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?

Top Voice —Follow for posts on leadership, high-performance, and peak productivity 🦉 I help business leaders reclaim their time and accomplish more by leveraging the expertise of our top 1% offshore executive assistants

Favikon recognized me as one of their Rising Stars and ranked me as the #1 LinkedIn creator in the U.S. for the Remote Work and Digital Nomading category.

A milestone that reflects the people I serve.

It’s about the leaders, executive assistants, and virtual teams I have the privilege of supporting every day.

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲:
Time is a leader's most valuable resource.
Too often, it's drained by endless demands.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗮𝗺 𝗜 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗜𝗻?
Because the world needs more successful leaders who create meaningful change.

My purpose is to help them get there.

𝗠𝘆 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲:
Help CEOs and founders win back their time, elevate their leadership, and become as strategic and wise with their time as they are with their decisions.

By partnering with exceptional remote executive assistants, we create room for:

↳ Strategic thinking
↳ Lasting success
↳ Well-being in the future of work

Our VEAs take care of the tasks that drain your time and energy, so you can lead with clarity and purpose.

Curious to learn how this could work for you? 

DM me the word “Delegate” or Book a Free Discovery Call to see how our Vera Executive OS Plan can give you the freedom, focus, and productivity you’ve been missing!

Virtual Executive Assistant
Outsourcing
Offshore Talent 
Offshore Executive Assistant
Executive Support
Administrative Assistant

Sandra Pellumbi

Want to grow fast in your career? Here’s how: 

Sit beside someone who’s already a few steps ahead.

You don’t grow by chasing people ahead of you.

You grow by sitting close enough to feel their pace.

Growth has a rhythm 

and the right people tune you to it.

When you’re around those who move with purpose,

you start questioning your own excuses.

You start thinking bigger.

You start believing you can.

That’s the silent power of proximity.

No lectures. No pressure. Just presence.

Look at who you spend your time with.

Are they reminding you of your potential…

or your limits?

Choose your circle wisely.

The room you’re in will shape the person you become.

P.S. Curious, is there someone in your circle who quietly pushes you to aim higher?

Credit to Dora Vanourek for the powerful message that inspired this post.

—
♻️ If this hit home, repost it, someone in your circle might need the reminder.
➕ Follow Sandra Pellumbi for more. 🦉

🦉Top 1% Remote Work LinkedIn Creator 🇺🇸 Favikon | Follow for insights on leadership, remote work & systems to save time + accelerate growth⚡️35M+ impressions 🤝Helping CEOs & founders scale with world-class remote EAs

When I lost the mayoral election, it felt like the ground disappeared beneath me.

It wasn’t just a public loss.

It was personal.

I had built my identity around the role I thought I was meant to step into.

And when it didn’t happen, I had to face a harder question:

Who am I without the title?

That season felt exactly like the caterpillar in this image,

no longer who it was, not yet who it would become.

The cocoon stage is the part no one talks about:

• The quiet
• The self-reflection
• The uncomfortable rebuilding
• The grieving of the identity you worked so hard to create

But here’s the beauty:
What I thought was the end…
became my new beginning.

Today, I run a business I love.

I help founders and executives create clarity, capacity, and breathing room so they can lead with purpose, not pressure.

I stopped chasing significance.
I started building something meaningful.

And I found a life with more purpose, more peace, and more alignment than any title would have ever given me.

And that feels like flight.

To anyone in a transition

career, identity, leadership, life:

If everything feels uncertain, you’re not failing.

You’re transforming.

Your wings may just be unfolding.

God has a purpose for this season, too.

P.S. Which stage are you in right now?

🐛 Beginning
🌙 Rebuilding
🦋 Becoming

Comment with the emoji. Let’s see where everyone is 👇 

♻️ If this landed for you, don’t keep it to yourself, someone else needs this reminder today.
➕ Follow Sandra Pellumbi for more. 🦉

Harsh truth? Not everyone wants to see you win.

You’ll notice it in subtle ways:

The delayed congratulations.
The quiet room when you share a win.
The sudden competition from someone who called you “friend.”

And then

There are the rare few who celebrate you even when their own season is heavy.
Those are the people who aren’t intimidated by your light.

They’re fueled by it.

Keep those people close.

Because their energy multiplies yours.

At every level of leadership, your circle is either fuel or fire.

Small minds compete. 

Big minds collaborate.

If you want to grow, choose wisely:

1️⃣ Spend time with those who celebrate your progress.
2️⃣ Build with people who want everyone at the table to eat.
3️⃣ Let go of those who only come around when they need something.
4️⃣ Invest in relationships that make you sharper, not smaller.
5️⃣ And most of all, be the person who claps for others first.

Leadership is contagious.

So is envy.

Surround yourself with people who want to see you win.

📌 Added a quick insight for remote professionals in the comments. Worth a read.

P.S. What’s one trait you look for in the people you keep close?👇

—
♻️ Repost to inspire your network.
➕ Follow Sandra Pellumbi for more.🦉

surround_yourself_with_winners_sandra_pellumbi

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Ivan Carillo

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taplio

The Battle

Ivan Carillo

Sandra Pellumbi

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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

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