Podcasts about United Technologies

David Gitlin is Chairman and CEO of Carrier Global Corporation, a global leader in intelligent climate and energy solutions. With prior senior leadership roles in aerospace and manufacturing and extensive expertise across safety and operational excellence, David led the much-lauded 2020 Carrier spin-off from United Technologies—as the world grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic. In this episode, McKinsey senior partner and North America Chair, Eric Kutcher, talks with David about his journey as a CEO during a crisis, and explores his insights on rallying leadership, the board, and 50,000 employees across 160 countries to excel in their roles. This podcast was recorded on March 31, 2025.Related insightsHow Judy Marks leads Otis Worldwide Corporation through uncertainty and technological evolutionThe art of 21st-century leadership: From succession planning to building a leadership factoryAuthor Talks: IBM’s Ginni Rometty on leading with ‘good power’Getting fit for growth: The leadership mindsets and behaviors that matterCEO PerspectivesSupport the show: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/mckinsey-strategy-&-corporate-finance/See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

Learning and development is a key lever for CHROs to deliver strategic impact, but it can be a challenge to keep pace with workforce needs. As technology innovation impacts both critical skills and learning delivery, CHROs must evaluate the effectiveness of their learning initiatives and foster an environment of learning. Bala Sathyanarayanan, CHRO at Greif, joins the Talent Angle Podcast to share insights on how HR can build a learning culture. He explains why continuous learning is a necessity in today's world of work, and shares how HR can drive business strategy by tapping into employees' desire to grow. Bala V. Sathyanarayanan serves as the executive vice president and chief human resources officer at Greif. Before Greif, Bala held global leadership roles at Xerox, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Coca-Cola and United Technologies. Bala earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electronics engineering and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of Madras in Chennai, India. He also holds a master's in human resources management from Rutgers University and graduated from the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. Peter Aykens is the chief of research for Gartner's HR practice. Aykens is responsible for building and leading research teams within the practice to address clients' key initiatives. Before his current role, he spent over 25 years at Gartner leading research teams focused on banking and financial services strategy, producing numerous studies that addressed business strategy, channels, marketing, customer experience and product challenges. He holds a bachelor's degree in political science from St. Olaf College, a master's degree in international politics from Aberystwyth University (formerly known as the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth), and a master's degree and a doctorate in political science from Brown University.

Join Bill Bellows and Andrew Stotz as they discuss what actions (or inactions) make us worse than thieves and how that relates to expiration dates, and acceptability vs desirability. Plus, stories about job swapping, Achieving Competitive Excellence, and birthdays. TRANSCRIPT 0:00:02.3 Andrew Stotz: My name is Andrew Stotz, and I'll be your host as we dive deeper into the teachings of Dr. W. Edwards Deming. Today, I'm continuing my discussion with Bill Bellows, who has spent 31 years helping people apply Dr. Deming's ideas to become aware of how their thinking is holding them back from their biggest opportunities. Today is Episode 9, and it's entitled "Worse Than a Thief." Bill, take it away.   0:00:27.2 Bill Bellows: Welcome, Andrew. I haven't seen you in a while, and great to be back.   0:00:29.1 AS: It's been a while.   0:00:32.0 BB: Here we are. Episode 9 already. Gosh, [chuckle] time flies when we're having fun. First, let me say a shout out to people who are reaching out to me on LinkedIn. I spoke with another one of them this afternoon. It's always exciting to connect with them. And then I ideally connect in a regular basis and help them as best I can, and learn from them as best I can.   0:01:03.0 AS: Yep.   0:01:03.2 BB: So, for those who are thinking about it, they keep hearing you say, "Hey, you know how to reach Bill? Find him on LinkedIn." So, a reminder for those who are waiting for a nudge, here's a nudge. So, "Worse than a thief" is an expression that Dr. Taguchi used when he say, Andrew, "Don't be worse than a thief." And we'll get to that, but let me just give our audience some context on that.   0:01:37.8 AS: Yep.   0:01:39.0 BB: Dr. Taguchi would say... And actually, I don't know if Dr. Taguchi explained it. Someone explained it to me this way. He said a thief could be someone who steals your wallet, finds $20; which means they're up 20, you're down 20; which people refer to as "zero sum gain." Right? So, the thief's gain is my loss, zero sum. What could be worse than that? Well, "worse than a thief" would be a situation where what someone gains is nothing compared to what I lose. A simple example is, [chuckle] I'm not the only one who does this, but if I'm going to the supermarket and I get out of the car and I see a nail in the parking lot or a piece of glass in the parking lot on my way in. So, I'm not talking about walking all around the parking lot. I'm talking about if on my way into the store I see a nail, something that could puncture a foot, a tire, and I spend a few seconds to pick it up, throw it in the trash can right by the door, then my theory is the reason I do that, the reason others do that, is the belief that that little bit of time that I am spending doing that could potentially save someone far more than the few seconds it took me.   0:03:20.9 BB: Well, "worse than a thief" would be, I see that broken bottle, let's say a bunch of shards of glass. And having worked at my father's gas station, I've seen... A nail on a tire is one thing. Nail creates a puncture. A piece of glass in a tire creates a fracture. A piece of glass can destroy a tire 'cause you get a crack and it spreads, and that's hard to repair. A puncture with a nail, yeah, it's inconvenient, but that doesn't destroy the tire. So, I'm overly sensitive when I see pieces of glass in a parking lot, that that could ruin a tire.   0:04:04.8 AS: And ruin a day.   0:04:06.2 BB: Ruin a day, oh yeah. And so the idea is that for someone to not take the time, and the time they save cost you more than they saved, that's worse than a thief.   0:04:19.8 AS: Right.   0:04:20.0 BB: So, if I meet a set of requirements, leave the bowling ball in the doorway, deliver minimally, but in the world of acceptability, what do we call that, Andrew? It's good.   0:04:35.3 AS: It's good.   0:04:36.0 BB: Right? It's good. It's just within requirements, but good.   0:04:41.8 AS: It's not beyond looking good.   0:04:43.9 BB: And forget about beyond looking good; this is looking good. So, I leave the bowling ball in the doorway. I deliver to you the absolute minimum, which is still good. So, your response to that, Andrew, is, "Thank you, Bill." [chuckle]   0:05:00.0 AS: Yeah.   0:05:00.1 BB: And I'm not saying you know what I did, but let's say the situation where I am unaware of the loss function. I'm unaware that what I'm doing is make making your life worse.   0:05:12.2 AS: Right.   0:05:13.3 BB: But the idea is that my shortcut to deliver the D minus; D minus, minus, minus, minus, minus. 'Cause that's still not an F. What Taguchi is talking about is that the amount of resources I save, may be a fraction of what it cost you in terms of extra effort to use it. So, my savings of an hour, a minute, a second causing you far more than I saved, is worse than a thief. But in the world of acceptability, there is no such thing. In the world of acceptability, a little bit within requirements on the low side, a little bit within requirements on the high side, it's all the same. Again, there may be a situation where if you're putting a shelf on a piece of wood on a wall as a shelf and it's a little bit longer, a little bit long on either side, that may not have an impact; may not be touching anything on either side. It doesn't have to fit in.   0:06:25.9 BB: Now, this past weekend, our son and I were installing a new floor at our daughter's condo, and we wanted the pieces to fit in-between other pieces and this laminate floor which is a [chuckle] lot of work. Our son is turning into quite the artist when it comes to woodworking and things. But it's very precise getting things just right, just right, just right. And that attention to detail, that attention to making sure the gaps are just right, minding the gap and not the part. And there were pieces of this floor that he was trying to install. And it was driving him nuts, and finally... He's trying to figure it out and he finally figured it out what was going on. 'Cause he wanted that floor and the spacing between not just to meet requirements [chuckle] not that our daughter gave him and set the requirement, but he wanted the floor in those gaps to be invisible. He wanted things to... Right? He had a higher level, a higher standard.   0:07:25.3 BB: Now, this is the same kid who when he was 13 left the bowling ball in the doorway. But I would've done that. You would've done that. So, anyway, that's the difference between... Another reminder of, one, the difference between acceptability and desirability. But to add to this idea of "worse than a thief," embedded in the concept of desirability is not to be worse than a thief, is to understand the consequences of your action on others, and the amount of time and your decision on how you deliver it and how you meet the requirements. The idea is that, the less time you take in order to save at your end might be causing the person downstream in your organization more than you're saving.   0:08:22.8 AS: In other words, something small, you could adjust something small that would have a huge impact down the line, and you just didn't... You don't know about it.   0:08:32.2 BB: Again, that's why I go back to the nail in the parking lot. To not pick up the nail could cause someone so much more than the few seconds you didn't spend. But again, that could be...   [overlapping conversation]   0:08:44.0 AS: And one of the things that makes it easier or better for a working environment is you know your downstream.   0:08:51.8 BB: Yes.   0:08:51.8 AS: When you're walking in the parking lot, you don't know your downstream; it's just anybody generally, and hopefully I've stopped something from happening here, but you're never gonna know and all that. But with a business, you know your downstream, you know your upstream, and that communication can produce a really, really exciting result because you can see it and feel it.   0:09:11.8 BB: Well, and thank you for bringing that up, because I've got notes from... Since the last time we met, I keep a file for the next sessions we're gonna do. And so as things, ideas come up from people that I'm meeting on LinkedIn or elsewhere, then I, "Oh, let me throw that in." And so I throw it into a Word file for the next time. And so somewhere, I can't remember who, but since the last time we spoke, someone shared with me... Hold on, let me find it here. Okay. In their organization, they do staff rotation. They move people around in their organization. And the question had to do with, "Isn't that what Dr. Deming would promote? Is having people move around the organization?" And I said... Hold on, I gotta sneeze. I said, "Well, if I am the person that makes the parts that you have to assemble, and I make them just within requirements unaware of the downstream impact... " I don't know where they are within the requirements, let's say.   0:10:30.0 BB: All I know is that they're acceptable. I machine it, I measure it, the inspection says it's good, I don't know where within it's good. I don't know. So, I'm unaware. All I know is that it met the requirements. And I hand off to you on a regular basis, and then the boss comes along and says, "Bill, I wanna have you go do Andrew's job." So, now, I'm on the receiving end. And maybe you are upstream doing what I used to do. And you are likewise unaware that... You don't know that you're delivering acceptability. All you know is all the parts you deliver are good. You're trained the same way I'm trained, I'm doing your job. Does that change anything? [chuckle] If I take on your job and let's say, banging it together, whereas the week before you were banging it together, does that rotation create the conversation?   0:11:27.2 AS: So, you're saying rotation for the sake of rotation is not necessarily valuable if in fact, what could be more value is just the two of us sitting down and saying, "So what is it that you're doing with yours and what do you need?" and maybe visiting the other side or something like that.   0:11:44.9 BB: My point is, until the thought occurs to either one of us on the distinction between acceptable and desirable, neither one of us is the wiser as to why we do what we do. So, having people move around the organization and take on different roles, absent an understanding of this contrast, absent an understanding of what Dr. Deming is talking about, which includes these distinctions, that's not gonna do anything.   0:12:16.0 AS: Right.   0:12:16.8 BB: I would say it's a nice idea, and you hear about that all the time about oh the CEO's gonna go work at the front desk. But if the CEO goes to the front desk, again, unless he or she has a sense of what could be, that things could be smoother than what they are because of where they've worked before and it's so much smoother over there, that could lead to why at the Atlanta office does it take so much longer than the LA office. Now I'm beginning to wonder what might be causing that difference. But if I just take on your job for the first time, or if you and I every other week change jobs. So, I'm doing your job, we are both doing assembly, we're both making the parts. Absent an understanding of the contrast between a Deming environment or a non-Deming environment, which would include an appreciation of what Dr. Deming would call the System of Profound Knowledge and the elements of psychology and systems and variation, the theory of knowledge, just not enough. Insufficient. Nice idea. But it's when at Rocketdyne we would call "reforming."   0:13:39.0 BB: And we started 'cause Russ... Dr. Deming talks about transformation, and Russ talks about reforming. And so I started thinking, "How would I explain what... " I just thought it was too... My interpretation of what Dr. Deming is saying of the individual transform will begin to see things differently, okay. My interpretation is, I begin to hear things differently, I begin to hear the contrast between somebody referring to their son as "their son" versus "our son," my idea versus our idea; I start paying attention to pronouns, so I start hearing things differently; I start to think about, see things as a system a little... I become more aware, visually more aware.   0:14:43.9 BB: And to me, another aspect I think about relative to transformation is that, if I'm the professor and you're the student in a class, or in any situation, I don't see... I think about how I've contributed to whatever it is you're doing. I have somehow created the headache that you're experiencing. If I'm upstream of you in the organization, whether that's me delivering a report or a tool, or I'm the professor delivering the lecture, I began to realize that your issues I've created, and I begin to see things as a... I begin to see that I am part of the issue, Part of the solution, part of the problem. When I explained to students this, I began to realize as a professor that I am not an observer of your learning, asking "How did you do on the exam?" I am a participant in your learning, saying "How did we do in the lecture?" And to me, that's all part of this transformation.   0:15:53.0 BB: Now, the other word, "reform," which is associated with things I've heard from Russ. He talks about... Yeah, I'll just pause there. But I started thinking, well, Deming's talking about how I see the world, how I begin to see relationships differently, think about variation differently. That's a personal transformation. Reforming, and others began to explain to people at Rocketdyne and I do with clients and students is, reforming is when you and I swap jobs. Reforming is when I look at the process and get rid of a few steps. Reforming is changing titles. Reforming is painting something, [chuckle] changing the color. I think I shared, maybe in the first podcast series, I was doing a multi-day, one-on-one seminar with a pediatrician in Kazakhstan, who came to London to meet me and a bunch of other friends to learn more about Dr. Deming's work. And the entire thing was done through a translator.   0:17:07.1 BB: And so I would ask a question in English, it would be translated to Russian then back to me in English. And so at some point, I said to Ivan Klimenko, a wonderful, wonderful guy. I said, "Ivan," I said [chuckle] to Yuri, the translator, I said, "Ask Ivan, what's the fastest way for a Red Pen Company, a non-Deming company, a "Me" organization, to become a Blue Pen Company, otherwise known as a Deming company or "We" organization." And these are terms that we talked about in the first series; I don't think in this series. But, anyway, I said, "So what's the fastest way for a non-Deming company to become a Deming company? A Red Pen Company to become a Blue Pen Company?"   0:17:44.9 BB: And so he asked, and I'm listening to the translation. And he says, "Okay, I give up." I said, "Spray paint." [chuckle] And that's what reforming is: Getting out the red spray paint, having things become neat, clean, and organized, and you're just going through the motions. There's no change of state. And so, "I do your job, you do my job," that's not sufficient. But get us to think about the contrast of a Deming and a non-Deming organization, then you and I changing roles could be enormously beneficial as I begin to understand what it's like to be on the receiving end. Now, we're talking. And I think I mentioned in a previous podcast, I had a woman attend one of the classes I did at Rocketdyne, and she said, "Bill, in our organization, we have compassion for one another." It's the same thing. It's not sufficient. And that's me saying, "Andrew, I feel really bad. I lost a lot of sleep last night thinking about how much time you spend banging together all those parts that I give you. And if there was anything I could do to make things better, I would love to help you. But at the end of the day, Andrew, all the parts I gave you are good, right? I don't give you bad stuff, right? Have I ever given you a defective part, Andrew?"   0:19:12.0 AS: Nope.   0:19:13.1 BB: "So, everything's good, right? Everything's good that I give you? Well, then, if I could help you, but I don't know what else to do. Everything I give you is good. So, it must be on your end." [laughter]   [overlapping conversation]   0:19:24.1 AS: And I'm busy. Yeah.   0:19:26.6 BB: Must be on you. And that's what I'm talking about. Now, if I understand that I'm contributing to your headache, I'm contributing to the trouble you're having with an example, now I'm inspired; now I understand there's something on me. [chuckle] But, short of that, nice idea, it's not helping.   0:19:50.0 BB: [laughter] So, the story I wanted to share before we're talking about this role-changing. Again, role-changing by itself, nah, not sufficient. So, see if this sounds familiar. It has to do with acceptability. I'm pretty certain it's part of the first series. I wanna make sure it's part of the second series. So, I was in a seminar at Rocketdyne on something to do with quality. And I think United Technologies had purchased Rocketdyne. They were bringing to us their new quality management system. Not just any quality management system, Andrew. This was called ACE, A-C-E. And, when we first learned about this, I remember being in a room when their United Technologies, ACE experts started to explain it. And some of my colleagues said, "Well, what is ACE?" They said, "Well, it's Achieving Competitive Excellence." "Well, what is it? What is it, 'competitive... '"   0:20:52.2 AS: It sounds like you wanna put that up on the wall as a slogan.   0:20:56.0 BB: It was a slogan, "Achieving Competitive Excellence." And people says, "Well, what is it?" I said, "Well, it's Lean Six Sigma." Well, so why do you call it ACE? Well, our arch rivals, General Electric. they call it Lean Six Sigma. We ain't gonna call it Lean Six Sigma. So, we're calling it ACE, A-C-E, Achieving Competitive Excellence. But it's the same thing as Lean Six Sigma. [chuckle] And so we had all this mandatory ACE training that we would all sit through and pray that the rosters were never lost, were never lost so we wouldn't have to take the training again. So, in the training, there was a discussion of, how does the environment impact quality? And I don't know how it came up, but similar, there's a conversation about the environment could affect quality. And, so when that was raised, I think it was a question that came up.   0:21:56.9 BB: How does the environment affect quality? The physical environment: How hot it is, how cold it is. So, one of the attendees says, "I've got an example." He says, "I worked for a Boeing supplier," and it might have been, "I worked for Boeing in Australia." I know he said he worked in Australia. They made parts, big parts, very tall parts like a 15, 20... Very long section. And I think he said it had to do with the tails, part of the tail for Boeing airplane. [chuckle] He says, "When we would measure it," he said, "we knew that if we took the measurement first thing in the morning before the sun came up and it started to get hot, then there's a good chance that the length would meet requirements. And, we knew that once that part saw the heat of the sun and expanded, then it wouldn't meet requirements. So, we measured it first thing in the morning, [laughter] and that's an example of how the environment affects quality." And, my first thought when I heard that was, "You can't make that story up, that I will keep measuring it until it meets requirements." That, Andrew, is me shipping acceptability. Do I care at all about how that part is used, Andrew? [chuckle]   0:23:18.7 AS: Nope.   0:23:19.9 BB: Do I know how that part is installed? Am I watching you install it and go through all, you know, hammer it? Nope. No. Again, even if I did, would I think twice that I measured it before the sun came up and that might be causing the issue? No, that still would not occur to me. But the other thing I wanted to bring up on this, on the topic of ACE, remember what ACE stands for?   0:23:46.0 AS: Achieving Competitive...   0:23:50.0 BB: Excellence.   0:23:50.3 AS: Excellence.   0:23:51.8 BB: So, Rocketdyne was owned by United Technologies of Pratt and Whitney, division of West Palm Beach, for 10 years or so? 10 long years. ACE, ACE, ACE, ACE, ACE. So, I kept thinking, [chuckle] I said to some of my Deming colleagues, "There's gotta be another acronym which is A-C-E." Achieving Competitive... What? What might be another E word? 'Cause it's not... Instead of ACE, Achieving Competitive Excellence, I kept thinking of this, what might be another way of what this is really all about? And it dawned me. The embarrassment is how long it took me to come up with what ACE translated to. And it was "Achieving Compliance Excellence." [chuckle]   0:24:42.9 AS: Excellent.   0:24:45.0 BB: Does it meet requirements? Yes. And so what is compliance excellence? It gets us back to acceptability. So, traditional quality compliance. But then while I was on the thought of Achieving Compliance Excellence, and then, well, there's a place for meeting requirements. There's a place for compliance excellence. I'm not throwing it out the window. I would say, if I ask you, Andrew, how far it is to the closest airport and you say 42 miles, 42 kilometers, or you say it takes an hour, then embedded in that model is "A minute is a minute, an hour is an hour, a mile is a mile, and all the miles are the same." Well, maybe they aren't. Maybe they aren't. Maybe I'm walking that distance, and I'm going uphill and downhill. Maybe I'm driving that distance. And those changes in elevation don't matter as much. So, then, what I thought was, there's Achieving Compliance Excellence that's acceptability, and then there's Achieving Contextual Excellence, which is my understanding of the context.   0:25:56.7 BB: And given my understanding of the context, if you say to me, "How far is it to the nearest airport?" I say, "Well, tell me more about the context of your question. Are you driving there? Are you riding your bike there? Are you walking there?" 'Cause then I'm realizing that every mile with Compliance Excellence, I just treat it as "a mile is a mile is a mile." They're all interchangeable, they're all the same. With Contextual Excellence, the context matters. And I say to you, "That's a... I mean, 42 miles, but boy, every mile is... They're brutal." And so then just the idea that context matters, that the understanding of a system matters. All right. So, next thing I wanna get to, and we've talked about this before but we never got it in, but I wanna provide, I really... Well, what I think is a neat example. [laughter] Okay. Calm down, Bill. [laughter]   0:26:54.8 AS: Yeah. You're excited about it.   0:26:57.0 BB: All right.   0:26:57.1 AS: So, about your idea... [chuckle]   0:27:00.2 BB: All right. So, again, in this spirit, my aim in conversation with you is to provide insights to people trying to bring these ideas to their organization. They're either trying to improve their own understanding, looking for better ways to explain it to others. And towards that end, here is a keeper. And for those who try this, if you have trouble, get back to me. Let me know how it goes. Here's the scenario I give people, and I've done this many, many times. What I used to do is give everyone in the room a clear transparency. That's when you had overhead projectors. [chuckle] 'Cause people say, "What is a transparency? What is an overhead projector?"   [overlapping conversation]   0:27:45.0 AS: Yeah exactly.   0:27:46.8 BB: It's a clear piece of plastic, like the size of a sheet of paper. And on that sheet, on that piece of plastic was a vertical line and a horizontal line. I could call it set a set of axes, X-Y axis. And the vertical axis I called "flavor." And the horizontal axis, I called "time." And, so everyone, when they would walk into a seminar, would get a clear transparency. I give them a pen to write on this transparency. And I'd say to them, "Here's what I want you to imagine. The horizontal axis is time. The vertical axis is flavor." And I would hold up a can of soda and I'd say, "Imagine. Imagine, inside this can, imagine before the lid is put on, soda is added to this can," any kind of soda. Right? "Imagine soda's in the can. Imagine in the can is a probe, a flavor meter. And the flavor meter is connected to the pen in your hand." And what that... Wirelessly, Andrew. So, there's this probe that goes into the soda, into the can. It is, let's say, with Bluetooth technology connected to the pen in your hand, such that you have the ability with this magic pen to trace out what the flavor of the soda in the can is at any point in time.   0:29:31.0 BB: And so I would put on the vertical axis, right, the Y axis, I would put a little tick mark, maybe three quarters of the way up the vertical axis. And so everyone started at that tick mark. And I would say, "Okay, get your pen ready, get it on the tick mark. This flavor meter is inside the can. It's transmitting to your hand and the pen the flavor of Pepsi. If I was to seal this can, put the lid on it, and I say, 'Now the device is activated.' As soon as I put the lid on the can, the pen is activated and your hand starts to trace out what is the flavor of the soda doing over time." And I would say, "If you think the flavor gets better, then you have a curve going up. If you think the flavor of the soda's getting worse, then it goes down. If you think it stays the same, it just goes across."   0:30:37.1 BB: And I would just say, "What I want each of you to do, as soon as that can is sealed, I want you to imagine what the flavor of Pepsi, Coke, whatever it is, I want you to... " The question is, "What do you think the flavor of soda is doing in a sealed can over time?" And I would say, "Don't ask any questions. Just do that." Now, most of the people just take that and they just draw something. They might draw something flat going across. [chuckle] Now and then somebody would say, [chuckle] "Is the can in a refrigerator?" [chuckle] And my response is, "Don't complicate this."   [laughter]   0:31:26.1 BB: So, I just throw that out. Most people just take that and just trace something out. And for the one who says, "Is it refrigerated? What's the timescale? Is the horizontal axis years or minutes?" I'd say, "Don't complicate it." [chuckle]   0:31:46.8 AS: "And don't ask questions."   0:31:48.9 BB: "And don't ask... " But you can bring me over and I'll ask you a question. You can ask your questions, I would just say, "Don't complicate it." So, what do we do? Everyone gets a few minutes, they draw it. I take all those transparencies that you can see through, and I put them on top of one another. And I can now hold them up to the room and people can see what I'm holding up. They can see all the different curves.   0:32:17.0 AS: Right.   0:32:18.0 BB: 'Cause they all start at the same point. And then I would say to the audience, "What do they all have in common?" Well, they all start at the same point. "What else do they have in common? What do they all have in common?" And people are like, "I don't know." Some of them are flat. They go across, the flavor doesn't change. Most of them think it goes down at some rate.   0:32:43.4 AS: Yep.   0:32:45.0 BB: Either concave down or convex down. Now and then, somebody will say it goes up and up and up; might go up and then down. But most people think it goes down over time. That's the leading answer. The second leading answer is it's constant. Up and down, rarely. So, I've done that. I've had people do that. I used to have a stack of 500 of transparencies. I used to save them and just go through them. I've done it, let's say in round numbers, 1,500 to 2,000 people. So, all the curves start at that tick mark in the 99.9999% of them either go down or go across. What's cool is, all those curves are smooth. Meaning, very smoothly up, very smoothly across, very smoothly down. Mathematically, that's called a "continuous function." And what I explained to them is, if I draw a vertical line halfway across the horizontal axis, and I look at every one of those curves, because the curves are smooth, if I draw a vertical line and how each curve, your profile and all the others go across that line, immediately to the left and immediately to the right, it's the same value because the curve is smooth.   0:34:28.3 BB: But I don't ask them to draw a smooth curve. I just say, "What do you think the flavor does over time?" They always, with three exceptions, draw a smooth curve. And so when I ask them what do they have in common, you get, "They start at the same point." Nope, that's not it. I don't know if anyone's ever articulated, "They're all continuous functions." Very rarely. So, then I explained, "They're all continuous functions. But I didn't ask you to draw a continuous function." Well, when I point out to them that three times, three times, Andrew, out of nearly 2,000, somebody drew a curve that goes starting at the tick mark, zero time, and it goes straight across halfway across the page at the same level, and then drops down to zero instantly, it's what's known mathematically as a "step function."   0:35:26.9 BB: So, it goes across, goes across, and then in zero time drops down to zero and then continues. So, three out of nearly 2,000 people drew a curve that wasn't smooth. Again, mathematically known as a step function. And each time I went up to that person and I said, and I comment on it, and each of them said, there's a point at which it goes bad. And each of them had a job in a quality organization. [chuckle] And so why is this important? Because in industry, there's this thing known as an "expiration date." What is an expiration date? It's the date past which you cannot use the chemical, the thing. And what's the assumption? The assumption is, a second before midnight on that date, Andrew, you could use that chemical, that acid, that glue, whatever it is in our product; a second before midnight, before the expiration date, you can use that. But a second after midnight, we put this tape and we call it "defective." And so I've worked with companies that are in the chemical business, and they literally have this tape. At the expiration date, we don't use it. A second before midnight, we do. And so what you have is a sense that it goes from good to bad, you know how fast, Andrew?   0:37:15.0 AS: Tick of a clock.   0:37:17.0 BB: Faster than that, Andrew. Zero time.   0:37:21.0 AS: Yeah.   0:37:22.0 BB: Zero time. And so what I ask people is, "Can you think of any phenomenon that happens in zero time?" And people call that's... "Well, the driver was killed instantly." No, it wasn't zero time. "Well, someone is shot." It's not zero time. And so what's cool is, when I ask people to describe a phenomenon, describe any physical phenomenon that happens in zero time, that we go from one location to another, from one state to another in zero time, I've not been stumped on that. Although actually, [chuckle] there are some situations where that happens. Well, the reason that's important for our audience is, that's a demonstration that expiration-date thinking is an organizational construct. It's not a physical construct. Milk goes bad fast. [chuckle] I'll admit, the expiration date on the half gallon of milk, it goes bad fast.   0:38:27.2 BB: But a second before midnight and a second after midnight, it's still the same. So, expiration-date thinking is what acceptability is about; that everything is good, equally good, but once we go across that expiration date, Andrew, then the flavor changes suddenly. And so what I used to kid people is, imagine if that really happened, right? Then we'd have this contest. I'd say, "Andrew, I had a can of Pepsi recently. And have you ever done this, Andrew? You get the can of Pepsi that has the expiration date on it. And if you listen to it at midnight, on the expiration date, you listen closely, you can hear it go from good to bad, Andrew." [chuckle] Would that be awesome? [chuckle] So, I was sharing some of this recently with our good friend, Christina, at The Deming Institute office.   0:39:31.0 AS: Yep.   0:39:32.7 BB: And it happened to be her birthday. And, so I sent her a note and I said, "Happy birthday." And I said, "So, did you change age immediately on the second you were born?" 'Cause she said, 'cause I think she said something like, "My mom reached out to me and she reminded me exactly what time I was born." And I said, "Oh," I said, "so did you feel the change in age as you crossed that?" And she said, she said, "Hi, Bill. Of course, I felt instantly different on my birthday. My mom even told me what time, so I'd know exactly when to feel different." [chuckle] Now, so here's a question for you, Andrew. Can you think of a situation where something changes from one value to another in zero time? In zero time. Again, we don't go from living to dying in zero time. The change of Pepsi doesn't go from one value to another in zero time. The quality of any product is not changing, you go from one side to the other. But can you think of anything that actually happens in zero time: Across that line, it goes from one value to another?   0:41:05.0 AS: Nope, I can't.   0:41:08.8 BB: Oh, come on, Andrew. You ready?   0:41:16.2 AS: Go for it.   0:41:20.0 BB: Did you ever hear of the German novelist, Thomas Mann, M-A-N-N?   0:41:24.0 AS: No.   0:41:25.7 BB: All right. I wrote this down as a closing thought; it may not be the closing thought. We'll just throw it in right now. So, this in an article [chuckle] I wrote for the Lean Management Journal.   0:41:38.0 AS: By the way, it's gotta be the closing thought because we're running out of time. So, perfect.   0:41:43.7 BB: Fantastic! Well, then here's my closing thought, Andrew. You want my closing thought?   0:41:47.1 AS: Do it.   0:41:48.1 BB: All right. So, from an article I wrote for the Lean Management Journal, so here's the quote. "I have witnessed industrial chemicals in full use right up to the expiration date, and then banned from use and tagged for immediate disposal with a passing of the expiration date only seconds before the chemicals were freely used. While they may rapidly sour, it is unlikely that they expire with a big bang, all in keeping with a sentiment of German novelist Thomas Mann's observation about New Year's Eve," Andrew. What he said was, "Time has no divisions to market's passage. There's never a thunderstorm or a blare of trumpets to announce the beginning of a new month or year. Even when the century begins, it is only we mere mortals who ring bells and fire off pistols." So, at midnight on December 31st, a fraction of a second before midnight, we're in 2024 and we go to 2025 in zero time, Andrew. So, legally things change as you go across a line. You go from the United States to Mexico across a line of zero thickness. So, legally things across a line change instantly.   0:43:17.0 AS: Well.   0:43:18.0 BB: A coupon, Andrew, expires at midnight. [laughter]   0:43:22.7 AS: Yep. All right. Well, on behalf of everyone at The Deming Institute, I want to thank you again for this discussion. And for listeners, remember to go to deming.org to continue your journey. And if you wanna keep in touch with Bill, as he mentioned at the beginning, just reach out to him on LinkedIn. This is your host, Andrew Stotz, and I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Dr. Deming. "People are entitled to joy in work."

In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Daniel Scola discuss:Developing business skills as a lawyerBalancing legal expertise with emotional intelligenceTransitioning from in-house counsel to a law firm partnerCompeting with larger firms for corporate clients Key Takeaways:Building strong relationships with general counsel often involves using emotional intelligence to understand their concerns and tailor communication effectively.Transitioning from in-house to a law firm typically requires learning business development skills, relying on initiative and building relationships to attract clients.To compete with larger firms, smaller firms can emphasize personal attention from experienced attorneys, offering more direct and hands-on service.Understanding the internal pressures on general counsel, such as how they communicate up the chain, helps lawyers offer tailored solutions that ease their stress. "If you just say, 'I can do it for a cheaper price,' it's not going to work... You have to emphasize that an experienced person will do the work... not a first-year associate with three others reviewing it." —  Daniel Scola Join Steve on November 15th for an exclusive 60-minute session focused on actionable strategies for business growth. Register now—seats are limited to the first 20 attorneys! Sign up here: https://www.fretzin.com/blog/category/events/ Thank you to our Sponsors!Rankings.io: https://rankings.io/Rainmakers Roundtable: https://www.fretzin.com/lawyer-coaching-and-training/peer-advisory-groups/ Episode References: The Power of Bad: How the Negativity Effect Rules Us and How We Can Rule It by John Tierney & Roy F. Baumeister About Daniel Scola: Daniel A. Scola, Jr. is the managing partner of Hoffmann & Baron, LLP, overseeing the chemical, pharmaceutical/biochemical, and medical device practice in the New Jersey office. With extensive experience in polymers, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices, he specializes in building IP portfolios and strategies to protect company value. Scola practices in Post Grant Proceedings at the USPTO and has argued at the appellate level before the CAFC. He held roles at Warner-Lambert Co. and Loctite Corporation, and before law, he was a chemist at United Technologies with expertise in material science, polymers, and adhesives. Connect with Daniel Scola:  Website: https://www.hbiplaw.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielscola/ & https://www.linkedin.com/company/hbiplawTwitter: https://x.com/hbiplawFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/hbiplaw Connect with Steve Fretzin:LinkedIn: Steve FretzinTwitter: @stevefretzinInstagram: @fretzinsteveFacebook: Fretzin, Inc.Website: Fretzin.comEmail: Steve@Fretzin.comBook: Legal Business Development Isn't Rocket Science and more!YouTube: Steve FretzinCall Steve directly at 847-602-6911  Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

What if you could revolutionize your business strategy and optimize your pricing like never before? Join us as we unlock the groundbreaking world of "hypernomics" with Doug Howarth.Go deeper down the rabbit hole: https://linktr.ee/ryan_hanleyConnect with Doug HowarthHypernomics: https://hypernomics.com/Website: https://www.doughowarth.com/Doug Howarth is a seasoned executive who has redefined traditional economic models. With an illustrious career at NASA, United Technologies, Lockheed, and Raytheon, Doug shares how his innovative approach adds a third dimension to the classic supply and demand model, providing a fresh lens for understanding market dynamics and maximizing profit margins.Dive deep into the nuances of hypernomics as we contrast it with conventional economic theories. Discover how multi-dimensional models can offer a more comprehensive view of market behaviors, from choosing electric cars based on features like horsepower and range to identifying overpriced or underpriced products. Learn from real-world examples, such as technology's evolution and innovation's role in reducing costs over time. Doug's insights reveal the limitations of traditional models and the transformative potential of hypernomics in today's complex markets.Navigate the emotional landscape of stock market investments with Doug as he draws parallels between the current AI hype and the late 90s internet boom. Understand the importance of systematic frameworks and mental models to avoid common investment pitfalls. Explore the fascinating intersection between nature and economics, drawing lessons from the collective behaviors of ants and penguins. This episode challenges conventional economic theories and emphasizes the importance of integrating complex variables to better understand and optimize market behavior. Tune in for a mind-expanding conversation that will inspire you to rethink economics with Doug Howard's pioneering approach 

What if you could revolutionize your business strategy and optimize your pricing like never before? Join us as we unlock the groundbreaking world of "hypernomics" with Doug Howarth.Go deeper down the rabbit hole: https://linktr.ee/ryan_hanleyConnect with Doug HowarthHypernomics: https://hypernomics.com/Website: https://www.doughowarth.com/Doug Howarth is a seasoned executive who has redefined traditional economic models. With an illustrious career at NASA, United Technologies, Lockheed, and Raytheon, Doug shares how his innovative approach adds a third dimension to the classic supply and demand model, providing a fresh lens for understanding market dynamics and maximizing profit margins.Dive deep into the nuances of hypernomics as we contrast it with conventional economic theories. Discover how multi-dimensional models can offer a more comprehensive view of market behaviors, from choosing electric cars based on features like horsepower and range to identifying overpriced or underpriced products. Learn from real-world examples, such as technology's evolution and innovation's role in reducing costs over time. Doug's insights reveal the limitations of traditional models and the transformative potential of hypernomics in today's complex markets.Navigate the emotional landscape of stock market investments with Doug as he draws parallels between the current AI hype and the late 90s internet boom. Understand the importance of systematic frameworks and mental models to avoid common investment pitfalls. Explore the fascinating intersection between nature and economics, drawing lessons from the collective behaviors of ants and penguins. This episode challenges conventional economic theories and emphasizes the importance of integrating complex variables to better understand and optimize market behavior. Tune in for a mind-expanding conversation that will inspire you to rethink economics with Doug Howard's pioneering approach 

Welcome to another episode of Behind the Numbers, hosted by Dave Bookbinder. Today, we delve into the intriguing world of hypernomics with Doug Howarth, the CEO of Hypernomics, Inc. and author of "Hypernomics: Using Hidden Dimensions to Solve Unseen Problems." Doug shares his unique insights on how hypernomics can reveal the underlying structures that support and constrain market numbers in various industries. Doug introduces the concept of hypernomics, explaining how it rearranges familiar market elements into multidimensional views, offering a deeper understanding of market dynamics. For instance, in the housing market, hypernomics can elucidate the relationships between factors like square footage, lot size, and price, and can predict the upper limits of housing prices in a given area. This methodology has proven effective across multiple industries, beyond just raw commodities. Doug illustrates the practical applications of hypernomics with relatable examples, such as choosing a washing machine and optimizing restaurant seating during COVID-19. These stories demonstrate how hypernomics can simplify complex decisions and improve business outcomes, even for small local businesses. In the episode, Doug also discusses how hypernomics can be a powerful tool for business leaders, offering a competitive advantage by identifying market gaps and potential new products. The software developed by Hypernomics, Inc. allows businesses to map out competitive spaces and understand the demand limits for their products, preventing costly mistakes and maximizing profitability. Investors can also benefit from hypernomics. Doug explains how their private fund, using principles of hypernomics, significantly outperformed the S&P 500, demonstrating the effectiveness of this approach in stock market investing. Looking to the future, Doug envisions hypernomics becoming an integral part of industry, academia, and government, revolutionizing how we understand and navigate markets. He hopes that hypernomics will be taught in universities and widely adopted, making the world a better place through more informed decision-making. To learn more about hypernomics, connect with Doug Howarth on his personal website dughowarth.com or visit the company website at hypernomics.com. You can also find his book on the Wiley, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon websites. About our guest: Doug Howarth, CEO Hypernomics, Inc. & Author of Hypernomics: Using Hidden Dimensions to Solve Unseen Problems Doug Howarth unleashed a paradigm shift. He discovered Hypernomics. It alters economics in the same way relativity changed physics, as it uses new frames of reference. It starts with four dimensions and adds time for a fifth. But, there is no upper limit to the dimensions considered. It finds the linked, opposing, self-organizing states of Value and Demand at work against each other at all times - just like the game of tug-of-war.  At age 14, Doug Howarth sensed the plotting systems created by René Descartes were inadequate for many tasks. Decades later, he made a series of startling discoveries. He found the economy self-organizes in recognizable opposing patterns and devised ways to portray markets in four, five, or any number of dimensions. Doug named this new field Hypernomics. In 2011, he formed a company, Hypernomics, Inc., who show their customers how to take advantage of Hypernomics.  Hypernomics. Inc. has worked for NASA, United Technologies, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, among others. Along with two of his Hypernomics colleagues, he was awarded US Patent Number 10,402,838 for Multivariable Regression Analysis, the world's first software designed to deconstruct markets into their 4D structures. ​Doug has written 13 peer-reviewed publications across four continents.  They've been issued by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), and the International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences (ICAS), among others. NASA has requested that he speak to them three times. He has spoken to the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) in London four times, and they have published his peer-reviewed work as well. About Dave Bookbinder: Dave Bookbinder is the person that clients reach out to when they need to know what their most important assets are worth. He's a corporate finance executive with a focus on business and intellectual property valuation. Known as a collaborative adviser, Dave has served thousands of client companies of all sizes and industries.  Dave is the author of two #1 best-selling books about the impact of human capital (PEOPLE!) on the valuation of a business enterprise called The NEW ROI: Return On Individuals & The NEW ROI: Going Behind The Numbers.  He's on a mission to change the conversation about how the accounting world recognizes the value of people's contributions to a business enterprise, and to quantify what every CEO on the planet claims: “Our people are this company's most valuable asset.”

Digital twins captured by aircraft, the new Boeing CEO is named, the airline fee disclosure rule hits a roadblock, the NGAD fighter is paused, the FAA approves BVLOS flights, Wheels Up continues to lose money, and the cause of the fatal CV-22 Osprey accident. Guest Ron Chapple is the VP of Global Strategic Solutions Digital Twins at NV5 Geospatial. He leads a team that works with clients worldwide to acquire, process, and analyze high-resolution lidar and imaging data to create digital twins for various industries and applications. The team uses leading-edge technologies and sensors to capture and visualize data. The digital twins created by NV5 are virtual representations of physical objects, processes, or systems that can be used for real-time monitoring, analysis, and simulation. Digital twins can have applications for many industries, including aviation, energy, education, manufacturing, construction, healthcare, and transportation. Organizations can also use them for training and emergency planning and response. Ron describes how geospatially correct digital twins are created using LiDAR, optical, and other sensors, typically with helicopters or drones, and sometimes with fixed-wing aircraft. We learn how multiple sensor data is combined for the digital twins and the requirement for precise piloting. Ron also illustrates aviation applications for digital twins by explaining some of the airport projects undertaken by NV5. These applications include obstruction analysis, real-time monitoring of ground traffic, and operations simulation. Ron has more than 10 years of experience in lidar and imaging. He founded GEO1, a company that specialized in electric utility, oil and gas, archaeology, and coastal and highway corridor acquisition projects. GEO1 was acquired by NV5 Geospatial in June 2022 and has expanded in scope to include virtual reality, virtual production, and digital twin creation. Ron got his start in aerial cinematography. He worked with USA Today and National Geographic on projects that won a Pulitzer Prize and several EMMY awards and traveled to remote and challenging locations, such as Patagonia, the Arctic Circle, Mt. Everest, Colombia, and Hawaii, to collect and document data that can help preserve and protect natural and cultural heritage. To learn more about digital twins, see Your Guide to Geospatial Digital Twins to request a free ebook. Aviation News Boeing Board Names Kelly Ortberg President and CEO The Boeing board of directors selected Robert K. "Kelly" Ortberg as the company's next president and CEO, succeeding Dave Calhoun, effective August 8, 2024. Ortberg began his career as an engineer at Texas Instruments, then joined Rockwell Collins as a program manager, eventually becoming its president and CEO. He steered the company's integration with United Technologies which then became RTX after merging with Raytheon. Ortberg served on the RTX Board of Directors and is the former Chair of the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) Board of Governors. U.S. appeals court blocks airline fee disclosure rule The U.S. Transportation Department's new rule requiring airlines and ticket agents to disclose service fees along with airfare has been temporarily blocked by a U.S. appeals court. The industry asked the court for a temporary block and the three-judge panel said the rule "likely exceeds DOT's authority and will irreparably harm airlines." The suit was brought by United, American, Delta, JetBlue, Alaska Airlines, Airlines for America, and the International Air Transport Association. See also A4A, U.S. Airlines Sue DOT Over Fee Disclosure Rule. Air Force ‘taking a pause' on NGAD next-gen fighter The US Air Force pauses the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) stealth fighter program while taking a “hard look” at the jet's design. Boeing and Lockheed Martin are believed to be the primes competing for the NGAD contract. At the same time,

On the podcast this week I caught up with translation tech expert Carlos La Orden Tovar.  Carlos is close to hitting the milestone of 25 years providing language services and training for organizations, professional associations, and individuals all over the world. Over these years, he has worked with hundreds of international clients such as Amazon, Microsoft, 3M, Cisco, United Technologies, SDL/RWS, and Nokia, to name a few. Along with his lecturing and teaching gigs at University of Bologna, ISTRAD and Trágora Formación, he is a regular speaker at international translation industry events and loves sharing knowledge with fellow professionals to build a better, more human, yet tech-oriented industry led by happy people.He currently lives in a beautiful village near Pisa, Italy.Here are the notable nuggets from our wide-ranging conversation: - Childhood hobbies can have a big impact on future life- The advent of LLMs has completely altered how translation processes are integrated by companies- Any disruptive process needs to be embraced and understood to move forwards- Companies seeking global business growth need to fully understand and optimize translation processes - memoQ, SDL Trados and Bureau Works all have cloud-based TMSTool mentioned in this episodeNotepad ++ is free and open source software that replaces Windows notepadGrab your headset and please enjoy!Buy our hardback book: How to Find More Direct Clients Thrive as a Premium Freelance Translator in Your Niche and Futureproof Your Career

Alan sits down with Judy Marks at Deloitte University in Westlake, Texas, to have a wide-ranging conversation about Judy's career in front of an audience of next-generation CEOs. She recalls Otis's 2020 spinoff from United Technologies; what she learned as CEO of the newly independent company during COVID; Otis's growth in the last four years, boosted by its innovation and service business; geopolitics and Otis's business in China; sustainability; how tariffs impact consumers' pocketbooks; and what's next for the 170-year-old company. Leadership Next is powered by Deloitte.

In today's Work Matters, Thomas welcomes Dr. Anna Tavis, Clinical Professor and Chair of the Human Capital Management Department at NYU School of Professional Studies. She previously held senior HR roles with Motorola, Nokia, United Technologies, and AIG, and is the co-author of "Humans at Work" (with Stela Lupushor).Anna unpacks the major trends shaping the future of work, including the rapidly evolving relationship between humans and technology. She shares how realigned organizational skillsets, structures, processes, and cultures will emerge from this shifting dynamic. She discusses how AI will lead to increased efficiencies, improved performance and sophistication, and also replace how a majority of the existing workforce makes its living. Pointing out that AI democratization will challenge the stratified, hierarchical structures of current organizations, Anna cautions that there should be a commitment to solve problems on behalf of the majority of humans - not the elites nor the machines. She examines the changing role of the manager, compensation structures, and HR in the future of work. With coaching, digital assistance, and built-in AI, humans will be able to invest more in visionary solutions and strategic, entrepreneurial approaches. Anna shares successful examples of innovative organizations - like Microsoft and Airbnb - who have mastered technology enough to put culture and humans first. Anna concludes by discussing her forthcoming book, "The Digital Coaching Revolution", which highlights examples from sports and healthcare. With AI in many hands, human coaches - like Ted Lasso - are freed-up to focus on strategic, team building activities and take their squads to the next level. Anna advocates bringing this digital coaching model into the workplace to improve performance and effectiveness.

Good Day and welcome to IAQ Radio+ episode 718 this week we welcome Dr. Pawal Wargocki, Dr. Wenjuan Wei and Dr. Corinne Mandin for a discussion about Deep Energy Retrofits and IEQ; A TAIL from Europe. With the large focus on making our building stock less energy intensive what will happen to indoor environmental quality? We talk to a stellar group of academics about how to determine what deep energy retrofits will do to IEQ. Pawel Wargocki is professor at the Technical University of Denmark. He graduated from the Warsaw University of Technology in Poland. He received his Ph.D. from the Technical University of Denmark in 1998, where he has been teaching and performing research ever since. He has more than 25 years of experience in research on human requirements in indoor environments. He is best known for his seminal work demonstrating that poor indoor environmental quality affects the performance of office work and learning. Other work influenced requirements for ventilation and air cleaning. Recent research includes studies on human emissions, sleep quality, the development of IEQ rating schemes, and the performance of green buildings. He has collaborated with leading research institutions, universities, and industrial partners worldwide, such as the National University of Singapore, Jiaotong University in Shanghai, Syracuse Center of Excellence, United Technologies, and Google. He was President and long-standing board member of the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate (ISIAQ), President of the ISIAQ Academy of Fellows (previously Academy of Indoor Air Sciences), Vice President of the Indoor Air 2008 conference, and Chair of ASHRAE committees. He has received several awards for his work, including the Rockwool Award for Young Researchers, ASHRAE Ralph Nevins Award, ISIAQ's Yaglou Award, and the Indoor Air Journal Best Paper Awards. Corinne Mandin earned her PhD in environmental chemistry from the University of Rennes, France. From 2013 to 2022, she coordinated the French Indoor Air Quality Observatory, a research program dedicated to indoor environmental quality created by the French government. In 2022, she joined the French institute for radiation protection and nuclear safety (IRSN) where she leads the epidemiology research group. Her research interests include human exposure to chemical and physical risk factors, both in living spaces and occupational settings, and related health effects. She is the Immediate Past President of the International Society for Indoor Air Quality and Climate (ISIAQ). Dr. Wenjuan Wei is a research scientist at the Scientific and Technical Centre for Building (CSTB, France, since 2018). She received her Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Tsinghua University (2009-2014). She was a guest researcher at the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST, USA, 2011-2012), and a post-doctoral researcher at CSTB (2016-2018). During her post-doctoral appointment, she was Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow of the European Commission's Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions and PRESTIGE Fellow of Campus France. Dr. Wei is a specialist in indoor environmental quality (IEQ). She received the Yaglou Award of the ISIAQ Academy in 2022 and is the co-chair of the ISIAQ Scientific and Technical Committee 32 addressing environmental/climate impacts. Her research interests include the emission and transport of (semi) volatile organic compounds (S)VOCs, indoor heat and pollutant exposures, and IEQ index. She has participated in several European and French research projects, such as Horizon-ALDREN and Horizon-PARC. She is co-supervising 2 PhD theses. She has published 43 peer-reviewed journal articles, and her h-index is 22.

Personal empowerment coaching is a transformative approach to personal development and growth that empowers individuals to unlock their full potential, achieve their goals, and lead more fulfilling lives. In this episode, we delve into the world of personal empowerment coaching with Smitha Das Jain, the Founder and CEO of Empower Yourself Coaching. Join now to learn about the significance of personal empowerment, emotional intelligence, and aligning personal values with corporate roles.  [00:35] - About Smita Das Jain Smita is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Empower Yourself Coaching. She is an executive and personal empowerment life coach. She is the author of three books. Smita was earlier with KPMG, United Technologies and JLL.  She has been named one of the top 10 executive coaches in Asia in 2022. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tbcy/support

On this episode the full team Chris, Alicia and Patrick speak to the incredible Dr. Sunita Satyapal. About Dr. Satyapal:Sunita is the Director for the United States Department of Energy (DOE) Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office and coordinates activities across DOE offices for the DOE Hydrogen Program, which now includes roughly US$10B (including Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding).Dr. Satyapal was also recently named Director of the Hydrogen Interagency Taskforce (HIT) which includes 11 federal agencies.She has more than two and a half decades of experience across industry, academia, and government, including at United Technologies managing R&D and business development and as a co-Chair on various international hydrogen partnerships. She received her Ph.D. from Columbia University and did postdoctoral work in Applied and Engineering Physics at Cornell University. She has numerous publications, including in Scientific American, 10 patents, and various recognitions including two Presidential Rank Awards. ---LinksUS DOE: https://www.energy.gov/Hydrogen Hubs Announcement https://www.energy.gov/articles/biden-harris-administration-announces-7-billion-americas-first-clean-hydrogen-hubs-driving

What's the difference between Compliance Excellence and Contextual Excellence? Is one better than the other? Which one does a Deming organization pursue? In this episode, Bill Bellows and host Andrew Stotz talk about the variety of types of excellence, and why they matter. TRANSCRIPT 0:00:02.7 Andrew Stotz: My name is Andrew Stotz and I'll be your host as we continue our journey into the teachings of Dr. W. Edwards Deming. Today, I'm continuing my discussion with Bill Bellows, who has spent 30 years helping people apply Dr. Deming's ideas to become aware of how their thinking is holding them back from their biggest opportunities. The topic for today is episode 11: In Search of Excellence. Bill, go ahead, take it away.   0:00:28.9 Bill Bellows: All right. So, as I've been doing for the last few episodes, I like to go back to the prior episode. Because I listen to these again and again and again. Oh, there's other things I wanna say. [laughter] Remember the title of the last session, Andrew?   0:00:46.1 AS: Well, that depends. [laughter] The title was, It Depends.   0:00:50.7 BB: Alright. Alright. So you know I'm fond of that phrase. So I wanna... I thought of after, you know, in the last couple weeks is, I took a class in program management at a big university in Greater Los Angeles. I mean, it could have been anywhere, but it was in Los Angeles, and there were 25, 30 people in the room, maybe more, from around the world coming into this university. It was a three day program, you know, like, $1,800. $1800. I had just joined a department called The Program Management Office, and I thought, I should go find out what program management is it all about? I had some ideas, but I thought, "I want to go take a real class on this." The class was presented by an aerospace veteran in project management. He had been involved in major programs with Hughes, installing, you know, working on airports around the world and other DOD stuff.   0:01:48.6 BB: And I mean, he was, he was a very interesting guy. I got there early every day looking, I was hoping there'd be an opportunity I could start a conversation with him, have lunch with him, that never happened. But three days long. And so, on the second day, he threw out a question to the audience, and people are sitting in a... It's kind of an amphitheater, with the rows were kind of curved. So he throws out a question to the audience and the guy in the front row answers, "it depends." [laughter] And the instructor very deliberately walked from the front of the room, a good 15 feet without saying anything, just walked right at that person in the front row, you know, all at the same level, gets right in his face and says the following, Andrew, are you ready?   0:02:47.6 AS: I'm ready.   0:02:48.6 BB: He says, "Are you an attorney?" [laughter] And I thought to myself, "All of that for the answer, "it depends," really?" And so, [laughter] later that afternoon, somebody asked the instructor a question, "Hey, what if you're in a situation where you gotta deal with blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, this, this, this, this, this, how would you handle that?"   0:03:17.3 AS: And for the listeners out there, you know the punchline here, come on, give it to me. What did he say?   0:03:23.5 BB: No, here's what he said. He said, "Well, if it involves this, I would do this. If it involves that, I would do that." And so, what did I say, Andrew?   0:03:42.6 AS: What did you say? What do you mean?   0:03:44.7 BB: I bit my tongue.   0:03:45.9 AS: Oh, you didn't say anything when he said that?   0:03:48.6 BB: Because what he just said was, "it depends."   0:03:50.4 AS: “It depends” in another way.   0:03:52.8 BB: Yeah. He found another way to say “it depends.” So it was also...   0:03:56.0 AS: He sounded kind of smart, you know, well, let's just narrow it down to two potential options.   0:04:00.8 BB: “Are you an attorney?” Yeah. But he still... What he was still saying was, it depends on the situation.   0:04:09.3 AS: Yep.   0:04:09.8 BB: And I just thought... I mean... And not that I didn't mind that answer, but I was just dumbstruck as to why he was so emphatic in challenging this answer, "it depends"? And I just thought, again, I never went up and asked, but I just thought, I wasn't sure it was gonna go anywhere. So anyway, so I wanted to throw that out. Going back a couple episodes, I wanna talk about metrics and KPIs and point out that there's nothing wrong, I mean, we're not saying KPIs are bad. What we're talking about is, when KPIs are used as goals and in a way that unnecessarily drives the organization in different directions, but if a KPI is just a metric of how we're doing in sales, that's one thing.   0:05:03.7 BB: But if the metric is, I want sales to be this number, and I go to people in procurement and say, "I want you to cut back on procurement," you know, we can end up with a conflict. You know, I had a woman in class once who worked for a gym, health club. And her job was to sell memberships and get on the phone every day, sell memberships, sell memberships, sell memberships. And she told her boss, she says, "Now, if I do a really good job, lines will form if we don't get more equipment. So, while I'm doing this, shouldn't we be working on that?" And her boss' attitude was, "You keep working on that and don't worry about that." So what she realized, it was just a revolving door of replacing old people with new people. They were just managing the parts in isolation. But another thing I think we had agreement on, you know, also had agreement on KPIs is it's... We're not saying there's anything wrong with metrics, but in organizations where we've worked, we've seen people drive change with, "give everybody a KPI."   0:06:17.5 BB: We could have great ignorance of variation. We have... Leading to dissolution of, just increased separation of organization. What I'm also reminded of is a quote that Dr. Deming used to use of his statistician colleague, Lloyd Nelson, who said, "the most important numbers used to manage an organization are unknown and unknowable." And one example from when I worked for Boeing is a good friend of mine was at the Boeing Leadership Center and there was a big emphasis at that time on what's called the Economic Profit Calculator. Making sure that business decisions close. They were not gonna build the next generation airplane unless they've got all the sales lined up and you have to have closure and closure within some timeframe, and that person came out.   0:07:12.4 BB: That was the big driving change in that era. Well, right after that presentation by somebody senior, the Chief Operating Officer, Harry Stonecipher presented. And what was near and dear to Harry at that point was something he started when McDonald Douglas was separate from Boeing, then Boeing bought McDonald Douglas, and he was really big on an education program that allowed anyone to pursue any degree, all reimbursed. So if he wanted an AS degree, a Master's degree, a law degree, not only were they paying for the degrees, but there were people getting a Bachelor's and then getting a Master's in Science and a MBA, so he just go at it, go at it. And he's very proud of that.   0:08:00.5 BB: So, my friend Tim is listening to all this and he says, "This afternoon, we heard from so and so in finance about Boeing business decisions needing to fit into this Economic Profit Calculator, how does your education reimbursement program fit into that model?" And his answer was, I thought really profound, he said, "there are some things you just do." And to me that fits in with Deming saying, you can't measure the price of education. We brought an instructor in, we had you away for so many hours...   0:08:34.6 AS: You can measure the cost.   0:08:36.1 BB: And so, we can put some numbers on it. But what are the benefits? The benefits show up in the future. So I really admire that Stonecipher's answer was, I think very much in keeping with Deming is, we're gonna spend money on education. So, I just wanna throw that out for in terms of metrics and what not.   0:08:52.9 AS: And I would just throw in my thoughts on KPIs, which has gotten stronger and stronger over the years, and that is that, I really think people should stop KPIs. And the reason why is, because I think they've gotten to the point where it's just so misused and so, people are so reliant on it. Now, I know that that's an extreme view and so... But I say it to also challenge people to think about it, but if you can't stop the KPIs, then I would say the most important thing from my perspective, is make sure that compensation is not linked to the KPIs. Which of course, people will come back and say, that's the whole point of KPIs.   [laughter]   0:09:44.4 BB: Exactly.   0:09:44.5 AS: And if you remove compensation connection to KPI, and instead of that, you use coaching and working with your team, and you have metrics of what you want to achieve as a company, as an organization, as a department, and you look at those metrics... Nothing wrong with that, but it's when you bring in the personal, particularly the personal incentive or the division incentive that can then sub-optimize... Can optimize a part of the organization, either an individual or a department, and therefore, sub-optimize the total.   0:10:22.0 BB: Oh, yeah. If you tie those metrics... Yeah and that becomes the... What makes them sinister, when you provide that incentive that... And I'm sure we've both seen people given incentives and they're not gonna leave, what I tell people is, they're not gonna leave a penny on the table, whether it's get rid of that division, lay off so many people, they are going to achieve that metric, because there's money on the table and in the way of that problem.   0:10:55.2 AS: And for those people who are listening or viewing, who feel like, "My God, what would I do if I don't have KPIs, because that's kind of the way we've been managing?" The first thing is, I would say is that, if you know that... So first, talk to your staff, because once you go out and talk to the people in the company, you realize that almost nobody is in favor of KPIs, because they're being manipulated in many ways and they all see it. But if you know in your heart that it's not the right thing to do, my argument is, don't wait to stop doing the wrong thing until you know what the right thing is. You know? Stop... "I don't wanna stop beating my child, because I don't know the other way to do it." [laughter] No. Stop beating your child today, that would be a first step. Don't worry about what it is you're gonna do next. Anyways, that's enough on KPIs.   0:12:00.4 BB: You've reminded me of a story that's coming to me, but it's not coming in loud and clear, so I made a note, I'll share it next time 'cause you're gonna love it. I wanna give an example of what, of what, of what a narrow focus on KPIs can do. Just a couple of little ones, that are, you just can't make these up. In 1999, while at Rocketdyne, there was a focus on reducing costs. And this is, all organizations have these stories. And this is one I use to talk about in class all the time. So I don't think anyone's gonna be offended. Hopefully they'll laugh more than be offended by it.   0:12:37.9 BB: So there's a big focus across the company of reducing cost. Reducing cost. What do people do in a non-Deming organization? They look at cost in isolation. Where I wanna reduce the cost of this, not look at how it affects the others. And so, at that point of time, again, we're talking over 20 years ago, all the documentation to make every space shuttle main engine was on, was on paper. Every page used to fabricate the engines on paper. And there were page by page instructions of manufacturing to do this, do this, line by line by line, and on every line it might say, torque this bolt to 55 inch pounds, and it was stamped by me, the mechanic, and by you the inspector. Boom, boom, boom.   0:13:28.2 BB: So if NASA ever wants to know, was that bolt torqued on that engine on... And we have all the documentation. Guess how many pages of documentation there are? Nowadays it's likely all electronic, but in that day it was all paper. Guess how many pages of documentation for every single space shuttle main engine of which they're on the order of 18 made? Take a wild guess.   0:13:55.9 AS: Gosh. I'm just thinking thousands.   0:14:00.5 BB: 18,000 pages of documentation. So Andrew, that's like, 60 3-Ring Binders and I mean, 300 pages in a 3-Ring Binder, right? So imagine every engine's got 60 3-Ring Binders. So in 1999, all the pages in those books are on card stock heavy... Card stock paper, heavyweight paper, right? And why is that, Andrew? Because these are a storage document, right? So, I kid you not, one week I'm doing a class, you know talking about paradigms of variation and all the things we've been talking about. And somewhere in the conversation, somebody mentions that the card stock paper was replaced by lighter weight photocopy paper. And then, the person mentioned that, shared that, as a result of that, in the use of these 3-Ring Binders, the pages were falling out.   [laughter]   0:15:05.4 BB: And when I... And then the person went on to say...   0:15:07.1 AS: Oh, that's okay.   0:15:09.3 BB: Oh, no. Hold on, Andrew. So, as a focus on reducing costs, the heavy card stock paper is replaced by a lighter weight paper. The pages are falling out. So when I asked the guy, what are we doing with it? And the answer was, we're putting hole reinforcement circles on the pages to put them back in the binder.   0:15:34.2 AS: Absolutely.   0:15:35.1 BB: Right? And so, for those who don't know, hole reinforcement circles are little circles about the size of a, of a cheerio that get put on either side of the sheet of paper...   0:15:46.9 AS: With adhesive on the back of it.   0:15:48.1 BB: And it's a heavy cloth to keep it from pulling up. So, I mentioned that a couple of days later to some colleagues and they looked at me like I was from Mars. They're like, no, I mean, you've got some great stories, Bill, but they weren't buying the story. So the following week in class, [chuckle] I said, Hey, last week somebody mentioned, anybody know anything about that? And the guy in the front row, not only does he nod and say, yeah, he pulls out of his box a roll... Pulls out of his pocket a roll of like, 300 of these. And I said, so, this is really going on. He says, Bill, I go through a box of these a day.   0:16:29.9 AS: Oh, my God.   0:16:34.5 BB: So when you focus on the cost of the paper and forget that the paper is actually a storage document, not just a sheet of paper, you end up with hole reinforcement circles as a solution. Now...   0:16:46.1 AS: And the cost of the circle, the reinforcement, hole reinforcement adhesives that you put on and the cost of the labor that's spending time doing that by these high value added people.   0:17:04.6 BB: Well, and I also realized, if the space shuttle is on the pad and ready to go, fueled, if you're in that window and something comes up and somebody in NASA calls up Rocketdyne and says, we need to know for the second engine in that vehicle, if this work was done? If this work is done? If you delay the launch, if you're in the window, the vehicle was fueled, it's like a million dollars a day. So imagine going to the binder and the phone call back is, we can't find that sheet of paper. So this is...   0:17:46.8 AS: That was on page 47. I've got 46.   0:17:52.7 BB: We've got 40...   0:17:53.3 AS: And I got 48.   0:17:55.5 BB: So, but I use that. Okay, well, pre-pandemic, I was doing some training in New Zealand at a university. I needed to staple... I needed... [chuckle] I needed to staple these documents together. And so, the instructor who was hosting us, said, "What do you need?" I said, I need staples. So he goes to his office, comes back five minutes later, gives me a couple reams of staples and I go to put them in the stapler. And he says, "You're using these?" I said, “yeah, I'm using them.” He said, “wait.” He says, "Let me go get the good staples." I said, [chuckle] “what do you mean?” He says, "The university buys us really cheap staples. So all of us in the faculty keep a private stash of good staples. Let me go get the good staples." Right?   0:18:48.8 BB: You can't make up... Right? This is little stuff. All right. So now I wanna get to what Dr. Deming said last time I used a quote from Dr. Deming about it would be important for people to work together. And what I share in some of my seminars is an Aesop fable, from Aesop the Greek fablist. So we're talking like, 500, 600 BC and the particular fable I referenced is the four oxen and the lion. Are you familiar with that one?   0:19:23.7 AS: No.   0:19:25.1 BB: Okay. Well, I came across this, because I was doing some research on the expression "United we stand divided we fall." And I'm thinking united, divided, I'm thinking Abraham Lincoln, Civil War and to come up with, no, that's the punchline for Aesop's Fable about the four oxen and the lion. And the storyline goes that these four oxen would stand looking outward with their tails connected. That's the united we stand, they looked outward and the lion would circle them, but the lion couldn't do very much, because we're protecting one another. And then when the oxen broke rank, the lion jumped in and ate them. So the united we stand divided we fall. So the reason I use that is, I'm not proclaiming that Dr. Deming is the one who figured out the importance of teamwork. [laughter] I think that was figured out a long time ago. I look at what Dr. Deming's work is about - is helping us understand what are the obstacles to what I think we all really want. But I don't think he... So when he references teamwork, that's an old concept. That's why I like to use the Aesop fable, as it goes back a long way.   0:20:41.3 AS: Yeah.   0:20:42.2 BB: All right. But in terms of division, I'm gonna share from Russ Ackoff one of the many things I learned from him and that is that the adjective in front of the word "problem" is divisive. And so, when I worked in Connecticut for the jet engine company, we're making 120 tank engines a month, 1500 horsepower $300,000 each. And at least once a year there'd be an issue. We gotta stop production. Which would lead to the conclusion that it's a design problem in which case manufacturing did what, Andrew?   0:21:24.5 AS: Not sure.   0:21:25.1 BB: Breathed a huge sigh of relief.   0:21:26.7 AS: Not our problem.   0:21:28.4 BB: Or if it's not a design problem, it could be a manufacturing problem, in which case engineering said... And the engineering people felt slighted, because the president of the company was a manufacturing person. And so, what I saw was, yeah, as soon as you define the problem from that vantage point, then it's stuck on someone. And everybody else just says, whew! Thankful it wasn't us this time. So, I wanna share from Russ, what if we aren't so divisive?   0:22:02.4 BB: So Russ has a really neat story going back to, could be the '60s and you'll know by the punchline the timeframe. So at that point in time he was invited to GE's Appliance Center in Kentucky and he brought a graduate student with him. And he said, in the room, in the center of the room of this conference table, they're discussing this issue they're having. And around the perimeter of the room are all the major appliances that GE is selling at the time from refrigerators, freezers, stoves, washing machines, dryers, they're around the perimeter. And the issue they're facing is, what is labeled a "forecasting problem." And store owners are complaining that when the people are coming in to buy the appliances for the kitchen, they need to remodel the kitchen, they need a new refrigerator, they need a new washing machine, I mean a dishwasher and a stove.   0:22:54.2 BB: They need those three. And the forecasting issue is they come in and we only have two of the three, or we don't have the right... We don't have the matching colors, the matching styles. And so, that's why we're losing sales to the others. And we needed a better forecast. And in addition to having the right colors and the right model, another feature in that timeframe was the refrigerator door had to either open from the left or open from the right to match the configuration of the kitchen. So you may have the right... All three are right, but now you've got a left-handed door and the refrigerator needs a right-handed door. Oh. All right. So the graduate student upon hearing this uses a Swiss Army knife, Russ said, to take a door off of the refrigerator and said, have you ever thought about a reversible door design?   0:23:49.1 BB: And so, the reason I share that story for our audience is, that's what happens when you involve design in a solution to a forecasting problem. You get their inputs. And so, anything short of that, when we, when we focus on a manufacturing problem, only invite manufacturing, not invite others and as is prone in a non-Deming organization you end up with solutions that don't involve the others. And so, I just wanna throw that out that these are... The everyday things we do in organizations to divide. Alright. So now let's talk about the featured movie tonight.   0:24:27.3 AS: Yes.   0:24:27.8 BB: In Search of Excellence inspired by the book by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman. Correct?   0:24:35.3 AS: Yes.   0:24:35.9 BB: Roughly '82, '83 timeframe. And so, Dr. Deming's work has been known for a couple years and Tom Peters and Waterman wrote a book talking about... There's US companies doing excellent work, so let's go look at them. So at Dr. Deming's last seminar there were three assistants helping him. He was very frail, he was in a wheelchair, ended up dying 10 days after the seminar ended. And I think I mentioned sitting next to me for all four days was a rabbi praying for him. So, Dr. Deming is very frail in the wheelchair the entire time, when he would get fatigued, he'd be wheeled off the stage. One of these three assistants would come up and pick up the pace. Couple hours later Dr. Deming comes up. And so, during one of the breaks I went up and introduced myself and, to them. And one of them told me that...   0:25:30.0 BB: You know, he traveled with Dr. Deming. He was one of what's called a Deming Scholar. So at that point of time, there was a cadre of people that would travel with Dr. Deming if he was doing a seminar or he's at GE headquarters, wherever he was that week, this cadre came with him. So he said, somebody once in one of these sessions, said to Dr. Deming, “what's the difference between Jerry Falwell and Tom Peters?” And he says, Dr. Deming says, “who's... Well, who's Jerry Falwell?” And he says, “oh, he's a Baptist minister.” He says, oh, he says, so.   0:26:02.8 AS: A very famous one at the time.   0:26:05.0 BB: Very famous Baptist minister. And he says, “so what's the difference?” Dr. Deming says, so what's the difference? He says, "Jerry Falwell has a message." And so in that timeframe, I remember... I used to remember... And you likely watched these as well. So Tom Peters would be working on his next book and whatever the theme of the book was, he's doing research. And I give him credit. I mean, he's a Stanford Business School graduate. He's doing all the research, incredible at marketing. So he picks a topic, does his research, writes the book, goes on PBS to do this presentation with a thousand people in the room. And he's using real life people and companies to tell this story one at a time, one at a time, one at a time. So I thought, well, what if Tom Peters was to write a book about how to live to be a 100? Well, what do you do, Andrew? You've got to go find people who are a 100, right?   0:27:05.3 AS: Yeah.   0:27:06.2 BB: You can go find them, right?   0:27:07.1 AS: Yep.   0:27:07.8 BB: And so, I used to imagine that if Tom Peters is, you know, writing a book about how to live to be a 100, he's gonna go... The recipe is find the people, find the successful companies, go research them, a chapter on each one of them. Each of them comes up and presents. And so, there we are on PBS and the first guests that come out are a 101-year-old gentleman. And he comes out and he's chain smoking and he explains that, how does he live to be a 100? He says, well, "you...smoking is good, cigars sometimes, shots of Old Granddad and that's how you live to be a 100." And then next we have the sisters, live together, twin sisters, never married, lived together their entire lives, don't drink a thing, teetotalers, and that, you know, vegetarians. And so, you say, oh, so that's how you live to be a 100, Andrew, you drink, you drink tea, no, you stay away from alcohol, stay away from red meat.   0:28:14.6 BB: Next one comes out, right? And the point is that all these companies are different and you're left to figure out which one to think. And whereas what Dr. Deming's talking about is a theory by which to understand organizations that you could take to your organization and figure out how to live to be a hundred, not just what we see otherwise. So anyway, I was aware of all that, studied all that. I wasn't aware at the time that's what was going on, but as I started to research this Peter's and... Why Dr. Deming thought of him that way. And so, Rocketdyne was sold by Pratt and Whitney, sold to United Technologies after Boeing, and they had a big Lean Six Sigma program, but they didn't call it Lean Six Sigma.   0:29:02.7 BB: And the Rocketdyne people are asking, why did you call it Lean Six Sigma? He says, well, it is Lean Six Sigma, but GE calls their program Lean Six Sigma, and we're not gonna use the same name as those guys. Those are the light bulb people. So we've got our own name. Well, what's your name? Well, we call it ACE. What is ACE? Achieving Competitive Excellence. But it's really Lean Six Sigma. So I spent a few years trying to wonder, what does it really mean? And I'm and I'm embarrassed that it took me as long as it did, but it dawned on me what it really means is achieving Compliance Excellence.   0:29:42.9 BB: And it was all about, does this meet requirements? And so that's what I referred to early on as question number one. Does this characteristic, have you passed... You know, have you met all of the requirements? And that's all it was, it was meeting requirements, meeting requirements, meeting requirements. And then, and what it reminds me of is, I was doing a seminar in England once for a one-on-one, went over for three days through a translator, and the audience was a physician from Kazakhstan who was anxious to learn as much as he could about Dr. Deming's work and that led him to England. And through some fortunate situation, I had a chance to meet with him one-on-one and went through and explained to him, Me and We organizations, Red Pen and Blue Pen companies, all that, all through a translator. So I had asked a question in English, the translator would translate, boom.   0:30:36.5 BB: So the question I asked him was, that I wanted to share is, I said to Ivan, I said, "what's the fastest way for a Red Pen company to become a Blue Pen company? What's the fastest way?" So that gets translated into Russian. Then it comes back to me and he says, "what?" I said, "spray paint." [laughter] And to me, that's the epitome of Compliance Excellence where we're... You get a really light surface texture, where it's looking good, but it misses the deep sense of the theory of Dr. Deming's work. But I'm not saying Compliance Excellence is bad. And so, when I wrote an article about this, and if any of the listeners want to contact me on LinkedIn, I can send them an article I wrote about it. And so, 'cause when you go to write about something, now you start to think deeply about this, does this make sense as opposed to just having a conversation? And it dawned on me that Compliance Excellence is not a bad thing.   0:31:39.3 BB: And the example I want to use here is, I was listening to two friends, husband and wife who spent a whole year serving society. They were compelled, had incredible military careers, and they decided we wanna pay back society. So the plan was that the husband, Doug would ride his bicycle every day through every state in the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii over the course of one year. So they started upstate New York, crisscrossing around the country. So he was on his bike every day riding, raising awareness for veterans' issues. 'Cause for those who don't know, there's... The the suicide rate of veterans is enormous. And so, they're looking... They're out there trying to help veterans. They were compelled to do that. And Doug's wife Deb, rode the motorhome, either ahead or behind, hooking up with local radio stations, trying to get PR.   0:32:38.8 BB: Then Doug would show up and he says one day they're riding through the Rockies, having dinner... And they're having dinner that night. But all day long, Doug is going up these hills, down these hills, up these hills. And so at dinner, Doug says to Deb, he says, I mean, "how'd you like that hill?" [laughter] Deb says, "what hill?" [laughter] So to Doug, every mile is not the same. [laughter] Right? So it's 18,066 miles. Doug felt the difference in every one of those miles, more so than Deb did. So if somebody says, how far was that route, Doug? For Doug to say 18,066 miles, 67, that's ups and downs, he felt every one of them. For Deb, it was a little bit... They were more of the same. So I'm not saying there's anything wrong with answering the question 18,067, but to me that's a compliant... That's looking at every second being the same, every hour being the same, every widget being the same, not understanding the differences or how they're being used.   0:33:49.1 BB: So now I wanna talk about, instead of Compliance Excellence, again, I'm not saying Compliance Excellence is bad. What I would say is that non-Deming organizations thrive on Compliance Excellence in this sense of interchangeability. Everything is the same, looking at things in isolation. So then I started thinking, well, if that's what they do, what is it that that Deming organizations do? And that's what I would call Contextual Excellence. There's an understanding of context, understanding of the context of the system. Tom Johnson, who has written about, Management by Means, which I wanna look at in a later episode, when Tom was doing research, this is around the time I met him, 1997, '98 timeframe. He was, he was visiting Toyota Plants, definitely in the United States. I'm not sure how many overseas, but he is taking copious notes, going behind the scenes. So this was before the world was all over Toyota.   0:34:47.3 BB: So Tom had free access. He said eventually they start charging for all this stuff. But Tom was there way ahead of the crowd. And he said one day he is with his notebook and he is walking around, he is looking at the stamping presses. But they're notorious for stamping out one part at a time. One single minute exchange of dyes. So they don't make a thousand parts and then figure out how to use them. They figured out how to change the dyes quickly. So Tom said, he asked the guy, "how long does it take to change this dye?" And the guy says something like, 28 minutes. And so Tom writes down 28 minutes and later the guy came back to Tom. He says, "just so you understand" he says "28 minutes is not world class, but this does not require world class."   0:35:32.3 BB: And so this is when I was explaining Contextual Excellence to Tom. And he says, is that what you're talking about? I said, that's exactly what I would expect to see within Toyota, that things are... They fit the situation. So it's not speed for the sake of speed, it's speed that fits the context of the situation, which is also like saying, have card stock paper where it makes sense. Have the appropriate staples where it makes sense. And so, when I talk about "in search of excellence," with my classes or in presentations, what I'm trying to get across is, there's a place for Contextual Excellence and there's a place for Compliance Excellence. But I think that difference is far better understood in a Deming organization that has a great understanding of systems and connectedness and synchronicity and teamwork, and lacking that non-Deming organizations, I think unknowingly default to Compliance Excellence, driving things to zero, thinking you could have zero waste in these things.   0:36:39.9 BB: And then you end up with cheap staples, lightweight paper, and you end up paying for it somewhere else in the system. So I just wanted to point out that there's... I'm not saying one is better than the other. What I'm saying is, I believe a Deming organization would have a profound appreciation of when to use each. And as simple as, if you were to say to me, Bill, how far is it to the nearest airport? I could say, it depends Andrew, what are you... How are you getting to the airport? You say, I'm riding my bike. I said, "okay." Right? And again, not that we're always gonna say it depends, but that's what I think that appreciation has. Let me just stop there and...   0:37:19.6 AS: Yeah.   0:37:20.2 BB: See where you are.   0:37:21.6 AS: So, I have two little stories that I wanna share in relation to this. One of them is about my uncle Ham. Hamilton.   0:37:28.4 BB: Yes.   [laughter]   0:37:29.8 AS: And then the other one is about my own business, Coffee Works. And when we set up our factory 28 years ago, my business partner Dale, was absolutely passionate about coffee. He roasted every bean for our first 10 years. And he sold and he did the accounting and he did everything basically, until eventually he trained staff. And some of those staff still, they've been with us for years, for decades, and they take care of the roasting now. But what Dale really understood was what he called, "in the cup quality." The idea that when... When it's in the cup, that's about to touch the customer's lips, that's the quality that matters. Nothing else matters.   0:38:15.1 AS: If you don't get that right then, you know, it doesn't matter how much you've documented or did whatever you've done in the past, in the temperature of the water, in the grind, you know, in all of these different things. So he was really all about excellence, and we didn't get... We never got complaints. Maybe we got an occasional one, but it wasn't very common. Anyways, we got a big, big multinational company came to us and said, we want you to bid along with some other coffee companies for our business, and we bid for the business. And they said, "We're picking you. And now we're gonna go out to your factory and we're gonna inspect your factory. And if you get a score in our quality audit below 70, you're basically in trouble, [laughter] already, and you're gonna have six weeks to fix it or else you're fired."   0:39:05.9 AS: And this was a huge amount of volume and a prestigious company for us. So we pulled everything together to get ready for their audit. And they came and they gave us their score and we felt like we were pretty damn good. And they said, 65. [laughter] And you know, what we realized to them, quality was about paperwork and quality was about, you know, compliance to that paperwork. And so, we had to do that, because that's what quality was to them. We'd never done anything like that. You know, now, 15, 20 years later, we still supply that same customer and they still do their annual audits and our scores are much... They're in the 90s, which puts us in like, world class. But the point is, we learned a lesson, you know, the difference between contextual quality or let's say, intrinsic quality that Dale was working on versus this kind of, what did you call it? Compliance Quality.   0:40:08.5 BB: Yes.   0:40:09.9 AS: So that's my first story. The second one is about my uncle in Germany where he was in charge of the, of the logistics of a base of a US military base. And the commanding general came to see, and they had cleaned up everything. And they got to the end of the whole thing, and they kind of dumped out to the parking lot where there's, you know, 700 or 500 vehicles lined up in different ways and whatever, all kinds of different sizes of vehicles. And Uncle Ham said, "Sir, so how did you like the tour of the facility and all that?" And he says, “of the base?” And he said, "Ham, everything was great except one thing."   0:40:48.4 AS: And my uncle's like, "Okay, what is that, sir?" And he said... And he looked at the vehicles, a long line of vehicles parked side by side. And he asked him, he said, "Next time I come here... " Now remember, these vehicles are all different lengths. "Next time I come here, I want these vehicles all lined up. It's a mess the way you've got it done." Yeah. And so, my uncle said, "Yes, sir!" And he said, "Before you leave, sir, could you walk to the back of the vehicles for a moment with me?" "Yes, yes, I will." And he said, "Sir, would you like them lined up in the back or in the front?" And they had lined them up in the back, which meant their noses were in different lengths. And the point is, is that you can't have it all, right? Everything's a tradeoff. You want it this way. There's a compromise here, there's a challenge there and all that. And that's a lesson I learned from Uncle Ham.   0:41:46.1 BB: Well, and then he, I'm sure he learned it from that point on is, you know, when, when he is asked to line them up and make them more uniform, the question is, help me understand what that means.   [laughter]   0:42:00.3 AS: And the answer's gonna be, it depends. 'Cause this general likes them lined up in the back and this general likes them lined up in the front. We're gonna need to wrap up. So how would you close out this episode?   0:42:17.0 BB: The main thing I want to get across saying is that, first of all, Contextual Excellence is the bedrock of investment thinking. To look, when you begin to look at things as a system and to understand that every mile is not the same or do I need to... Does that matter to me? But to me, instead of everything could be improved, you know, we focus on where are the most red beads, get all the red beads to zero and then go across the organization. And what is that? That's managing actions. We talked about that months ago. And to me that's Compliance Excellence. It's looking at the parts in isolation. But to me, what Contextual Excellence is about is the better we understand, the greater how things fit together.   0:43:10.5 BB: And there, the challenge is that everything we work on is part of a bigger system, which is part of a, then again, bigger system, which is part of, then again, bigger system. So we're not proposing that you're going to infinity, you know, that there's this big picture of you, whatever that means. It's, it's, and I like it... You know, people talk about, well, you know, Andrew's a systems... You and I, Andrew are systems thinkers, as if the others aren't. What does that mean? That means that we think of the big picture. There's no such thing as a big picture. So there, what we're talking about is Contextual Excellence, is trying to gather as much context for the system as it makes sense with appreciation that you might still be missing something.   0:44:00.3 BB: And that's where learning comes in. But that understanding is part of, is fundamental to investment thinking. You know, is the education system paying off? How would you know? Where are we gonna see that benefit? What is your theory for that? So I just wanna point out is, I'm not trying to condemn Compliance Excellence. I think Deming organizations are gonna have a place for that. Just like there's a place for, you know, does it meet requirements? Yes or no? It's just becoming more mindful of these choices is, is what I'm suggesting or proposing.   0:44:31.1 AS: Yes. Well, Bill, on behalf of everyone at the Deming Institute, I want to thank you again for this discussion. For listeners, remember to go to deming.org to continue your journey. There's so much there for further learning. And if you wanna keep in touch with Bill, just find him on LinkedIn. He's right there. This is your host, Andrew Stotz, and I'm gonna leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Dr. Deming. "People are entitled to joy in work."  

In this episode of Aftermarket Champions Podcast, our host, Vivek Joshi, chats with Tony Black, President of Service at Husky Injection Molding Systems, a leader in injection molding technology. Tony's diverse career path, starting with his education in marine engineering, to starting his career in aerospace to a business degree and a 30-year tenure at United Technologies, led him to Husky in 2020. He began as a service mechanic and progressed to service sales and installation build operations, shaping his customer-centric approach. He stresses the enduring value of strong customer relationships and delivering on promises. Tony also addresses industry challenges, particularly the shortage of skilled employees. Husky's response to this challenge is Advantage+Elite, a connected solution that gives analytics and dashboards to its customers about their equipment. They also have established a process of having dedicated customer success managers for each service contract. The solution also provides insights that give a comprehensive understanding of product creation, adding significant value for the customer. While sharing his learnings from his long tenure at OTIS, he emphasized on the importance of the on-ground service technicians. Technology and people will have to go hand in hand to bring about successful transformation. Tony also explained what being “Global” really means. Listen to the full podcast to know what it really means. Tony's advice: Put yourself in the customer's shoes, feel what they feel, and understand their perspective. This episode is essential for those seeking success through a customer-centric approach in the service industry.

More startup tech companies and investors are looking to enter the defense industrial base, which RTX is one of the largest members of and pushing to expand through its venture capital arm.How this blue chip aerospace-and-defense hardware giant is taking on the role of business and technology scouting hat is the focus of this episode featuring Dan Ateya, president and managing director of RTX Ventures.The former Raytheon Co. was a player in the venture game before its merger with United Technologies to create RTX in 2020. But as Ateya explained to our Ross Wilkers, RTX formalized the venture fund as a means to link the corporation's own innovation agenda with the Defense Department's critical technology priorities.Also on the agenda for this conversation: what happens after RTX Ventures invests in a company, why the overall innovation and investment ecosystem is growing, and Ateya's advice for how to connect with the ventures team.

The 2020 Mega Merger of Raytheon and United Technologies formed RTX Corporation. The street is undervaluing this aerospace, engine and technology powerhouse. A Must Watch Video that breaks down this cash machine to uncover the value behind their assets. Learn to Combine TWO Companies in this classic video below: https://youtu.be/bkJYt-CNjWE "Long ago, Ben Graham taught me that 'Price is what you pay; value is what you get.' Whether we're talking about socks or stocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down." - Warren Buffett Don't forget to Like this video and SUBSCRIBE for weekly stock reviews!

Milton Jackson was a native of Jamaica and was raised in Hartford, Connecticut. He holds a B.S. in History and Social Sciences from Eastern Connecticut State University and a Master's in Technology Entrepreneurship from the University of Maryland's Clark School of Engineering. Milton has created experiences within multiple industries at companies like ESPN, Travelers, Otis Elevators, and United Technologies and led user experience as AVP/Head of Digital Design at The Hartford. Currently, Milton is the SVP & Executive Director of Experience Design at Bank of America responsible for the banks' Wealth, Financial Wellness, Rewards/Deals, and Retirement digital experiences.

Charles Van Vleet is the CIO of Textron, where he manages $10 billion in defined benefit assets and $5 billion of defined contribution assets. Charles joined Textron a decade ago after eight years at the pension fund of United Technologies and is widely respected as one of the most thoughtful and outspoken CIOs in the space. Our conversation covers Charles' background and turns to the objectives of corporate pension funds, Textron's strategic asset allocation, and Charles' creative implementation of value-added opportunities across asset classes. Along the way, he shares a host of opinions about what works and doesn't for institutional investors. Access Stream by AlphaSense Free Trial Learn More​ Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn​ Subscribe to the mailing list​ Access Transcript with Premium Membership​

Since 2004, Pete has been the founder, CEO, and Chief Creative Officer of Digital Surgeons, a creative consultancy that launched on $5,000 and today is a thriving 8-figure organization that employs more than 50 people and is housed in the innovative, comprehensive coworking ecosystem District, co-founded by Pete. He and his team have created award-winning work for innovators from Lady Gaga to United Technologies and the US Open and countless organizations from start-ups to scale-ups.Pete is an amazing mind, especially when it comes to the blending of creativity and commerce. He has a fast mind and definitely gave us some things to think about in this conversation. He was a blast to talk to and a wealth of information and experience. You don't want to miss this episode. And when you are done listening to this podcast, check out Pete's site: https://www.petesena.com/Ad for True Fictions "Buy Me a Coffee" site where listeners can support the show. The money we get will be used to keep creating episodes of True Fiction and True Fiction's Kino Club. Thanks in advance for your support.Support the show

Agent Darren Prince at 14 years old built a multi-million dollar baseball card company. His clients with Prince Marketing Group include Magic Johnson, Smokin Joe Frazier, Dennis Rodman, Chevy Chase, and Pamela Anderson, Hulk Hogan, Charlie Sheen, Ric Flair, Roy Jones Jr, and the late Evel Knievel. @agent_dpTim Peara, MBA - is the President & Finance Director at Bridge Therapeutics. He has 30 years' experience in institutional investments and technology start-ups. Contributed to the growth and strategy of major players in finance (Wells Fargo, Prudential, Lehman) and industry (Koch, GE, Bechtel, United Technologies). 

Welcome to the Conscious Millionaire Show for entrepreneurs,  who want to create an abundant future for themselves and humanity. Heard by millions in 190 countries.  Do you want to put more money in the bank, create a powerful impact, and enjoy a purposeful life? This is the podcast for you! Join host, JV Crum III, as he goes inside the minds of Millionaire Entrepreneurs and World-Class Business Experts. Today's featured episode... Paul Szyarto: Machine Learning to Predict the Future  Paul Szyarto is an Oxford University and Wharton Business School graduate who spent the last twenty years optimizing billions and maximizing the bottom lines of more than 1,000 global companies including Microsoft and United Technologies. He is an expert in ERP Architecture and Growth Accelerator. Paul is the Founder and Chairman of PS Group Holdings, an impact investment firm whose sole purpose is to create change through product, services and people. Like this Podcast? Get every episode delivered to you free!  Subscribe in iTunes Download Your Free Money-Making Gift Now... "Born to Make Millions" Hypnotic Audio - Click Here Now! Please help spread the word. Subscribing and leaving a review helps others find our podcast. Thanks so much! Inc Magazine "Top 13 Business Podcasts." Conscious Millionaire Network has over 3,000 episodes and millions of listeners in 190 countries. Join us as a regular listener to get money-making secrets on how you can grow your business and profits faster!

Welcome to the Conscious Millionaire Show for entrepreneurs,  who want to create an abundant future for themselves and humanity. Heard by millions in 190 countries.  Do you want to put more money in the bank, create a powerful impact, and enjoy a purposeful life? This is the podcast for you! Join host, JV Crum III, as he goes inside the minds of Millionaire Entrepreneurs and World-Class Business Experts. Today's featured episode... Paul Szyarto: Machine Learning to Predict the Future  Paul Szyarto is an Oxford University and Wharton Business School graduate who spent the last twenty years optimizing billions and maximizing the bottom lines of more than 1,000 global companies including Microsoft and United Technologies. He is an expert in ERP Architecture and Growth Accelerator. Paul is the Founder and Chairman of PS Group Holdings, an impact investment firm whose sole purpose is to create change through product, services and people. Like this Podcast? Get every episode delivered to you free!  Subscribe in iTunes Download Your Free Money-Making Gift Now... "Born to Make Millions" Hypnotic Audio - Click Here Now! Please help spread the word. Subscribing and leaving a review helps others find our podcast. Thanks so much! Inc Magazine "Top 13 Business Podcasts." Conscious Millionaire Network has over 3,000 episodes and millions of listeners in 190 countries. Join us as a regular listener to get money-making secrets on how you can grow your business and profits faster!

Bradley Akubuiro's parents raised him to have a deep and strong work ethic. His father came to the United States from Nigeria at the age of 17 and worked to put himself through school. As Bradley describes, both about his father as well as about many people in extremely impoverished parts of the world, such individuals develop a strong resilience and wonderful spirit.   Bradley has led media relations and/or public affairs for Fortune 50 companies including Boeing as it returned the grounded 737 MAX to service and United Technologies through a series of mergers that resulted in the creation of Raytheon Technologies. He also served as an advisor to Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. and to the Republic of Liberia post-civil war. Today Bradley is a partner at Bully Pulpit Interactive, an advisory firm founded by leaders of the Obama-Biden campaign.   As you will see, Bradley is a wonderful and engaging storyteller. He weaves into his stories for us lessons about leadership and good corporate communications. His spirit is refreshing in our world today where we see so much controversy and unnecessary bickering.   I look forward to your comments on this episode.   About the Guest: Bradley is a partner at Bully Pulpit Interactive, an advisory firm founded by leaders of the Obama-Biden campaign. He focuses on corporate reputation, executive communications, and high visibility crisis management and media relations efforts, as well as equity, diversity, and inclusion matters for clients. Bradley has led media relations and/or public affairs for Fortune 50 companies including Boeing as it returned the grounded 737 MAX to service and United Technologies through a series of mergers that resulted in the creation of Raytheon Technologies and has also served as an advisor to Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. and to the Republic of Liberia post-civil war. A nationally recognized expert in his field, Bradley has been quoted by outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, and The Washington Post, and his columns have been featured in Business Insider, Forbes, and Inc. Magazine, where he is a regular contributor. Bradley is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, where he currently sits on the Board of Advisers and serves as an adjunct member of the faculty.   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 also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.   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  01:21 Well, hi, everybody. Thank you for joining us on unstoppable mindset today, we have Bradley Akubuiro with us. Bradley is a partner in bully pulpit International. He'll tell us about that. But he's been involved in a variety of things dealing with corporate communications, and has had a lot of adventures. He deals with diversity, equity and inclusion. But most of all, before we started this, he had one question for me. And that is, how much fun are we going to have on this podcast? Well, that really is up to Bradley. So Bradley has some fun.   Bradley Akubuiro  01:56 Michael, thank you so much for having me is is going to be a ton of fun. I'm really excited. Thanks for having me   Michael Hingson  02:01 on. Well, you're you're absolutely welcome. And we're glad that you're here had a chance to learn about you. And we've had a chance to chat some. So why don't we start as often and Lewis Carroll would say at the beginning, and maybe tell me about you growing up and those kinds of things.   Bradley Akubuiro  02:18 Yeah, I'd be happy to do that. And, you know, I think it would be remiss if I didn't start off talking about my parents a little bit before I talked about myself. My dad grew up in the Biafran war in Nigeria, Civil War, Nigeria. And you know, while he was going through school, they were bombing schools, and it wasn't safe for adults to be out. And so, you know, he was the guy in his family at six years old, who was taking crops from their plantation. They grew up maybe about six hours outside of Lagos, Nigeria, and was moving, you know, some of these crops two miles away, to sell in the marketplace. And you know, at a very early age was learning responsibility, not just for himself, but for the family.   Michael Hingson  03:02 Wow. Which is something that more people should do. So what what all did he do? Or how did all that work out?   Bradley Akubuiro  03:09 Yeah. Well, you know, this was a really interesting time in Nigeria's History, where you had a lot of folks who were in this circumstance, and my dad was a really hard worker, his parents were hard workers before him, his father was a pastor. And so he had a certain level of discipline and support in his household. But, you know, he knew that he had this kind of onus on him. So grew up at a time then where not only do you have this responsibility, but a big family, brothers and sisters to take care of. He was the guy who was chosen later, you know, flash forward a few years, to come to the United States, to be able to find an opportunity here in this country, and to be able to always hopefully, give back to his family.   Michael Hingson  03:59 So he came, and How old was he? When he came here?   Bradley Akubuiro  04:03 When he got to the States, he was about 17. So came to New York City, not a lot going on there. And, you know, he had to put himself through   Michael Hingson  04:15 school. Did he know anyone? Or Was anyone sponsoring him? Or how did all that work? He had a little   Bradley Akubuiro  04:20 bit of family here, but he had to find his own way, get a full time job at a gas station, and work to figure out what this country was all about, but also how to be successful here.   Michael Hingson  04:32 Where did he stay when he got here then   Bradley Akubuiro  04:36 got a little apartment up on the kind of Washington Heights Harlem area of New York, little hole in the wall and, you know, continue to work to pay that off while he was trying to pay off school. So not easy, but at the same time, you know, a really, really great opportunity for him to kind of start fresh and create some opportunity for himself and family.   Michael Hingson  04:58 So did he tell him at least With a little bit of money, how did all that work? It's funny, he   Bradley Akubuiro  05:04 asked that question. He did come with some, but it wasn't a lot. Let's start off there. But you know, what's interesting about that is, you know, he put himself through undergrad, put himself through a master's program, you know, and was doing a PhD program over at University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. And at Penn, he blew through his entire life savings and one semester. And so, you know, was on a great path. You studying engineering, and, you know, a semester and he's like, Oh, what am I going to do ended up going across the street to Drexel, where they were able to bring him in and give him a scholarship, as long as he was one a TA, which he really enjoyed doing. And he was able to put himself through the PhD.   Michael Hingson  05:50 Wow. So he started there as a freshman then   Bradley Akubuiro  05:55 started, so he went to several different schools started in New York. Yep, sorry, started in New York at Hunter College, did a master's program at Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, and then came up to do his PhD at Penn. And then went to Drexel, and went to Drexel.   Michael Hingson  06:12 He moved around how, how come? What, what took him to Atlanta, for example? Do you know?   Bradley Akubuiro  06:18 Yeah, well, it was the opportunity. You know, one of the things that he had learned and had been instilled in him growing up, which he's passed on to me is, you follow the opportunity where it's and as long as you're not afraid to take that risk and take a chance on yourself and your future that will ultimately more often than not pay off in the end. And so he followed scholarship dollars, he followed the programs that would have an opportunity for him. And he went exactly where it took,   Michael Hingson  06:45 and what were his degrees in.   Bradley Akubuiro  06:47 So his master's degree was in chemistry, his PhD was chemical engineering. Wow. Yeah. What did he What did he do with that? So well, you know, the world was his oyster, I suppose, in some ways, but you know, he ended up you know, going into a couple of different companies started with Calgon, carbon and Pittsburgh, and spent a number of years there and on later on to Lucent Technologies, and fiber optics. And so, you know, he's moved on to a number of different companies, engineering roles, eventually got his MBA and has been, you know, employed a number of different places and continued over his career to work in a number of different geographies as well, whether it's like going to Pittsburgh, New Jersey, Atlanta, Massachusetts. They're now living in Rochester, New York, which I've never lived in. But it's a very charming place. It's, yeah.   Michael Hingson  07:44 It is. It is a nice place. I've been there many times. Yeah. And for customers and so on, it's a fun place to go. Well, he obviously learned in a lot of ways, some might say the hard way, but he learned to value what was going on with him, because it was the only way he was going to be successful. So nothing was handed to him at all, was   Bradley Akubuiro  08:10 it? That's right. He had a very strong family foundation. And he definitely learned a lot from his parents and from his family, and they were very close. So I think that he would say that's what was handed to him, but he certainly didn't give any get any leg up.   Michael Hingson  08:26 Right. Well, that's a good thing to have handed to you, I guess. Well, how did he meet somebody from Gary, Indiana, which is a whole different culture.   Bradley Akubuiro  08:36 Well, this becomes a love story pretty quickly. That's an article.   Michael Hingson  08:42 You can embellish how you want.   Bradley Akubuiro  08:46 Oh, my parents actually met somewhat serendipitously. They were at two different schools. My mom was going to school in Alabama, Alabama a&m. My dad was going to school at the time and Clark, Atlanta and Atlanta. So about four hours apart, Huntsville, Atlanta. My mom's roommate was dating my dad's roommate. And so my mom agreed to come with her roommate to go and visit her boyfriend at the time. She happened to meet this strapping young Nigerian man in Atlanta, and they ended up hitting it off and as fate would have it, the other two their respective movements didn't make the distance but they had a budding romance that ended up lasting now at this point several decades.   Michael Hingson  09:37 Wow. So they're, they're still with us.   Bradley Akubuiro  09:41 They're both still with us   Michael Hingson  09:42 both going strong. That is, that is really cool. So what do you think you learn from them?   Bradley Akubuiro  09:48 I learned a number of things. You know, I learned first of all, and you heard my father's story, resilience. He has learned to take whatever is thrown at been thrown at him. Be able to not only take it in stride, which I think is good, but more importantly, to turn it around and channel it and to use it to his advantage, no matter what that might be. And he's instilled that in me and my two sisters, two sisters, ones, older ones younger. And that's, that's really been important. You know, when it comes to my two parents, the things that they value a ton are education, family. And when you think about the world around you, how are you leaving it in a better place than you found it. And if you can really focus on those handful of things, then you are going to have a very fulfilling and successful life. And that's how he measured success. I've taken that away from them.   Michael Hingson  10:41 He doesn't get better than that. And if you can, if you can say that I want to make a difference. And that I hope I've made at least a little difference. It doesn't get better than that does it?   Bradley Akubuiro  10:53 That's exactly right. So then   Michael Hingson  10:55 you came along. And we won't we won't put any value judgment on that.   Bradley Akubuiro  11:02 Thank you for that we   Michael Hingson  11:03 could have for Yeah, exactly. But actually, before I go to that, have they been back to visit Nigeria at all?   Bradley Akubuiro  11:11 Yeah, absolutely. And unfortunately, the most recent time that my parents took a trip back was the passing of my grandmother, a handful of years ago. And so that brought them back. But, you know, one of the things that I'm hoping to do, and I haven't done it yet, is just spend some real time out there. I've got plenty of family that's still there. So go in and spend a little time in Nigeria that's longer than a quick in and out trip. I spent some time and we've talked about this before Michael, but in West Africa, generally in Liberia. And that was a great experience. But there's not quite like going back to where it all began with your family.   Michael Hingson  11:49 No, it's still not home. Right. Well, so you you came along. And so what was it like growing up in that household and going to high school and all that?   Bradley Akubuiro  12:03 Well, there's a couple ways to answer that. Go ahead. Well, let's put it this way, I we have a very close family bond. And so you know, when you think about the folks who have finished your senses, who laugh at your jokes, because they think it's funny, and if you hadn't told that joke, first, they probably would have told that joke, the kind of family we have. It's a great, great dynamic. And so I was very fortunate to have grown up in that household with parents who truly, truly embraced that that side. You know, it was also a tough household. You know, my parents were very strict, my father, especially coming from this immigrant mindset, and this Nigerian culture, I mentioned the value of education. What I didn't mention quite, but might have been a little bit implied, and I'll say it more explicitly is anything less than an A was entirely unacceptable. There were a number of times where I found myself on the wrong side of that. And, you know, we grew up in different times, as my parents were trying to provide the best life they could for us, and a number of different urban settings. And, you know, one, one period of life for me was particularly studying in high school, where, you know, the school district of Springfield, Massachusetts at a time graduated about 54% of the students that went through that system. And so you're thinking about one in two kids who don't make it out of high school, much less make it the college, much less have a successful and fulfilling career in life. And my father, especially, but of course, both my parents want us to do absolutely everything in their power to ensure that those would not be our statistics that we would be my sisters, and I would be able to have every tool at our disposal to be successful. And they work hard at that, despite the circumstances.   Michael Hingson  14:08 So how were they when I'm sure it happened? It was discovered that maybe you had some gifts, but there were some things that you weren't necessarily as strong as other things. How did that work out for you?   Bradley Akubuiro  14:21 I want to be very clear, the list of things that I wasn't quite as good at, especially in those days, was long enough to stun you. So you know, it we we work through it together, right? I think one of the things that I admire most about my parents now that I maybe didn't appreciate enough growing up was just the amount that they leaned in, and we're willing to be hands on and helping with our education. And so my father would give us times tables when we were in elementary school and make sure that we worked through them. And if we didn't get them quite right, we would do them again, and we do them again, and we do them again. And And I remember a time when I was in the fifth grade where my father had me up until 1am, doing math problems. And, you know, I was thinking to myself, I cannot imagine doing this with my kids, when I was at that age, and then I swore at that time that I never would, I'll tell you what my blood now I swear that I definitely will maybe not till 1am, I think there's probably a more reasonable time. But to be able to invest that level of effort into making sure that your kid has everything they need to be successful. I just have I admire the heck out of it.   Michael Hingson  15:36 I remember a couple of times, I think one when I was oh seven or eight, when we were living in California, and going back to visit relatives in Chicago, or driving somewhere. And my dad said to me, and my brother who was two years older, you guys have to learn the times tables. And we spent time driving, just going through the times tables. And it took me a little while. And a couple of times, I tried a shortcut that messed me up. But eventually I got it all figured out. And he said, when you say the times tables correctly, we'll give you 50 cents. And they did when I got the time two times tables, right? They did. And also, I was learning algebra from him. My dad was an electronics engineer. And so he really worked because I didn't have books in braille early on until I was in the fourth grade, I had to study with them to a large degree. So he taught me a lot more than the schools were teaching little kids as it were. So I learned algebra early, and I learned to do it in my head, and still do. And in high school, it got me in trouble in my freshman year, because my math teacher said, Now whenever you're doing things, you have to show your work. Well, you know, I kept trying to tell her that, for me, showing my work in Braille isn't going to do you any good. I can tell you what I do and how I do it. And she wouldn't accept that and she was going to fail me literally fail me in math. Until one day I wrote out, I think one of the problems and I think just in case she took it and went somewhere where she could find somebody to read Braille. I wrote it out correctly. But I got to see an algebra one because of that one thing. By the way, after that, I never got below an A in math. She was insistent that you had to show your work, and wasn't flexible enough to recognize that there are a lot of ways to show your work. Oh,   Bradley Akubuiro  17:35 yeah. Well, that's part of the challenge, and not to make this an entire commentary on our education system. But there are so many different ways to your point to get to the right answer. And I don't think there's nearly enough flexibility in our system in many cases, except for those who really, truly tried to find it and create that environment for their students. But at a at a you know, broader look, there isn't nearly enough flexibility to appreciate that we're going to have many different ways to get these answers.   Michael Hingson  18:04 I think that really good teachers, and there are a lot of good teachers. But I think the really good teachers make that leap and allow for flexibility in what they do. Because they recognize everyone learns differently. But the big issue is, can you learn and can you demonstrate that you learned?   Bradley Akubuiro  18:24 Yeah, well, that's what we're all striving for.   Michael Hingson  18:27 It is I was pretty blessed going through school, especially in high school, a lot of the times, I would stay after school and extra period to study in the library because again, not everything was available so that we actually had people who would read material to me or give me information that was written on boards that I didn't get any other way. And usually, the teachers would come in, we would set up days and they would come in and give me tests. And what was fun about that was we would go through the tests fairly quickly and spend most of the hour chatting and I got to know a number of my teachers that way and that was so valuable for me. One of them especially Dick herbal Shimer, I still know and you know, he's going to be what 85 I think it is this year, and he will be at five I think August 28. We still keep in touch, he came to our wedding. And he tells me that I'm getting to be closer in age to him and I point out that I'll never be as old as he is. And he tries to convince me that mathematically I'm getting closer and I say 13 years is still 13 years.   Bradley Akubuiro  19:35 Hmm, yeah, don't let them don't let them try to get you. That's   Michael Hingson  19:39 right. It's not gonna work.   Bradley Akubuiro  19:42 was gonna ask you if you had a favorite teacher because I feel like teachers, if you put together this for many years have such an incredible impact on you and how you see yourself.   Michael Hingson  19:52 I remember a lot of things from a number of my teachers and I can tell you the names of most all of my teachers. I remember in my freshman year English, our teacher was a Mr. Wilson has actually Woodrow Wilson was his name was an older gentleman. And one day we were sitting in class and he was just talking about philosophy. And he's talking about people's ethics. And he said, and I remember it that, you know, a good example is, if you need to borrow a quarter from somebody, be sure you pay that quarterback, where does that come in English? But nevertheless, those are the kinds of things that he said, and other teachers said various things, and they stick with you.   Bradley Akubuiro  20:36 Yeah, no, it's so true. I mean, for me, my favorite teacher was Darlene Kaffee. She was my fourth grade teacher, taught all kinds of, I mean, touch everything you learned in fourth grade. But the most important thing for me was, she gave me confidence in my writing ability. You know, I had always enjoyed writing, but I never really thought of myself as someone who could potentially be a writer. And she was the first person who sat me down and said, Hey, look, you submitted this assignment. And it's really good. You could be a writer one day, and you know, she had me write poems, you had me write a number of different things that weren't class assignments. But there were things that she was like, Hey, if you want to do this, then you got to practice it. And I learned so much from her. But the most important thing I took away was that confidence in my ability to do these things.   Michael Hingson  21:27 Yeah, yeah. And that's one of the most important things that good teachers can bring to us and not tear you down, because you don't necessarily do something exactly the way they do or want. But if you can demonstrate you learn that is so cool.   Bradley Akubuiro  21:42 Yeah, it is. Yeah, it is. So,   Michael Hingson  21:47 as I said, I keep in touch with declarable Shimer won his 80th birthday, I flew to Nebraska where they live and surprise him for his birthday, which was nice. That's awesome. Yeah, it was a lot of fun. And hopefully, we'll get back there one of these days soon. Meanwhile, I'll just give him a hard time on the phone.   Bradley Akubuiro  22:08 Cathy's out here listening when I'm not going to surprise you don't listen to Michael. But if I show up, then I'll have a cake or something.   Michael Hingson  22:17 Yeah, exactly. Well, so. So what was high school like for you? I think you said there were some things that happened in high school.   Bradley Akubuiro  22:26 Yeah, high school was a I mean, when you think about formative man, this was a formative experience for me. So it was between my sophomore and junior year of high school, when one of my very best friends a guy who I consider to be like an older brother to me, was shot and killed in the drive by shooting. It was devastating. You know, I had a period over a few months, where not only was he killed, and I found out about it, 45 minutes after I'd left town to take my older sister, with my family to college and 22 hours away. So this wasn't something he did every night. And I likely had been with him had we not been on that trip. But you know, he unfortunately passed that night with a 45 caliber bullet hole in his heart. You know, my experience with school with with life that I mean, it really took a turn at that point. Because not only had I lost somebody who was very close to me, but the police didn't catch the guy who did it. In fact, they caught a guy who was a friend of ours that had absolutely nothing to do with it, and put him through absolute hell, only to find out that he wasn't responsible for this, any of us could have told you that right up front. You know, that was a terrible time. You know, a couple of months later, Michael, we had another one of our close friends who was shot and killed. And the girl who was with her at the time was shot in the leg trying to get away. And you know, and another month and a half after that another one of our good friends was you know, shot in his own driveway trying to get into his car and head to the grocery store. And it wasn't safe for us. And it was a really, really challenging time, just to exist, much less to try to focus on school and to focus on other things that are going on. How could you do that? When you didn't know if when you left in the morning, you were going to be able to make it home at night?   Michael Hingson  24:32 Why was there so much crime? Well, that's   Bradley Akubuiro  24:36 a million dollar question. You know, there's so many factors that go into it. And since then, I've spent a lot of time thinking more about the kind of, you know, macro factors, but it's a very specific on the ground situation at that time was there was a gang war between two rival gangs, street gangs in the city. And my engineer who I just referred to lived right in the heart of Eastern Avenue, which is the home of the app and Springfield became there. And across State Street was Sycamore and a number of different folks and rivalries had kind of established then. And so, you know, this was not that there's ever, you know, really sensical reasons that, you know, these things happen. But this was as nonsensical as it could be, you know, people who are killing each other and dying for reasons that if you were to ask those who survived now, why they would ever pull a trigger and situation like this, they probably couldn't really tell you or maybe even remember.   Michael Hingson  25:38 So it wasn't race or anything like that. It was just the whole gang environment, mostly.   Bradley Akubuiro  25:45 Yeah, that's right. And at the time, you know, you think about the economic factors that go into this. And I talked about this in the context of Chicago all the time, because that's where I live now. And the situation is just as salient here. But if you were to be on the west side of Chicago, Northwestern most neighborhood within the city limits of Austin, you would be in one of the poorest and one of the most dangerous zip codes in the industrialized world. If you were to go two miles over to Oak Park, one of the suburbs just outside of the city. It's one of the wealthiest in the region, and it is an amazing neighborhood, and the infrastructure across the board when it comes to the education system, and the amount of money per pupil. If you were to look at the crime statistics, if you were to look at the policing, if you were to look at any measure of quality of life, it is night and day different, but it's separated by a couple of streets. And that to me is unfathomable.   Michael Hingson  26:52 It is crazy. Chris, you also have some really serious gangs back in Chicago. You know, the notorious was the cubs in the Sox, for example.   Bradley Akubuiro  27:03 That's right. And you know what the competition? beaters? You don't get in the middle of those two sets of fans?   Michael Hingson  27:09 Ah, no way. and never the twain shall meet, period. That's right. That's very many people who will say they're fans of both.   Bradley Akubuiro  27:20 I don't think that's legal, actually. Ah,   Michael Hingson  27:23 that would explain it. I'll tell you sports fans are really tough. I remember when I lived in Winthrop, mass right outside of Boston. And every year, I would on opening day, I'd be somewhere in Boston. And if the Red Sox lost immediately, basically everybody on the news and everyone else just said wait till next year. Yeah, they were done. It was no faith at all. It was amazing. And and I remember living back there when Steve Grogan was booed off out of the Patriots game one year and just I'll tell you, they're, they're amazing.   Bradley Akubuiro  28:04 Well look at the dynasties they've gotten now. Unbelievable. Although, you know, I live with a die hard. Tom Brady fan. My fiance has been a Patriots fan since the beginning. And it's been a complete complete nightmare trying to figure out are we watching the Patriots? Are we are we watching the Buccaneers? And are we Tom Brady fans are Patriots fans? You know, it's a little bit of everything in that house. But I can't ever say that I'm not happy. I am a fully dedicated supporter of all things. Somebody in SNAP, otherwise, I'm in a   Michael Hingson  28:39 lot of trouble. It is safer that way. Well, I have gained a lot of respect for Tom Brady, especially after he left the Patriots. And not because I disliked the Patriots, but because of all the scandals and the deflated footballs and all that sort of stuff. But he came back and he proved Hey, you know, it's not what you think at all. I really am good. And he continues to be good.   Bradley Akubuiro  29:03 Yeah, it's 100%. Right. Well, and that to make this, you know, given a broader topic about Tom Brady, he gets plenty of press. But you know, the fact that he was able to say, All right, you have decided that I'm done in this sport. You've decided I'm too old to play this sport, but I have not run to the end of my capability. And in fact, I've got a lot more to offer this game. And he went and he took it with someone who would respect that and the Buccaneers and he won another championship. I mean, you can't you can't make this up.   Michael Hingson  29:38 No, absolutely. You can't. And so we'll see what the Rams do this year. I liked the Rams. I grew up with the Rams, Chris, I'm really prejudiced when it comes to sports and probably a number of things because we've been blessed out here in California with great sports announcers. I mean, of course, Vin Scully, the best of all time in baseball, and I will argue that with anyone But then Dick Enberg did a lot of football and he did the rams and he did the angels. And of course we had Chick Hearn who did the Lakers, their descriptions and the way they did it, especially Vinnie just drew you in. And I've listened and listened to announcers all over the country and never got the kinds of pictures and announced me announcing and announcements that I got by listening to people in California, so I'm a little prejudiced that way.   Bradley Akubuiro  30:31 Well, and you shouldn't be you absolutely should be. And I will say this, the power of storytelling that these folks that you just described are able to wield is phenomenal. And it's a skill that I actually wish more folks had and more different industries. Because if you can tell a strong compelling story, you can make it visual, you can bring people and like that the power it has to bring people together, and to motivate them to act is just unbelievable.   Michael Hingson  31:01 Johnny most was a was a good announcer a pretty great announcer in basketball, but not really so much into the storytelling, but he had a personality that drew you in as well. Well, that counts for a lot. It does. I remember living back there when the Celts were playing the rockets for the championship. And the Celtics lost the first two games. And Johnny most was having a field day picking on the rockets and so on. But Moses Malone, Malone was criticizing the Celtics and said, You know, I can go get for high school people. And we could beat these guys. Wrong thing to say, because then the Celts came back and won the next for Johnny most really had a field day with that. That's what happens. Yeah, you don't open your mouth. Alright, so you went to Northwestern, that's a whole different environment.   Bradley Akubuiro  31:59 Totally different environment. And, you know, I gotta tell you, I owe a ton to Northwestern. The exposure, it gave me two more global mindsets, people come to that university from all over the world, all kinds of different socioeconomic backgrounds, and looking to do so many different things, the academic rigor of the institution, and the resources that were at our disposal, were so incredible that it completely changed my experience. And frankly, the outlook I had for my own self and career. How so? Well, I'll put his way I went to school, for example, at the same time, as you know, students who had some similar backgrounds to the one I did, to being in school at the same time, as you know, Howard Buffett is the grandson of Warren Buffett, and you know, Bill polti, you know, whose grandson of, you know, the polti, you know, the namesake of Pulte Homes, and you know, literally billionaire families. And so you start to realize, if you can sit in a classroom with folks like this, and with all of the opportunities that they've had, the education, they've had private schools, things along those lines, and these are good friends, by the way, you know, when you can do that, and then realize, hey, you know what, I can keep up, I can do this. And then you know, you are receiving, you know, grades professors who support you opportunities, in terms of internships, all of these things, and realms that you never even considered possible even just a year or two earlier. It truly broadens your horizons in ways that I don't even think I could have appreciated before I was into it.   Michael Hingson  33:44 Wow. And that makes a lot of sense, though. We're all we're all people. And we all have our own gifts. And the fact that you could compete is probably not necessarily the best word because it implies that there are things that we don't need to have, but you are all able to work together and that you can all succeed. That's as good as it gets.   Bradley Akubuiro  34:05 That's exactly right. And I do find compared to a lot of places, Northwestern have a very collaborative culture. I found that, you know, from faculty, the staff to students, everybody was very interested in seeing everybody succeed. And you know, we believed truthfully, that all of us could there's enough room on the boat for all of us.   Michael Hingson  34:29 What was your major journalism? No surprise being Northwestern?   Bradley Akubuiro  34:36 Yeah, I was I was a big, big, big proponent of the journalism school and actually still remain affiliated. I'm on the faculty over there and sit on the board of the journalism school and have loved every second of my time, wearing the purple t shirt.   Michael Hingson  34:52 There you go. Is my recollection. Correct? Wasn't Charlton Heston, a graduate of Northwestern?   Bradley Akubuiro  34:57 You know, I don't know the answer to that but I will wouldn't be surprised if it really seems,   Michael Hingson  35:02 it seems to me, I heard that he was doing something where he was he was doing something for Northwestern, as I recall. But that just strikes my memory.   Bradley Akubuiro  35:12 Yeah, there's some very remarkable graduates from that organization.   Michael Hingson  35:16 So you were involved, as I recall, in our conversations about and about such things in dealing with minority enrollment, and so on, and you met some pretty interesting people during your time there. Tell me about that, if you would?   Bradley Akubuiro  35:32 Yeah, no, absolutely. So my freshman year, we will actually, this was my sophomore year, we actually only brought in 81 black freshmen. And that was the lowest number in terms of black enrollment in a given year at Northwestern since the 1960s. And so, you know, the university was looking around and trying to figure out what what is it that we're doing? And where are we missing the mark? And how do we not only attract black applicants, because we were able to get folks to apply? The challenge was to actually get them to choose to matriculate. And where are we losing folks in the process. And so, you know, I had been really, really interested in participating in some of the work around minority recruitment enrollment, from the time that Northwestern had recruited me, because I recognized my background wasn't necessarily what you would consider to be orthodox for the folks that got into schools like this. But they took a real hard look at me and said, We think this guy can be successful here. And I wanted to encourage others who might not necessarily think of Northwestern as an option that was attainable to them, and I don't even know about it, to really start to understand the opportunities that could be available to them. And so I was, you know, flying to different schools, not only in the Chicago area, but back in places that looked a lot like where I grew up, and telling, you know, folks, Northwestern wants you, and you should really give it a shot. And so that was a fascinating time for me, and my own development, that space.   Michael Hingson  37:11 So what did you do for the school and dealing with the whole issue of minorities in that time?   Bradley Akubuiro  37:19 Yeah, there were a handful of things. You know, there's there's one was how do you create programs that channel some of the frustration that a lot of students who look like me had, and so a number of folks, actually, this is the spirit of college students, gotten together, you know, put up signs and decided to kind of protest. And so instead of going through, and just kind of registering our anger, what I did was work with the admissions office. And I did actually formally work as a work study student and worked on some of the stuff, it wasn't just volunteer, but take this energy that the students had, and create programs like a pen pal program, like a fly in programs, some volunteer initiatives that we can have, that would allow students who are upset about the outcomes, to help change those outcomes by direct engagement with those who might come to Northwestern, and really improve our metrics for the following year. And we were able to do that, both in the African American and Latino communities. What did   Michael Hingson  38:23 you discover? Or what did the university discover about why people might apply, but then didn't matriculate. And then how did you turn that around?   Bradley Akubuiro  38:32 Yeah, there were a couple of things. So one was, for students who are getting into places like Northwestern, very commonly, we saw that they were getting into places like University of Pennsylvania, Stanford, Harvard, a number of other universities at the same time, particularly if you were to think about the minority students who are applying and getting in, and what those schools had, that Northwestern didn't quite have, was full need blind admissions processes, which Northwestern did adopt. But the short version of this is, if you got into one of those schools, you are probably going to be able to get if this if your circumstances required a full ride. And so, you know, the economic opportunity was really significant. And you were at a disadvantage. If you were a student who was interested in going to Northwestern, or any of these other schools that was really good, but couldn't you couldn't afford to go and you're gonna go to the place that you could afford to go and maybe that's your local school, or maybe that's one of these other schools, but we had to really do something to create the funding to ensure that these folks could go to the school and do it at a at a rate that wasn't going to break the bag.   Michael Hingson  39:49 And you found ways to do that. Well, I   Bradley Akubuiro  39:52 certainly didn't do it alone, but the university   39:55 there see University found ways to do that. Yes, that's right.   40:00 We started up a commission. So a number of students, myself included, foreign petition at the time, Marty Shapiro, who was the President of University took this issue very seriously as a economic scholar, and genuinely his background is in the economics of higher education. And he started at the school as president, while I was in again, my sophomore year, as a lot of these things were kind of taking shape and taking hold. And as one of the most successful leaders that I've met, invited us in students, the leaders in the university who are focused on this, and we had asked for a taskforce to focus on this. And he set one up, and he chaired it. And it was focused on how do we create opportunities for access, particularly for this community that had need, but wanted to be here. And, you know, one of the things that he did pretty early on in his tenure, was to establish a fund that was going to be dedicated to programs to financial need to a number of different things that would directly address this community. And we built on it from there.   41:14 Wow, that's, it's great that you had a strong champion who was willing to be farsighted enough to help with that, isn't it?   Bradley Akubuiro  41:22 Absolutely. It would not have been possible without that.   Michael Hingson  41:25 So you met as I recall you saying Jesse Jackson, somewhere along the way? in that arena, especially since you're in the Chicago area? That makes a lot of sense.   Bradley Akubuiro  41:35 Yeah, you know what I'm starting to put together thanks to you hear that this was a pretty big year for me.   Michael Hingson  41:41 To see, I'm getting impressed. So I did about yourself.   Bradley Akubuiro  41:50 You know, it's funny. But yeah, there was a convergence of things. And so in this particular year, I did meet Reverend Jesse Jackson. And this started a relationship that's been incredible and life changing that remains to this day. But the way that it happened, Michael, is that there was a woman Roxana Saberi, who had been taken political prisoner by Iran, and she worked for the BBC. She had been a former Northwestern middle student. So a number of us who are part of the journalism program, Adele had decided that we were going to get together and as college students are wanting to do, we decided to protest and hopes that we would, on our campus in Evanston, get the State Department to pay more attention to this particular issue. And hopefully, it takes negotiating for her really seriously. And while I have no idea whether, at the time Secretary Clinton saw anything we were doing, my guess, is probably not Reverend Jackson, who to your point was just on the other side of Chicago did. And the connection there is Roxanne's buried, did her first interview with the BBC as a professional reporter with Reverend Jesse Jackson. And he was committed to advocating for her release. And so he actually reached out to us, via the university asked a few of us to come down and join a press conference with him, where he intended to go and negotiate for her release on humanitarian grounds. And I participated in that with another student. And it was absolutely phenomenal and led to so many doors being opened for me.   Michael Hingson  43:35 Wow, what your were you in school at the time?   Bradley Akubuiro  43:38 So this was my sophomore year. Great, great. Again, still part of the great sophomore year. Yeah, and I continue to work with Reverend Jackson, throughout the remainder of my time in college and for some period after college. But there were a number of things, but it all tied back together, because the issue that Reverend Jackson was advocating for at the time that spoke most deeply to me, was this issue of college affordability and access, and you have this program called reduce the rate, which was all about reducing the interest rate on student education loans, because we had bailed out banks. And you know, the autos and so many others, rates of zero to 1% and said, Hey, you're in trouble pass back when you're ready. We'll make it cheap and affordable for you to do that. But we never granted that level of grace to students who are supposed to be our future. And instead, we were breaking their backs was, you know, interest rates of six to in some cases, as high as 18%. Without any, you know, kind of recourse you get stuck with these things for life.   Michael Hingson  44:47 And people wonder why we keep talking about eliminating the loans today or lowering the interest rate and the reality is, as you said, students are our future and we should be doing all we can to say point that that's absolutely   Bradley Akubuiro  45:01 right. I still firmly believe that and, you know, our loan system, and frankly, the cost of education is just crippling. It's, it's, it's crazy. And this is for multiple generations. And I'm sad for what the future will look like if we can't figure this situation out.   Michael Hingson  45:23 Yeah, we've got to do something different than we're doing. And it's just kind of crazy the way it is. It's extremely unfortunate. Well, so you got a bachelor's? Did you go get any advanced degree or?   Bradley Akubuiro  45:36 Well, I did actually attend Northwestern. For a good portion, I masters that integrated the integrated marketing communications program over there. And that dovetails really well into where my career ultimately went and where it currently resides. But you know, Northwestern was the educator of choice for me.   Michael Hingson  45:57 So, career wise, so what did you then go off and do? Since you opened the door? Yeah.   Bradley Akubuiro  46:03 So you know, it's been a number of different things. And this will sound disparate, but it all comes together. I went, after working with Reverend Jackson to Liberia, and I spent time in Liberia working for the president of Liberia on postwar kind of reestablishment of a democracy, which was a big thing. And frankly, way above my paygrade, I got an opportunity to work on it, because I had spent time working with Reverend Jesse Jackson, and that will come back in a second. But there was a student who was doing his PhD program at Northwestern, who had been who is I should say, the grandson of a former president of Liberia, who had been killed in a coup in October. And I had been friends with him, I knew that I wanted to get to West Africa to do some work, particularly around education and social programs. And he connected me with his mother who had been deputy minister of education. And I had been fortunate enough to create an arrangement that I was really excited about to go to Monrovia, and Liberia, the capital city, and to spend some time working on programs out there. And when she found out that I worked with Reverend Jesse Jackson, she called the president and said, This could be a great opportunity. And they cooked up a program where I would actually champion and work on establishing a program and policy around leadership development, and capacity building for the country post Civil War, which was, again, an absolutely amazing and life changing experience, really hard.   Michael Hingson  47:45 What was the world like over there? And what was it like for you being from a completely different culture as it were than over in Liberia?   Bradley Akubuiro  47:53 Well, the first thing I'll say is, if you live in the United States, and you believe, you know, poverty, you ain't seen nothing yet. Because, you know, one of the things that you will find in countries like Liberia, and some of the places and post war, Eastern Europe and the 90s, and different kinds of places is, there is a level of resilience and a level of spirit that is built into society that comes almost entirely from experience with incredible hardship, just absolutely incredible hardship. And Liberia at the time that I was over there was amongst the, you know, five poorest countries in the world, after what had been 14 years of concrete civil war and 30 years of civil unrest. But the people that I met could not have been better spirited, and just nicer, more optimistic and incredible people.   Michael Hingson  48:52 So how long were you over there?   48:54 I was over there for less than a year and spent some time doing consulting, even after I came back to DC, but was on the ground for less than a year.   49:03 And when you came back from Liberia, what did you go off and do?   49:07 When I came back from Liberia and I want to, you know, couch this and my rationale, I had worked for Reverend Jesse Jackson on these big kind of global programs that that presidents and heads of state and you know, business leaders and all these different folks went over to Liberia and got this chance to work on, you know, kind of reinstituting a democracy and meaningful ways with the president who later on became a Nobel Prize, Peace Prize Laureate. And you know, what I came to realize, Michael, was that my opportunities were quickly outpacing my experience. And so what I said is, let's now try to find a place where I can get some of the fundamentals some of the framework for a lot of the work that I had the opportunity to do. And the place that I chose to go is Booz Allen Hamilton is a management consulting firm and you One of the largest public sector practices in the world. And so I went in with the intention of really being able to shore up my skills. And what happened? Well, hopefully they'll tell you that I was successful.   Michael Hingson  50:11 Okay, good.   Bradley Akubuiro  50:16 It was a really fascinating time to be there. You know, Booz Allen, had a lot of significant contracts. This was the time of the Affordable Care Act's passage. And so, you know, at the time that I went over, I got to work almost exclusively on ACA, and a lot is talked about in terms of the legislative kind of process to get that accomplished. But what is talked a lot less about is the actual opera operationalization of it, and what that looks like to stand up state health exchanges, and different states to actually entice somebody coming from, you know, a psychiatry program at top medical school, that choose to put on a uniform and go to a base at, you know, an Air Force base or an army base, and provide clinical care for those who are returning from war in Iraq and Afghanistan. And all of these were provisions of the bill. But actually implementing those things, was a very tall order. And so I got an opportunity to really kind of roll up my sleeves and work on a lot of that work. And that was incredibly formative work.   Michael Hingson  51:22 So it was a real challenge, of course, to get the Affordable Care Act passed. I remember in 2009, I was speaking at a an event for a companies whose hospital boards and leaders of the staffs of the hospitals in the network, were getting together and I went to, to speak, and talk about some of my experiences and talk about disabilities and so on. The person right before me, was a medical expert. He was, it was a person who talked about the whole concept of how we needed to change our whole idea and environment of medical care, and what we really needed to do as a country and so on. And he had been involved in every president's investigation of how to change the medical synth system. Ever since I think he went this was 2009, I think he went back to Nixon, Oh, wow. He, he said it all came down to the same thing. And he said The best example is, he was doing this as part of the team for Bill Clinton. And they talked about what needed to be done, how to change the medical system, and everybody bought into it, and so on, until it got down to specifics of saying what it was going to cost. And that they needed to deal with some of the provisions that eventually went into the Affordable Care Act. And he said, As soon as the politicians got a hold of it, and said, This is a horrible thing, you're gonna cause too much controversy, the President's would all run. And that's why no one ever got anything accomplished. And he also said that Obama was probably going to get something passed. And he actually predicted almost to a tee, if you will, what was going to pass. And that's exactly what passed and what didn't pass. And he said, later, we'll actually start to worry about the cost of, of medical coverage in this country, but they're not really willing to face that issue yet. And he predicted we would be able to do something by 2015. Well, that hasn't really happened yet, either. And now we're maybe making a little bit of a dent. But it was very fascinating to listen to him predict, based on so many years of expertise, what was going to happen.   Bradley Akubuiro  53:46 Yeah, I mean, that's incredible. And I will say, a lot of times the policy takes a backseat to the politics on these things. And it takes so much, you know, Will and kind of moral fortitude to get in there and drive these things, particularly when there's interests on the other side of it. But you know, I'm with you. We're not quite where I think you predicted we'd be in 2015. But driving towards it now. And hopefully we'll make more progress.   Michael Hingson  54:16 Yeah, we're slowly getting there. So what did you do after Booz Allen Hamilton?   Bradley Akubuiro  54:21 Yeah, so the things that I really love the most about that work during that time that the the change in a lot of that kind of management strategy was the change communications aspects of it. And so I knew that I wanted to get more fully into communications. And so the next few jobs for me, were discretely corporate communications, if you will. And so I got an opportunity to follow a mentor to a company called Pratt and Whitney jet engine company, you know, builds jet engines from from fighter jets to, you know, the big commercial airplanes that we fly in, and love that experience. It's moved to kind of the corporate side of that company to United Technologies in time and worked on a number of different mergers and acquisitions, including the spin offs of Otis, the big Elevator Company to carry air conditioning both of these which spun off into fortune 200 publicly traded companies their own, to ultimately what became you know, the merger with Raytheon. Raytheon? Yeah. Yeah, exactly. It most recently produced Raytheon technologies. And so a really, really fascinating set of experiences for me there. And then   Michael Hingson  55:35 you along the way, also, I guess, we're part of the formation of bully pulpit international with the Obama Biden administration.   Bradley Akubuiro  55:44 You know, I wasn't part of the founding, this all kind of happened in parallel with folks who I have a ton of respect for who I now work with bully pulpit, interact was formed in 2009, with a number of folks who came out of that Obama campaign, and then White House. And it started in the kind of digital marketing, digital persuasion space, and all of the kind of, you know, really amazing tactics and strategies that they learned on that campaign, particularly, as social media was starting to become more popularized and more mass adopted, they said, how do we start to apply some of that stuff, as you think about not only other campaigns, but to foundations and advocacy groups into corporations? And you know, you flash forward 1213 years now, and this is a fully operational 250 person agency, where we're focused on, you know, how do you help organizations of all types, you know, really express their values and find their voices on these really key important issues. But also, how do leaders make really tough decisions on things like, you know, Roe v. Wade, and what that means for their employee base, and what they're going to do policy wise, and how they're going to communicate around that afterwards? On through gun reform, and what folks do if you know, you are operating, and buffalo or in Texas, when you know, some of the massacres that happened earlier this year happen. And this has been, you know, really fascinating. And I came over here after being chief spokesperson for Boeing. And it's been really fun to reunite with some old friends and folks who have been doing this kind of work for a really long time now.   Michael Hingson  57:37 So Boeing, so when did you leave Boeing   Bradley Akubuiro  57:41 left Boeing, a year, just shy of a year and a half go   Michael Hingson  57:45 around during the whole 737 Max thing?   Bradley Akubuiro  57:49 Well, you know, interestingly, you bring this up, I was brought over to Boeing, in response to the 737. Max, you know, I was asked to come over and to really think about what does a world class Media Relations organization look like? That is going to be transparent, accountable, and 24/7? Around the globe? And more than anything, after you've had, you know, two accidents on the scale that they had, you know, how do we really become more human and how we interact with all of our stakeholders, internal and external on a lot of this stuff? And that was a really, really, really challenging, but rewarding process to be part of and to help lead?   Michael Hingson  58:33 How do you advise people? Or what do you advise people in those kinds of situations, you had a major crisis? And clearly, there's an issue? What do you what do you tell corporate executives to do? And how hard was it to get them to do it?   Bradley Akubuiro  58:49 Yeah. So on the first part of that question, it really comes down to being human, you got to put yourself in the shoes of the people that you're trying to communicate with, and to, if you are a person who lost a loved one, on a plane that went down outside of, you know, Addis Ababa, and Ethiopia, if you if you were, you know, one of the people who lost your, your spouse or your kid, you know, the last thing you want to hear from a company is, you know, we did things right, from an engineering standpoint, what you want to hear from that company, is, we are so sorry that this happened. And we're going to do absolutely everything in our power to ensure it can never happen again. And here are the steps we're taking and here's what we're going to do to try to make things right and you can never completely make things right. In that circumstance. You can at least be understanding.   Michael Hingson  59:48 I remember 1982 When we had the Tylenol cyanide incident, you know about that. Yeah. And if For us, and what was the most impressive thing about that was within two days, the president of company was out in front of it. And as you said, being human, that's a corporate lesson that more people really should learn.   Bradley Akubuiro  1:00:18 Yeah, it's a difficult thing to do. Because I think, and this isn't just lawyers, but it's easy to blame it on lawyers, the natural reaction is to immediately think, well, what's my liability going to be? What are people going to think if they think that I actually did make this mistake? And how do I cover it up? And how do I try to diffuse responsibility? And that is exactly the opposite of what you should do. And this isn't just good communications. This is good leadership.   Michael Hingson  1:00:44 Good leadership. Yeah,   Bradley Akubuiro  1:00:45 that's right. And we need more people to really understand that to your point.   Michael Hingson  1:00:50 Well, and with with Boeing, it sounds like if I recall, all of the stuff that least that we saw on the news, which may or may not have been totally accurate, there were some issues. And it took a while to deal with some of that to get people to, to face what occurred that necessarily things weren't going exactly the way they really should have in terms of what people were communicating and what people knew and didn't know.   Bradley Akubuiro  1:01:15 Yeah, well, then you ask the question, how difficult was it to get the senior executives to get on board with the new approach. And what I would say is, and this goes back to some of we were talking about earlier, the top down kind of approach to this, and what's happening and the most senior role matters the most. And the CEO who came in this was after the former CEO was was like, you know, the chief legal officer, the head of that business, and a number of different executives, you keep going on, had exited the company, the new CEO, who came in they've Calhoun, currently is still the CEO, they're brought in this new wave, this refreshing new approach and culture, and was all about how do we ensure that we are being accountable, and that we're being transparent, because that is what matters in this circumstance. And so with that license to operate, it was a lot easier to come in and convince folks Well, this is how we should approach this from a media perspective, from a communications staff perspective, and across the board, with our customers with regulators, cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Because everybody was on board that this is what we needed to do. And frankly, it's the only way to not only repair our reputation, because this is 100 year old company has been at the first of so many different things historically, from an aviation standpoint, and helped truly invent modern flight. So how do you create a reputation that people expect coming out of that, but also to respect again, those who trusted the company, because when you step on a fly, you know, you know, as Michael, when you stop on a flight, you don't want to think about whether it's gonna make it to the other side or not. You want to trust that it's gonna make it to the other side and focus on what you got to do when you get there and everything else in your life. And people had for a brief period of time lost that faith. And that is what we were really trying to restore.   Michael Hingson  1:03:15 Do you think you were pretty successful at getting faith and confidence restored,   Bradley Akubuiro  1:03:20 I think we've made a good start at bone still remains a client. And I would say that the work that is ongoing is going to take time, because it takes five seconds to lose your reputation. It takes a long time to rebuild it and to regain trust. And I think the company is committed to what it needs to do to do that. But it is a journey.   Michael Hingson  1:03:44 What do you advise people today you do a lot of consulting, and you're in

Augmented reveals the stories behind the new era of industrial operations, where technology will restore the agility of frontline workers. The topic is Industrial AI. Our guest is Professor Jay Lee, the Ohio Eminent Scholar, the L.W. Scott Alter Chair Professor in Advanced Manufacturing, and the Founding Director of the Industrial AI Center at the University of Cincinnati (https://www.iaicenter.com/). In this conversation, we talk about how AI does many things but to be applicable; the industry needs it to work every time, which puts additional constraints on what can be done by when. If you liked this show, subscribe at augmentedpodcast.co (https://www.augmentedpodcast.co/). If you liked this episode, you might also like Episode 81: From Predictive to Diagnostic Manufacturing Augmentation (https://www.augmentedpodcast.co/81). Augmented is a podcast for industry leaders, process engineers, and shop floor operators, hosted by futurist Trond Arne Undheim (https://trondundheim.com/) and presented by Tulip (https://tulip.co/). Follow the podcast on Twitter (https://twitter.com/AugmentedPod) or LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/75424477/). Trond's Takeaway: Industrial AI is a breakthrough that will take a while to mature. It implies discipline, not just algorithms. In fact, it entails a systems architecture consisting of data, algorithm, platform, and operation. Transcript: TROND: Welcome to another episode of the Augmented Podcast. Augmented brings industrial conversations that matter, serving up the most relevant conversations on industrial tech. Our vision is a world where technology will restore the agility of frontline workers. In this episode of the podcast, the topic is Industrial AI. Our guest is Professor Jay Lee, the Ohio Eminent Scholar, and the L.W. Scott Alter Chair Professor in Advanced Manufacturing, and the Founding Director of the Industrial AI Center at the University of Cincinnati. In this conversation, we talk about how AI does many things but to be applicable, industry needs it to work every time, which puts on additional constraints on what can be done by when. Augmented is a podcast for industrial leaders, process engineers, and shop floor operators hosted by futurist Trond Arne Undheim and presented by Tulip. Jay, it's a pleasure to have you here. How are you today? JAY: Good. Thank you for inviting me to have a good discussion about industrial AI. TROND: Yeah, I think it will be a good discussion. Look, Jay, you are such an accomplished person, both in terms of your academics and your industrial credentials. I wanted to quickly just go through where you got to where you are because I think, especially in your case, it's really relevant to the kinds of findings and the kinds of exploration that you're now doing. You started out as an engineer. You have a dual degree. You have a master's in industrial management also. And then you had a career in industry, worked at real factories, GM factories, Otis elevators, and even on Sikorsky helicopters. You had that background, and then you went on to do a bunch of different NSF grants. You got yourself; I don't know, probably before that time, a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Columbia. The rest of your career, and you correct me, but you've been doing this mix of really serious industrial work combined with academics. And you've gone a little bit back and forth. Tell me a little bit about what went into your mind as you were entering the manufacturing topics and you started working in factories. Why have you oscillated so much between industry and practice? And tell me really this journey; give me a little bit of specifics on what brought you on this journey and where you are today. JAY: Well, thank you for talking about this career because I cut my teeth from the factory early years. And so, I learned a lot of fundamental things in early years of automation. In the early 1980s, in the U.S, it was a tough time trying to compete with the Japanese automotive industry. So, of course, the Big Three in Detroit certainly took a big giant step, tried to implement a very good manufacturing automation system. So I was working for Robotics Vision System at that time in New York, in Hauppage, New York, Long Island. And shortly, later on, it was invested by General Motors. And in the meantime, I was studying part-time in Columbia for my mechanical engineering, Doctor of Engineering. And, of course, later on, I transferred to George Washington because I had to make a career move. So I finished my Ph.D. Doctor of Science in George Washington later. But the reason we stopped working on that is because of the shortage of knowledge in making automation work in the factory. So I was working full-time trying to implement the robots automation in a factory. In the meantime, I also found a lack of knowledge on how to make a robot work and not just how to make a robot move. Making it move means you can program; you can do very fancy motion. But that's not what factories want. What factories really want is a non-stop working system so they can help people to accomplish the job. So the safety, and the certainty, the accuracy, precision, maintenance, all those things combined together become a headache actually. You have to calibrate the robot all the time. You have to reprogram them. So eventually, I was teaching part-time in Stony Brook also later on how to do the robotic stuff. And I think that was the early part of my career. And most of the time I spent in factory and still in between the part-time study and part-time working. But later on, I got a chance to move to Washington, D.C. I was working for U.S. Postal Service headquarters as Program Director for automation. In 1988, post service started a big initiative trying to automate a 500 mil facility in the U.S. There are about 115 number one facilities which is like New York handled 8 million mail pieces per day at that time; you're talking about '88. But most are manual process, so packages. So we started developing the AI pattern recognition, hand-written zip code recognition, robotic postal handling, and things like that. So that was the opportunity that attracted me actually to move away from automotive to service industry. So it was interesting because you are working with top scientists from different universities, different companies to make that work. So that was the early stage of the work. Later on, of course, I had a chance to work with the National Science Foundation doing content administration in 1991. That gave me the opportunity to work with professors in universities, of course. So then, by working with them, I was working on a lot of centers like engineering research centers and also the Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers Program, and later on, the materials processing manufacturing programs. So 1990 was a big time for manufacturing in the United States. A lot of government money funded the manufacturer research, of course. And so we see great opportunity, like, for example, over the years, all the rapid prototyping started in 1990s. It took about 15-20 years before additive manufacturing came about. So NSF always looks 20 years ahead, which is a great culture, great intellectual driver. And also, they're open to the public in terms of the knowledge sharing and the talent and the education. So I think NSF has a good position to provide STEM education also to allow academics, professors to work with industry as well, not just purely academic work. So we support both sides. So that work actually allowed me to understand what is real status in research, in academics, also how far from real implementation. So in '95, I had the opportunity to work in Japan actually. I had an opportunity...NSF had a collaboration program with the MITI government in Japan. So I took the STA fellowship called science and technology fellow, STA, and to work in Japan for six months and to work with 55 organizations like Toyota, Komatsu, Nissan, FANUC, et cetera. So by working with them, then you also understand what the real technology level Japan was, Japanese companies were. So then you got calibration in terms of how much U.S. manufacturing? How much Japanese manufacturing? So that was in my head, actually. I had good weighting factors to see; hmm, what's going on here between these two countries? That was the time. So when I came back, I said, oh, there's something we have to do differently. So I started to get involved in a lot of other things. In 1998, I had the opportunity to work for United Technologies because UTC came to see me and said, "Jay, you should really apply what you know to real companies." So they brought me to work as a Director for Product Environment Manufacturing Department for UTRC, United Technology Research Center, in East Hartford. Obviously, UTC business included Pratt & Whitney jet engines, Sikorsky helicopters, Otis elevators, Carrier Air Conditioning systems, Hamilton Sundstrand, et cetera. So all the products they're worldwide, but the problem is you want to support global operations. You really need not just the knowledge, what you know, but also the physical usage, what you don't know. So you know, and you don't know. So how much you don't know about a product usage, that's how the data is supposed to be coming back. Unfortunately, back in 1999, I have to tell you; unfortunately, most of the product data never came back. By the time it got back, it is more like a repair overhaul recur every year to a year later. So that's not good. So in Japan, I was experimenting the first remote machine monitoring system using the internet actually in 1995. So I published a paper in '98 about how to remotely use physical machine and cyber machine together. In fact, I want to say that's the first digital twin but as a cyber-physical model together. That was in my paper in 1998 in Journal of Machine Tools and Manufacture. TROND: So, in fact, you were a precursor in so many of these fields. And it just strikes me that as you're going through your career here, there are certain pieces that you seem to have learned all along the way because when you are a career changer oscillating between public, private, semi-private, research, business, you obviously run the risk of being a dilettante in every field, but you seem to have picked up just enough to get on top of the next job with some insight that others didn't have. And then, when you feel like you're frustrated in that current role, you jump back or somewhere else to learn something new. It's fascinating to me because, obviously, your story is longer than this. You have startup companies with your students and others in this business and then, of course, now with the World Economic Forum Lighthouse factories and the work you've been doing for Foxconn as well. So I'm just curious. And then obviously, we'll get to industrial AI, which is so interesting in your perspective here because it's not just the technology of it; it is the industrial practice of this new domain that you have this very unique, practical experience of how a new technology needs to work. Well, you tell me, how did you get to industrial AI? Because you got there to, you know, over the last 15-20 years, you integrated all of this in a new academic perspective. JAY: Well, that's where we start. So like I said earlier, I realized industry we did not have data back in the late 1990s. And in 1999, dotcom collapsed, remember? TROND: Yes, yes. JAY: Yeah. So all the companies tried to say, "Well, we're e-business, e-business, e-commerce, e-commerce," then in 2000, it collapsed. But the reality is that people were talking about e-business, but in the real world, in industrial setting, there's no data almost. So I was thinking, I mean, it's time I need to think about how to look at data-centric perspectives, how to develop such a platform, and also analytics to support if one-day data comes with a worry-free kind of environment. So that's why I decided to transition to an academic career in the year 2000. So what I started thinking, in the beginning, was where has the most data? As we all know, the product lifecycle usage is out there. You have lots of data, but we're not collecting it. So eventually, I called a central Intelligent Maintenance System called IMS, not intelligent manufacturing system because maintenance has lots of usage data which most developers of a product don't know. But if we have a way to collect this data to analyze and predict, then we can guarantee the product uptime or the value creation, and then the customer will gain most of the value back. Now we can use the data feedback to close-loop design. That was the original thinking back in the year 2000, which at that time, no cell phone could connect to the internet. Of course, nobody believed you. So we used a term called near-zero downtime, near-zero downtime, ZDT. Nobody believed us. Intel was my first founding member. So I made a pitch to FANUC in 2001. Of course, they did not believe it either. Of course, FANUC in 2014 adopted ZDT, [laughs] ZDT as a product name. But as a joke, when I talked to the chairman, the CEO of the company in 2018 in Japan, Inaba-san that "Do you know first we present this ZDT to your company in Michigan? They didn't believe it. Now you guys adopted." "Oh, I didn't know you use it." So when he came to visit in 2019, they brought the gift. [laughs] So anyway, so what happened is during the year, so we worked with the study of 6 companies, 20 companies and eventually they became over 100 companies. And in 2005, I worked with Procter & Gamble and GE Aircraft Engine. They now became GE Aviation; then, they got a different environment. So machine learning became a typical thing you use every day, every program, but we don't really emphasize AI at that time. The reason is machine learning is just a tool. It's an algorithm like a support-vector machine, self-organizing map, and logistic regression. All those are just supervised learning or now supervised learning techniques. And people use it. We use it like standard work every day, but we don't talk about AI. But over the years, when you work with so many companies, then you realize the biggest turning point was Toyota 2005 and P&G in 2006. The reason I'm telling you 2005 is Toyota had big problems in the factory in Georgetown, Kentucky, where the Camry factory is located. So they had big compressor problems. So we implemented using machine learning, the support-vector machine, and also principal component analysis. And we enable that the surge of a compressor predicted and avoided and never happened. So until today -- TROND: So they have achieved zero downtime after that project, essentially. JAY: Yeah. So that really is the turning point. Of course, at P&G, the diaper line continues moving the high volume. They can predict things, reduce downtime to 1%. There's a lot of money. Diaper business that is like $10 billion per year. TROND: It's so interesting you focus on downtime, Jay, because obviously, in this hype, which we'll get to as well, people seem to focus so much on fully automated versus what you're saying, which is it doesn't really, you know, we will get to the automation part, but it is the downtime that's where a lot of the savings is obviously. Because whether it's a lights out or lights on, humans are not the real saving here. And the real accomplishment is in zero downtime because that is the industrialization factor. And that is what allows the system to keep operating. Of course, it has to do with automation, but it's not just that. Can you then walk us through what then became industrial AI for you? Because as I've now understood it, it is a highly specific term to you. It's not just some sort of fluffy idea of very, very advanced algorithms and robots running crazy around autonomously. You have very, very specific system elements. And they kind of have to work together in some architectural way before you're willing to call it an industrial AI because it may be a machine tool here, and a machine tool there, and some data here. But for you, unless it's put in place in a working architecture, you're not willing to call it, I mean, it may be an AI, but it is not an industrial AI. So how did this thinking then evolve for you? And what are the elements that you think are crucial for something that you even can start to call an industrial AI? Which you now have a book on, so you're the authority on the subject. JAY: Well, I think the real motivation was after you apply all the machine learning toolkits so long...and a company like National Instruments, NI, in Austin, Texas, they licensed our machine learning toolkits in 2015. And eventually, in 2017, they started using the embedding into LabVIEW version. So we started realizing, actually, the toolkit is very important, not just from the laboratory point of view but also from the production and practitioners' point of view from industry. Of course, researchers use it all the time for homework; I mean, that's fine. So eventually, I said...the question came to me about 2016 in one of our industry advisory board meeting. You have so many successes, but the successes that happen can you repeat? Can you repeat? Can you repeatably have the same success in many, many other sites? Repeatable, scalable, sustainable, that's the key three keywords. You cannot just have a one-time success and then just congratulate yourself and forget it, no. So eventually, we said, oh, to make that repeat sustainable, repeatable, you have a systematic discipline. TROND: I'm so glad you say this because I have taken part in a bunch of best practice schemes and sometimes very optimistically by either an industry association or even a government entity. And they say, "Oh yeah, let's just all go on a bunch of factory visits." Or if it's just an IT system, "Let's just all write down what we did, and then share it with other people." But in fact, it doesn't seem to me like it is that easy. It's not like if I just explain what I think I have learned; that's not something others can learn from. Can you explain to me what it really takes to make something replicable? Because you have done that or helped Foxconn do that, for example. And now you're obviously writing up case studies that are now shared in the World Economic Forum across companies. But there's something really granular but also something very systemic and structured about the way things have to be explained in order to actually make it repeatable. What is the sustainability factor that actually is possible to not just blue copy but turn it into something in your own factory? JAY: Well, I think that there are basically several things. The data is one thing. We call it the data technology, DT, and which means data quality evaluation. How do you understand what to use, what not to use? How do you know which data is useful? And how do you know where the data is usable? It doesn't mean useful data is usable, just like you have a blood donation donor, but the blood may not be usable if the donor has HIV. I like to use an analogy like food. You got a fish in your hand; wow, great. But you have to ask where the fish comes from. [chuckles] If it comes from polluted water, it's not edible, right? So great fish but not edible. TROND: So there's a data layer which has to be usable, and it has to be put somewhere and put to use. It actually then has to be used. It can't just be theoretically usable. JAY: So we have a lot of useful data people collect. The problem is people never realized lots of them are not usable because of a lack of a label. They have no background, and they're not normalized. So eventually, that is a problem. And even if you have a lot of data, it doesn't mean it is usable. TROND: So then I guess that's how you get to your second layer, which I guess most people just call machine learning, but for you, it's an algorithmic layer, which is where some of the structuring gets done and some of the machines that put an analysis on this, put in place automatic procedures. JAY: And machine learning to me it's like cooking ware like a kitchen. You got a pan fry; you got a steamer; you got the grill. Those are tools to cook the food, the data. Food is like data. Cooking ware is like AI. But it depends on purpose. For example, you want fish. What do you want to eat first? I want soup. There's a difference. Do you want to grill? Do you want to just deep fry? So depending on how you want to eat it, the cooking ware will be selected differently. TROND: Well, and that's super interesting because it's so easy to say, well, all these algorithms and stuff they're out there, and all you have to do is pick up some algorithms. But you're saying, especially in a factory, you can't just pick any tool. You have to really know what the effect would be if you start to...for example, on downtime, right? Because I'm imagining there are very many advanced techniques that could be super advanced, but they are perhaps not the right tool for the job, for the workers that are there. So how does that come into play? Are these sequential steps, by the way? So once you figure out what the data is then, you start to fiddle with your tools. JAY: Well, there are two perspectives; one perspective is predict and prevent. So you predict something is going to happen. You prevent it from happening, number one. Number two, understand the root causes and potential root causes. So that comes down to the visible and invisible perspective. So from the visible world, we know what to measure. For example, if you have high blood pressure, you measure blood pressure every day, but that may not be the reason for high blood pressure. It may be because of your DNA, maybe because of the food you eat, because of lack of exercise, because of many other things, right? TROND: Right. JAY: So if you keep measuring your blood pressure doesn't mean you have no heart attack. Okay, so if you don't understand the reason, measuring blood pressure is not a problem. So I'm saying that you know what you don't know. So we need to find out what you don't know. So the correlation of invisible, I call, visible-invisible. So I will predict, but you also want to know the invisible reason relationship so you can prevent that relationship from happening. So that is really called deep mining those invisibles. So we position ourselves very clearly between visible-invisible. A lot of people just say, "Oh, we know what the problem is." The problem is not a purpose. For example, the factory manufacturing there are several very strong purposes, number one quality, right? Worry-free quality. Number two, your efficiency, how much you produce per dollar. If you say that you have great quality, but I spent $10,000 to make it, it is very expensive. But if you spend $2 to make it, wow, that's great. How did you do it? So quality per dollar is a very different way of judging how good you are. You got A; I spent five days studying. I got A; I spent two hours studying. Now you show the capability difference. TROND: I agree. And then the third factor in your framework seems to be platform. And that's when I think a lot of companies go wrong as well because platform is...at least historically in manufacturing, you pick someone else's platform. You say I'm going to implement something. What's available on the market, and what can I afford, obviously? Or ideally, what's the state of the art? And I'll just do that because everyone seems to be doing that. What does platform mean to you, and what goes into this choice? If you're going to create this platform for industrial AI, what kind of a decision is that? JAY: So DT is data, AT is algorithm, and PT is platform, PT platform. Platform means some common things are used in a shared community. For example, kitchen is a platform. You can cook. I can cook. I can cook Chinese food. I can cook Italian food. I can cook Indian food. Same kitchen but different recipe, different seasoning, but same cooking ware. TROND: Correct. Well, because you have a good kitchen, right? JAY: Yes. TROND: So that's -- JAY: [laughs] TROND: Right? JAY: On the platform, you have the most frequently used tool, not everything. You don't need 100 cooking ware in your kitchen. You probably have ten or even five most daily used. TROND: Regardless of how many different cuisines you try to cook. JAY: Exactly. That's called the AI machine toolkit. So we often work with companies and say, "You don't need a lot of tools, come on. You don't need deep learning. You need a good logistic regression and support-vector machine, and you're done." TROND: Got it. JAY: Yeah, you don't need a big chainsaw to cut small bushes. You don't need it. TROND: Right. And that's a very different perspective from the IT world, where many times you want the biggest tool possible because you want to churn a lot of data fast, and you don't really know what you're looking for sometimes. So I guess the industrial context here really constrains you. It's a constraint-based environment. JAY: Yes. So industry, like I said, the industry we talked about three Ps like I said: problems, purposes, and processes. So normally, problem comes from...the main thing is logistic problems, machine, and factory problems, workforce problems, the quality problems, energy problem, ignition problem, safety problems. So the problem happens every day. That's why in factory world, we call it firefighting. Typically, you firefight every day. TROND: And is that your metaphor for the last part of your framework, which is actually operation? So operation sounds really nice and structured, right? JAY: [chuckles] Yes. TROND: As if that was like, yeah, that's the real thing, process. We got this. But in reality, it feels sometimes, to many who are operating a factory; it's a firefight. JAY: Sometimes the reason lean theme work, Six Sigma, you turn a problem into a process, five Ss process, okay? And fishbone diagram, Pareto chart, and Kaizen before and after. So all the process, SOP, so doesn't matter which year workforce comes in, they just repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat. So in Toyota, the term used to be called manufacturing is just about the discipline. It's what they said. The Japanese industry manufacturing is about discipline, how you follow a discipline to everyday standard way, sustainable way, consistent way, and then you make good products. This is how the old Toyota was talking about, old one. But today, they don't talk that anymore. Training discipline is only one thing; you need to understand the value of customers. TROND: Right. So there are some new things that have to be added to the lean practices, right? JAY: Yes. TROND: As time goes by. So talk to me then more about the digital element because industrial AI to you, clearly, there's a very clear digital element, but there's so many, many other things there. So I'm trying to summarize your framework. You have these four factors: data, algorithms, platforms, and operations. These four aspects of a system that is the challenge you are dealing with in any factory environment. And some of them have to do with digital these days, and others, I guess, really have to do more with people. So when that all comes together, do you have some examples? I don't know, we talked about Toyota, but I know you've worked with Foxconn and Komatsu or Siemens. Can you give me an example of how this framework of yours now becomes applied in a context? Where do people pick up these different elements, and how do they use them? JAY: There's a matrix thinking. So horizontal thinking is a common thing; you need to have good digital thread including DT, data technology, AT, algorithms or analytics, PT, platform, edge cloud, and the things, and OT operation like scheduling, optimizations, stuff like that. Now, you got verticals, quality vertical, cost vertical, efficiency verticals, safety verticals, emission verticals. So you cannot just talk about general. You got to have focus on verticals. For example, let me give you one example: quality verticals. Quality is I'm the factory manager. I care about quality. Yes, the customer will even care more, so they care. But you have a customer come to your shop once a month to check. You ask them, "Why you come?" "Oh, I need to see how good your production." "How about you don't have to come? You can see my entire quality." "Wow, how do I do that?" So eventually, we develop a stream of quality code, SOQ, Stream Of Quality. So it's not just about the product is good. I can go back to connect all the processes of the quality segment of each station. Connect them together. Just like you got a fish, oh, okay, the fish is great. But I wonder, when the fish came out of water, when the fish was in the truck, how long was it on the road? And how long was it before reaching my physical distribution center and to my home? So if I have a sensor, I can tell you all the temperature history inside the box. So when you get your fish, you take a look; oh, from the moment the fish came out of the boat until it reached my home, the temperature remained almost constant. Wow. Now you are worry-free. It's just one thing. So you connect together. So that's why we call SOQ, Stream Of Quality, like a river connected. So by the time a customer gets a quality product, they can trace back and say, "Wow, good. How about if I let you see it before you come? How about you don't come?" I say, "Oh, you know what? I like it." That's what this type of manufacturing is about. It just doesn't make you happy. You have to make the customer happy, worry-free. MID-ROLL AD: In the new book from Wiley, Augmented Lean: A Human-Centric Framework for Managing Frontline Operations, serial startup founder Dr. Natan Linder and futurist podcaster Dr. Trond Arne Undheim deliver an urgent and incisive exploration of when, how, and why to augment your workforce with technology, and how to do it in a way that scales, maintains innovation, and allows the organization to thrive. The key thing is to prioritize humans over machines. Here's what Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, says about the book: "Augmented Lean is an important puzzle piece in the fourth industrial revolution." Find out more on www.augmentedlean.com and pick up the book in a bookstore near you. TROND: So, Jay, you took the words out of my mouth because I wanted to talk about the future. I'm imagining when you say worry-free, I mean, you're talking about a soon-to-be state of manufacturing. Or are you literally saying there are some factories, some of the excellence factories where you've won awards in the World Economic Forum or other places that are working towards this worry-free manufacturing, and to some extent, they have achieved it? Well, elaborate for me a little bit about the future outlook of manufacturing and especially this people issue because you know that I'm engaged...The podcast is called Augmented Podcast. I'm engaged in this debate about automation. Well, is there a discrepancy between automation and augmentation? And to what extent is this about people running the system? Or is it the machines that we should optimize to run all the system? For you, it's all about worry-free. First of all, just answer this question, is worry-free a future ideal, or is it actually here today if you just do the right things? JAY: Well, first of all, worry-free is our mindset where the level of satisfaction should be, right? TROND: Yep. JAY: So to make manufacturing happen is not about how to make good quality, how to make people physically have less worry, how to make customers less worry is what is. But the reason we have a problem with workforce today, I mean, we have a hard time to hire not just highly skilled workers but even regular workforce. Because for some reason, not just U.S., it seems everywhere right now has similar problems. People have more options these days to select other living means. They could be an Uber driver. [laughs] They could be...I don't know. So there are many options. You don't have to just go to the factory to make earnings. They can have a car and drive around Uber and Lyft or whatever. They can deliver the food and whatever. So they can do many other things. And so today, you want to make workforce work environment more attractive. You have to make sure that they understand, oh, this is something they can learn; they can grow. They are fulfilled because the environment gives them a lot of empowerment. The vibe, the environment gives them a wow, especially young people; when you attract them from college, they'd like a wow kind of environment, not just ooh, okay. [laughs] TROND: Yeah. Well, it's interesting you're saying this. I mean, we actually have a lack of workers. So it's not just we want to make factories full of machines; it's actually the machines are actually needed just because there are no workers to fill these jobs. But you're looking into a future where you do think that manufacturing is and will be an attractive place going forward. That seems to be that you have a positive vision of the future we're going into. You think this is attractive. It's interesting for workers. JAY: Yeah. See, I often say that there are some common horizontal we have to use all the day. Vertical is the purpose, quality. I talked about vertical quality first, quality. But what are the horizontal common? I go A, B, C, D, E, F. What's A? AI. B is big data. C is cyber and cloud. D is digital or digital twin, whatever. E is environment ecosystem and emission reduction. What's F? Very important, fun. [laughs] If you miss that piece, who wants to work for a place there's no fun? You tell me would you work for...you and I, we're talking now because it's fun. You talk to people and different perspectives. I talk to you, and I say, wow, you've built some humongous network here in the physical...the future of digital, not just professional space but also social space but also the physical space. So, again, the fun things inspire people, right? TROND: They do. So talking about inspiring people then, Jay, if you were to paint a picture of this future, I guess, we have talked just now about workers and how if you do it right, it's going to be really attractive workplaces in manufacturing. How about for, I guess, one type of worker, these knowledge workers more generally? Or, in fact, is there a possibility that you see that not just is it going to be a fun place to be for great, many workers, but it's actually going to be an exciting knowledge workplace again? Which arguably, industrialization has gone through many stages. And being in a factory wasn't always all that rosy, but it was certainly financially rewarding for many. And it has had an enormous career progression for others who are able to find ways to exploit this system to their benefit. How do you see that going forward? Is there a scope, is there a world in which factory work can or perhaps in an even new way become truly knowledge work where all of these industrial AI factors, the A to the Fs, produce fun, but they produce lasting progression, and career satisfaction, empowerment, all these buzzwords that everybody in the workplace wants and perhaps deserves? JAY: That's how we look at the future workforce is not just about the work but also the knowledge force. So basically, the difference is that people come in, and they become seasoned engineers, experienced engineers. And they retire, and the wisdom carries with them. Sometimes you have documentation, Excel sheet, PPT in the server, but nobody even looks at it. That's what today's worry is. So now what you want is living knowledge, living intelligence. The ownership is very important. For example, I'm a worker. I develop AI, not just the computer software to help the machine but also help me. I can augment the intelligence. I will augment it. When I make the product happen, the inspection station they check and just tell me pass or no pass. They also tell me the quality, 98, 97, but you pass. And then you get your score. You got a 70, 80, 90, but you got an A. 99, you got an A, 91, you got an A, 92. So what exactly does A mean? So, therefore, I give you a reason, oh, this is something. Then I learn. Okay, I can contribute. I can use voice. I can use my opinion to augment that no, labeled. So next time people work, oh, I got 97. And so the reason is the features need to be maintained, to be changed, and the system needs to be whatever. So eventually, you have a human contribute. The whole process could be consisting of 5 experts, 7, 10, 20, eventually owned by 20 people. That legacy continues. And you, as a worker, you feel like you're part of the team, leave a legacy for the next generation. So eventually, it's augmented intelligence. The third level will be actual implementation. So AI is not about artificial intelligence; it is about actual implementation. So people physically can implement things in a way they can make data to decisions. So their decision mean I want to make an adjustment. I want to find out how much I should adjust. Physically, I can see the gap. I can input the adjustment level. The system will tell me physically how could I improve 5%. Wow, that's good. I made a 5% improvement. Your boss also knows. And your paycheck got the $150 increase this month. Why? Because my contribution to the process quality improved, so I got the bonus. That's real-world feedback. TROND: Let me ask you one last question about how this is going to play out; I mean, in terms of how the skilling of workers is going to allow this kind of process. A lot of people are telling me about the ambitions that I'm describing...and some of the guests on the podcasts and also the Tulip software platform, the owner of this podcast, that it is sometimes optimistic to think that a lot of the training can just be embedded in the work process. That is obviously an ideal. But in America, for example, there is this idea that, well, you are either a trained worker or an educated worker, or you are an uneducated worker. And then yes, you can learn some things on the job. But there are limits to how much you can learn directly on the job. You have to be pulled out, and you have to do training and get competencies. As you're looking into the future, are there these two tracks? So you either get yourself a short or long college degree, and then you move in, and then you move faster. Or you are in the factory, and then if you then start to want to learn things, you have to pull yourself out and take courses, courses, courses and then go in? Or is it possible through these AI-enabled training systems to get so much real-time feedback that a reasonably intelligent person actually never has to be pulled out of work and actually they can learn on the job truly advanced things? So because there are two really, really different futures here, one, you have to scale up an educational system. And, two, you have to scale up more of a real-time learning system. And it seems to me that they're actually discrepant paths. JAY: Sure. To me, I have a framework in my book. I call it the four P structure, four P. First P is principle-based. For example, in Six Sigma, in lean manufacturing, there's some basic stuff you have to study, basic stuff like very simple fishbone diagram. You have to understand those things. You can learn by yourself what that is. You can take a very basic introduction course. So we can learn and give you a module. You can learn yourself or by a group, principle-based. The second thing is practice-based. Basically, we will prepare data for you. We will teach you how to use a tool, and you will do it together as a team or as individual, and you present results by using data I give to you, the tool I give to you. And it's all, yeah, my team A presented. Oh, they look interesting. And group B presented, so we are learning from each other. Then after the group learning is finished, you go back to your team in the real world. You create a project called project-based learning. You take a tool you learn. You take the knowledge you learn and to find a project like a Six Sigma project you do by yourself. You formulate. And then you come back to the class maybe a few weeks later, present with a real-world project based on the boss' approval. So after that, you've got maybe a black belt but with the last piece professional. Then you start teaching other people to repeat the first 3ps. You become master black belt. So we're not reinventing a new term. It really is about a similar concept like lean but more digital space. Lean is about personal experience, and digital is about the data experience is what's the big difference. TROND: But either way, it is a big difference whether you have to rely on technological experts, or you can do a lot of these things through training and can get to a level of aptitude that you can read the signals at least from the system and implement small changes, perhaps not the big changes but you can at least read the system. And whether they're low-code or no-code, you can at least then through learning frameworks, you can advance, and you can improve in not just your own work day, but you can probably in groups, and feedbacks, and stuff you can bring the whole team and the factory forward perhaps without relying only on these external types of expertise that are actually so costly because they take you away. So per definition, you run into this; I mean, certainly isn't worry-free because there is an interruption in the process. Well, look, this is fascinating. Any last thoughts? It seems to me that there are so many more ways we can dig deeper on your experience in any of these industrial contexts or even going deeper in each of the frameworks. Is there a short way to encapsulate industrial AI that you can leave us with just so people can really understand? JAY: Sure. TROND: It's such a fundamental thing, AI, and people have different ideas about that, and industry people have something in their head. And now you have combined them in a unique way. Just give us one sentence: what is industrial AI? What should people leave this podcast with? JAY: AI is a cognitive science, but industrial AI is a systematic discipline is one sentence. So that means people have domain knowledge. Now we have to create data to represent our domain then have the discipline to solve the domain problems. Usually, with domain knowledge, we try with our experience, and you and I know; that's it. But we have no data coming out. But if I have domain become data and data become discipline, then other people can repeat our success even our mistake; they understand why. So eventually, domain, data, discipline, 3 Ds together, you can make a good decision, sustainable and long-lasting. TROND: Jay, this has been so instructive. I thank you for spending this time with me. And it's a little bit of a never-ending process. JAY: [laughs] TROND: Industry is not something that you can learn it and then...because also the domain changes and what you're doing and what you're producing changes as well. So it's a lifelong -- JAY: It's rewarding. TROND: Rewarding but lifelong quest. JAY: Yeah. Well, thank you for the opportunity to share, to discuss. Thank you. TROND: It's a great pleasure. You have just listened to another episode of the Augmented Podcast with host Trond Arne Undheim. The topic was Industrial AI. And our guest was Professor Jay Lee from University of Cincinnati. In this conversation, we talked about how AI in industry needs to work every time and what that means. My takeaway is that industrial AI is a breakthrough that will take a while to mature. It implies discipline, not just algorithms. In fact, it entails a systems architecture consisting of data, algorithm, platform, and operation. Thanks for listening. If you liked the show, subscribe at augmentedpodcast.co or in your preferred podcast player, and rate us with five stars. If you liked this episode, you might also like Episode 81: From Predictive to Diagnostic Manufacturing Augmentation. Hopefully, you'll find something awesome in these or in other episodes, and if so, do let us know by messaging us. We would love to share your thoughts with other listeners. The Augmented Podcast is created in association with Tulip, the frontline operation platform that connects the people, machines, devices, and systems used in a production or logistics process in a physical location. Tulip is democratizing technology and is empowering those closest to operations to solve problems. Tulip is also hiring. You can find Tulip at tulip.co. Please share this show with colleagues who care about where industry and especially where industrial tech is heading. To find us on social media is easy; we are Augmented Pod on LinkedIn and Twitter and Augmented Podcast on Facebook and YouTube. Augmented — industrial conversations that matter. See you next time. Special Guest: Jay Lee.

The world has evolved, insisting that technology and humanity work hand in hand.   In this episode of Fifth Dimensional Leadership, I interview Chris Cochran and Ronald Eddings, Co-Founders of Hacker Valley Media, a multimedia production company that explores cybersecurity through person-centered storytelling. In our conversation, Chris and Ron talk about bridging technology and people through accessible information on cybersecurity and leadership.   Chris is Co-Founder and CEO of Hacker Valley Media. He is equal parts creator and technologist. He has extensive experience building and running strong cybersecurity programs and content, as well as a wealth of experience and passion for security operations, engineering, and leadership. His ultimate passion is finding and amplifying human stories to inspire and enlighten our community. Chris was in the Marines and led cybersecurity teams at Booz Allen, United Technologies, and Netflix, and has been a Visiting Fellow at the National Security Institute.   Ron is the Co-Founder and Executive Producer at Hacker Valley Media. His mission is to inspire, empower and uplift the technology community through knowledge and human stories so that others have the opportunity to reach their potential.  He has a lifelong commitment to learning and teaching. He has held security and cybersecurity roles at McAfee and Palo Alto Networks.    Things you will also learn in this episode: How Marvel superheroes inspire these media technologists What “Threat Intelligence” means and how cybersecurity relates to media. The diversity of experience and expertise required for the cybersecurity field. What it means to be a “Solution Excavator” and “Master Manifester.” How Chris and Ron manifested a world-class athlete as a guest on their podcast and became friends. Their take on machine learning, artificial intelligence, AR/VR, Web 3.0 and cryptocurrency    Quotes:   Chris Cochran   “If you want something to come to fruition, you have to want it and put in a plan in place to do it.” “Sometimes, the more audacious the goal, the more imposter syndrome you feel, that's a great opportunity for you to grow as a person.”   “If you put great things out to the Universe, the Universe will answer back.”   “Things are changing all the time, and there's always someone looking to take advantage of this change. But knowing that there are people that have dedicated their lives to protecting us should bring us peace.”   Ronald Eddings   “You can trust your mind, but you should verify.”   “Having friendships and networks can go a long way and result in things you never thought would happen at all.”   “Positive sum” is about conspiring to work with each other directly or indirectly… and work together.

In celebration of National Manufacturing Day on Oct. 7, Penn United will have an opening ceremony and open recruiting event focused on manufacturing line technicians for its newly renovated manufacturing facility. During this event, Penn United will showcase its new facility, and promote careers in manufacturing for the high-tech markets we serve throughout our Penn United organization.  Hear from Vice President Charlie Phillips about what's driving growth at Penn United, open positions and get more details on touring the new manufacturing facility. Learn more at www.pennunited.com.

Grew up in Seattle Washington and attended Washington and State University; graduating in 1963 with a degree in Physical Science.Served five years active duty in the Air Force, and then served the remainder of the time in reserves, for a total of sixteen years. This was enough time for me to keep my commission and retire without benefits. I was stationed for a year at Fairchild AFB as a Deputy Crew Commander with the Atlas missile system (1965), and three years at Minot AFB with the Minuteman system.After active duty, employed at Hamilton Standard (Division of United Technologies) in Connecticut as Senior Experiential Engineer and project manager for the development of Air Force Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) and Apollo astronaut backpacks.In 1970 began a 32-year career as a Data Systems Analyst for two major companies in Seattle Washington. And retired in 2002.In 2005 I revealed the UFO incident I was involved with at Minot AFB in 1966. I was discovered by Robert Hastings in 2010 and appeared with Robert Salas at the Citizens Hearing on Disclosure in 2013.Married, with a combined family of four children, eight grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Dr. Michael Zeyzey.com[Twitter] @futurist3000Dr. Michael Zey is an internationally recognized sociologist and future trends/ longevity expert and author of Ageless Nation, The Future Factor, Seizing the Future and numerous articles on social, economic and political trends. For over two decades he has keynoted various conferences, professional meetings, and trade shows for organizations such as AT&T, United Technologies, United Airlines, Dow Jones, and the World Future Society. https://www.zey.com/Author & Psychic Medium Joyce KellerWebsite: www.joycekeller.comBook "Seven Steps To Heaven"Joyce Keller is an internationally known visionary, author, television and radio host, media personality, author of six best-selling books which are sold internationally, including England, Greece, Italy, Africa, China, and many other countries. Joyce has been a columnist for Lifetime Television and is a certified hypno-therapist who has safely and successfully lead thousands of people overcome weight problems, and many other human difficulties. https://joycekeller.com/Valerie Greenbergred carpet hostcelebrity lifestyle hosthttps://www.tipsontv.com/tag/valerie-greenberg/@valgreenbergValerie Greenberg and her business model youvebeenVALidated provide confidence boosting tips and problem-solving solutions to viewers across the globe. Valerie produces and presents upbeat features content bringing the latest trends to the forefront on broadcast and social platforms. She is committed to inspiring and connecting people and uplifting their confidence. https://youvebeenvalidated.com/

Andrew is an executive and board leader with a deep understanding of technology, innovation, and complex systems. As a physicist, program manager, and officer in the USAF he applied systems thinking to the full technology stack of command, control, communications, and intelligence (C3I) systems in airborne and space-based platforms. He has used that same approach across a broad array of industries and products to create value and sustainable superior performance.Over his career, his experiences in developing teams and implementing strategies have enabled innovation, growth, and profitability improvements in aerospace, commercial electronics, fast-moving consumer goods, and industrial sensors and safety products. He is an NACD Certified Director with experiences on Fortune 500 wholly owned subsidiaries, start-ups, private, and non-profit boards.He currently serves as Chairman and CEO for RealWear, and as a board member on the Finance Committee for the Rogers Group. RealWear is building the world's first voice-driven and fully ruggedized head-mounted tablet solution for connected industrial workers. It is the only wearable computer that has an inherently safe ATEX Zone-1 certified product for use in hazardous environments such as oil and gas production and chemical processing. RealWear's approach to augmented and assisted reality solutions is transforming how work is performed by addressing key challenges in workforce training, safety, and productivity with IoT data visualization, remote mentoring, and workflow applications. In this conversation, Andrew and I discuss the true meaning of leadership, the power of solitude, and how your strengths can become your weaknesses. Connect with Andrew on Twitter - andrewchros and LinkedIn - /in/andrewchrostowskiBook suggestions included; Team of Teams, Out of the Crisis, How to Win Friends and Influence People, and anything by Simon Sinek—-Prior to his current role, Andrew served briefly as COO, chaired the Advisory Board for RealWear, and was a member of the Audit Committee. The Rogers Group Inc. provides crushed stone, sand and gravel, asphalt and highway construction to the southeastern United States. In 2014, the company was ranked as the eighth largest aggregates producer in the nation (Aggregates Manager, July 2015). For the past several years, has remained the largest privately owned company in the aggregates industry.Additionally, Andrew consults and advises on issues of technology development, innovation, productivity, operations, cybersecurity, and digital strategies.Other roles included increasingly responsible positions in general management, operations, quality, compliance, and information systems with industry-leading companies such as Johnson Controls, Tyco, United Technologies, Goodrich, Energizer, Pfizer, Warner-Lambert, and Hitachi.He holds two undergraduate degrees in Engineering Physics from Oregon State University's Honor Program where he was a distinguished graduate of Air Force ROTC. He has a Master's Degree in Systems Management from the University of Southern California and later completed a certificate of professional development at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.He is a founding member, Faculty Instructor, Board Advisor and Qualified Technology Executive of the Digital Directors Network, the only curated global network of digital executives, directors and organizations working together to improve digital competence and diversity in the corporate boardroom to shape and secure the digital future for everyoneDiscover more:Interested in coaching services, check out Live for Yourself Consulting and Dr. Benjamin Ritter

Welcome to The New Talent Code! In this first episode, Ligia Zamora and Jason Cerrato kick off the show to share how they have cultivated a passion for the talent space as well as what makes them qualified to speak to an audience on how to crack the new talent code alongside their guests. Jason dives into his non-linear career path - from recruiter to HR leader at United Technologies to Gartner analyst to vendor product marketing - and how these varied roles have all been connected by adjacent skills. And Ligia describes her own non-linear career path from civil engineer to "accidental CMO," and why she keeps coming back to work in the HR space. Join Jason and Ligia as they delve into the transformation that needs to happen in the talent space in order to take on the new world of work. And to figure out how to hire, upskill, reskill, promote and re-deploy talent based on an individual's capability and potential.

German-born Christoph Feddersen would not be where he is today, the Vice President & General Counsel at Collins Aerospace in Charlotte, North Carolina, were it not for the tremendous opportunities he was given to stretch himself.  Early opportunities came at international law firms Cleary Gottlieb and Morgan Lewis, and they continued to pop up in later roles as executive assistant to the chairman and CEO at United Technologies and vice president and general counsel for UTC Aerospace.   In his current role, he looks to pay it forward by empowering a global network of legal, trade, and contracts professionals, and providing opportunities for them to prove their mettle and grow.   It's all part of the culture he has fostered, one built on a steady foundation of support and improvement.  We discuss: Integrating legal departments and balancing subject matter expertise across the organization Why culture is a key tool in talent retention How in-house departments and outside counsel can collaborate on DEI The value of employee resource groups  Hear more stories by subscribing to Innovative Legal Leadership on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast platform.  Listening on a desktop & can't see the links? Just search for Innovative Legal Leadership in your favorite podcast player.

652: In this interview, Vince Campisi, Chief Digital Officer and SVP of Enterprise Services at Raytheon Technologies, discusses how he is creating a digital thread throughout the conglomerate. Vince gives an overview of Raytheon Technologies, its merger with United Technologies, and the two sides of his purview. He describes what the digital thread at the company looks like and how it has accelerated the pace at which the company can create minimal viable products in the space. Vince also covers how he brings both unique and common solutions to the companies under the Raytheon umbrella, how he has curated his team at the company, and how he leverages an ecosystem of partners to accomplish the speed of innovation he seeks to achieve. Finally, Vince talks about his 70-20-10 philosophy behind investing in innovation, developing a sound data strategy, and the tech trends that he believes will change the aerospace industry down the road.

652: In this interview, Vince Campisi, Chief Digital Officer and SVP of Enterprise Services at Raytheon Technologies, discusses how he is creating a digital thread throughout the conglomerate. Vince gives an overview of Raytheon Technologies, its merger with United Technologies, and the two sides of his purview. He describes what the digital thread at the company looks like and how it has accelerated the pace at which the company can create minimal viable products in the space. Vince also covers how he brings both unique and common solutions to the companies under the Raytheon umbrella, how he has curated his team at the company, and how he leverages an ecosystem of partners to accomplish the speed of innovation he seeks to achieve. Finally, Vince talks about his 70-20-10 philosophy behind investing in innovation, developing a sound data strategy, and the tech trends that he believes will change the aerospace industry down the road.

We are going back into our archive to bring you one of our all-time favourite episodes of the podcast featuring Kim Masucci, a Fortune 500 Treasury Executive. Kim joins me on this episode of the Treasury Career Corner podcast to talk about her fascinating career in treasury. She possesses over 20 years' experience in finance, 14 of those years in treasury-specific roles at United Technologies (now Raytheon), Otis, and Linde. Throughout her 14 years in treasury-specific roles, she has mostly had operational roles focused on FX and intercompany lending, domestic cash management, netting, internal dividend program, and capital markets. She also spent a year in FP&A focused on board presentations for the CFO, economics, and incentive compensation. More recently, she was a director of foreign exchange and intercompany lending at Otis Elevator. On the podcast we discussed… How Kim got started in treasury and finance from her university days to now Why Kim was interested in treasury How Kim progressed through different roles within the same company Kim talks about her experience as Associate Director of capital markets How the pandemic has impacted Kim and her career Tips to help treasurers adjust to the recent changes What Kim looks for in resumes and potential new team members Kim shares her key tips for other treasurers Kim shares what she has been up to since the last podcast The common themes Kim is seeing in treasury postings today If you want to get in touch with Kim, you can connect with her on https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-masucci-b6959327/ (LinkedIn). Are you interested in pursuing a career within Treasury? Whether you've recently graduated, or you want to search for new job opportunities to help develop your treasury career, The Treasury Recruitment Company can help you in your search for the perfect job. https://treasuryrecruitment.com/jobs (Find out more here). Or, send us your CV and let us help you in your next career move! If you're enjoying the show please rate and review us on whatever podcast app you listen to us on, for Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-treasury-career-corner/id1436647162#see-all/reviews (click here)!

Predictable Success® was founded and is managed by international keynote speaker and bestselling author Les McKeown.Les has over 25 years of global business experience, including starting 42 companies in his own right. He was the founding partner of an incubation consulting company that launched hundreds of businesses with thousands of employees.A native of Ireland, Les was awarded the Samuel Smyth Memorial Prize as a Chartered Accountant (CPA) in the UK and was, at that time, the youngest qualified Chartered Accountant in the UK. After a brief period with Price Waterhouse (now PwC), Les became Ireland's youngest ever accounting firm partner.After a long career in advising individuals and organizations on growth and development, Les started his own training and development business; when he sold his share in that practice to his business partner in 1998, it had grown to a 13-office, worldwide training and consulting business. In 1999, Les relocated to the US, from where he writes, teaches and consults in high-performance organizational development.Les' clients include Harvard University, US Army, Pella, Chiron Corporation, Microsoft, United Technologies, Overture Services (a Yahoo! company), Canadian Defence Department, MI-SWACO, St Vincent Health, Verisign American Express, and many others.Les is an internationally-renowned keynote speaker, with experience speaking to groups at Google, DO Lectures and numerous Fortune 500 companies. He is the author of national best-seller 'Predictable Success: Getting Your Organization on the Growth Track, and Keeping It There', 'The Synergist: Leading Your Team to Predictable Success', and 'Do Lead: Share your vision. Inspire others. Work towards a common goal.' His next book, ‘Do Scale' will be released in Spring 2019.https://predictablesuccess.com/

Paul Szyarto developed a never broken mindset while growing up on the streets of New Jersey surrounded by violence. Furthermore, had no guidance and lived in a home filled with dysfunction from an abusive alcoholic, drug using father. And, his father attempted to kill his mother when Paul was 13 years old. Most people don't survive these situations.  Consequently, core values supported Paul to rise from the violence, abuse, and poverty in his life to become the influencer he is today. He's an Oxford University and Wharton Business School educated expert in business operations and technology. In addition,  he's spent the last twenty years maximizing the bottom line of more than 1000 global companies including Microsoft, Goodyear, BP, GE, United Technologies, Kellogg and more from the Fortune 500 list by redefining how they operate in regards to people, processes, and technologies.   In this interview, we discuss Paul's never broken mindset and his life journey. And we learn how Paul went from from nothing to everything. Finally, listen and learn what's next for Paul. Hint - he's enrolled in higher education again! Resources Mentioned:  Visit Paul's website  Paul  on LinkedIn Connect with Emily on LinkedIn  Emily Harman Positive Intelligence Coaching Program  Onward Accelerator Coaching Program Onward: Twitter | Onward Movement Facebook Group | YouTube Buy Emily's Best Selling Book Step Into the Spotlight Schedule a Complimentary Coaching Call with Emily Music by Soul Pajamas Enjoyed the show? Please remember to leave a rating and review in Apple Podcasts.

On this episode of The Shape of Work podcast, we are joined by Suma PN, Director - Human Resources at Otis India.Having been a part of the HR fraternity for over three decades, she has held numerous strategic leadership roles at organizations like Brady Corporation, Molex and United Technologies.With a background that extensive, it's no surprise this episode covers a lot of ground. We discuss with Suma:Critical questions that leaders should ask as they prepare for 2022Why talent communities are important and how to build oneLeveraging next-gen technologies to manage people and improve DEI at workplacesFocus on your people's needs, and they will respond by meeting yoursVision for the future of work Follow Suma on LinkedIn

Paul Szyarto AN Oxford University and Wharton Business School educated business transformation expert who spent the last twenty years optimizing billions and maximizing the bottom lines of more than 600 global companies including Microsoft, Goodyear, BP, GE, United Technologies, Kellogg, Alcoa, Autoliv, Darden, Yum, and many more.Michael and Paul discuss the future of ERP and the importance of starting your journey in digital transformation. Paul shares years of experience in ERP, leadership and working with some of the worlds biggest companies.Michael and Paul shift to his story from a rough upbringing to the leader he is today. He shares some of the lessons in his book Never Broken Mindset  with the listeners. Such a great story with many lessons to learn.https://www.paulszyarto.comhttps://www.neverbrokenmindset.com

She broke so many barriers, both professional and personal. Spend this moment with trailblazer Betsy Bernard to learn to find true power by embracing your true north. Betsy was the first woman president of AT&T and ranked in Fortune's 50 Most Powerful Women in Business. She is a public company board director whose experience spans 20 years and includes United Technologies, Principal Financial Group, Serco Group plc, URS, Telular, ZimmerBiometHoldings, and SITO Mobile. #WomenInLeadership #WomenEmpoweringWomen #ProfessionalDevelopment #WomenHelpingWomen

Inspirational stories plus practical takeaways from the entrepreneurship world.Today's guest is Pete Sena, a brand experience expert. He founded Digital Surgeons in 2004 with only $5000 and it's now an 8-figure organization with over 50 employees. He's helped craft the story of people from Lady Gaga to United Technologies to the US Open. He continues to work with all different types of companies from startups to Fortune 500 and has helped many companies in their fundraising efforts (over $100m). He shares fascinating insights from a personal perspective. We hope enjoy the episode and don't forget to share it with others. You can learn more at http//www.entrepreneurshandbook.co.Find more about Pete: http://petesena.comFollow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/petesenaFollow him on Medium: https://petesena.medium.com/

Title: Embracing a Rewarding Career called Real Estate with Pam Scamardo   Pam took an unconventional jump into multi-family investing. She graduated with a Masters in Aerospace Engineering, and worked as an aeronautical engineer at Lockheed Martin, Boeing and United Technologies for over 10 years.   She had seen peers spend 30+ years saving a nest egg for retirement, and hold off on retirement plans with the trepidation that they didn't quite have enough to leave. She was determined to find a better way and founded TPK Properties - a multi-family investment firm focused on syndicating 50+ units. TPK Properties' singular mission is: “Preservation of Investor Capital Through Multi-Family Acquisitions.”   Let's tune in to her story! [00:01 - 08:53] Opening Segment Get to know my guest for today's show, Pam Scamardo Pam shares how she turned into an investor from being an Engineer The author becoming a mentor How Pam found her first deal   [08:54 - 20:18] What Pam reaped in her journey so far The logistics of leaving the Engineering work for good It is a team sport Being a good steward of investor's capital Internally growing the money in Real Estate What is the BRRRR method? Pam's business goals The lessons Pam learned How Pam met her partners Pam wouldn't exchange Real Estate for anything Advice for novice investors   [20:19 - 22:19] Closing Segment  Final Words Connect with my guest, Pam, in the links below Tweetable Quotes   “We all talk about financial freedom and financial independence, but how do we get there?” - Pam Scamardo   “Everyone starts somewhere. It's okay to start somewhere even if it's small.” - Pam Scamardo   “Multifamily investing is a team sport.” - Pam Scamardo  ------------------------------------------------------------------------   Find Pam on Instagram, LinkedIn, and email her at pam@tpkproperties.com Subscribe to Pam's YouTube, and follow her websites https://www.letsgocreatewealth.com/ and https://www.tpkllc.com/ WANT TO LEARN MORE?   Connect with me through LinkedIn   Or send me an email sujata@luxe-cap.com    Visit my website www.luxe-cap.com or my Youtube channel Thanks for tuning in!     If you liked my show, LEAVE A 5-STAR REVIEW, like, and subscribe!

Les McKeown is the CEO of Predictable Success LLC. A renowned speaker, author and advisor on accelerated business growth, Les started over 40 companies in his own right, and has guided hundreds more worldwide.  His company, Predictable Success, advises CEOs and senior leaders of organizations on how to achieve scalable, sustainable growth. Their clients range from large family-owned businesses to Fortune 100 companies, and include Harvard University, T-Mobile, United Technologies, The National Security Agency, Gartner and The Motley Fool.  In this interview, Les details his “secrets” to entrepreneurial success and how he created multiple bestselling books that have helped him grow his speaking and consulting career.  https://twitter.com/PredSuccess  https://www.instagram.com/predictablesuccess/  https://www.linkedin.com/groups/3970027  https://www.facebook.com/predictablesuccess/  https://PredictableSuccess.com/

Kareem Yahya, an Israeli-Arab businessman joins co-hosts Robert Curtis & Fleur Hassan-Nahoum on this episode of The Abraham Accords Podcast. Coming after the recent conflict with Hamas, tensions in Jerusalem and violence on the streets of Israel between Israeli Arabs and Jews, this was a timely conversation to hear about the success of co-existence. Kareem shares his stories growing up as the son of Ali Yahya, the first Israeli-Arab to serve the State of Israel as an Ambassador in Finland and Greece. Today, Kareem is the COO and co-founder of KSB United, a unique fund that focuses on truly game changing technologies that impact the world, for example a rapid COVID-19 cure that is close to coming to market and how he views Israel as an R & D hub for the region. We discuss his perspectives as a young Israeli-Arab on the Abraham Accords and what this means for him professionally and personally. 

Quantum Quote:  "I am always intrigued by the resistance to change, especially with clean energy. We can get rid of coal & oil. We really can. We just need the willingness to adapt”. Do you want to take action to protect wildlife and reduce pollution?  Do you want limits put on carbon pollution, action on climate change, and a faster transition to clean energy? Mass media plays a big role in creating clean energy and environmental awareness. Keeping humankind entertained, while keeping us informed. Jason Evans is the founder of the Maui-based production company, Silvershark Media, with a strong background in storytelling. Silvershark produces national campaigns, marketing videos, and webisodes. In the television realm they've had a hand in producing content for FOX, Travel Channel, Discovery Channel, Food Network, Golf Network, TLC, HGTV, among other networks. Jason has been involved in the TV industry since 2000  is a 4x Emmy Nominee for the Best Daytime Travel Series. He is the producer for Xploration Awesome Planet (a Steve Rotfeld Productions featuring Philippe Cousteau, grandson of the legendary Jacques Cousteau) geared toward 13 to 19 year olds. In this episode, Jason talks about how our way of living affects the natural habitat and the wild animals living around us, and how every decision we have has a connection to the changes that every living creature on earth is experiencing right now. He also shares how mass media helps humankind be entertained and informed about ongoing policies from the comfort of their home. Sign up for the free 60-minute AWESome EarthKind™ Clean Energy Demonstration to discover 3 simple actions you can take to start saving money and make the world a better place – without having to learn complex technology. Announcement: The Season 6 of Awesome Planet has just started to premiere. Please support. SuperNova #1: [Our lifestyle affects wild-life] Whether it be contaminated water that is endangering populations of certain animals or whether it be development, it's all connected together.  SuperNova #2:  United Technologies is working on an Otis Elevator that uses only 10% of the electricity of current elevators. It uses the hybrid idea of regenerative braking to capture the energy of the elevator going down and uses that energy to bring the elevator back up. SuperNova #3: [Characteristic of wild-life in their natural habitat] In this case, a shark. Sharks are not mindless killers. When you do free swims, you see them in their natural habitat. Some people might have hesitation when they don't see 20 sharks rushing right up to them. Maybe they have a different perspective of sharks in the wild. It's really a conservation approach through emotion and inspiration. SuperNova #4: [Having a Younger Generation knowledgeable about the importance of clean energy]. The younger generation (that's now not so young anymore), is entering & maturing in the workforce, and coming with a heavy hand of ‘Hey, we don't have to always do things like they used to be done.'  That's going to be an important thing to see these young leaders really push the capabilities of what's possible [in using clean energy]. Worst Clean Energy Moment:  I love seafood, and working on an Earth Science show I learned about where my food is sourced from. When you look into seafood, you can certainly find areas that are wrecking reefs, wrecking habitats, wrecking ecosystems, wrecking mangroves. I became more conscious of what I was buying at restaurants and trying to make sure - as much as I could - that everything was done sustainably because I know that everything's related whether it be storm protection, whether it be ecosystem habitat, whether it be keeping our waters in a clean state by not wrecking oyster beds and filter feeders.  Ah-Ha: Paying attention to what I was purchasing, and really taking that extra step to be informed and not just blindly taking what I wanted.  Best Advice: The best advice I ever received was not to be scared of the word, no. Personal Success: I'm very organized. Organization to me is one of my traits that I am proud of, and I think absolutely contributes to workflow success and future success. Internet Resources: BBC Science; Outside Online  Book Recommendation: The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway Magic Wand: If I could change one thing with a magic wand, I would eliminate the fossil fuel industry and instantly convert it to something better. There's so much impact on air pollution, water contamination to our drinking waters, not to mention just burning, burning, burning all these resources. That would be one wand swipe that could knock out a lot of different problems. WTF or F: Done a couple of really, really heavy cold-weather things above the Arctic Circle. To me, that was the most intriguing weather that I've experienced personally. Negative 40 negative 50 - barely no daylight at nine o'clock, or you get basically a sunset hue for two hours. And then it's dark again, which takes some adjustment getting used to. One thing that Energizes Jason today: The one thing I'm most energized about today is tomorrow. I think that we have such potential and a rolling ball of momentum. Seeing the private sector take on a lot of these challenges (clean energy), and say we're not waiting around any more - that excites me. Parting Advice: If you have the influence to help give sparks to younger generations - do so and give opportunities. I think it goes a long way. And for me that's that's one thing that I really kind of take pride in and try to focus on. Telling the stories of up and coming youth leaders that are going to be our leaders of tomorrow, and also telling the stories of people that inspire those youth leaders to get involved in the first place. So my advice is: if you can give that spark to anyone, it goes a long way. Connect:  Twitter: https://twitter.com/silversharkjay?lang=en Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/silversharkjay/?hl=en FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/silversharkmedia Website: http://silversharkmedia.com/ eMail: jevans@silversharkmedia.com

Guest: Doug Balsbough Overview: Aerospace and defense chief human resources executive Doug Balsbough discusses establishing the right environment for people to contribute their best. Quick Background: Doug Balsbough is a top Human Resources executive from the Aerospace and Defense industry. His background includes serving as Chief Human Resources Officer for Raytheon Technologies leading all aspects of human capital management through the merger of United Technologies Corporation and Raytheon Corporation, while leading a $70B business with 195,000 associates. Mr. Balsbough had previously served as Chief Human Resources Officer for United Technologies' Collins Aerospace and UTC Aerospace Systems. He has also held senior human resource positions at Carrier Corporation for its residential business and its Latin American operations based in Brazil. Throughout his career, he developed expertise in all facets of human resource management. In recent years, Mr. Balsbough has leveraged this experience to successfully integrate large scale acquisitions, with a focus on cultural change and creating high performance teams. His professional career began in the U.S. Army, where he served as a Black Hawk helicopter pilot. Mr. Balsbough holds a bachelor's degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point and an MBA from Columbia University. Why you have to check out today's podcast: • Learn how to establish the right environment for people to contribute their best, considering; a. transparency. b. giving the employee a voice. c. the power of listening. d. avoiding micromanagement. • Discover how to empower your team to contribute their best and “back brief” goal accomplishment. • Understand how to leverage the business and industry, including the macrotrends, to best position HR and the business for the future. • Leverage your desire to make a difference to best impact an organization. • Deploy a merger or acquisition to optimize efficiency and customer experience. • Learn how to deploy human capital solutions to become a “best places to work” environment.

E9: CEO of Janus Logistics Technologies, Brian Simons, says his company was born from a real world need to enhance Service Parts Logistics (SPL). Janus is a venture-backed technology and logistics company that is radically transforming the warehousing, forward stocking, forecasting/planning, and distribution/delivery for service supply chains globally.  His company, provides solutions for global clients spanning a range of markets including high tech, chemicals/hazardous goods, aerospace, and industrial goods Previously, Brian served as COO and Executive Vice President at CIOX Health; and had senior level positions at Universal Health Systems, NCR, Honeywell, and United Technologies.  MBA and Bachelors from Arizona State with a PhD from the University of Lancaster. He also serves as an adjunct professor at The University of Minnesota. His upper-division management course brings together key elements from practical experience (on the job), theoretical study (in the classroom) to broaden students' understanding of management as a profession. Brian's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-simons-81b38b6/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-simons-81b38b6/ ) Brian's Twitter: https://twitter.com/brian_s_simons (https://twitter.com/brian_s_simons ) Janus Logistics Technologies website: https://www.jltech.com/ (https://www.jltech.com/) WHAT YOU'LL DISCOVER IN THIS EPISODE: ●     What happened when Brian surprised me with a trip to the US Open Final. ●     How playing sports (for Brian it was quarterback in high school and college) prepared him for the C-Suite. ●     What you need to do to persuade your organization to support your graduate education. ●     The advantages and disadvantages of pursuing a Phd on your path to the C-Suite. ●     What questions should you ask when considering pursuing your MBA or PhD. ●     What to consider when you're thinking about leaving corporate life to start your own company. ●     The mystical skill of pitching your ideas to the C-Suite. ●     How to help your employees who seem burned out. ●     Brian's difficult story of the first employee he had to fire…it was his friend. QUOTES: “How you value failure is correlated to how much success you achieve.” “Two things that drive success in your career 1.) Self Awareness 2.) Delivering Results” RESOURCES: Dave Cote Winning Now, Winning Later https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Now-Later-Companies-Investing/dp/1599510219 (https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Now-Later-Companies-Investing/dp/1599510219) Dan Burnham CEO of Raytheon https://www.raytheon.com/sites/default/files/rtnwcm/groups/public/documents/profile/bio_daniel-burnham.pdf (https://www.raytheon.com/sites/default/files/rtnwcm/groups/public/documents/profile/bio_daniel-burnham.pdf) Larry Bossidy - Execution https://www.amazon.com/Execution-Discipline-Getting-Things-Done/dp/0609610570 (https://www.amazon.com/Execution-Discipline-Getting-Things-Done/dp/0609610570) AI Superpowers - https://www.amazon.com/AI-Superpowers-China-Silicon-Valley/dp/132854639X (https://www.amazon.com/AI-Superpowers-China-Silicon-Valley/dp/132854639X) Favorite Gadget Audible Subscription - "converts time to being more useful” https://www.audible.com/ (https://www.audible.com/) ---------------- https://www.benfanning.com/the-ceo-sessions/ (Apply to be on the show) ------------------- https://www.benfanning.com/the-ceo-sessions/ (Connect with Ben:) https://www.linkedin.com/in/benfanning/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/benfanning/) https://www.instagram.com/benfanning1/ (https://www.instagram.com/benfanning1/) https://twitter.com/BenFanning1 (https://twitter.com/BenFanning1)

If large corporations, like United Technologies, are increasingly eyeing urban hubs for future growth, what are we doing to put our cities at the cusp of that trend? Or more likely, what aren't we doing as a state? This week, we take stock of what cities such as Hartford, New Haven, and Bridgeport have to offer CEOs looking to relocate their companies, and where they fall short. Access to mass transit has long been seen as a deterrent to business growth in Connecticut. Will new Hartford Line ridership numbers, beating initial expectations, spur further rail investments across the state? We also shine a light on the less-than-transparent actions taken by the legislature this year, including pay raises for legislative staff quietly added to the state budget. And we reflect on Sandy Hook conspiracy theorists who were spanked in two civil court cases this week.Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BedJet inventor Mark Aramli talks about the essential next steps to turn an aha moment into real-world success.You'll Learn:1) The best time to work on your big ideas2) The “two pizza” rule for great collaborations3) A key strategy for convincing executives to buy-inAbout MarkMark Aramli is the inventor and principal engineer for the patent-pending BedJet CCS. Mark's first engineering role was at United Technologies, builder of the space suit for NASA. His engineering responsibilities included the space suit primary life support system (PLSS), specifically elements relating to heating, cooling and climactic comfort of the interior space suit environment for the astronauts. Items Mentioned in this Show:TV Show: Mark's episode on Shark TankMark's invention and company: BedJetBook: The Art of War by Sun TzuBook: Influence by Robert CialdiniBook: Pre-suasion by Robert CialdiniView transcript, show notes, and links at http://AwesomeAtYourJob.com/ep198.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.