The Lean Solutions Podcast

This week I’m talking with Adam Lawrence, the Managing Partner of Process Improvement Partners, LLC and the author of The Wheel of Sustainability. During this episode Adam and I talk about his book and what inspired him to write the book. We also talk about what the wheel of sustainability really means and how you can use this information to create sustainable solutions. What You’ll Learn This Episode: Why Adam wrote the Wheel of Sustainability and what he was trying to solve How to sustain the solutions you’ve created Using the wheel to strengthen leadership commitment What is the Wheel and what does each part mean Implementing the Wheel during a Kaizen event Why it’s important to celebrate wins About the Guest: Adam Lawrence is the Managing Partner of Process Improvement Partners, LLC. He has 30+ years of experience in process improvement activities, targeted at manufacturing and business processes. Having facilitated 300+ Kaizen events in multiple industries around the world, Adam aligns with leadership, engages teams, and creates sustainable results. Adam is also the author of The Wheel of Sustainability. Important Links: https://pi-partners.com/about https://www.amazon.com/Wheel-Sustainability-Engaging-Empowering-Produce-ebook/dp/B08VVX8F6Q

This week I’m talking with Richard Sheridan, the co-founder of Menlo Innovations where his team’s mission is to end human suffering in the workplace. Richard is also the author of Joy, Inc. - How We Built a Workplace People Love and Chief Joy Officer. In this episode, Rich and I talk about his company Menlo Innovations and the importance of having a balanced and satisfying work culture, including how you can bring about a culture change in your own organization. What You’ll Learn This Episode: Menlo Innovations and the process of finding and training Menlonians Teaching culture internally and externally Pairing- What it is and how it’s done How pairing helps the customer How to start a culture change in your organization About the Guest: Menlo Innovations CEO Rich Sheridan became disillusioned in the middle of his career in the chaotic technology industry. He had an all-consuming thought…things can be better.  Much better.  He had to find a way. Why couldn't a workplace be filled with camaraderie, human energy, creativity, and productivity? Ultimately, Rich co-founded Menlo Innovations in 2001 to end human suffering in the workplace.  His unique approach to custom software creation is so surprisingly different, that 3,000 people a year travel from around the world just to see how they do it. His passion for creating joyful work environments led to his bestselling and widely celebrated book, Joy, Inc. - How We Built a Workplace People Love.  His highly anticipated second book, Chief Joy Officer, came out December 4, 2018 and will continue to prove that a positive and engaging leadership style is actually good for business. Important Links: https://menloinnovations.com/ https://richardsheridan.com/

On the podcast this week I’m speaking with Tanya Stinson, who is the founder of Leaning Towards Change, LLC. and an experienced leader in Lean and the healthcare industry. During this episode, Tanya and I are talking about Lean and healthcare. We go over how a healthcare setting is different when it comes to Lean and how leaders can identify and reduce waste in order to better serve patients. What You’ll Learn This Episode: Waste in the healthcare world How perception plays a part in learning to see the waste What is a waste walk The problems a lack of communication can cause for teams The importance of being an effective listener Understanding the people side of change About Tanya’s business Leaning Towards Change and why she decided to start it About the Guest: Tanya Stinson is the founder of Leaning Towards Change, LLC and an experienced leader in the healthcare industry where she is responsible for performance improvement, quality, risk, patient safety and compliance. She serves as a mentor and a coach to physicians, nurses and other clinical and non clinical staff and utilizing Lean and Six Sigma methodology. Important Links: https://www.leaningtowardschange.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanya-stinson

This week I’m speaking with Brion Hurley, a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and founder of Business Performance Improvement, a sustainable process improvement consulting firm. In this episode, Brion and I talk about the major differences between Six Sigma and Lean and how continuous improvement can be applied to the social sector. What You’ll Learn This Episode: Lean vs. Six Sigma, the differences and commonalities How Lean can be applied in the social sector How Lean can be applied in the environment How Lean can be applied to the government How to find opportunities when it comes to volunteering with nonprofits and social sectors. Why it’s important to find your passion About the Guest: Brion Hurley is a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt at Business Performance Improvement. He teaches Lean and Six Sigma classes, facilitates workshops and events, performs statistical analysis, and mentors employees through improvement efforts. He volunteers his time with local nonprofits. He is also the author of the “Lean Six Sigma for Good” book series. Important Links: https://www.biz-pi.com/ https://www.leansixsigmaforgood.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/brion-hurley-432192

This week I’m speaking with Dawn Holly Johnson, the CEO of 3D value group and the author of the soon to be released book What CEOs Don't Know. During this episode, Dawn and I chat about Operational Excellence and how leaders can improve their overall organizational performance by adopting simple strategies and lean concepts. What You’ll Learn This Episode: What compelled Dawn to write her book The top 3 areas that are lacking in traditional organizations when it comes to Operational Excellence Why top organizations need to adopt Lean and Operational Excellence What you can apply today to improve organizational performance About the Guest: As an Organizational Engineer with transformational experience in every major industry and in every size company, Dawn has been the catalyst for businesses to realize over $6B in cash flow improvements. She is the CEO of 3D value group and the author of the soon to be released book What CEOs Don't Know. Important Links: https://www.dawnhollyjohnson.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawnhollyjohnson https://www.wildlysuccessfulenterprises.com/

This week I’m speaking with Deb Coviello. Deb is the founder of Illumination Partners, Author of the book CEO’s Compass - Your Guide to Getting Back on Track  and the host of The Drop In CEO Podcast. In this episode, Deb and I talk about developing high performing leaders, how you can find them and the best ways to prepare them for their leadership roles. What You’ll Learn This Episode: The inspiration behind writing her book What is a high performer and can everyone be a high performer? Developing high performers What should a leader be doing to help develop the next high performer Signs that you are losing emerging leaders How to prepare team members when promoting them to leadership positions How to look out for and find the best emerging leaders About the Guest: Deb Coviello is the Founder of Illumination Partners and the host of The Drop In CEO podcast. For more than twenty years, she has been transforming businesses from within, elevating the talents of their organizations to new performance levels. Her experience has taught her to put tremendous value on people, whom she considers as the heart of every business. As The Drop In CEO Deb provides her clients with 25+ years worth of experience and strategy in Quality and Operational Excellence roles combined with her 20 years in the Flavors and Fragrance industry, to identify, assess,and solve the issues that are preventing their business growth. Certified as Lean and Six Sigma Blackbelt in Process Improvement, she has also developed significant leadership insight that “People’’ are your greatest tool in your toolbox. In order to deliver on her promise of offering “peace of mind,” she focuses on utilizing the talents of her client’s team and elevating them to new levels of performance, setting them up to better serve their organization. When she isn’t transforming businesses from within, Deb is a board member of Women in Flavor & Fragrance Commerce, (WFFC), an avid Curler with the Cincinnati Curling Club, a mother of 3 and resides in Cincinnati Ohio with her Husband Dan of 32 years. Important Links: Email: deborah@coviellocm.com Website: https://dropinceo.com Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborahacoviello/ Drop in CEO Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-drop-in-ceo/id1498953914?ls=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IlluminationPartnersLLC/ Twitter: @DropinCEO Instagram: @dropinceo

This week I’m speaking with Crystal Davis, an experienced business process improvement consultant and certified leadership development coach and CEO of The Lean Coach, Inc. Crystal and I talk about how leaders and businesses can shift to efficiently working during the pandemic and how leaders can help their team members with the adjustment of returning to the workplace as we come out of the pandemic. What You’ll Learn This Episode: How the pandemic has shifted how Crystal works with clients Project management focus The importance of meeting the client where they are at The importance of taking a break and reflecting as a leader How leaders can help team members as they return to work after the pandemic Why leaders should continue the learning process About the Guest: Crystal Davis is the CEO of The Lean Coach, Inc. and  an experienced business process improvement consultant and certified leadership development coach with over twenty years of experience in the design, development, and implementation of Lean Business System solutions across a wide range of industries. Crystal is a sought-after international speaker, host and podcaster with International Business Growth Radio (IBGR), and has spoken at numerous conferences around the world. Crystal’s work and thought leadership has been published in The Journal of Cost Accounting, and Lean Six Sigma Review. Throughout Crystal’s career, she was fortunate to serve as a Master Black Belt, to be mentored by two Toyota sensei in the Toyota Production System, and to lead three teams to receive awards and recognition from lean organizations. Crystal serves on the OPEX Board of Directors, and Lean Six Sigma and Data Conference board for the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE). Crystal served as the conference chair in 2019, introducing Big Data and Artificial Intelligence to the conference. She also serves on the editorial board for ASQ's Lean Six Sigma Review publication, where she served as guest editor for the inaugural all women’s special edition. Important Links: ww.theleancoachinc.com Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/crystalydavis/

This week I’m speaking with Siobhan McHale, the Executive General Manager of People, Culture & Change (HR) at DuluxGroup and the author of The Insider’s Guide to Culture Change: Creating a Workplace that Delivers, Grows, and Adapts. Siobhan and I talk about the importance of workplace culture and the steps you need to take to bring about a culture change in your workplace. What You’ll Learn This Episode: What is workplace culture? The typical patterns of workplace culture Creating culture change in the workplace Role reframing and how it relates to workplace culture The steps to take to bring about culture shift About the Guest: Siobhan (pronounced ‘Shiv-awn’) McHale is the Executive General Manager of People, Culture & Change (HR) at DuluxGroup a paints company based in Melbourne, Australia. She is the author of The Insider’s Guide to Culture Change: Creating a Workplace that Delivers, Grows, and Adapts. Siobhan has worked across four continents, helping thousands of leaders to create more agile and productive workplaces. She has been on the “inside”, as the executive in charge of culture change in a series of multinational organizations. One of these inside jobs was a radical seven-year change initiative at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) that transformed it from the lowest-performing bank in the country into one of the highest-performing banks in the world. Important Links: https://www.siobhanmchale.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/mchalesiobhan/?originalSubdomain=au https://www.amazon.com/Insiders-Guide-Culture-Change-Workplace/dp/1400214653

This week I’m speaking with Mike Leigh, who is the President of OpX Solutions, a performance improvement company that helps manufacturers remove the barriers that prevent them from achieving their goals by developing leaders and improving processes. In this episode we talk about Kaizen events, including why they are important and how to ensure that the outcome of the event is successful. What You’ll Learn This Episode: What are Kaizen events and what is their purpose How to define success at a Kaizen event The main factors that influence success and how to determine them How to hold a successful Kaizen event Having the right mindset during a Kaizen event Inviting leaders to participate in Kaizen events About the Guest: Mike Leigh started OpX Solutions to help manufacturers and other organizations be more successful. Prior to starting his company, Mike had a 13-year manufacturing career where he held a variety of operational supply chain leadership roles.  Prior to that, he served in the US Navy as a surface warfare officer where he specialized in nuclear propulsion, and later retired as a Commander in the reserves. Additionally, Mike writes a monthly article on business operations for Valley Business FRONT magazine, was recognized as the Virginia Small Business Veteran of the Year by the state SBDC organization, and his business is currently the #1 franchise in the Americas with Leadership Management International. When not working, Mike enjoys hiking, traveling, and following the Green Bay Packers. Important Links: Company Website:  https://opxsolutionsllc.com/ Linked-In Sites: OpX Solutions:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/opx-solutions-llc/ Mike’s profile:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeleighopxsolutions/

This week I’m speaking with David Mann, who has over 25 years of consulting on lean and lean management implementations in a wide range of manufacturing, health care, enterprise business processes, and extended value chains. In this episode we talk about David’s book and one of my favorite lean books, Creating a Lean Culture and how you can create the behaviors and practices of a lean management system in your own organization. What You’ll Learn This Episode: What inspired David to write Creating a Lean Culture The specific behaviors and practices that instilled a lean management system Mindset shifts for implementing lean systems The most important aspect in sustaining a lean culture Where David has seen the elements of lean management applied About the Guest: David Mann is the principal of David Mann Lean Consulting. In 15 years of lean experience at Steelcase Inc., Mann developed the concepts and tools of a lean management system, supporting 40+ lean manufacturing value stream transformations, and then leading an internal team that completed over 100 successful lean conversions in administrative and business process value streams. He established a consulting practice in 2005, serving organizations across industries worldwide. David is an implementer, consultant, coach, teacher and the author of the book Creating a Lean Culture, in which he won a Shingo Award. Important Links: https://dmannlean.com/ https://www.amazon.com/Creating-Lean-Culture-David-Mann/dp/1482243237