Amazon

Continuous Improvement Manager

Area Manager

Site Manager

Junior Site Manager

Syddansk Universitet - University of Southern Denmark

Junior Research Assistant

Kverneland Group Kerteminde A/S

Master Thesis Project

ForeFlight

Data Consultant

Odense University Hospital

Semester Project

Follow for daily posts about Lean, CI & Innovation | Continuous Improvement Manager @ Amazon

Hi!👋 Ivan here

I'm an industrial engineer with 7+ years of experience in Operations Management and Continuous Improvement.

I serve two main groups of people:

	• Business owners and executives who want to turn their broken processes into brilliant ones (and save so much damn money) through Kaizen and Innovation

	• Founders and consulting firm owners within CI, Lean or Innovation who want to promote their businesses and make LinkedIn a legit revenue channel

(DM me for the details) 


I started writing on LinkedIn in October 2023. 

Since then, I have been sharing actionable, educational, and entertaining content to support LinkedIn community members in their continuous improvement journey. This helped me grow my audience from 9,000 to 100,000 followers in a year.

Join my newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/ddQncJM5

Ivan Carillo

26 Kaizen Leadership Mantras

Here are the 4 principles that I believe are most powerful (and why):

1/ Gemba never lies; go and see for yourself.

I've seen leaders make terrible decisions because they trusted Excel sheets over their own eyes. The problems that cost us millions are often visible on the shopfloor, but nobody bother to look. Reports tell you what people want you to know. Gemba tells you what's actually happening. I think the moment you stop walking the floor is the moment you lose touch with reality. Your operators won't lie to you if you show up regularly, ask good questions, and actually listen to their answers.

2/ Without psychological safety, Kaizen dies.

I've watched brilliant Kaizen programs collapse because people were terrified to speak up. Companies that blame individuals for systemic problems get exactly what they deserve. Silence. Workers hide defects, skip reporting near-misses, and watch waste happen rather than risk looking stupid or getting punished. I think this is why most Kaizen initiatives fail within a year. You can't improve what people won't talk about, and people won't talk about problems in a culture of fear.

3/ The person doing the work knows it best.

I learned this the hard way early in my career when I implemented a Kaizen idea. The operators supported it, then immediately went back to their old method the moment I left. Every time I've ignored frontline expertise, I've wasted time and money solving the wrong problem. I think we underestimate how much knowledge lives in the hands and muscle memory of people who do the same task hundreds of times daily.

4/ Kaizen culture doesn't support strategy. Kaizen culture is strategy.

I spent years thinking CI was something that helped execute our "real" strategy. I was wrong. Companies with a strong Kaizen culture adapt faster, survive disruptions better, and outperform competitors with superior strategic plans. I think this is the principle most executives miss. Your competitors can copy your products in months, but they can't copy a culture where thousands of people solve problems every single day.

P.S. What's your fav one in the list?

Founder of Gemba Walk AI — I help executives cut waste and fix the broken processes costing them millions

Brutal truth: most Kaizen implementations fail within 6 months.

Here's why (and how to fix it):

Common failure pattern..

↓ Launch with great enthusiasm 
↓ Form improvement teams 
↓ Run some workshops 
↓ See initial results 
↓ Get distracted by other priorities 
 ↳ Kaizen activities fade away

The missing ingredient? 
Systems thinking.

Successful Kaizen requires these systems working together:

1/ Total Quality Management

+Customer focus throughout organization
+Process-oriented improvement mindset

2/ Just-In-Time Production

+Elimination of waste in all forms
+Flow-based operations

3/ Total Productive Maintenance

+Equipment reliability and efficiency
+Operator involvement in maintenance

4/ Policy Deployment

+Clear targets cascading from top to bottom
+Aligned improvement efforts

5/ Suggestion Systems

+Employee engagement in daily improvement
+Recognition of participation

6/ Small Group Activities

+Quality circles and improvement teams
+Collaborative problem-solving
 
Most companies try to implement Kaizen 
…without these foundations. 

Remember:

Success requires patience.

+Start with one system
+Build it thoroughly
+Connect it to others gradually

…and never stop improving!

Founder of Gemba Walk AI • I help executives cut waste and fix the broken processes costing them millions

Most companies create fantastic value stream maps.

Then file them away. (I've seen it dozens of times) 

Video credit to Krish Sengottaiyan. Give him a follow

Teams spend weeks mapping their current state. 

They identify waste. 
They draft the future state

Then ...nothing changes.

You know why?

No one is responsible for the customer experience.

Traditional organizations are function-based.

→ Finance reports to CFO 
→ Operations reports to COO 
→ Sales reports to CRO

Each leader knows their department.
But nobody understands how value flows end-to-end.

No single leader owns value stream performance.

"Everyone" is responsible = No one is responsible

VSM needs an owner with authority. 
One leader who can make decisions across silos.

CEO could, but they operate too high to manage CI.

So it's key to assign executive-level VSM ownership. 

Before you map your next value stream, answer this:

Who owns the complete customer journey?

If you can't name them...
save yourself the effort.

P.S. Does anyone in your organization have E2E accountability for value delivery?

Turbo Tuesday

Join high performers in Turbo Tuesday—Your weekly energy breakthrough that takes your energy to the next level.

Writer

Gamma Iota SIgma - Epsilon Chapter

Risk Management Chair

Aramark

Finance Intern

I've been where you are: feeling low on energy, struggling to focus, and finding it hard to enjoy life. But I didn't stay there. I've transformed my energy levels from barely getting by to stratospheric heights. Now I'm on a mission to help you do the same.

If you're ready to raise your energy levels and eliminate that afternoon crash, follow me. Together, we can achieve more, feel better, and live the lives we've always wanted.

My Vision
By 2027, I aim to help 1 million people raise their energy levels to achieve greater success, happiness, and productivity. I'm inviting you to be part of this journey. Let's make it happen.

Gaston Petznick, MBA

Everyone copies what the top 1% do.

But nobody understands why they do it.

And that's the problem.

Because copying what successful people do won't work if
you don't understand why they do what they do.

Here are 7 Reasons Why the Top 1% Keep Winning
(And How You Can Too):

1️⃣ They Trust Themselves Completely
↳ They keep every promise they make to themselves
↳ When they say they'll wake up at 5am, they do
↳ Their self-respect depends on their self-reliability

2️⃣ They Want One Thing More Than Anything
↳ Most people want way too many things
↳ The 1% pick one obsession and ignore all else
↳ Their desire is laser-focused

3️⃣ Their Want Burns Like Fire
↳ They are desperate for success
↳ Their desire is so intense it scares other people
↳ The pain of staying the same exceeds the pain of changing

4️⃣ They'll Do What Others Won't
↳ They want it badly enough to work weekends
↳ They want it badly enough to look foolish trying
↳ They want it badly enough to have difficult conversations

5️⃣ They Choose Their Hard
↳ They choose the right hard
↳ Hard work now or hard life later
↳ They pick temporary suffering over permanent regret

6️⃣ They Bet on Themselves First
↳ They commit before they have a plan
↳ They invest in themselves when others won't
↳ They trust they'll figure it out because they have to

7️⃣ They Understand the Real Competition
↳ They're not competing against others
↳ They're competing against their own excuses
↳ They're competing against their own comfort zone

The difference isn't what they do.

It's why they do it.

It's wanting something so badly you'll do whatever it takes.
It's trusting yourself to keep going when everyone quits.

Most people want too many things.
The 1% want one thing more than anything else.

What's the one thing you want badly enough to succeed?

♻️ Repost if this resonates.
And follow Gaston Petznick, MBA for more!

Your Guide to Getting Things Done⚡Lifelong Learner

taplio

The Battle

Ivan Carillo

Gaston Petznick, MBA

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreIvan Carillo's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreGaston Petznick, MBA's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Ivan Carillo

Gaston Petznick, MBA

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Ivan Carillo's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreGaston Petznick, MBA's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreIvan Carillo's LinkedIn Performance