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The Edges of Lean explores topics in continuous improvement (lean thinking, creative problem solving, six sigma) that get overlooked. Meet the people practicing lean in odd places or with different twists, always with a focus on respect for people and continuous learning.
Episodes
Wednesday Mar 02, 2022
Wednesday Mar 02, 2022
Collaborative leadership is the key to success for organizations struggling with siloed decision-making and collaboration. Teri Beckman joins me, discussing how an absence of common goals can lead companies down a path from which they may never recover. Why does having a shared goal play such an important role in a company's successes? Listen in to our conversation to learn about what it really means when we say "We're all on board!"
TERI BECKMAN
Teri is CEO of HIGOl: “We help purpose-driven CEOs align their people, boards, and financial resources to increase revenue and community impact”
CONNECT WITH TERI
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teribeckman/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/teribeckman
Website: https://higo.co/
Key Topics in this podcast:
- Teri’s career and company HiGOI background
- Where does Lean originate from?
- Lean Refugee explained
- Siloed leadership in organizations
- What is leadership collaboration all about?
- Why is giving up control and authority the scariest thing?
- How to handle employees who are not performing well: What is the process?
- How to engage volunteers in a collaborative leadership perspective?
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Employees are less likely to feel like their voice is heard if they can't participate in discussions about what needs improvement.
- A company should have a way for employees to voice their opinions.
- Executive teams can have siloed leadership that cuts off the potential for the company.
- Collaborative leadership is where the team works together to achieve common goals.
- The leader needs to be willing to trust and develop different kinds of relationships with their direct reports.
- If we don't teach our young adults how to work together, the future won't be good.
- To gain strategic insights from executives, you must be vulnerable and get them in on the process.
Memorable Quotes From Teri Beckman
- ‘’ Take the time to get to know yourself on a deeper level. And that means maybe some time off from the computer off of your devices. So that, you know, you can know yourself on a deeper level and begin to trust yourself.”
- “You have everything you need to have success in life; to have joy, happiness, you really do. The messaging that there's something wrong with us that we have to fix, that we have to make a certain amount of money by a certain point, that we have to get married by a certain time. Those are all artificial constructs”
Thursday Feb 24, 2022
Thursday Feb 24, 2022
Continuous Improvement and Telling the Truth About Yourself with Arnoud Herremans
Telling the truth is important. But what happens when telling the truth about what you are feeling isn’t comfortable, or you're concerned about how it will impact other people? !
Arnoud Herremans reached out to me after he attended a webinar I gave - and he shared a brilliant insight that I want you all to hear. Arnoud will uncover why is it important to tell the truth about yourself, so listen in and learn more about it
ARNOUD HERREMANS
Dr. Arnoud Herremans is a psychologist by training and holds a Ph.D. in Neuroscience and he is experienced in pharmaceutical research as a researcher and manager, he is also a founder and CEO of Y47 provides a service to introduce processes that continuously improve workflow and bring Innovation Excellence to Life Science and Chemical organizations where research is an important part of daily life. The center of Arnoud’s service is Lean Thinking. builds a mindset in every employee to clearly identify problems in their work processes. By creating awareness, it is possible to learn how to analyze and improve these processes in a way that is rather “not telling what to do'' but teaching how to identify and change unproductive habits and procedures
CONNECT WITH ARNOUD
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arnoudherremans/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/arnoudherremans
Website: https://y47.eu/
Key Topics in this podcast:
- Arnoud’s journey and career background
- Understanding the brain’s reactions to to new or threatening ideas
- Importance of being honest about yourself
- The “fight or flight” reaction explained
- Reasons why we feel uneasy or uncomfortable in a meeting or a particular situation
- How do we balance working formally (setting aside emotions) and being authentic?
- Difference and similarities between product development and operations
- Learning cadence explained
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- It is imperative that we normalize the conversation about what it means to disagree with other people. We need more open discussions, less shame, and guilt
- We all have a natural response to certain situations: the way we feel and think about things is determined by the environment in which they occur, and our own past history.
- When we speak up about what's in our minds and tell the truth, we actually create a psychologically safe environment for others.
- We feel uncomfortable when what happens is different than what we expected, and that is normal
- Telling the truth and speaking up are two important keys to resolving issues for both parties.
- We have a tendency to get frustrated about our reactions at work, but it is important for us not to be reactive.
Memorable Quotes From Arnoud Herremans
‘’ You have to find your own voice, who you are as a person: in your work, in what you do. Because if you know that, and there's only one person that can be that is best at doing that, and that's YOU, yourself, you're the best person at being you. And trying to find that and living to that and constantly reflecting on is "This, is this really me?' "is this is what I enjoy?" is where quality is. Build on that!”"
Wednesday Feb 02, 2022
Wednesday Feb 02, 2022
Linguistic barriers are common in any business, but they can be especially challenging when you're working with different languages. Today I will speak to Bruno Pešec about the importance of plain language and applying lean ideas across an organization whether your team speaks English (or lean!) or not!
BRUNO PESEC
Bruno Pešec helps business leaders innovate profitably, leveraging his broad experience from different industries – including defense, manufacturing, education, and financial services.
He is an active member in the global startup community, co-founder of Norwegian Lean Startup Circle, and Founder of Institute Norway. Bruno is the co-creator of Playing Lean, an award-winning board game for teaching entrepreneurship and innovation.
CONNECT WITH BRUNO PESEC
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pesec/
Twitter: brunopesec
Website: pesec.no/
Key Topics in this podcast:
- Bruno’s journey and career background
- How does he bring lean ideas and thinking to Toyota Production System
- Understanding language barrier
- Importance of using plain language
- How does using jargon create an entry barrier?
- How he applied his experience and expertise to help his clients
- What are the biggest challenges in his field?
- Importance of vertical slice in organization
- What is “Playing Lean” all about
- Bruno’s upcoming book
- Advice to young people
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Bruno found his passion in Toyota Production System, but he wanted to bring lean thinking and principles into the company. Unfortunately for him, it was hard because of language barriers
- Plain language makes it easier for anyone, even those who don't know the technical jargon associated with certain topics.
- When you use jargon words, it creates an entry barrier because these special terms are only understood by those in the industry. This makes talking like this sound exclusive and elitist. That doesn't align with being inclusive for everyone else who wants to learn!
- Bruno's knowledge and experience as an expert in his field are put to use for the benefit of clients, with whom he helps share his lean or innovative ideas with others.
- Playing Lean is an excellent game to create an understanding of lean startup
Memorable Quotes From Bruno Pesec
‘’ First, is understanding that everybody learns differently, including you, as a young person. So some things that worked for others might not work for you. And second, learning how to learn is one of the most scalable skills, the earlier in life, you learn that the more reward you will get out of it. “
Wednesday Jan 26, 2022
Wednesday Jan 26, 2022
Collaboration is an essential part of any successful organization, but how do you find individuals that have natural communications and collaboration skills? Join me as I talk with Mark Herschberg about lean thinking and why universities aren't doing enough in this area! We will also discuss his book “The Career Tool Kit: Essential For Success That No One Taught You” which provides valuable insights on gaining knowledge from collaborative efforts. Mark has been teaching at MIT for 20 years. In addition, he's built multiple startup companies as a CTO.
Mark Herschberg
Mark is the author of The Career Toolkit, Essential Skills for Success That No One Taught You. From tracking criminals and terrorists on the dark web to creating marketplaces and new authentication systems, Mark has spent his career launching and developing new ventures at startups and Fortune 500s and in academia. He helped to start the Undergraduate Practice Opportunities Program, dubbed MIT’s “career success accelerator,” where he teaches annually. At MIT, he received a B.S. in physics, a B.S. in electrical engineering & computer science, and an M.Eng. in electrical engineering & computer science, focusing on cryptography. At Harvard Business School, Mark helped create a platform used to teach finance at prominent business schools. He also works with many non-profits, including Techie Youth and Plant A Million Corals. He was one of the top-ranked ballroom dancers in the country and now lives in New York City, where
He is known for his social gatherings, including his annual Halloween party, as well as his diverse cufflink collection.
CONNECT WITH MARK
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/hershey
Website:https://www.thecareertoolkitbook.com/
Where to purchase “The Career Tool Kit: Essential For Success That No One Taught You” https://www.amazon.com/Career-Toolkit-Essential-Skills-Success/dp/0960100709
Key Topics in this podcast:
- Mark’s career background
- Importance of Upskilling
- “Agile” explained
- How to develop collaboration skills
- Advantages of upskilling your team
- How to engage your team in learning new skills openly
- Mark’s mobile app built for his book and future plans
- Agile techniques: application for better collaboration
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Mark is not an average software engineer--he knows how important it is to keep up with new skills and knowledge, which makes him a great leader.
- Miscommunication leads to a breakdown of successful teamwork, and this can only be solved by collaboration.
- Developing "soft" knowledge and skills are important to help drive company success, especially for leadership roles.
- The higher education system must focus on teaching leadership, teaching how to learn, and teaching real management skills to prepare students for the workplace.
- Collaboration is a valuable tool that can be used to help teams succeed. It's easy and quick for anyone, even those without any previous experience in this field of work or leadership roles
- Mark's book, "The Career Tool Kit: Essential For Success That No One Taught You" is a useful guide for any team or leader looking to achieve success through collaboration.
Words of wisdom with Mark Herschberg
“That rectangle analogy is recognizing we have long sides and short sides. Yes, keep developing the long sides. That's your expertise. But don't ignore those short sides. Because as you develop them, you will become so much more effective. And that can be whether it's a particular skill that we've talked about, like communication or leadership, it could just be known in another area. “
Wednesday Jan 19, 2022
Wednesday Jan 19, 2022
Every boss has their own style, but we know that the "bossy" boss will have a very hard time building and mainting a productive lean culture. In today’s episode, I talk about that with Elizabeth Were, who focuses her consulting practice on coaching managers to get comfortable not being bossy (or to get comfortable speaking up, if they are the other kind of boss). She also shares her lean story and how she came to learn that lean implementation requires a change in leadership behaviors.
Elizabeth Were
Elizabeth Were is a certified Business Process Manager and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt who specializes in helping companies improve their processes and is recognized for her facilitation skills and ability to resolve complex issues with practical and simple solutions.
CONNECT WITH ELIZABETH
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-were-548ba217
Key Topics in this podcast:
- Elizabeth’s career background
- Conducting experiments and training the team
- What are some reasons team members might not be cultivating their skills?
- What are the solutions to help managers and team members develop their skills?
- The right process for the right team management
- Different approaches to help bosses stop being bossy
- Solutions to help the team members work efficiently
- Automation in the organization, Good or bad?
- State of lean in Kenya
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Feeling comfortable with not knowing everything allows leaders to empowering their employees. Improvement is always possible!
- Different coaching programs are necessary in different organizations, depending on the skill sets of the team members.
- Leadership styles vary from shy to aggressive, so it is important to understand how each person operates.
- Having a good leader makes team members confident
- Team members need to understand how to work together
- Navigating the conversation about not diving into technology right away can be difficult, but is important for financial services organizations, and all organizations.
- Human interaction is still important in many aspects of business and should not be underestimated, or automated out of existence.
- Keeping a balance between automation and human interaction is key to maintaining your company's efficiency.
Words of wisdom with Elizabeth Were
“Whatever you do, taking one step, and just being very curious, is really, really helpful”
Friday Jan 07, 2022
Friday Jan 07, 2022
Episode: Continuous Improvement and Customer Satisfaction with Sumitra Vig
It’s not just the customer’s satisfaction with an organization but also how the organization rewards and appreciates its employees, that drives organizational success. In this episode Sumitra Vig joins me to talk about how organizations can achieve a goal of satisfying customers by focusing on employees. We talk about her experiences working across countries, learning from diverse cultures and how to create a satisfied customer who keeps coming back again and again.
SUMITRA VIG
Sumitra Vig is a Customer Experience Specialist, and an ASQ Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence. She helps organizations be more effective by increasing the quality of their interactions with employees and customers through focused attention on goals that are tailored specifically to each organization’s unique needs.
CONNECT WITH SUMITRA VIG
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sumitra-vig-34680527
Key Topics in this podcast:
- Sumitra’s journey and her career background
- Adjusting working in different countries and cultures.
- What are Customer Experience Boards?
- Step by Step process to achieve customer satisfaction
- AAA model explained
- How does a customer’s script bring back the voice of customers?
- Gratification and appreciation for employees as important pathway towards customers satisfaction.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Sumitra gained a lot of learnings working across different countries and cultures on how she can apply them for customer satisfaction
- When she moved to Europe, the work-life balance there came as a surprise because it was so different from India and more holistic.
- Citibank implemented methods in newer locations that had been successful in other parts of the world and hence tried and tested.
- In a nutshell, the way to please customers is by taking care of employees first.
- The company uses well researched and refined scripts to reduce mistakes in interactions with customers
- Three ways to measure customer satisfaction is by tracking their satisfaction score, defect rate (problem incidence rate), and problem resolution.
- Employees who work in a culture of fear and stress do not provide the best service to the company’s clients.
- A company's success is tightly coupled with how it treats its own employees, who in turn provide great service to the company’s customers.
Memorable Quotes From Sumitra Vig
- ‘’I think the one important thing is to have fun because when you have fun, you raise your energy and when you raise your energy, you attract a lot of good things”.
- ‘’Understand that there will always be hurdles, and every hurdle is a turning point for something good. Go out and have your fun and have a practice to be the best, most authentic person pursuing your dream”.
Friday Nov 19, 2021
Friday Nov 19, 2021
Thursday Nov 11, 2021
Thursday Nov 11, 2021
How do you build a winning team? It's not just about hiring the best people or getting them to work together. You need to create an environment where they can be themselves and feel connected to the organization. Today, Barry Moline discusses how important it is in building a good environment for an organization where connection and collaboration are important ingredients for success.
Barry Moline
Barry is a Keynote Speaker on Building Connection, Inclusion & Great Teams in an Online World; Lead at Every Level; and CEO/Executive Director at California Municipal Utilities Association and the author of the book “Connect: How to Quickly Collaborate for Success In Business and Life”
CONNECT WITH BARRY
LinkedIn :linkedin.com/in/barry-moline-29b99a53
Website: https://barrymoline.com/ OR https://barrymoline.com/resources/ (for the list of icebreakers)
Key topics in this podcast:
- Barry’s career background
- Collaboration and connection explained
- “Connect” the book
- Political polarization or polarization
- Trigger words
- Rebuilding connection and collaboration
- How to build connections within an organization?
- How to develop a team?
- Effective Ice breakers
- Team engagement
- Get along and make connections with others.
- Advice to a young person working in a team.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The book “Connect” explores how to collaborate with people quickly.
- Organizational success and collaboration.
- Barry discusses the importance of choosing words well, and how choosing a wrong word may be seen as offensive to another person.
- The benefits to engaging with someone and having common interests.
- A bad boss can lead to a lot of people leaving the organization.
- Icebreakers are effective to build connection
- Companies that engage with their employees are 84% more productive
- Barry hires people based on how well they get along in a team.
Words of wisdom or Tweet-ables
Barry Moline
- “Be accountable, and that means, whatever you do, take responsibility, know you're doing something, do the best you can”
- “If you're responsible for getting something done, get it done “
Friday Nov 05, 2021
Friday Nov 05, 2021
Do you experience self-doubt? Have you ever wondered if you have “Imposter Syndrome?” Does it impact your ability to influence and drive continuous improvement? Today I speak with Dr. Tara Halliday who is an imposter syndrome coach about her career and about principles that can help us when we experience imposter syndrome.
TARA HALLIDAY
Tara has a Ph.D. in engineering and has practiced as a holistic therapist and coach for 21 years. She specializes in solving what is commonly referred to as “imposter syndrome”. She is the author of Unmasking: The Coach's Guide to Imposter Syndrome, and Understanding the Science of Imposter Syndrome
CONNECT WITH TARA
Website: completesuccess.co.uk
Linked In: linkedin.com/in/tara-halliday-phd
TAKE THE IMPOSTER SYNDROME QUIZ
Key topics in this podcast:
- Tara’s career background
- How her coaching career started
- What is Imposter Syndrome?
- How did it impact her career?
- How do you get out of your comfort zone?
- What is the amygdala?
- Negative impacts of having Imposter syndrome
- Imposter syndrome in-depth explanation
- Imposter syndrome and your sense of right and wrong
- Imposter syndrome myths
- Why neuro-linguistic programming doesn’t help with imposter syndrome
- Tips to manage to imposter syndrome
- How parents can help their children not develop imposter syndrome.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Imposter syndrome is very common (up to 70% of people experience it)
- It is created early in life - and is part of our brain's way of protecting us from the world.
- Many of the methods that people use to manage imposter syndrome are not effective, but there are effective measures out there that can be used
- Having trustworthy allies can help to manage and get rid of the imposter syndrome
- We benefit from appreciating our own worth as a human.
- If you think you have imposter syndrome, Tara has a quiz you should take to find out more about it.
Words of wisdom or Tweet-ables
Tara Halliday
“Learning involves mistakes and mistakes doesn’t mean you’re bad”
Friday Oct 29, 2021
Friday Oct 29, 2021
Lean thinking is flourishing in the Gulf States. Today I’m speaking with Dr Deborah Salimi, who is a co-founder of the Lean Gulf Institute, about her career, and how the Lean Gulf Institute was created.
She shares how she has applied lean thinking across industries with great success, including stories from male-dominated workplaces, and how women are advancing at a rapid pace in these workplaces. She also shares learnings throughout her career working in different countries, and how she shifted from being an engineer to being an educator.
DEBORAH SALIMI
Deborah is a speaker, mentor, author and recognized as a Lean Sensei who enthusiastically shares her knowledge and insights. She enjoys success in the practical application of Lean Six Sigma and project management to IT, construction, high-tech manufacturing, and healthcare. She has held high visibility roles at fortune 500 industry leaders such as Intel Corporation, Mitsubishi Digital Electronics, Hughes Aircraft/Boeing, and Honeywell and in the not-for-profit healthcare and education sectors. In 2010 Deborah co-founded the Lean Gulf Institute (LGI), (leangulf.org) based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
CONNECT WITH DEBORAH
Website: leangulf.org
Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leangulf/
Key topics in this podcast:
- Deborah’s career background
- How did she end up working in the middle east?
- What led her to lean?
- Lean as a lifestyle
- Her journey working in male-dominated workplaces
- How did she deal with country culture in so many different places?
- How did she become an educator from being an engineer?
- Her variety of experiences working from different places
- Diversity of countries she worked in, in terms of female advancement
- Female advancement in UAE
- How lean applied across industries in the Gulf States
- Coaching and management in a lean way
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Deborah was an international worker who had the opportunity to work in many different countries: the USA, Japan, UAE, and Mexico.
- Deborah's career has given her the opportunity to see many different cultures and learn about them.
- Why her gender did not hold her back working in male-dominated fields.
- How she applies lean thinking across different industries.
- Female empowerment in the UAE, and why they are a leader in the advancement women.
Words of wisdom or Tweet-ables
Deborah Salimi
“Don’t discount your education”
“If you want to succeed, you need to become a lifelong learner”