amazon. Our next guest is Sonia, who is a Lean Six-Sigma Master Black Belt.  She is realigning her focus from process performance to personal and professional development.  She recently launched her company, SS International LLC.  She conducts workshops and masterminds and shares with us that she recently launched a three-month mastermind specifically for women to help them learn to unleash their potential, overcome obstacles, hold themselves and each other accountable, and reach their goals. This just skims the surface of the conversations and discussions.  There is a lot of interesting ideas and experiences shared.  Give a listen.  We are sure you will enjoy it as much as we did. Hosts: Joseph Paris, Founder of the OpEx Society & The XONITEK Group of Companies   Benjamin Taylor,  Managing Partner of RedQuadrant.

Carlos is a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt with a track record of transforming organizations and improving operational performance. He discusses the critical role of benchmarking, why to administer a behavioral assessment, and how to use new technologies to tap into subject matter experts who are closest to your customers.

Hello and welcome again to another episode of Stories of Abundance!In this segment, we are here with Mr. Jeff Mejia. He currently is a Managing Consultant, and Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt at MEJIA Strategic Solutions, Inc., and now he is going to share his story of abundance. Listen and be inspired! #StoriesofAbundance#TheGritOfABreadwinnerToSucceed --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/jpaulhernandez/message

Stampede Digital Systems and the Know Like Trust podcast presents: Katie Labedz: Learning to Lean You may be someone who has set a goal. Most people have. Businesses set them all the time. Achieving those goals usually boils down to systems. In business or outside of it, systems are the things that, over and over, bring consistent success. Success is success, right? Unfortunately, sometimes success comes with a price tag that is too large to pay. Sometimes our systems make our success more like failures. Wouldn't it be nice to know someone who could help us make sure that does not happen? Introducing Katie Labedz: Katie says that most of our systems have a lot of waste in them. Her story is the story so often found in entrepreneurs. She had talent and skills and was working in the corporate world when a mentor saw in her something special. The mentor mentioned the lean business model and how it aligned with her vision of how businesses could improve themselves. Like the proverbial duck to water, Katie took to the challenge and is now a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt a Project Management Pro and certified instructor and facilitator in guiding businesses to improve their processes and embark an creating a culture of continuous improvement so that when business succeed it is at a price that they can afford. In today's show, Katie talks about her story and about how these models, so effective and popular in the manufacturing world, can be and need to be used in non-manufacturing businesses, especially because, in such, their systems are less clear and road blocks, bottlenecks and waste are harder to identify and correct. Listen to her story and just like us, here at Stampede, you will come to know, like, and trust her. Katie Labedz: Learning to Lean www.learningtolean.training learning2leannow@gmail.com 920-810-5775

In this podcast, I interviewed Amanda Zimmerman, a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt here...

Guest Name : Lee Campe, Owner/President at Performance Excellence INC . Language : English, Publication date: April, 21. 2020 Lee Campe is President of Performance Excellence Inc and a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. Prior to starting Performance Excellence, Lee was a Master Black Belt (MBB) for the Home Depot, where he was responsible for coaching employees and mentoring projects across the US. Projects Lee mentored provided the company with over $200 million in saving. The performance excellence INC is an Industry Leading Lean Six Sigma consultant. Expert in all facets of Six Sigma to include DMAIC, DMADV and Lean. Expert in Lean Six Sigma deployment and start up as well as Lean Six Sigma training at all levels/roles. Key takeaways : How does a lean six sigma contributes into the supply chain strategy Lean vs. agile approach in supply chain strategy Learn a few example how these tools are able to reduce unnecessary cost at your end. Connect him on LInkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leecampe/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bicarasupplychain/message

Get ready to catch these gems! Domonique Townsend is the Chief Business Improvement Strategist for We Optimize Work! With over a decade of experience as a Professional Engineer and Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt​, her extensive background in leadership and management has led companies to excel in meeting strategic goals in retention, engagement, cross-functional projects and process optimization on a global scale.Domonique is also a native of Nashville, TN, wife and mom of four children and serves on the Women GetIT board as the membership chair and sits on the board of Purpose Preparatory Academy. ​In this episode, Domonique shares her journey of transitioning from being laid off to leveling up as a small business owner! Check out her company at: www.weoptimizework.com and follow her journey on LinkedIn and Instagram @domoniquetownsend

Scott Van Ness is an Instructor of Operations Management at UCCS. He is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the US Air Force, Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, as well as a business owner and entrepreneur. He received his MBA from Golden State University and ABD from the University of the Rockies. Topics covered in this episode include operations management, community involvement, and leadership skills for the workforce. Connect with Scott on LinkedIn Follow us on Social Media LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

In this Episode we have the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Shane Wentz CEO of A Change of Latitude Consulting. He talks about how he got started in Continuous Improvement and what drove his passion in his field. He also talks about the biggest challenges this field faces and what you can do to make a difference in the Continuous Improvement field. This episode is filled with nuggets of information to get you started in the CI field. Listen in and enjoy! About Shane Source: ACILConsulting.com Shane is seen as an expert in the continuous improvement field and is passionate about problem solving, training, empowering employees, and working with both internal and external stakeholders to improve an organization. His 25 years of leadership experience includes such achievements as: being inducted into the Sergeant Audie Murphy club in the Army (less than 1% of leaders achieve this), being selected as the Department of the Army Career Counselor of the Year (selected over 800 peers across the organization) and he was awarded the Department of the Army Leap award for best Enterprise Level Lean Six Sigma Project by the Secretary of the Army. In addition, Shane was the first Army enlisted Soldier to achieve Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt certification. His continuous improvement work has been featured on LinkedIn, in several online publications, the Just in Time Café podcast as well as Manufacturing Leaders Podcast. Shane's corporate experience stretches the globe, from North America to Europe and Asia with such organizations as the US Army, Nike, Siemens and Radial. Shane is a veteran, dad, and husband who loves to run, golf, and travel the world. You have more information here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanewentz/ https://acilconsulting.com/about

Cindy is as self-made a person as anyone I have ever met.  After graduating high school and not having any particular skills that were as yet discovered nor the grades or money to get into University, she joined the United States Navy as an enlisted person.  Perhaps she knew, and it’s just as likely she did not, that this single decision to join the Navy set her on a professional trajectory that is nothing short of amazing. Once in the Navy, her MOS was that of a cryptologic technician maintenance servicing communication equipment.  As her initial planned time in the Navy was nearing the end, instead of leaving, she decided to remain and earn her Bachelor’s Degree (soon-after becoming an officer) and then her Master’s Degrees – eventually retiring from the Navy.  She earned her Doctorate degree after leaving the Navy when she was 46.  Her doctoral study, Knowledge Management and Innovation on Firm Performance of United States Ship Repair, provided her the opportunity to gain additional professional and academic expertise to facilitate improvements in organizational knowledge management. She had a daughter while stationed in Georgia which added yet another level of complexity; working hard to balance her professional career in the Navy with her studies and the new responsibilities of being a mother.  Her driving force – wanting to never fail at any of it and making sure her daughter was provided for and brought-up in a stable environment.  If all this was not enough, Cindy has found time to become a certified Project Management Professional, a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, and as an ASQ-Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence – and has been a contributing author to several books including; Chapter 3: Using Leadership to Improve Firm Performance Through Knowledge Management from The Refractive Thinker: Volume XI: Women in Leadership and Chapter 4: Ensuring Prosperous Knowledge Flow from the Silent Generation Through Generation Z in a Global Workforce from The Refractive Thinker: Volume XVII: Managing a Cultural Workforce: The Impact of Global Employees. I am sure you will find Cindy’s life journey as fascinating and inspirational as I did. Host: Joseph Paris, Founder of the;  XONITEK Group of Companies,  Operational Excellence Society & Readiness Institute Guest: Dr. Cynthia Young Dr. Cynthia Young About Dr. Cynthia J. Young Cindy resides in Chesapeake, Virginia.   She holds several accredited degrees; a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in English Language and Literature from the University of Maryland, College Park; two Masters of Business Administration (MBA), one in e-commerce and one in advanced management studies, from Trident University International; and a Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA) from Walden University. She is a retired Surface Warfare Officer with 23 years in the U.S. Navy having entered the Navy directly out of high school.  At Leidos, Cindy is a Theater Mission Planning Center Curriculum Developer and Instructor, a defense contracting company.   She is a past-Chair of American Society for Quality, Tidewater, Section 1128, and a member of the Project Management Institute, Golden Key International Honor Society, and Delta Mu Delta International Business Honor Society.  Outside of her professional career, she raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society with Team in Training (TNT).  She has run (to date) two marathons (Marine Corps Marathon and the Chicago Marathon) and two half-marathons (Norfolk Harbor Half Marathon and the Las Vegas Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon). About Leidos Website: https://www.leidos.com/ Headquarters: Reston, VA Year founded: Leidos (from Kaleidoscope) was originally part of SAIC, which was founded in 1969, but split from SAIC in Sept 2013. Company type: Global science and technology leader Company size: 34,000 and growing; over $10B; #311 in the Fortune 500 Specialties: Defense, Civil, Health, and Intelligence markets with core competencies of: cyber, digital modernization, integrated systems, mission software systems, mission support, operations and logistics, and sensors, collection, and phenomenology.

Jennifer K. Hill speaks with award-winning author, John J. Murphy, about how to find our purpose and create miracles in our lives. John offers a step-by-step process to let go of doubts and find peace and purpose. He discusses his book Beyond Doubt: Four Steps to Inner Peace. He discusses the four steps in the book and also mentions how EFT can help to release stress. johnjmurphy.org John J. Murphy is a global business consultant, speaker, spiritual mystic, "zentrepreneur,” and award-winning author. He is Founder (1988) and CEO of Venture Management Consultants, Inc., a firm specializing in creating lean, high performance work environments. As a business consultant, Murphy has delivered services to some of the world’s leading organizations, including ADP, AlliedSignal (Honeywell), BMW, Chase, the CIA, GE, GM, GSK, Hilton, Lockheed Martin, Merck, the Michigan State Senate, Perrigo, Prudential, Raytheon, Spectrum Health, Target Stores, Teva, and the US Navy. As an educator and Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Murphy has trained thousands of people from over 50 countries, including Fortune 500 executives, project leaders, military leaders, managers, and black belts. He has mentored dozens of project teams in Organizational Development, Operational Excellence, Business Process Innovation and Lean Six Sigma applications. As a speaker, Murphy has delivered keynotes and seminars worldwide. A critically-acclaimed authority on peak performance, transformational leadership and healthy mind-body-spirit, Murphy is a best-selling author who has published 19 books and appeared on over 400 radio and television stations and his work has been featured in over 50 newspapers nationwide. Murphy is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame (BBA Finance) and the University of Michigan’s Human Resource Executive Program. He is also a former quarterback for Notre Dame.

Dominique Hunermund of West Rock shares how they save millions—improving quality, reducing waste, and improving efficiencies in the press room. Dominique is responsible for all print applications (Offset Litho, Flexography, and Gravure) for 64 plants and directs West Rocks' unique Lean Six Sigma program.He is a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt for 30 locations in the South East region within the corrugated division. He has trained and coached Green Belts and Black Belts in multiple Divisions and led changing cultural events at facilities with an emphasis on empowering people and satisfying customers. He has also facilitated and coached hundreds of Kaizen events, as well as DMAIC projects, which saved the organization over $20MM.WestRock is more than a supplier: They are a partner that provides a competitive advantage, a partner that can deliver consistent quality and superior service, a partner that fuels innovation to foster real, sustainable growth.Support the show (https://www.idealliance.org/idealliance-membership)

Today's Guests: Debbie Curl- Nagy is a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and Managing Partner of Marcus Management Consultants, LLC. Kristi Nelson, Vice President Global Human Resources for Multi-Color Corporation

What do peanut butter, gas gauges, coffee, and flat tires have in common?  Leave it to Wes Graham to explain.  As an Industrial Engineer and Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, he uses clever analogies to assert the value of processes and why, if not properly defined or followed, “Everybody will always follow the path of least resistance.”  In this episode, Wes dons his training hat to offer a crash course on Lean and Six Sigma - two process improvement methodologies rooted in customer-centricity and increasing quality and value.  Listen as he takes a complex subject and breaks it down using everyday examples that we can all relate to.

John Murphy is the author of the new book, Miracle Minded Manager: A modern-day parable about how to apply A Course in Miracles to business. John is a global business consultant, speaker, spiritual mystic, "zentrepreneur,” and award-winning author. He is Founder (1988) and CEO of Venture Management Consultants, Inc., a firm specializing in creating lean, high performance work environments. As a business consultant, Murphy has delivered services to some of the world's leading organizations. As an educator and Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Murphy has trained thousands of people from over 50 countries, including Fortune 500 executives, project leaders, military leaders, managers, and black belts. He has mentored dozens of project teams in Organizational Development, Operational Excellence, Business Process Innovation and Lean Six Sigma applications. As a speaker, Murphy has delivered keynotes and seminars worldwide. A critically acclaimed authority on peak performance, transformational leadership and healthy mind-body-spirit, Murphy is a best-selling author who has published 19 books and appeared on over 400 radio and television stations and his work has been featured in over 50 newspapers nationwide. More information about the guest can be found at http://www.johnjmurphy.org

In this episode, Greencastle's own Celwyn Evans and Eric Diamond join us in the Greencastle studio for a deep dive into process improvement. Celwyn and Eric discuss improving processes and eliminating waste both in the workplace and in your personal life. Celwyn has an extensive history as a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, and Eric displays his extensive knowledge through experience improving countless processes of multiple clients. This is an episode full of excellent information from excellent examples of two people who live what they discuss in this episode every day! We are proving the value of veterans in the workplace and giving veterans the tools they need to translate their experience into civilian employer terms. The Greencastle Podcast websiteSubscribe on iTunes here

Marcelo Fernandes, o único brasileiro certificado Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt pela ASQ, expõe neste episódio do Gemba Talks sua experiência de mais de 20 anos com Lean. O Lean manager conta como a jornada pode ser diferente quando aplicada em culturas e países diversos e como os novos formatos de trabalhos podem ajudar nesse processo de melhoria contínua.

John J. Murphy is the founder (1988) and CEO of Venture Management Consultants, Inc., a firm specializing in creating lean, high-performance work environments. As a business consultant, John has delivered services to some of the world's leading organizations, including ADP, AlliedSignal (Honeywell), BMW, Chase, the CIA, GE, GM, GSK, Hilton, Lockheed Martin, Merck, the Michigan State Senate, Perrigo, Prudential, Raytheon, Spectrum Health, Target Stores, Teva, and the US Navy. As an educator and Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, John has trained thousands of people from over 50 countries, including Fortune 500 executives, project leaders, military leaders, managers, and black belts. He has also mentored dozens of project teams in organizational development, operational excellence, business process innovation, and Lean Six Sigma applications. As a speaker, John has delivered keynotes and seminars throughout North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. Among those, he has shared the stage with General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Zig Ziglar, Denis Waitley, Rocky Bleier, and Anthony Robbins. As a critically-acclaimed authority on peak performance, transformational leadership, and healthy mind-body-spirit, John has appeared on over 400 radio and television stations and his work has been featured in over 50 newspapers nationwide. John is the author of 19 books and numerous articles. His books include Zentrepreneur, Half-Full, The How of Wow, Pulling Together, Agent of Change, Habits Die Hard, Stepping Up, Reinvent Yourself, Leading with Passion, Sage Leadership, and the 2010 Editor's Choice (Allbooks Review) Best Inspirational Book of the year, Beyond Doubt. Prior to consulting, John served as corporate director of human resources for Paulstra CRC, an international automotive division of Hutchinson SA in Paris, France.  In this role, John led numerous operational excellence projects, resulting in multi-million dollar improvements and significant culture change. John is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame (BBA Finance) and the University of Michigan's Human Resource Executive Program. He is also a former quarterback for Notre Dame. John now lives in Palm Beach, Florida. Show Highlights: Motivation is external. Inspiration comes from inside us; it's our purpose in the world. -John Murphy4 steps to inner peace: 1. let be 2. let go 3. let see 4. let flow. -John MurphyWhenever you're feeling stressed, you're not present. You're projecting something negative onto the future. -John MurphyThe law of attraction is that we reap what we sow. The energy we put out into the world is what we reap back. -John MurphyI begin every morning with a 20-30 minute meditation. -John MurphyBe the change you wish to see in the world. -GandhiWe change culture by immediately modeling the new behavior. -John MurphyThe idea isn't that we resist change; we resist pain. -John Murphy John's closing thoughts: What if the change is positive? What if the change is going to feel good? What if the change is going to make things a lot easier? Talk about motivation and inspiration. I think this is what drives every entrepreneur. They're not afraid of change because they're making it. They're approaching it because they have a vision of something better. The Action Catalyst is a weekly podcast hosted by Dan Moore, President of Southwestern Advantage, the oldest direct-sales company in America, and Partner with Southwestern Consulting. With more than 45 years in sales leadership and marketing management, Dan has a wealth of knowledge to share on how to make better use of time to achieve life, sales, and other business goals. Each week, he interviews some of the nation's top thought leaders and experts, sharing meaningful tips and advice. Subscribe on iTunes and please leave a rating and review!

Bio: David works at Johnson & Johnson Canada, the largest consumer healthcare company in Canada, and part of the Johnson & Johnson family of companies. David started his career in the telecommunications sector, working at Research In Motion, and has worked in Lean and Six Sigma in the telecommunications, construction, automotive, consumer packaged goods, and healthcare sectors in Canada and globally since 2003. David has a BASc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Waterloo, an MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University, and his Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt certificate from Villanova University. David and his wife Cindy currently reside in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with their son.

With over 20 years of manufacturing and operations experience with a focus on Lean Six Sigma and Team Development, Beau Groover is a wealth of information. He has his MBA and is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, and runs a rapidly growing consulting firm based in Atlanta Georgia. “the best feature that you can have is the one that you create for yourselves. And so if you are entering the world of entrepreneurialism imagine the future that you want and then build it. We see cases every day of people who are successful in finding creative ways to solve problems and be innovative with product development and finding a new way to do an old thing. And so if it is what you want and your heart is in it, imagine the future that you want and then go and do the work necessary to make it happen. And then in a year or two or five years you will look back and go wow this is amazing I can't believe we have accomplished this or I have accomplished this”…[Listen for More] Click Here for Show Notes To Listen or to Get the Show Notes go to https://wp.me/p6Tf4b-6Hr

Ian Golding, is a Certified Customer Experience Professional and Customer Experience specialist. A certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Ian has spent over twenty years in business improvement, working hard to ensure that the businesses he works for are as customer focused as possible. Ian has published over 500 articles on the subject and delivered keynote speeches globally. Ian also served on the inaugural board of Directors of the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA), of which he was a founder member. Ian was also the first person in the world to be authorised by the CXPA to teach the Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) accreditation. In 2015, Ian became an Advisor and featured columnist for CustomerThink – a global online community of business leaders striving to create profitable customer-centric enterprises. The site serves 80,000+ visitors per month from 200 countries. Ian’s first book was published in April 2018 – ‘Customer What?’ The honest and practical guide to Customer Experience’ – is already being well received by professionals around the world. Buy Ian Golding's Book, "Customer What?" on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Customer-What-practical-customer-experience/dp/1527222160/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1540782316&sr=1-1&keywords=ian+golding Follow Worthix on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/worthix/ Follow Worthix on Twitter: @worthix Follow Ian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iangolding/ Follow Ian on Twitter: @ijgolding Follow Mary Drumond on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marydrumond/ Follow Mary Drumond on Twitter: @drumondmary

My guest for Episode #272 is Steve Thompson, Director of Patient Driven Supply Network initiatives for Cardinal Health, a global, integrated healthcare services and products company. He is also a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, dating back to his time spent working in the automotive industry. In today's episode, we talk about his lessons learned from General Motors and Lear Corporation and how he's helping healthcare leaders apply these lessons to improve their supply chain operations. In the past year, I've had a marketing partnership with Cardinal Health, which has led to content like this webinar and article, but after meeting Scott last year and having a great chat, I'm doing this podcast outside of that formal partnership. I'm pleased to have him on the podcast.

Sponsored By Peter Sherman is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and a certified quality engineer with more than 22 years of experience. Sherman talks about the definition of Six Sigma, implementing a program on a small budget, and getting management on board with rolling out a performance improvement program.