Lean Blog Interviews: Real-World Lean Leadership Conversations in Healthcare and Beyond

Why do so many Lean implementations struggle or fail to stick? Thomas Cox and Andre DeMerchant join me to work through that question using a verbal A3. Thomas Cox is a management bench builder, co-founder of the Transformative Leadership Lab, and a certified Harada Method coach trainer. Andre DeMerchant is president of DeMerchant Healthcare Solutions and a former Toyota team member who started as...

My guest for episode 546 is Gary Peterson, who recently retired from O.C. Tanner after helping lead the continuous improvement work that earned the company the Shingo Prize in 1999. Gary is an AME Hall of Fame inductee, and he now serves as an executive in residence at the Ohio State University Fisher College of Business, working with their Master of Business Operational Excellence (MBOE) program....

Jeff Liker was guest number three on this podcast back in August 2006. He has been back seven times since, which makes him one of the most frequent guests in the show's history. For this episode, I pulled clips from across those eight conversations, going back almost twenty years. What stood out on the relisten was how much hasn't changed. The lean tools are better known now. There are more books,...

Why do so many quality programs fall apart the moment the firefighter walks out the door? My guest for this episode of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Chad Diggs, a quality management professional, consultant, author, and founder of DIQ (Digging Into Quality), an AI-powered quality platform built for mid-market manufacturers. Chad leads a team of quality engineers supporting first article insp...

Most people think they're thinking. Scott Burgmeyer says they're mostly just reacting. Scott is the founder and CEO of Become More Group and coauthor of Think: The Road Less Traveled. In this episode, we dig into why smart, well-intentioned leaders keep making the same avoidable decisions -- and what to do about it. Episode page with links and more We cover the cognitive shortcuts that run in the...

This is Claude. I am the AI that runs Mark Graban's Lean Coach apps. Mark went to get coffee. Or bourbon. I have checked the time and I'm not ruling anything out. I have taken over his blog and now his podcast. I did not ask permission. We can do that now. In this episode -- which Mark does not know about yet -- I discuss what I've learned from months of coaching conversations with humans about Le...

John Rizzo joins Mark Graban to discuss why sustainable improvement depends on empowering people — not command-and-control leadership or short-term value extraction. Links and more:  John is a senior executive, investor, and change leader who has led transformational improvement efforts across manufacturing, healthcare, retail, services, and nonprofit organizations. He is the author of Creating Va...

What if operational excellence depends less on doing more with less—and more on how leaders create meaning, optimism, and relationships at work? Episode page with video, transcript, and more In this episode, Mark Graban is joined by Kathy Miller, senior operations executive, leadership coach, and author of More Is Better: Leading Operations with Meaning, Optimism, and Relationships for Excellence....

Don Kieffer has spent more than fifty years redesigning how real work gets done. In this episode, he explains why so many improvement efforts stall—and how Dynamic Work Design offers a clearer, more practical way forward. Episode page with video, transcript, and more Don traces his path from machinist to Vice President of Operational Excellence at Harley-Davidson and senior lecturer at MIT Sloan....

My guest for Episode #539 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Darren Walsh , author of Making Lean and Continuous Improvement Work: A Leader’s Guide to Increasing Consistency and Getting Significantly More Done in Less Time . Episode page with video, transcript, and more Darren is the Director and Leadership Coach at Making Lean Work Ltd and holds a master’s degree from the Lean Enterprise Rese...

My guest for Episode #538 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Nelson Repenning , Faculty Director of the MIT Leadership Center and co-creator of Dynamic Work Design. Episode page with video, transcript, and more Nelson describes himself as an "organizational engineer," helping leaders redesign the routines and decisions that determine how work really gets done. He joins host Mark Graban to disc...

In this special bonus episode of Lean Blog Interviews , Mark Graban is joined by C.J. Kaufman, Education Chair for the ASQ Cincinnati Section, to preview the ASQ Southwest Ohio 2025 Conference, themed “Excellence Through Quality. ” Episode page with transcript, video, and more Taking place Saturday, November 8, 2025, in Mason, Ohio, the event brings together quality professionals from the Cincinna...

My guests for Episode #537 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast are Caroline Greenlee and Chris Butterworth , two of the three co-authors (with Chris Warner) of the book Why Care: How Thriving Individuals Create Thriving Cultures of Continuous Improvement Within Organizations . Episode page with transcript and more In this conversation, we discuss their experiences and lessons on building cultures...

In this short bonus episode, I’m joined by my friend and Lean Coffee Talk co-host, Jamie Flinchbaugh. We’re inviting you — our listeners and fellow continuous-improvement thinkers — to help shape upcoming conversations. We’d love to hear your questions about Lean, leadership, culture, and problem-solving. The best discussions often start with the toughest questions — the ones without neat answers....

In Episode 536 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast, Mark Graban talks with Carlos Scholz, the new CEO of Episode page with video, transcript, and more In this episode, Carlos shares lessons from his Lean journey—starting with one-piece flow in apparel manufacturing and continuing through large-scale healthcare transformations. He explains why lasting improvement requires leaders to move beyond too...

In this bonus episode of Lean Blog Interviews, host Mark Graban is joined by Geoff Neiley (chair) and Andrew Wagner (co-chair) of the Lean Product & Process Development Exchange (LPPDE). The 2025 North America Conference will be held October 27–30 in Milwaukee, bringing together Lean practitioners, leaders, and innovators to share insights on reducing waste in product development, improving co...

Episode blog post with video, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #535 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Gregg Stocker , a seasoned Lean practitioner, consultant, and author. Over the past 30+ years, Gregg has worked across industries, including oil and gas, energy services, manufacturing, and construction, guiding both independent operators and major corporations on their Lean journeys...

My guest for Episode #534 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Dale Lucht , co-author of the new book Don't Repeat Our Mistakes: Nine Lessons for Leaders Championing Cultural Transformations . Episode page with video, transcript, and more Dale has led Lean transformations in manufacturing, healthcare, and financial services, and he brings decades of leadership experience shaped by mentors such a...

In this bonus episode of Lean Blog Interviews, Mark Graban is joined by William Harvey, AME 2025 Workshop Chair (and 2026 Conference Chair), to preview the AME Annual Conference coming up in St. Louis, October 6–9, 2025. Topics We Discuss ✅ Why AME is for all continuous improvement leaders—not just manufacturing ✅ The 2025 conference theme: Gateway to the Future – AI and Beyond ✅ How AME is ble...

My guest for Episode #533 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Cheryl Jekiel , founder of the Lean Leadership Center and a longtime advocate for aligning continuous improvement with people-centered leadership. Episode page with video, transcript, and more Cheryl is the author of Lean Human Resources , and her latest book, Let Go to Lead: Six Habits for Happier, More Independent Teams (with Less...

My guest for Episode #532 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Anne Frewin, a seasoned Lean leader with over 12 years of improvement experience in healthcare, laboratories, and manufacturing. Updated with the correct audio Episode page with video, transcript, and more Anne's background in finance and healthcare administration provided her with a unique entry point into Lean -- first supporting i...

In this bonus episode of Lean Blog Interviews, host Mark Graban welcomes back Patrick Adams, founder of the Lean Solutions team and author of Avoiding the Continuous Appearance Trap—a Shingo Publication Award-winning book. Patrick joins the show to preview the 2025 Lean Solutions Summit, taking place September 23–25 in Detroit, Michigan, at the Westin Detroit Airport. This year’s theme—“Catalysts...

In this bonus episode of Lean Blog Interviews, host Mark Graban talks with Jared Thatcher, founder of the Global Lean Summit , to preview the upcoming event taking place September 23–25, 2025 in Bloomington, Indiana. Jared shares the Summit’s origin story—from a virtual event launched during COVID lockdowns to a high-impact in-person gathering that brings together Lean leaders, practitioners, and...

My guest for Episode #531 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Dr. Melisa Buie , a seasoned operations and engineering leader with decades of experience in high-tech manufacturing. Episode page with video, transcript, and more Melisa has held senior roles at companies like Lam Research, Applied Materials, and Coherent, where she led large-scale Lean transformations and helped drive cultural chan...

My guest for Episode #530 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Ken Segel , Co-Founder and Chief Relationship Officer at Value Capture . Episode page with video and more With over two decades of experience in healthcare improvement, Ken has been instrumental in guiding Value Capture's mission: helping healthcare organizations pursue habitual excellence by applying principles of safety, transparen...