KaiNexus: Continuous Improvement, Leadership, and More

Welcome to the latest episode of the KaiNexus Continuous Improvement podcast! In this engaging conversation, Mark Graban, Senior Advisor with KaiNexus, sits down with Greg Jacobson, CEO and co-founder of KaiNexus. They chat about various topics, including lean principles, continuous improvement, and the significant impact of the recent CrowdStrike software glitch on multiple sectors, including healthcare. Mark shares his personal travel delays caused by the glitch, while Greg discusses the broader implications, such as the disruptions in emergency healthcare services. They explore the importance of psychological safety and how KaiNexus fosters a culture where employees feel safe to speak up about mistakes. The discussion also covers the value of mistake-proofing, robust testing processes, and learning from both internal and external errors to enhance continuous improvement practices. Join Mark and Greg as they reflect on lessons learned, the importance of a kind and constructive response to mistakes, and the necessity of maintaining dynamic checklists in response to changing conditions like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Hashtags: #ContinuousImprovement #LeanPrinciples #Kinexis #SoftwareGlitch #HealthcareImpact #PsychologicalSafety #MistakeProofing #Leadership #GregJacobson #MarkGraban #LeanThinking00:00:26: KaiNexus Mid-Annual Meeting overview 00:00:44: Discussion about travel delays 00:00:55: Impact of Crowdstrike software issue 00:05:34: Software bugs and testing procedures 00:07:17: Psychological safety and response to mistakes in KaiNexus 00:11:02: Checklist usage and adjustments 00:16:00: Learning from Crowdstrike situation 00:17:46: Wrapping up and future Ask Us Anything session

In this insightful webinar, Karen Friedenberg, Founder and Managing Director of Performance Improvement Consulting, explores how to leverage a Strategy to Execution Framework to achieve sustainable business results. The webinar delves into the critical aspects of strategy execution, emphasizing the importance of clear communication, organizational alignment, and operational consistency. Strategy Articulation: Karen emphasizes the need for strategy to be communicated in a clear and powerful way. This ensures that all stakeholders understand the direction and objectives of the organization, fostering a unified approach towards achieving goals. Organizational Alignment: The importance of aligning the leadership team and the entire organization to the company's goals is highlighted. Karen discusses methods to ensure that everyone understands how their contributions align with and support the overall strategy. Operational Alignment: Ensuring that processes and operations are consistent and aligned with the strategy is crucial. Karen shares insights on how to streamline operations to support strategic objectives effectively, reducing inefficiencies and improving performance. Executing with Excellence: Karen underscores the necessity of having a robust structure and method in place to manage strategy and key initiatives. This includes establishing clear roles, responsibilities, and metrics to track progress and ensure accountability. Organizational and Culture Change: Building a culture of performance improvement and bringing people along for the journey is essential for sustained success. Karen discusses techniques for fostering a culture that embraces change, continuous improvement, and innovation. Karen Friedenberg brings a unique perspective to strategy execution, combining her experience in consulting with her background in industry. As a former executive, she understands the importance of having executable plans that deliver results. She has led Strategic Program Management and Operational Excellence departments, overseeing large business and digital transformations. Karen is passionate about listening, connecting the dots, and using various disciplines such as Lean Six Sigma, change management, and design thinking to solve business problems and facilitate sustainable change. For more detailed insights and to access the slides, visit: Leveraging a Strategy to Execution Framework - A Journey of Transformation.

Link to the blog post Leaders who want to develop a culture of rapid continuous improvement have many tools at their disposal. So many that it can be challenging to keep them all in mind when deciding how to execute an opportunity for improvement or address a difficult challenge. Most organizations don't use all of these techniques simultaneously, but each can be remarkably effective when applied to the right situation.We put together a list of the most common and helpful business process improvement tools and techniques that you can start implementing today. Each will help your team improve product quality, increase customer satisfaction, and achieve optimal performance with minimal waste.

Register here In this video, Mark Graban (webinar host from KaiNexus) talks with Karen Friedenberg about her webinar. Scheduled for: July 23 from 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm ET Presented by Karen Friedenberg What is a Strategy to Execution Framework? How can this be leveraged to achieve sustainable business results? Learn more about how to execute a journey of Transformation from: 1. Strategy Articulation – How to ensure strategy is communicated in a clear and powerful way. 2. Organizational Alignment – Is the leadership team and the organization aligned to how they contribute to the company goals? 3. Operational Alignment – How to ensure processes and operations are consistent and aligned to strategy. 4. Executing with Excellence – Is there a structure and method in place to ensure strategy and key initiatives are managed? 5. Organizational and Culture Change – How do you build a culture of performance improvement and bring people along for the journey? About the Presenter: Karen Friedenberg is the Founder and Managing Director of Performance Improvement Consulting. Having worked both in Consulting and within industry, Karen brings a unique perspective to strategy execution. Karen sat in the seat of an executive, so having executable plans that deliver results is imperative. She built out and led Strategic Program Management and Operational Excellence departments leading large business and digital transformations. Karen is passionate about listening, connecting the dots and bringing her experience in various industries, lean six sigma, change management, design thinking and other disciplines to solve business problems and facilitate sustainable change.

Read the blog post Here at KaiNexus, we get the opportunity to chat with organizations across all industries and write about many different continuous improvement tools and techniques they use. Lately, I’ve been thinking about two things that most have in common. First, the tools they use are generally simple but not easy. And second, the key to success lies in the planning phase. Both of these observations apply to Kaizen events. The concept is straightforward. A team sets aside other responsibilities for a few days to focus on solving an important challenge in short order. That’s pretty simple, but getting results requires a significant amount of planning and preparation Fortunately, there is a well-defined path to success. Here are the seven simple steps to follow before you kick off your next event.

Today, host Mark Graban (a Senior Advisor) with KaiNexus is joined by our new Manager of Customer Enablement, Andrea Beidl. We'll learn about her background, why she joined KaiNexus, and what appealed to her during the recruiting and interviewing process. Learn a little about her onboarding process -- and what she thinks are the best things and the worst things about living in Austin — oops, I mean San Antonio. Learn more about KaiNexus: https://kainexus.com/

It's time for another lively and informative "Ask Us Anything!" webinar. This time, we're featuring Linda Vicaro and Lynn Howell, the KaiNexus Lean Strategy team, joined by host and moderator Mark Graban. Learn more about our webinars: https://www.kainexus.com/webinars It's time for another lively and informative "Ask Us Anything!" webinar. This time, we're featuring Linda Vicaro and Lynn Howell, the KaiNexus Lean Strategy team, joined by host and moderator Mark Graban. Learn more about our webinars: https://www.kainexus.com/webinars Related Content: Watch all three Habits webinars and more Mark's "Lean Office Gone Wrong" video Questions: Linda and Lynn , could you tell us about your professional background and career? Feel free to add a fun fact if you'd like. How can we effectively communicate the value of continuous improvement to leadership and secure their buy-in? How can we engage leaders to support ongoing daily continuous improvement or small Kaizen initiatives that might not have immediate, impressive ROIs? How do we explain the benefits of continuous quality improvement and data usage to those who believe, "we already collect data" but don't use it to improve processes? What strategies can overcome employee resistance to change in a lean transformation? What are best practices for engaging staff in continuous improvement? How can a small company with limited resources start implementing lean practices? How can a large organization with over 20,000 employees foster a culture of continuous improvement despite slow processes? What tips and processes can help during an in-person session to create a new process for assessing and onboarding technology? How can we integrate lean with existing digital transformation efforts to enhance continuous improvement and innovation? How can we ensure consistent implementation and sustainment of lean practices over time? Where should a sales or service-oriented organization focus first when implementing continuous improvement?

Join us for another exciting and insightful "Ask Us Anything!" webinar featuring the KaiNexus Lean Strategy team. This interactive session is scheduled for June 20 from 2:00 - 3:00 ET. Register here Presenters: Linda Vicaro Lynn Howell Host and Moderator: Mark Graban In this live event, our experts will tackle your questions about continuous improvement, lean methodologies, and more. Whether you submit your questions in advance or ask them during the webinar, our team is ready to provide valuable insights and practical advice. 🔹 Submit Your Questions: Get your queries answered by Linda, Lynn, and Mark by submitting them ahead of time or participating live. 🔹 Who Should Attend: This webinar is perfect for anyone involved in or curious about lean strategies and continuous improvement, including industry professionals, managers, and enthusiasts. Don't miss this opportunity to engage directly with the KaiNexus Lean Strategy team. Subscribe to our channel and hit the notification bell to stay updated on our latest content and live events. 📅 Date: June 20 🕑 Time: 2:00 - 3:00 ET Follow Us: Website: KaiNexus LinkedIn: KaiNexus LinkedIn #LeanStrategy #ContinuousImprovement #KaiNexus #Webinar #AskUsAnything

Blog post link Gemba walks have become a widely adopted management technique. Leaders gain valuable insights into organizational value flow and often discover improvement opportunities by directly visiting the work environment. This collaborative approach involves employees sharing details about their tasks and the reasons behind them. Why are Gemba Walks Important?

Today, host Mark Graban (a Senior Advisor) with KaiNexus is joined by our new Vice President of Marketing, Josh Feldman. We'll learn about his background, why he joined KaiNexus, and why he moved from Chicago. Is he is Cubs fan or a White Sox fan? And what does his think about Chicago pizza? The answer may surprise you. Learn more about KaiNexus: https://kainexus.com/