WLEI - Lean Enterprise Institute’s Podcast

In this episode of the WLEI Podcast, we speak with Sandrine Olivencia, author of Build to Sell: The Lean Secret to Crafting Irresistible Product s, co-founder of Taktique Academy, and partner at Lean Sensei Partners. This is the second time Sandrine has joined us on the WLEI podcast, and in this particular conversation, we discuss why lean product and process development principles are crucial for...

Mark Reich , LEI Chief Engineer of Strategy, and Karen Gaudet , LEI Senior Coach, talk with Michael Duncan, President of Viwinco, about his efforts to establish a robust daily management system in the family-owned window and door company and connect it to the company’s hoshin kanri process. Michael grew up in the company and, after rising into leadership, spearheaded the company’s transformation,...

In this episode of the WLEI Podcast, we speak with product leader and angel investor Phil Green about product-centered entrepreneurship and what it takes to truly create value for customers. Since 2020, Phil has been the senior advisor for B2B and technology at Harvard Innovation Labs. Before the i-lab, Phil spent over 30 years working at various startups as a CEO, COO, CTO, and a product manager....

  Josh Howell, LEI president, explores the topic of daily management with Joe Seestadt, Director Lab Outreach for Bronson Healthcare and a faculty member and coach with LEI. Joe trained as an industrial engineer and worked in manufacturing, and has now spent some 18 years in healthcare. He was instrumental in developing the Cleveland Clinic’s daily management system, which has been recognized acro...

Josh Howell, LEI president, talks with Dr. Sarah Womack, an eight-year veteran of Toyota and author of  Toyota’s Improvement Thinking from the Inside . Sarah discusses how her transformation and that of other individuals within Toyota collectively contributed to organizational improvements and high performance. Her Toyota experiences exponentially advanced her learning and today enable her to succ...

In this episode of the WLEI Podcast, we speak with Steve Spear, a senior lecturer at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, senior fellow at the Institute of Healthcare Improvement, and associated faculty member at Adriane Labs of the Harvard School of Public Health. Spear is also author of The High-Velocity Edge and Wiring the Winning Organization and principal of SeeToSolve . The conversation explore...

In this episode of WLEI Podcast, we welcome Amy Smith, Founding Director of MIT’s D-Lab, an innovative university-based program in international development and a senior lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at MIT.

In this episode of WLEI Podcast, we welcome Cynthia E. Smith, Curator of Socially Responsible Design at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum and author of Design for the Other 90% . Cynthia speaks about design as a catalyst for change and what it means, as she says, to be in “the collective work of building capacity and agency in communities across the world.”

This week The Management Brief presents a podcast with Josh Howell, LEI President, and Mark Reich, LEI Chief Engineer, Strategy. They discuss Mark’s 30-plus years working with hoshin kanri — two decades at Toyota and then coaching executives while with LEI — and the impact that the strategic planning and execution process has had on Toyota and the many companies with which Mark has supported. You’...

In this edition of The Management Brief, Mark Reich sits down with Isao Yoshino, a 40-year veteran of Toyota and a driving force behind the company’s success with hoshin kanri. Yoshino shares the impact that hoshin kanri and A3 problem-solving has had on him professionally and personally.   Key takeaways include: · Multiple roles over four decades at Toyota shaped Yoshino’s management beliefs and...

In this episode of the WLEI podcast, we sit down with Mark Dolsen, President of TRQSS, a seat belt manufacturer that supplies Toyota and other automakers in North America. Mark shares insights into TRQSS's lean journey and the critical role of frontline supervisors in driving continuous improvement.  Key takeaways include:  TRQSS has evolved its lean practices over decades, starting with the influ...

In this edition of The Management Brief , Mark Reich sits down with Geoff Miller, CEO of Grand Rapids Chair , to discuss his company's lean transformation journey. Geoff shares how the adoption of hoshin kanri and A3 problem-solving has helped the company maintain strategic focus and build organizational capability. Geoff offers a candid reflection on his leadership transformation, underscoring th...

In this edition of The Management Brief, LEI President Josh Howell sat down with Charlie Murphy, Senior Vice President at Turner Construction, to discuss the company's remarkable lean transformation journey. Charlie shares how the organization leveraged core lean principles and practices to drive a dramatic improvement in safety performance and build a culture of continuous improvement. Key takeaw...

In the latest edition of the Design Brief, we sit down with Jay Hill, the Vice President of Advanced Technology at GE Healthcare, to discuss the company's approach to product development in the complex healthcare technology space.   Jay offers insights into:   GE Healthcare's deep engagement with clinicians at all stages of product development, from needs identification to prototype evaluation.  ...

In the latest issue of The Management Brief, host Mark Reich sits down with Marcia Brey, the Vice President of Logistics at GE Appliances. Marcia shares her extensive career journey at GE Appliances, spanning roles in design, customer service, distribution, quality, and eventually leading the company's lean enterprise transformation.  Key points discussed include: Marcia's initial exposure to lean...

In this episode of the WLEI Podcast, we're joined by Dr. Carlos Frederico Pinto (aka Dr. Fred), a medical oncologist with over 30 years of experience leading transformative changes in cancer care. Dr. Pinto shares insights on using lean thinking to dramatically improve patient outcomes and access to care. Some highlights from the conversation include: How redesigning patient pathways allowed breas...

In this episode of the WLEI Podcast, we sit down with Jose Ferro, the founder of the Lean Institute Brasil and co-author of LEI's new book Daily Management to Execute Strategy: Solving problems and developing people every day . José shares his insights on how companies can effectively connect their high-level strategy to frontline operations and the importance of developing a problem-solving cultu...

In this episode of the WLEI podcast, we speak with Karen Khachikyan, CEO of Expper Technologies , and Mineh Badmagharian, the clinical and product development leader. They shared the remarkable story behind Robin, a robot designed to provide emotional support and comfort to pediatric and geriatric patients in hospitals and care facilities.   What stood out most was the team's relentless focus on t...

In this episode of the WLEI podcast, we explore the LPPD principle: Understand Before You Execute. Too often, companies commit to a product design before assessing their customers’ needs, leading to development churn and failed products. The conversation examines how to avoid that trap by precisely identifying customer needs before development and features a case study of a company that did just t...

In this episode of WLEI Podcast, we welcome Sandrine Olivencia, author of Build to Sell and expert in applying Lean principles to software development. Sandrine shares her journey from waterfall to Agile and eventually to Lean Product and Process Development (LPPD), which she sees as a more holistic and sustainable system for building great products and lasting businesses. The conversation explore...

In this episode of the WLEI podcast, we speak with Regis Megina, a software industry veteran who has undergone a journey from Agile to Lean. Regis shares insights on:   How he transitioned from early frustrations with waterfall development to embracing Agile and Extreme Programming  The challenges he faced in spreading these new ideas, and why he ultimately sought a deeper understanding of Lean pr...

In this episode of the WLEI podcast, LEI speaks with prolific author and business leader Art Byrne.  During the discussion, Art shares his decades-long journey leading lean transformation, from running kaizen events with the first wave of ex-Toyota consultants in the US to leading manufacturer Wiremold to record profitability. For a decade, Art wrote 100 " Ask Art " columns, answering the lean com...

In this episode of the WLEI podcast, LEI speaks with software industry veteran Robert Martin. Robert is one of the original signers of the Agile Manifesto and the author of several influential books, including Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship.  During the conversation, Robert shared insightful perspectives on some of the biggest challenges facing software development today. F...

In this episode of the WLEI podcast, Jim Womack and John Krafcik share the origin story of the term "lean." Jim led the MIT global benchmarking study of the automotive industry, which led to the seminal book The Machine That Changed the World, and John was one of the principal researchers. Jim went on to co-author a similarly influential book, Lean Thinking, and founded the Lean Enterprise Institu...

In this episode of the WLEI podcast, LEI speaks with Dr. Jackie Gerhart and Dr. Christopher Longhurst. Dr. Gerhart is a family physician and VP of clinical informatics at Epic Systems, while Dr. Longhurst is the Chief Medical Officer and Chief Digital Officer at UC San Diego Health.  In the discussion, we explore:  How health systems are using AI to improve patient outcomes. The potential for AI t...