In this episode of the WLEI Podcast, we speak with Steve Spear, a senior lecturer at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, senior fellow at the Institute of Healthcare Improvement, and associated faculty member at Adriane Labs of the Harvard School of Public Health. Spear is also author of The High-Velocity Edge and Wiring the Winning Organization and principal of SeeToSolve . The conversation explores: Stellar examples of product development innovation (and the learning cultures that made these ach...
Apr 09, 2025•31 min•Ep. 100
In this episode of WLEI Podcast, we welcome Amy Smith, Founding Director of MIT’s D-Lab, an innovative university-based program in international development and a senior lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at MIT.
Mar 19, 2025•28 min•Ep. 99
In this episode of WLEI Podcast, we welcome Cynthia E. Smith, Curator of Socially Responsible Design at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum and author of Design for the Other 90% . Cynthia speaks about design as a catalyst for change and what it means, as she says, to be in “the collective work of building capacity and agency in communities across the world.”
Mar 12, 2025•28 min•Ep. 98
This week The Management Brief presents a podcast with Josh Howell, LEI President, and Mark Reich, LEI Chief Engineer, Strategy. They discuss Mark’s 30-plus years working with hoshin kanri — two decades at Toyota and then coaching executives while with LEI — and the impact that the strategic planning and execution process has had on Toyota and the many companies with which Mark has supported. You’ll hear how hoshin kanri helped Toyota establish self-reliant North American operations, which requi...
Feb 21, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 97
In this edition of The Management Brief, Mark Reich sits down with Isao Yoshino, a 40-year veteran of Toyota and a driving force behind the company’s success with hoshin kanri. Yoshino shares the impact that hoshin kanri and A3 problem-solving has had on him professionally and personally. Key takeaways include: · Multiple roles over four decades at Toyota shaped Yoshino’s management beliefs and career. · Yoshino discusses working directly with Mikio Sugiura, who was instrumental in developing To...
Feb 17, 2025•31 min•Ep. 96
In this episode of the WLEI podcast, we sit down with Mark Dolsen, President of TRQSS, a seat belt manufacturer that supplies Toyota and other automakers in North America. Mark shares insights into TRQSS's lean journey and the critical role of frontline supervisors in driving continuous improvement. Key takeaways include: TRQSS has evolved its lean practices over decades, starting with the influence of Japanese coordinators and later adopting TWI principles. The company's "TPS for Team Leaders" ...
Jan 27, 2025•47 min•Ep. 95
In this edition of The Management Brief , Mark Reich sits down with Geoff Miller, CEO of Grand Rapids Chair , to discuss his company's lean transformation journey. Geoff shares how the adoption of hoshin kanri and A3 problem-solving has helped the company maintain strategic focus and build organizational capability. Geoff offers a candid reflection on his leadership transformation, underscoring the importance of perseverance and continuous learning, even in the face of significant disruption. Ke...
Jan 14, 2025•47 min•Ep. 94
In this edition of The Management Brief, LEI President Josh Howell sat down with Charlie Murphy, Senior Vice President at Turner Construction, to discuss the company's remarkable lean transformation journey. Charlie shares how the organization leveraged core lean principles and practices to drive a dramatic improvement in safety performance and build a culture of continuous improvement. Key takeaways include: Turner's safety performance improvement, from a recordable incident rate of 5 per 200,0...
Dec 10, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 93
In the latest edition of the Design Brief, we sit down with Jay Hill, the Vice President of Advanced Technology at GE Healthcare, to discuss the company's approach to product development in the complex healthcare technology space. Jay offers insights into: GE Healthcare's deep engagement with clinicians at all stages of product development, from needs identification to prototype evaluation. The "lead program integrator" role and its importance in managing the integration of complex, multi-discip...
Nov 21, 2024•41 min•Ep. 92
In the latest issue of The Management Brief, host Mark Reich sits down with Marcia Brey, the Vice President of Logistics at GE Appliances. Marcia shares her extensive career journey at GE Appliances, spanning roles in design, customer service, distribution, quality, and eventually leading the company's lean enterprise transformation. Key points discussed include: Marcia's initial exposure to lean principles like value-stream mapping and kaizen events while leading the warehouse network. Her tran...
Nov 12, 2024•43 min•Ep. 91
In this episode of the WLEI Podcast, we're joined by Dr. Carlos Frederico Pinto (aka Dr. Fred), a medical oncologist with over 30 years of experience leading transformative changes in cancer care. Dr. Pinto shares insights on using lean thinking to dramatically improve patient outcomes and access to care. Some highlights from the conversation include: How redesigning patient pathways allowed breast cancer patients to receive all necessary tests and treatments in a single visit. Dr. Fred's curren...
Oct 31, 2024•53 min•Ep. 90
In this episode of the WLEI Podcast, we sit down with Jose Ferro, the founder of the Lean Institute Brasil and co-author of LEI's new book Daily Management to Execute Strategy: Solving problems and developing people every day . José shares his insights on how companies can effectively connect their high-level strategy to frontline operations and the importance of developing a problem-solving culture. Some key takeaways from the conversation include: Daily management is a structured process to al...
Oct 29, 2024•48 min•Ep. 88
In this episode of the WLEI podcast, we speak with Karen Khachikyan, CEO of Expper Technologies , and Mineh Badmagharian, the clinical and product development leader. They shared the remarkable story behind Robin, a robot designed to provide emotional support and comfort to pediatric and geriatric patients in hospitals and care facilities. What stood out most was the team's relentless focus on truly understanding their end users - the children, seniors, and medical staff who interact with Robin....
Oct 24, 2024•40 min•Ep. 89
In this episode of the WLEI podcast, we explore the LPPD principle: Understand Before You Execute. Too often, companies commit to a product design before assessing their customers’ needs, leading to development churn and failed products. The conversation examines how to avoid that trap by precisely identifying customer needs before development and features a case study of a company that did just that. However, people did not engage in this conversation. Artificial intelligence, specifically Goog...
Oct 10, 2024•8 min•Ep. 87
In this episode of WLEI Podcast, we welcome Sandrine Olivencia, author of Build to Sell and expert in applying Lean principles to software development. Sandrine shares her journey from waterfall to Agile and eventually to Lean Product and Process Development (LPPD), which she sees as a more holistic and sustainable system for building great products and lasting businesses. The conversation explores: The importance of Gemba and why leaders at all levels need to stay closely connected to customers...
Oct 03, 2024•55 min•Ep. 86
In this episode of the WLEI podcast, we speak with Regis Megina, a software industry veteran who has undergone a journey from Agile to Lean. Regis shares insights on: How he transitioned from early frustrations with waterfall development to embracing Agile and Extreme Programming The challenges he faced in spreading these new ideas, and why he ultimately sought a deeper understanding of Lean principles Regis' current work applying Lean Thinking to startups and scale-ups, including creating educa...
Sep 12, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 85
In this episode of the WLEI podcast, LEI speaks with prolific author and business leader Art Byrne. During the discussion, Art shares his decades-long journey leading lean transformation, from running kaizen events with the first wave of ex-Toyota consultants in the US to leading manufacturer Wiremold to record profitability. For a decade, Art wrote 100 " Ask Art " columns, answering the lean community's most pressing questions. He has compiled the best of those into a new book, The Lean Turnaro...
Aug 06, 2024•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 84
In this episode of the WLEI podcast, LEI speaks with software industry veteran Robert Martin. Robert is one of the original signers of the Agile Manifesto and the author of several influential books, including Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship. During the conversation, Robert shared insightful perspectives on some of the biggest challenges facing software development today. From the demographic problem of perpetual inexperience to his pioneering approach to development dubbe...
May 23, 2024•52 min•Ep. 83
In this episode of the WLEI podcast, Jim Womack and John Krafcik share the origin story of the term "lean." Jim led the MIT global benchmarking study of the automotive industry, which led to the seminal book The Machine That Changed the World, and John was one of the principal researchers. Jim went on to co-author a similarly influential book, Lean Thinking, and founded the Lean Enterprise Institute. John Krafcik became an executive in the auto industry, serving as CEO of Hyundai America and Way...
May 14, 2024•17 min•Ep. 82
In this episode of the WLEI podcast, LEI speaks with Dr. Jackie Gerhart and Dr. Christopher Longhurst. Dr. Gerhart is a family physician and VP of clinical informatics at Epic Systems, while Dr. Longhurst is the Chief Medical Officer and Chief Digital Officer at UC San Diego Health. In the discussion, we explore: How health systems are using AI to improve patient outcomes. The potential for AI to reduce clinicians' cognitive burden, allowing them to reconnect with patients. What educators should...
May 07, 2024•22 min•Ep. 81
In this episode of the WLEI podcast, LEI speaks with Alan Goodman, professor and department chair of quality engineering at Milwaukee Area Technical College. Alan spent his career in operations at GE before becoming a professor. The podcast explores his recent work to teach young students lean skills to prepare them for careers after school. In the discussion, we explore: Alan's background in lean and how he's transferring his skills to students through a program he's grown from a one-week onlin...
Apr 23, 2024•34 min•Ep. 80
In this episode of the WLEI podcast, we speak with Ben Armstrong, Executive Director of MIT's Industrial Performance Center, and Jim Morgan, Senior Advisor at the Lean Enterprise Institute. They share perspectives from Ben's extensive research on the history and future of US manufacturing and Jim's first-hand knowledge of developing new products and production processes. In our discussion, we explore: The rise and decline of America's manufacturing expertise and how the decoupling of design and ...
Apr 11, 2024•52 min•Ep. 79
Electrification has given rise to new American automotive ventures such as Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid Motors. Aside from the powertrain, these companies are innovating the driving experience through breakthrough performance and by deeply integrating software into vehicle architecture. These disruptions demonstrate exciting possibilities but raise a challenge: how can companies innovate while upholding customer expectations of quality? In an episode of the WLEI podcast, LEI sat down with industry v...
Mar 21, 2024•39 min•Ep. 78
In this episode of the WLEI podcast, LEI speaks with Emily Swaney and Alli Kulp from OhioHealth. Emily is the senior director of OhioHealth's lean promotion office, leading the organization's continuous improvement team. Alli is a senior advisor in the lean promotion office and previously worked as a registered nurse. In our discussion, we explore: The lean journey at OhioHealth since 2006 and their goal of creating a culture of 35,000 problem solvers. OhioHealth's strategic goal deployment proc...
Mar 05, 2024•46 min•Ep. 77
In this episode of the WLEI podcast, we speak with Dennis Wade from Oakland University and Lisa Eshbach, PhD from Ferris State University. They share their universities' programs that provide hands-on lean learning experiences for students through collaboration with industry partners. In our discussion, we explore: The backgrounds and roles of Dennis Wade and Lisa Eshbach in academia and their work connecting students to real-world lean projects. The models used at Ferris State University and Oa...
Feb 20, 2024•47 min•Ep. 76
In this episode of the WLEI Podcast, our guests are Jennifer Trask and Brittney Heatherington from MillerKnoll. Trask is the Director of the MillerKnoll Performance System (HMPS) for business processes and dealer network, while Heatherington is a continuous improvement coach for the dealer network. In our discussion, we explore: MillerKnoll’s methodical approach to people development. How MillerKnoll has built a culture of operational excellence throughout its value stream from its factories to ...
Feb 06, 2024•45 min•Ep. 75
In this episode of the WLEI podcast, LEI speaks with Billy Taylor, former operations executive at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. He is now President of LinkedXL and author of The Winning Link: a Proven Process to Define, Align, and Execute Strategy at Every Level . In our discussion, we explore: Billy’s career journey from third shift supervisor to director of North American operations for Goodyear. How Billy led a transformation of one of Goodyear’s worst-performing plants through institut...
Jan 24, 2024•51 min•Ep. 74
In this episode of the WLEI podcast, LEI's guests are Mary Nell Egan and Lisa Karam from MassMutual, a leading insurance company. Egan and Karam delve into the intricacies of transformation in a traditionally cautious, large organization. In our discussion, we explore several key themes: MassMutual’s evolution from a tool-centric to a customer-value approach in their lean journey. The methods Egan and Karam used to engage previously disengaged leaders with lean, linking continuous improvement to...
Jan 09, 2024•37 min•Ep. 73
LEI chats with Frank Paluch, Retired President of Honda R&D Americas, and Lara Harrington, Retired Honda Chief Engineer. Frank and Lara share how Honda utilized Lean Product and Process Development principles to launch successful vehicles like the Honda Passport. During the conversation we dive into the following: Understanding Customer Value – As Chief Engineer of the Honda Passport Lara explains how she used rapid prototyping and gathered consumer feedback early in the development process ...
Dec 19, 2023•57 min•Ep. 72
In this episode of the WLEI Podcast, we speak with Jill Katic and Grace Eovaldi from Barton Malow, a major construction company that has recently seen significant growth. Jill and Grace share how they've been working to foster a culture of problem solving throughout Barton Malow, principally through a program dubbed Lean University. During the conversation we dive into the following: Lean Principles and A3 Problem-Solving: Exploring Lean University's five-day training program, which introduces p...
Dec 12, 2023•39 min•Ep. 70
