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?

Medtech Brand Academy

Bringing brand strategy tools, frameworks, and principles from over 20 years in the industry: manufacturer and agency experience to medtech marketers and strategists. 

Learn what your MBA didn't teach you
Lead your agencies to excellence
Launch your medtech career to the top

Founder

The Legend Effect Podcast

Creator and host - help you master the hidden forces of influence and attraction to transform from a corporate employee to legendary business owner.

Podcast Host

Legend Letters

Legend Letters. The weekly newsletter and podcast that gives you the best strategies to make your mark and live your version of legendary - in your inbox - every Sunday.

Writer, Founder

Healthy Brand Consulting

Principal, Founder

Healthy Brand with Howie Chan

The Healthy Brand with Howie Chan Podcast

Our mission is to bring you lessons, learnings and inspiration from the best and the brightest minds behind the brands that impact our health. 

You’ll learn how marketers, communicators, and business leaders have navigated their careers, united teams, built businesses, and made the decisions that shaped their company, product and personal brands.

Real Chemistry

Managing Director, Brand and Marketing Strategy

Sr. Group Director - Brand and Marketing Strategy

A member of the WCG (a W2O Group company) leadership team, leading all integrated marketing and brand strategy engagements. Clients are either emerging or re-emerging brands, looking to forge new perceptions and move the needle on their business objectives. They include start-ups and Fortune 500 companies spanning healthcare, technology and consumer.

WCG is an insights-driven marketing and communications agency that blends the science of audience architecture, the art of creative storytelling and the mastery of integrated communications to galvanize our client’s business strategy and help mobilize the audiences they care about.

Our philosophy is great people, great work. So let's find a way to work together!

Group Director - Brand and Marketing Strategy

Responsible for marketing strategy development, strategy consulting, brand positioning, brand integration, communications strategy and client relationships. 

Primary areas: Medical devices, Diagnostic equipment, Pharma, Biotech, High Tech, Start-ups

Account Director

Philips Healthcare

Global representative for all marketing and sales activities. Worked closely in a cross functional venture team to lead the gathering of customer needs and prototype development for a novel and game changing medical device. Responsible for KOL relationships and evidence strategy. Managed and drove marketing activities across Philips and partnering company in a development and commercial collaboration setting.

Strategic Marketing Director

Medtronic

Global representative for a line of defibrillators and leads. Experience in developing and executing marketing strategies, agency work in copy and visual, pricing studies, virtual team management and product development.

Global Product Marketing Manager

Responsible for managing clinical trials in four sales territories. Experience in training (physicians, nurses, sales force), customer relationship management, OR support, program management and clinical protocols.

Sr. Field Clinical Engineer

Developed and presented a model to manage a corporate research portfolio
Analyzed the Atrial Fibrillation market
Engaged in adult stem cell therapy for MI

Scientist/ Biotech Business Analyst

Led analysis efforts on a research program that focuses on delivering biological therapy for acute myocardial infarction–heart attack.

Biomedical Engineer

Singapore Armed Forces

2nd in command of an Artillery Battalion, responsible for strategy and operations. The "on the ground" leadership experience has shaped how I lead teams and influence people to bring their best.

Battalion Operations Officer

The Brand Explorer - Taking brand thinking to places it's never been :: Creator of Legend Letters, Founder of Healthy Brand Consulting

You will never lead a legendary life

So don’t tell me that

You can establish authority, attract a following, and grow your influence

Because the reality is

You’re too late and there is too much noise

And don’t ever listen to people who say

Make your mark by sharing your gift  

Because your time on Earth is limited

(Now read it backwards)

:::

I was a stem cell scientist, but I knew I was never going to be great at it.

My parents were adamant that my college education would go down the drain if I changed jobs.

I left anyway. It wasn't easy.

After a decade working for large medtech companies in multiple roles, my real transformation came when I moved to San Francisco.

In my first assignment at the agency, I worked with the managing partner and completely rebranded a multi-billion dollar company.

That was it. I was hooked.

In the next 8.5 years, I launched dozens of products and companies, leading to multiple promotions. 

When I was let go from the firm on April 2022, I was a Managing Director of Brand Strategy, working directly with clients totaling about $15M worth of business. 

I became a corporate dropout.

Now I work with organizations and individuals on how to establish authority, build attraction, and grow their influence.

My Mission: To help 1 million people live their version of legendary.
https://www.howiechan.com/

Here's how I can help you:

1) LEGEND LETTERS
The weekly newsletter that helps you influence human behavior for good using principles based on human truths (brand, persuasion, attraction)

Sign up: LegendLetters.co/subscribe

2) 60 MIN STRATEGY HOUR 
Whether it's digging into your personal brand, business brand or LinkedIn strategy, let's spend this time solving problems and kicking a$$! 

Learn more: www.howiechan.com/power-hour

taplio

The Battle

Ivan Carillo

Howie Chan

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreIvan Carillo's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Ivan Carillo

Howie Chan

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

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreIvan Carillo's LinkedIn Performance