Spoiler alert! The food you just ate is not fresh. It was "sourced" longer ago than you'd imagine. And since that time, it's been handled in batch after batch. The same can be said for many lean transformations - one batch of improvement activity after another. Zingerman's Mail Order has been reducing batch sizes for 15 years, acting as a sort of "model line" for the entire food industry. Tom Root and Josh Howell discuss ZMO's lean transformation and their many lessons learned, searching for use...
Mar 02, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Ep 36•Transcript available on Metacast If you do not yet know the company Rivian you will undoubtedly know it very soon. In 2019 Rivian made waves in the auto industry by announcing two “electric adventure vehicles”, the R1T – an electric pickup truck - and the R1S - an electric SUV . Both vehicles are expected to launch in the United States later this year and globally in 2021. Rivian is also developing a fleet of electric delivery vans to fulfill a 100,000-unit order placed by Amazon. In the last twelve months the electric vehicle ...
Feb 17, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Ep 35•Transcript available on Metacast Andrew Lingel, President of United Plastic Fabricating, discusses leading lean transformation of a family business through knowledge, grit, and outrage.
Feb 10, 2020•42 min•Ep 34•Transcript available on Metacast Ron describes the Deublin Company's business system built with lean thinking that puts human development at the center
Feb 03, 2020•51 min•Ep 33•Transcript available on Metacast January 27, 2020 Featuring: Deborah McGee and Bryant Sanders As this series continues to explore the implications and dynamic of “coaching” in a business environment, Bryant Sanders models the mindset and techniques for coaching work improvement to develop people. Bryant draws on 26 years Toyota experience to facilitate his coaching techniques with a team in the field leading to a dramatic improvement in the work. He walks us through the story from deciding where to focus, to earning the team’s ...
Jan 27, 2020•44 min•Ep 32•Transcript available on Metacast Too often, a change in executive leadership can bring a lean transformation to a grinding halt. But that has not been the case at Lynn Community Health Center (LCHC). Within two years of the start of their lean journey, LCHC CEO Lori Abrams Berry announced her intention to retire. The immediate reaction from the LCHC community was concern that her departure would impact the progress made on advancing lean thinking and practice with improved outcomes and engagement of its team members. Instead, t...
Jan 20, 2020•31 min•Ep 31•Transcript available on Metacast Josh Howell shares his decade-end reflections, focusing on why he left Starbucks in 2013. His reasons may surprise you. He also interrogates the question, “If a company discontinues a formal lean initiative, or lean program, or lean team, does that mean its lean implementation has failed?”
Jan 14, 2020•27 min•Ep 30•Transcript available on Metacast Pat Greco In 2011, Dr. Pat Greco began as the superintendent of the Menomonee Falls School District in Wisconsin. She faced no shortage of problems: a suspension rate seven times higher than the state average, performance gaps across income and race, cost overruns, and a failure to meet performance goals defined under the No Child Left Behind Act among others. Not to mention a new administration was upending collective bargaining for public sector employees instilling fear within the teachers sh...
Jan 06, 2020•46 min•Ep 29•Transcript available on Metacast December 23, 2019 Featuring: Deborah McGee and Jeff Smith As this series continues to explore the implications and dynamic of “coaching” in a business environment, Jeff Smith reveals the importance of the learning environment for impactful coaching. Jeff draws on 22 years experience within the Toyota Production System and recalls his coaching experience at New United Motor, and later as a coach in many organizations. We talk about coaching in the front office as well as shop floor, engaging with...
Dec 23, 2019•29 min•Ep 28•Transcript available on Metacast In his new book Dying for A Paycheck, Stanford University Graduate School of Business Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer argues that there is an overwhelmingly compelling case to be made that the workplace profoundly affects human health and wellbeing, and that these psychosocial stressors have gotten worse in recent years. His book vividly details how the costs are enormous to both individuals and to companies and to society. He believes that If we're going to address this, we need to see the problem an...
Dec 16, 2019•34 min•Ep 27•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Lynn Kelley was hired by Union Pacific to lead the introduction of the “UP Way” company-wide. The UP Way at that time consisted of a select few lean practices that the company had decided were foundational for their operations. In this conversation, Dr. Kelley shares how her Ph.D in Research and Evaluations informed the unique approach taken for the implementation of the UP Way. The "Playbook" of Sustaining Change on the Lean Post CI Sustainment: A Hiding Place for Complexity on the Lean Pos...
Dec 09, 2019•1 hr 9 min•Ep 26•Transcript available on Metacast How do we create more Lean Thinkers? That is the problem we address in today’s podcast with Matt Lovejoy, Chairman of Lovejoy Industries and LEI board member. Matt - along with former LEI executive, John O’Donnell – is spearheading a new initiative: the James P Womack Scholarship and Philanthropy Fund. The fund provides scholarships to students to fund hands-on problem-solving experience at charity organizations under the guidance of an LEI coach. The fund’s first partnership is with Oakland Uni...
Dec 02, 2019•35 min•Ep 25•Transcript available on Metacast Join my conversation with Art Smalley as he walks us through two models for situational leadership and coaching. Hersey, Blanchard & Johnson’s examination of leadership (and coaching) styles relative to learner (and performer’s) behavior, from the book Management of Organizational Behavior, and The Dreyfus Model of Skill Acquisition. Art adds context and color by weaving in stories from parenthood, his years of experience at Toyota, and relates the content to his work with Four Types of Problems...
Nov 25, 2019•27 min•Ep 24•Transcript available on Metacast Many lean thinkers find the traditional accounting reporting completely out of alignment with the new lean management system. Part of PDCA is checking outcomes to help identify next steps, but if the financial language of business is not reliable to provide good information for evaluation and decision making, sustainment of good experiments is at risk. Is there a better way? Yes, according to the five panelists on this week’s podcast. Additional Articles: How lean accounting promotes lean in the...
Nov 18, 2019•34 min•Ep 23•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Carlos Frederico Pinto (aka ‘Dr. Fred’) is a medical oncologist and CEO of Instituto de Oncologia do Vale (IOV), one of Brazil’s top oncology clinics. There are few problems more important than the one Dr. Fred and IOV are trying to solve: reducing the cancer burden. In the podcast, Dr. Fred explains how he’s led IOV through lean transformation in service to solving this problem. He details three distinct stages of transformation: 1) improving patient care flow and quality; 2) building a man...
Nov 11, 2019•37 min•Ep 22•Transcript available on Metacast In a conversation across the Atlantic LEI’s president, Josh Howell, talks to the Lean Enterprise Academy’s CEO, Dave Brunt, about the strategic value of executives doing the value-creating work of their organization. Dave shares what happened when a team member left LEA and he became responsible for picking, packing, and shipping to customers books about lean thinking. Additional Resources: Lean Solutions book Creating Lean Dealers workbook Learning to See workbook...
Nov 04, 2019•1 hr 21 min•Ep 21•Transcript available on Metacast Meet two influential voices in my own coaching practice: Paul Serafino who first engaged me in a coaching way in the business environment, opening my eyes and heart to growth and development. And Jason Berkman, a leader who I was fortunate enough to coach and learn with in LEI’s co-learning program. In two candid conversations, we explore the differences between coaching, managing, leading and training, the importance of trust and motivations, and how a coaching relationship emerges. We further ...
Oct 28, 2019•1 hr 11 min•Ep 20•Transcript available on Metacast How can one create a safe workplace where all employees are encouraged and expected to take ownership of their work? How can one build simple mechanisms to enable individuals to ask healthy questions and challenge each other? Harvard Business School Professor Amy C. Edmondson discusses these questions and more with LEI's Tom Ehrenfeld in a conversation triggered by her recent book The Fearless Organization. Additional Resources: The Fearless Organization by Amy Edmondson How Teaming Produces Exe...
Oct 21, 2019•39 min•Ep 19•Transcript available on Metacast Rich Calvaruso of GE Appliances, a Haier Company, sits down with Matt Savas to talk about problem-solving. How does GE Appliances develop people through problem-solving? And how has the company's emphasis on hands-on problem-solving impacted its culture. For more, check out our website.
Oct 13, 2019•37 min•Ep 18•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Lisa Yerian of the Cleveland Clinic sits down with Josh Howell, LEI President & Executive Team Leader, to talk about the spread of lean thinking at her organization. Among other things, they explore the sequence of learning between defining purpose, discovering problem-solving at the gemba, and developing lean leadership capabilities. Additional Articles: Cleveland Clinic’s Prescription for Creating a Culture of Continuous Improvement By: Lisa Yerian How Are You Supporting Your Own Lean Tran...
Oct 08, 2019•54 min•Ep 17•Transcript available on Metacast "If it cannot be grown, then it must be mined." Practically everything around you exists because of mining. From phones, to computers, to cars, to glasses, to your belt buckle, they all are made from mined resources. Laura Mottola has taken lean thinking underground, literally. Learn what lean in mining looks like, what it takes to engage those doing the work, and what is next for this ever evolving industry.
Feb 08, 2019•37 min•Ep 16•Transcript available on Metacast “It seemed nothing short of a miracle could save Ford Motor Company in the mid 2000s. Ford didn’t receive a miracle, but it did get something just as valuable: Alan Mulally.” (Daniel Miller, The Motley Fool, May 2015) In this podcast, Alan shares: His view on the CEO’s role in a successful transformation. What “people first” leadership means to him and how his basic values and love for people guide his decision making. What he learned about innovation and customer focus from his lawn mowing busi...
Jan 21, 2019•49 min•Ep 15•Transcript available on Metacast Author Art Smalley joins Chet Marchwinski to discuss problem solving and his new book Four Types of Problems from reactive trouble shooting to creative innovation.
Dec 21, 2018•45 min•Ep 14•Transcript available on Metacast In this special edition series, Designing the Future. Jim Morgan talks with Dave Pericak, the Chief Engineer of the 2015 Ford Mustang. Pericak was featured in A Faster Horse, a documentary exploring the ins and outs of designing world's most popular sports car. Morgan is the author of the new book, Designing the Future and has spent over 30 years in industry as a product development leader including serving as a global engineering director at Ford Motor Company during the product-led revitalizat...
Nov 26, 2018•59 min•Ep 13•Transcript available on Metacast Former Starbucks Executive and Senior Coach at LEI Scott Heydon, joined author and LEI Chairman John Shook for a last minute learning session at the Lean Coaching Summit. The response was so positive we've adapted it to be a podcast.
Nov 05, 2018•1 hr 20 min•Ep 12•Transcript available on Metacast Today's podcast features a conversation about closing learning gaps between LEI's CEO Eric Beuhrens and Steve Spear. Steve is author of a few works key to understanding lean. There’s “Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Producing System” and “Learning to Lead at Toyota,” both in Harvard Business Review and his book The High Velocity Edge. As you’ll hear, Steve’s work really focuses on how Toyota as one of a few real exceptional organizations competes on the basis of a management system that optimizes...
Aug 14, 2018•47 min•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast Can the restaurant industry change they way they've worked for decades? Legal Sea Foods has been on their lean journey for a few years and lean has influenced everything from the second that fish is caught right up until their guest has left the restaurant. Legal Sea Foods' Executive Chef, Richard Vellante sat down with LEI's Senior Coach, Josh Howell to talk about some of the changes and experiments that have taken place at several of Legal Sea Food's locations.
Jul 18, 2018•1 hr 4 min•Ep 10•Transcript available on Metacast Two things to think about. Challenges and Culture. Challenges shape who we are. I think we can all look at who we are and remember a few key challenges we’ve faced and how they have changed us and the way we view things. It certainly helps shape us as leaders. Dr. Kiame Mahaniah, CEO of the Lynn Community Health Clinic. Born in the Congo, raised in Switzerland, educated in the US, Kiame faced remarkable challenges, was immersed in multiple cultures, and has come out of all as a remarkable, yet h...
Jun 12, 2018•1 hr 15 min•Ep 9•Transcript available on Metacast Author and and LEI faculty member Mike Orzen discuss connecting with people through leading with respect with John Shook. The conversation primarily focuses on what mindfulness is and how it fits in with lean thinking and practice. Mike also gives some great tips on staying focused when you catch yourself getting distracted.
May 22, 2018•45 min•Ep 8•Transcript available on Metacast Jim Womack interviews Matt Savas about a recent trip to Toyota Motor Kyushu, Japan. Matt and Jim share their observations on how Toyota has countermeasured their aging workforce by being clever and not replacing resect with robots.
May 08, 2018•23 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast 
