In this podcast, I share the first two sections of a course I'm creating for Lean Six Sigma Ecosystem called "Nonparametric Statistics" Nonparametrics are an alternative way of analyzing data, but instead of using means and standard deviations traditionally taught in Green Belt and Black Belt classes, it uses median and quartiles or percentiles. The calculations are simpler, and there are often less assumptions required (like requiring data to fit a normal distribution). If you sign up for a fre...
Aug 09, 2025•7 min•Season 1Ep. 125
In this podcast, I share the summary of a project I worked on almost 20 years, but is still relevant today. A grant was awarded to the Cedar Rapids (IA) community to study anticoagulation management using Lean and Six Sigma. One of the key analysis performed in the project was a Gage Repeatability and Reproducibility (R&R) study. We wanted to determine if blood samples taken from a patient on warfarin have the same International Normalized Ratio (INR) results when analyzed in different labs ...
Jul 16, 2025•14 min•Season 1Ep. 124
In this episode, I share a clip from the book chapter I wrote for "Lean Six Sigma for Good: Lessons from the Gemba" Volume 1. I explain how I used net promoter score (NPS) to assess the attendee feedback of a fundraising conference I helped organize. By the way, this entire podcast was spoken by my AI voice created by Eleven Labs. Links for this episode: Lean Six Sigma for Good: Lessons from the Gemba (Volume 1): https://www.leansixsigmaforgood.com/lean-six-sigma-for-good-lessons-from-the-gemba...
Jul 01, 2025•5 min•Season 1Ep. 123
In this episode, I share a clip from the book chapter I wrote for "Lean Six Sigma for Good: Lessons from the Gemba" Volume 1. I explain how I used risk management methods to reduce the chance of problems when planning my first fundraising conference. By the way, this entire podcast was spoken by my AI voice created by Eleven Labs. Links for this episode: Lean Six Sigma for Good: Lessons from the Gemba (Volume 1): https://www.leansixsigmaforgood.com/lean-six-sigma-for-good-lessons-from-the-gemba-...
Jun 23, 2025•9 min•Season 1Ep. 122
In this podcast, I explain a virtual coaching and mentoring program that will be starting next week. Whether you’re rolling out a new project, stuck on data analysis, or facing resistance to change, you need specific help for your unique situation that aligns within your company culture. You’re already solving problems. Now I'd like to help you solve them faster, with less frustration, and more impact. Here are the highlights of getting coaching from a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt Two group ...
Jun 15, 2025•10 min•Season 1Ep. 121
In this podcast, I share the results of a "Lean at Home" project I performed within the last year as part of a training and certification program I piloted with my friends and family. The project successfully reduced our storage costs per month by over 50%, and then 100% within the past few weeks! You can download the project summary here: http://www.leansixsigmahomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Lean-at-Home-Project-Storage-Unit-2024.pdf If you have an example, please share it with me on Link...
May 07, 2025•12 min•Season 1Ep. 120
In this podcast, I share the audio from a video of a speech given by former Nebraska governor and current US Senator, Pete Ricketts. He discusses how Nebraska used Lean Six Sigma to improve their services to residents, reduced costs, building space and time. He encourages the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to utilize a similar approach. You can watch the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JwDhbZBXCI Learn more about BPI 7 Continuous Improvement Best Practices: https://mail....
Apr 11, 2025•11 min•Season 1Ep. 117
The following was a clip from a recent presentation, where I discuss how hypothesis testing can help you draw more statistically valid conclusions from data, and avoid misleading or incorrect conclusions. I share two examples. The first was a data set from the Denver Sheriff's Department, where they graphed and analyzed intake use of force incidents, but their conclusions don't seem to match the graphic. The 2nd example was data I pulled for a nonprofit I ran that showed the day of the week and ...
Mar 05, 2025•7 min•Season 1Ep. 118
The following was a clip from a recent presentation, where I discuss the importance of data in improvement (seems obvious, yet not always present). I also share the unique situation that happened in the 1948 Presidential Election when polling data was biased towards the candidate that lost. As I dug deeper into this story, I don't see where they specifically mention the phone, but there was a problem with the accuracy of the polling. It also mentions that Truman was gaining momentum late in the ...
Feb 20, 2025•6 min•Season 1Ep. 117
In this podcast, I share a successful case study of a Lean Six Sigma training and certification program conducted for a battery manufacturer about 2 years ago. By completing real-life projects, they were able to payback the investment in the training in under one month! Links Manufacturer invests in Green Belt training that leads to significant savings and payback: https://www.biz-pi.com/manufacturer-invests-in-green-belt-training-that-leads-to-significant-savings-and-payback/ Learn more about B...
Jan 16, 2025•9 min•Season 1Ep. 116
In this episode, I share a short segment of a recorded presentation I gave to the Continuous Process Improvement Forum hosted within the National Industries of the Blind. They wanted to hear my perspective on AI, so I shared how I've utilized for my consulting work. NIB is a great organization whose mission is to enhance the opportunities for economic and personal independence of people who are blind, primarily through creating, sustaining, and improving employment. Links National Industries for...
Dec 12, 2024•5 min•Season 1Ep. 115
In the 2024 Lean Global Connection virtual conference, our Lean Sustainability community shared some tips and methods to help apply Lean to Green initiatives. In my segment, I explained how Energy Treasure Hunts are a combination of gemba walks and kaizen events, with the goal to identify and reduce energy usage in a facility. This is a great approach that combines my passion for process improvement and sustainability. The full presentation will be available in a few weeks (end of 2024), and I w...
Nov 25, 2024•10 min•Season 1Ep. 114
Energy Treasure Hunts can be described as a combination of gemba walks and kaizen events in Lean methodology, with the goal to identify and reduce energy usage in a facility. This is a great approach that combines my passion for process improvement and sustainability. I uploaded a recent webinar I did on Energy Treasure Hunts to AI (NotebookLM), and it generated a fake podcast episode between two robots, which was mind-blowing to hear. I share segments from the "podcast" so you can hear how it s...
Nov 01, 2024•10 min•Season 1Ep. 113
In the last 2 episodes, I shared best practices in process improvement with students in the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Executive MBA Program in Boca Raton, Florida. At the end of my talk, I discussed how Lean and Six Sigma can be used to improve society and the environment, which I call Lean Six Sigma for Good. I share some examples and discuss my own experiences, hand out copies of Volume 1 and 2 of the book series, and encourage the students to help me connect with some local nonprofit...
Oct 23, 2024•12 min•Season 1Ep. 112
This is the 2nd part of the list of best practices in process improvement I shared with students in the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Executive MBA Program in Boca Raton, Florida last month. I compiled my top recommendations that they could take back to their company. Daily huddles to review performance and formalize communication Statistical thinking and analysis (separating noise from signals) Leaders as coaches and mentors (secret to Toyota) Must create time for risk prevention, kaizen e...
Oct 14, 2024•10 min•Season 1Ep. 111
This is a list of best practices in process improvement I shared with students in the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Executive MBA Program in Boca Raton, Florida last month. I compiled my top recommendations that they could take back to their company. Focused on building problem solving and waste identification skill set of lowest-level employee Psychological safety to discuss and solve problems Management horizontally across value stream Making decisions that are best for the system, not in...
Oct 09, 2024•8 min•Season 1Ep. 110
This is the final part of the 2006 speech given by Rockwell Collins CEO, Clay Jones. I worked at Rockwell Collins from 1999-2017, and was heavily involved in the Lean Electronics program. In this clip, he answers audience questions: 1) How to immerse Lean into the culture? 2) How is he going after employee healthcare costs? (asked by George Koenigsaecker) 3) What are the biggest barriers he is concerned about? In his answers, he mentions the importance of coaching and mentoring, but also discuss...
Sep 08, 2024•15 min•Season 1Ep. 109
This is part 5 of the 2006 speech given by Rockwell Collins CEO, Clay Jones. I worked at Rockwell Collins from 1999-2017, and was heavily involved in the Lean Electronics program. In this clip, you'll hear him discuss the 5 lessons learned from the first 8 years of the Lean journey at Rockwell Collins (1998 to 2006). Senior Leadership alignment Managing change and resistance Course correction when needed Implement Value Stream Mapping first Ask for help "If leadership isn't driving your Lean tra...
Sep 05, 2024•12 min•Season 1Ep. 108
This is part 4 of the 2006 speech given by Rockwell Collins CEO, Clay Jones. I worked at Rockwell Collins from 1999-2017, and was heavily involved in the Lean Electronics program. In this clip, you'll hear him discuss how they expanded on the Core Process Optimization efforts to move to Lifecycle Value Stream Management. This allowed them to address the wastes in the handoffs between major processes. The VSM roles required them to change their roles, metrics, behaviors and cost allocations. "Lea...
Sep 02, 2024•18 min•Season 1Ep. 107
This is part 3 of the 2006 speech given by Rockwell Collins CEO, Clay Jones. I worked at Rockwell Collins from 1999-2017, and was heavily involved in the Lean Electronics program. In this clip, you'll hear him discuss why they brought in some external consultants like John Shook and Denny Mead to try and figure out why all the improvements were not showing an impact on the bottom-line results or other key metrics. The RC Scorecard was developed to give a balanced view across the company, and it ...
Jun 29, 2024•12 min•Season 1Ep. 106
This is part 2 of the 2006 speech given by Rockwell Collins CEO, Clay Jones. I worked at Rockwell Collins from 1999-2017, and was heavily involved in the Lean Electronics program. In this clip, you'll hear him discuss how they created and rolled out Lean Electronics program across both manufacturing and the office, and selected Decorah (Iowa) as the pilot site. In the first few years (1998-2000), they achieved lots of successes (conducting over 600 kaizen events a year with reductions of 20-40%)...
Jun 24, 2024•12 min•Season 1Ep. 105
For the next few podcasts, I'll be sharing clips from a 2006 speech given by Rockwell Collins CEO, Clay Jones. I worked at Rockwell Collins from 1999-2017, and was heavily involved in the Lean Electronics program. I credit Clay and the "Lean Electronics" program for giving me the skills and experience to make this my passion, allowing me to eventually open up my consulting business, BPI. In this video, you'll hear him discuss how he first learned about Lean from Boeing, and what the customers we...
May 18, 2024•9 min•Season 1Ep. 104
In a recent class I taught, we were discussing the Project Charter, which asks you to fill in the baseline data for the metric you're trying to improve. I explain how you need to be persistent to find data, and not to start a project if you don't have any data, especially for a training class, or for your first project. I also answer a student question about how many samples you need for the baseline. You can also listen to a previous podcast (episode #25) about why we need 30 data points: https...
May 05, 2024•7 min•Season 1Ep. 103
In this podcast, I share a short clip from a recent training class, explaining the benefits of Lean Six Sigma Green Belt training to an organization, but more importantly, why it's important to the people attending the clas personally. If you're interested in taking a Lean, Green Belt or Black Belt course, consider these self-paced affordable courses from OpEx Training: https://www.leansixsigmadefinition.com/shop/ Need help in your organization, or want to discuss your current work situation? ...
Apr 25, 2024•5 min•Season 1Ep. 102
In episode 101, I share an interview clip from John Barnett, former Boeing Quality Manager, as he discusses the culture of quality that might explain the recent airline issues. He was found dead while he was giving a deposition about his former company, but I don't go into those details. I wanted to share my insights about a comment he made that inspection is non-value added, and how I think it has been misunderstood. Inspection is non-value added, but that doesn't mean you stop inspecting. You ...
Mar 27, 2024•8 min•Season 1Ep. 101
In episode 100, I share a segment of a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt training course I conducted, where I went into details about the Fishbone Diagram and the 6 M's, and I thought you might find it useful. When you are trying to uncover possible causes of a problem, using the 6 M's with a Fishbone Diagram is a great way to enhance your team brainstorming, and methodically narrow down the causes through a process of elimination. I've also posted a video of the slides I presented, if you want to see t...
Mar 05, 2024•7 min•Season 1Ep. 100
In episode 97, we released an excerpt by Elisabeth Swan from "Lean Six Sigma for Good: Lessons from the Gemba (Volume 1)" This is an excerpt from the audiobook version Volume 1. I share the story of running a small nonprofit organization in Portland, called Recycling Advocates (now called Waste-free Advocates). We created a fundraiser conference called Zero Waste Conference, to promote the reduction of items going to the landfill. I was able to incorporate some Lean and Six Sigma principles to t...
Feb 20, 2024•7 min•Season 1Ep. 99
In this podcast, I expand on Podcast #96 , where I talked about the questions to consider in a training and coaching program. I go through 6 different case studies of customized training and coaching programs I've helped develop with clients to meet their specific needs, and how the payback on training is often as short as a few months! If you'd like to get a quote for some training options, fill out this training request form , and we'll be in touch, or contact me at brion@biz-pi.com Li...
Feb 13, 2024•12 min•Season 1Ep. 98
This is an excerpt from the audiobook version of "Lean Six Sigma for Good: Lessons from the Gemba (Volume 2)" Elisabeth Swan shares the story of volunteering with the Cape Cod Childcare Development nonprofit organization. She discusses getting a call from the CEO to help the organization utilize more Lean Six Sigma Green Belt skills and methods within the organization. In one of the examples highlighted in her chapter, she shares how they reviewed their expenses and processes, and managed to upd...
Feb 07, 2024•7 min•Season 1Ep. 97
When I talk to clients about training their team, that usually opens up a lot of questions in my mind that we'll need to discuss before I can give them a ballpark number quote. In this podcast, I run through the questions you need to consider in order to create an effective training program that will result in hands-on application and payback on the investment, while keeping the costs minimal. If you'd like to get a quote for some training options, fill out this training request form , and we'll...
Feb 02, 2024•12 min•Season 1Ep. 96
