Category: Employee Engagement

E129: Reducing Malnutrition in South Sudan with Chelsie Azevedo

In this episode, I share an interview with Chelsie Azevedo, who has a masters in Public Health and is a Registered Dietician (RD), and was previously the Nutrition Technical Advisor for Rise Against Hunger. She shares the story of a powerful multi-year project she helped lead in South Sudan with students at Hope for South
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E128: Transforming Lives Using Lean with Patrick Adams

In this episode, I share an interview with Patrick Adams, founder of Lean Solutions based in Michigan. We met virtually during the pandemic in the Lean Communicators Network, and later in-person at the Lean Six Sigma World Conference. He hosts an annual conference called Lean Solutions Summit that will take place in a few weeks
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E127: Applying Kaizen in Developing Countries with Sammy Obara

In this episode, I share an interview with Sammy Obara, Founder and Senior Partner at Honsha, a consulting firm made up of former Toyota employees. He recently presented a topic called “Kaizen without Borders” at the 2025 UCSD ProcessPalooza, and I invited him on the podcast. We discuss applying these powerful concepts to NGOs and
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E126: Using Lean Six Sigma to Make Wishes Come True with Kristle Bulleman

In this episode, I share an uplifting interview with Kristle Bulleman, Process Manager at Make-A-Wish. She shares insights into her process improvement role at this well-respected nonprofit, outlining the impactful work done by Make-A-Wish to grant wishes for children with critical illnesses. We dive into her experiences in using Lean and Six Sigma tools to
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E123: Driving Lean Leadership into Government with Andrew Rowe

In this episode, I share an interview I had with Andrew Rowe, former CEO and Executive Chairman of AllMed Healthcare Management in Portland, Oregon. After 20 years of leading AllMed through a Lean transformation, he is now focusing his time on bringing Lean and quality principes into the Portland metro area as a community service
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E122: Applying Lean at the City of Grand Rapids with Alen Ganic

In this episode, I share an interview I had with Alen Ganic, an experienced Lean and Six Sigma coach who spent 14 years with the City of Grand Rapids implementing Lean and has also setup numerous volunteer groups and organizations to help those in need. He shares examples of project improvements he worked on in
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E121: Using Lean Principles for Non-Profits and NGOs – ASQ Lean Division

In this episode, I share a webinar I gave to the ASQ Lean Enterprise Division I share examples of how Lean tools like process mapping, 5S, and Kanban boards helped improve efficiency and effectiveness for nonprofit organizations focused on societal or environmental challenges. I also share my favorite real-world examples from the City of Denver,
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E120: Tackling Green with Lean – Lean Global Connection 2024

In this episode, I share a presentation that the Lean Sustainability Global Network (an unofficial team that I’m involved with) gave at the Lean Global Connection virtual conference in Nov 2024. We share how Lean principles can be applied to tackle pressing environmental challenges and improve processes. For example, Lean and Green expands the traditional
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E119: Applying Lean within Municipal Electric and Water Utilities – Interview with Jennifer Peterson

In this episode, we interview Jennifer Peterson, the manager of Continuous Improvement at Muscatine Power and Water (MPW) in Muscatine, Iowa. She discusses how she got into continuous improvement (CI) and the impact it has had on MPW employees and customers. She highlights the importance of: Jennifer also shares several examples of successful CI projects
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DuPont Building Innovations: A Case Study in Achieving Zero Landfill

DuPont Building Innovations, a leader in sustainable building solutions, demonstrates that environmental responsibility aligns with business growth and innovation. Their commitment to zero landfill reflects a core value and contributes to their market differentiation. In 2008, Building Innovations produced 81 million pounds of landfill at 15 locations, a volume equivalent to nearly 16,000 cars or
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