Building Better with Brandon Bartneck

This episode explores the idea that the highest level of human development is not self actualization but self transcendence. Most people understand Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as ending with becoming the best version of yourself. But Maslow later clarified that there is a level beyond that. Self transcendence. The point is not simply optimizing yourself. The point is using your gifts in service of...

In this episode, I share a personal experience where I choked. For the first time in a long time, I failed to perform at the level I knew I was capable of, in a very public setting. It wasn’t a lack of preparation. It wasn’t a lack of ability. It was mental. I unpack what happened when I played piano at my grandmother’s funeral, how nerves took over, and what that experience taught me about pressu...

Change management sounds abstract. Even a little boring. But if you care about making things better, in your company, your family, your community, or yourself, then you’re in the business of driving change. And the ability to lead and manage that well may be one of the most important skills of the next five to ten years. In this episode, I unpack why change so often fails, especially in technicall...

In this solo episode of Building Better, I explore a pattern I see everywhere. In engineering, in leadership, and in life. Most systems are built sequentially. One decision at a time. One optimization at a time. One fix after another. That approach works. It is safe. It prevents disasters. But it rarely produces truly great outcomes. Using product development and APQP as a starting point, I contra...

This is my annual reflection episode. In it, I walk through how 2025 forced me to get much clearer about purpose, obligation, and the kind of work I feel called to do. That clarity brought meaning, but it also raised the bar and the weight I feel as a leader. I talk through how this showed up professionally in manufacturing and leadership, what I’ve been wrestling with personally, and the resource...

In this solo episode, I explore a question that’s been on my mind for a long time: what actually separates an adequate leader from a good one, and a good one from a great one? I use football as an analogy, not to glorify sports leadership clichés, but to illustrate a distinction that shows up everywhere. In business. In manufacturing. In engineering. In organizations that win once, versus those th...

In this solo episode, Brandon breaks down one of the most overlooked drivers of team performance: a leader’s ability to understand the true nature of the work their function is responsible for. Most leaders want high performance and a great environment, but few achieve it. Brandon argues that the root cause isn’t effort, tactics, or leadership style, it’s a fundamental misunderstanding of the func...

This solo episode is about a question that sits at the center of my work and my life. What is real impact. Not the buzzword. The kind that actually changes the direction of someone’s life. I break down impact from first principles. What it is. How you create it. Why it is more than reach or scale. Impact comes from the quality of what you are doing, the number of people you touch, the depth of the...

Most conversations about work-life balance start with the wrong question. We assume the goal is to limit work, to keep it from taking too much of our lives. So we optimize for time, energy, and boundaries, all while treating work as something to manage or escape. In this solo episode, Brandon challenges that premise. He steps back to ask a more fundamental question: What is work actually for? Bran...

What does it take to build a business that isn’t just profitable today, but valuable, resilient, and meaningful over the long term? In this episode, I sit down with Scott Snider , President of the Exit Planning Institute (EPI). Scott and his team work with advisors across the country to help business owners align their business, personal, and financial goals —not just to prepare for a future exit,...

In this episode, I’m joined by Ali Kashani, Co-Founder and CEO of Serve Robotics. Serve is pioneering autonomous sidewalk delivery at scale—with hundreds of robots already operating in major U.S. cities and thousands more on the way. Ali and I dive into the complexity of autonomy: the technical challenges, the economics, the regulatory and consumer adoption hurdles, and the leadership required to...

In this episode, I’m joined by Drew Allen, President & CEO of Grace Technologies. Grace is a family business built on innovation in electrical safety and predictive maintenance, and Drew has carried that forward—shaping the company into a leader in industrial technology and workplace safety. We cover a lot of ground in this conversation. Drew shares the story of Grace’s evolution from a single...

In this solo episode, Brandon unpacks a challenge he sees everywhere — in his own work, at PJ Wallbank Springs, and in the broader world of leadership and business. The tension between attention and depth. It’s easy to get attention without substance. It’s also possible to have real substance without anyone noticing. But if you want to make a lasting impact, you need both. Brandon explores why tha...

The automotive aftermarket often flies under the radar—but it plays a major role in advancing engineering, manufacturing, and performance. In this episode, Mike Spagnola, President & CEO of SEMA and PRI, joins me to explore how the specialty automotive sector is driving innovation across ICE, hybrid, EV, hydrogen, and beyond. We dive into how SEMA supports manufacturers with hands-on product d...

In this solo episode, Brandon reflects on a recurring theme in his work and leadership journey. The increasing presence of uncomfortable, ambiguous, and high-stakes problems. He explores how the most meaningful work often comes with the most discomfort, and why learning to sit with that tension is both necessary and worthwhile. This isn’t a glorification of pain for its own sake. It’s about the re...

Welding isn’t just sparks and heat—it’s an essential (and often misunderstood) part of modern manufacturing. In this conversation, Ami Spira, General Manager of Civan Lasers USA, joins me to talk about the state of the art in welding technology and why laser welding is making such a big impact. We cover how different welding methods work, what makes laser welding unique, and why Civan’s dynamic be...

What’s the point of innovation? In this solo episode, Brandon Bartneck reflects on what innovation actually means—and why the version we celebrate most (flashy tech, hype cycles, moonshots) often misses the point. Drawing from personal experience at Boeing, Bose, and multiple advanced tech sectors, Brandon shares why he’s now more energized leading engineering at a spring company than he’s ever be...

Big innovation doesn’t always mean big headlines. Sometimes it looks like improving how 5.5 million students get to school every day. In this episode of Building Better , Brandon Bartneck talks with Sean McCormack, Chief Information Officer at First Student. They dive into the challenges of routing 45,000 school buses, the role of AI and EVs in improving safety and sustainability, and why “user-ce...

In this solo episode, Brandon Bartnick explores the messy reality behind transparency and authenticity in leadership. These are buzzwords in many settings, but the day-to-day application is far more complex. Drawing from recent experiences in a manufacturing and audit context, Brandon reflects on: Why total transparency isn’t always helpful The risks of encouraging issue-raising without accountabi...

Electric bikes are more than a trend—they’re a key part of a more sustainable, accessible, and human transportation ecosystem. But the market is still early, and big challenges stand in the way: trust, affordability, infrastructure, and shifting consumer behavior. In this episode, Brandon Bartneck talks with Marta Anadón, Head of US at Upway, the leading global platform for refurbished e-bikes. Ma...

In this solo episode, Brandon unpacks a powerful idea that keeps surfacing in his work and personal life: we can’t solve problems we don’t understand. And we can’t understand problems until we stop speaking in generalities and start getting specific. The spark came from a bedtime story with his son— What Do You Do With a Problem? by Kobi Yamada—but the insight goes much deeper. Avoiding the proble...

In the world of logistics, automation is no longer a future concept—it’s happening now. But rolling out robotics in high-volume warehouse environments isn’t as simple as plugging in a machine and walking away. In this episode of Building Better , Brandon sits down with Jim Liefer , CEO of Ambi Robotics , to talk about what it actually takes to build and deploy robotics solutions that work at scale...

Strategic planning too often becomes an annual ritual that loses meaning as soon as the binders hit the shelf. Mark Reich is on a mission to change that. In this episode of Building Better , Brandon Bartneck sits down with Mark Reich, author of Managing on Purpose and one of the foremost experts on hoshin kanri—a strategy deployment system rooted in the Toyota Production System. Drawing on decades...

In this solo episode of Building Better , host Brandon Bartneck reflects on the first quarter of 2025. Drawing from recent episodes and his own evolving role leading engineering at PJ Wallbank Springs, Brandon shares the four themes that defined Q1: intentional innovation, operational leadership, learning and growth, and strategic problem-solving. This quarter marked a shift in the show’s tone—tow...

Autonomous trucking has long promised a more efficient, scalable future for freight. But making it real requires more than bold ideas—it takes precision, discipline, and a deep understanding of operations. In this episode of Building Better, Brandon Bartneck talks with Dr. Xiaodi Hou, founder and CEO of Bot Auto. They explore how Bot Auto is approaching Level 4 autonomous driving, the importance o...