I help successful C-level leaders improve by 1% each day, every day. Solve your biggest problems with my 26 years of experience in continuous improvement in Procter & Gamble and Danaher.

Coach

Danaher Corporation

Cytiva has been Danaher's biggest ever acquisition (previously known as GE Biopharma).  How do you integrate such a large acquisition into Danaher and the Danaher Business System (DBS)?  How do you improve business performance and people development for continuous improvement in parallel?  Interesting to learn how two seemingly similar continuous improvement approaches (Lean Six Sigma in GE and Danaher Business System) are very different indeed ...

VP, Danaher Business System (DBS) - Biotechnology Group

How do you improve growth from innovation across a portfolio of 20+ operating companies in Danaher?  This has been my team's task during this assignment.  We measurably increased growth from innovation for Danaher through continuous improvement driven by the Danaher Business System (DBS), including new innovation tools such as Launch Excellence.  Contact me if you want to learn more about how Danaher value propositions stack up vs P&G value propositions ... ;-)

VP, Innovation Strategy - Danaher Business System Office (DBSO)

How do you develop a marketing organisation so that the orders initiated by Marketing tripled in just 2 years?  My team and I employed transformative marketing (i.e. one of the tools from the Danaher Business System).  Contact me for stories about working for a second great German brand (Leica) and the relationship between Leica Microscopes and Cameras.  I can also explain where Wetzlar is (in case you don't find it on the map :).

VP, Global Marketing & Growth - Leica Microsystems

How do you lead HACH's biggest business unit so that it consistently delivers growth above (an extremely conservative) market?  My team and I focused on substantially increasing the output from our innovation pipeline including launches like DR 3900, DR 6000, DR 1900, and the breakthrough SL1000 Portable Parallel Analyzer® (PPA). Contact me to learn more about a) working in wastewater treatment ... (hint: it smells :), and b) how to work with a great German family company taken over by an "evil" American corporation ;-).

BU Director Laboratory Solutions, HACH

Procter & Gamble

How do you turn around a suffering portfolio (BRAUN Irons & Watches/Clocks) so that it delivers a positive operating profit for the first time in a  decade?  Contact me to learn more about a) conducting consumer in-home visits in Saudi Arabia, and b) working for one of the best known German design brands (BRAUN).

Global Brand Manager - Braun

How do you accelerate growth for 2 detergent brands in 5 Eastern European countries so they growth double digits for the first time since 2000? Contact me for stories of visiting low-income consumers in all 5 countries - one family just a 5-minute walk from P&G's Budapest office - it teaches you humility.

Brand Manager Tide & Bonux CES (Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia)

Management Systems Department, Online Marketing & Brand Management

VP, Danaher Business System (DBS) at Cytiva & Pall Life Sciences (Danaher Corporation)

Thanks for stopping by.  There are two ways to be an Executive in 2025:
1. Continuously improve.  Get better results.  Grow as a leader.
2. Survive in your current job.  Get average results.  Be invisible.  Stay good enough.   

Most sit in the second group.

As a leader you might survive in your current job.  But for how long?

The bigger problem?
You're missing critical opportunities.

Opportunities for improving your leadership effectiveness, for getting better results, and for growing as a person.

Yet when it comes to:
• driving results and developing people
• looking at the big picture and being useful
• focusing on the right priorities

You find:
• Your leadership effectiveness isn't as good as it should be
• Your results aren't as good as they need to be
• You aren't growing as fast as you could be

The solution:
Improve by 1% each day, every day.

Are you serious about accelerating your growth?
• Please follow me here on LinkedIn for tips to improve by 1% each day, every day.
• Please sign up for my monthly newsletter for tips to improve by 1% each day, every day.

"𝗪𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝘁, 𝘀𝗼 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁."
𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘂𝘀 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀.

I was standing on the plant floor with the plant manager.

Defect rates were down. 
The quality dashboard looked perfect.
But customer complaints kept coming in.

The process sounded disciplined: 
"We only log quality cases we can replicate. 
If we can't reproduce it in the lab, it's not a defect. 
We can't fix what we can't see."

Logical, right?
Except customers were walking away.

I asked: "What do you tell them when you can't replicate their issue?"
"We explain that we tested it and couldn't find the problem. So technically, there isn't one."
"And how do they respond?"

Silence.
Then: "They're not happy. But we can't do anything if we don't know how they got to the problem."
"Shouldn't we find out?"

That question changed everything.

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗱:
1. We started counting all quality cases - even the ones we didn't understand yet.
2. We stopped hiding behind "can't replicate."
3. We went to the customer's Gemba. We watched how they actually used our product. We asked questions. We took notes.

And here's the uncomfortable part: we admitted we didn't have all the answers.
Turns out, that honesty built more trust than three years of perfect reports ever did.
The customer started collaborating with us instead of preparing to leave us.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻:
• Quality isn't just about defect rates.
• It's about whether your customer trusts you to care when something goes wrong.
• You can have zero replicable defects and still lose the business.

Because real quality is measured in repeat orders, not just return rates.

𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 - 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁. 
(thanks, Sergio D'Amico, CSSBB, for this great visual reminder)

📌 Want to 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁?
Sign up for my newsletter: https://lnkd.in/d3Zmay-H
Practical insights for you based on 27 years in Procter & Gamble and Danaher.

Olaf Boettger

I talk about continuous improvement and organizational excellence to help small business owners create a workplace culture of profitability and growth.

Continuous Improvement - Executive Coaching. I partner with executives to build improvement cultures that grow people and deliver results.

James Thomas

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝗿 𝗥𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘅: 𝗪𝗵𝘆 $𝟱𝟬𝗞 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿
 
After leading 20+ innovation projects at P&G and Danaher, I've learned an uncomfortable truth:
 
Most project delays aren’t caused by bad planning.  
They’re caused by people not talking to each other.
 
Software often makes this worse. 
Everyone updates their little box and hopes someone else sees it.

By the time the dashboard turns red, it’s too late.

The only thing that consistently keeps teams honest is a physical room where nothing can hide.  
Toyota calls it 𝘖𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘢: one physical room.

Obeya works because everyone sees the same truth at the same time. 
And the people who matter, standing in front of it together. 
 
When an engineer and a procurement lead can point at schedule and say "𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒", you solve the issue together - in minutes, not weeks.

Getting started is simple, almost too simple:
1. Claim one room and turn it into your Obeya.
2. Put the full schedule on the walls - no filters, no hiding.
3. Run weekly 30-minute stand-ups with every critical function.
4. Solve problems on the spot. No “𝑙𝑒𝑡’𝑠 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟.”
 
If the team can’t see the same picture, they can’t solve the same problem.
 
Less software.  More eye contact.  Faster projects.

Image credit: Center for Lean Excellence

𝟯 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀. 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲.

A colleague had just walked me through his work - root causes mapped, data trends visualized, every variable accounted for. Textbook perfect.

He sat back, proud. Waiting for me to be impressed.

I was impressed. So I leaned forward and asked: "𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡. 𝑆𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑜 𝑤𝑒 𝑑𝑜 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡?"

His face changed. The confidence drained away.
Nothing. No answer. Just silence - suffocating, uncomfortable silence.

He'd spent 3 weeks building a monument to a problem. But solving it? That had never crossed his mind.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁
That moment haunts me because I see it everywhere now - boardrooms, strategy sessions, transformation reviews.

Brilliant people dissecting problems with surgical precision, then going completely silent when someone asks: "𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔?"

They're forecasting the rain. Nobody's picking up a hammer to build the ark.
And for you as a C-level leader, this should terrify you.

While your teams perfect their problem statements, your competitors are shipping imperfect solutions and developing people who know how to execute.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀
Here's what I learned in 27 years at Danaher and P&G:
Analysis 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝘀 like progress. It's intellectually satisfying. Safe. Impressive in meetings.

You can't fail at describing a problem - you can only make it more detailed, more sophisticated, more airtight.

But action? Action is messy. Risky. It exposes you to failure.

That's why smart people hide behind analysis. It 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 like leadership without requiring the courage to actually build something.

✅ Leaders ask: 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑤𝑒 𝑑𝑜? 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑?
❌ Analysts stop at: 𝐻𝑒𝑟𝑒'𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑤𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔.

One creates capability. The other creates PowerPoints.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱
You don't need a new framework or a transformation program to fix this.

You need to change one habit: 
Stop rewarding brilliant diagnosis. 
Start demanding visible action.

After every analysis, every strategy deck, every problem review - ask:
𝑆𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑜 𝑤𝑒 𝑑𝑜 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡?
Then wait.

The silence will tell you everything about whether you've built a culture of forecasters or builders.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗲
If your leadership team can describe every problem in exquisite detail but can't point to what actually improved last quarter, you don't have an execution problem.

You have a building problem.

You've spent years hiring, promoting, and rewarding people who are brilliant at warning about rain.

What you desperately need are people brave enough to pick up hammers.

The best organisations don't just see problems clearly - they develop people to solve them.

𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀.

Image by Ash Balogh.

The Frontline is the Bottom Line.

Shelley Donovan Ritchie

𝗔𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝘅 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁'𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗻𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴
𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗱

When Carolina Dybeck Happe became Microsoft's COO, the complaints started rolling in almost immediately.

Not angry emails. Quiet frustration from customers who genuinely wanted to work with Microsoft but found themselves trapped in what felt like administrative quicksand in onboarding of new customers. 

Here's what happened next. Carolina and her team did something many executives avoid: they went to the Gemba.  They actually mapped the entire onboarding journey - every form, every handoff, every "please wait 3-5 business days."

Here's what the team found out: 𝟮𝟯𝟬 steps to onboard a customer.

What they discovered wasn't laziness or incompetence:
• It was layer upon layer of good intentions that had grown into complexity. 
• Many functions were involved: Sales, Marketing, Product, Finance. 
• Nobody owned the whole process. Everyone owned a piece.

So they did the work. 

They challenged every single step: 
𝐼𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑟? 
𝑊𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑎𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠?

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟮𝟯𝟬 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝟯𝟳.
Only 37 steps added value for the customer, i.e. 16%. 
So the team revised the process to focus on these 37 value-adding steps.

This is where AI comes in: Once they'd simplified the process, 75% of those remaining steps were automated using AI agents. 

Not the bloated original process. The streamlined one.

This is why I bang on about process improvement before technology. You can't automate your way out of a poorly designed system. 

You'll just create expensive chaos faster.

The sequence matters:
1. 𝗠𝗮𝗽 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 – What's actually happening?
2. 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 – Why does each step exist?
3. 𝗘𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲 – What adds no value?
4. 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄 – How do we connect what remains?
5. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 – Where can technology multiply the improvement?

Speaking at the Wall Street Journal's Technology Council Summit, Carolina summed it up perfectly: 

𝐼𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑, 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑚𝑠. 
(Video link in the comments below).

That's the point of continuous improvement. It's not about hitting arbitrary reduction targets or creating pretty charts.

It's about making work actually work - for customers and for your people.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗔𝗜. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝘀 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝘁.

If you want to simplify workflows before you automate them, follow me continuous improvement insights.

Continuous Improvement - Executive Coaching. I partner with executives to build improvement cultures that deliver results and grow people.

𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲,
𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲

Last week, a team showed me their “improvement wins.”  
• 5S upgrades. 
• SOP tweaks. 
• Cycle time shaved.  
  
A flurry of improvements - none of them aimed at the constraint.
 
Then I asked:  “𝑆𝑜... 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡?”
 
Silence - the sound you hear when effort replaces impact. When busyness replaces business.
 
They’d improved everything 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁 the bottleneck.  
• Upstream? Just builds a queue.  
• Downstream? Just creates idle time.  
• Everywhere else? Theatre.
  
If the bottleneck stays the same, the system stays the same.
 
𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸:  
1. Find the bottleneck - the one step that decides everyone else’s fate.  
2. Stop improving anything that doesn’t impact the bottleneck.  
3. Put your best people and best experiments on solving the bottleneck first.

Can you find the bottleneck in Andrej's video? 😉

Anyone can stay busy.  Only the smart ones choose the one place that lifts the whole system. 🙏
 
𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀.

👉Follow me for continuous improvement tips from 27 years in P&G and Danaher. I partner with executives to build improvement cultures that grow people and deliver results.

OpEx & Lean @Plastivaloire | Problem solver | PVL Excellence System Coach | 19 years on Lean journey

Damien Leroy

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗖𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝟮𝟮 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗼𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 

25 projects. One unpopular decision. Incremental growth from innovation actually doubled.
 
A senior leader I was coaching stood at the front of a conference room, looking at her exhausted leadership team. 25 innovation projects were running simultaneously. Morale was tanking. Results were flat.
 
She put up one slide - a simple Pareto chart - and said:
 
"𝑊𝑒'𝑟𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 22 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑠. 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦."

You could hear the confusion. Some people looked angry. Others relieved.
 
Then she explained: "Three of these projects account for 78% of our potential incremental growth. The other 22? They're consuming 80% of our team's cost and energy for 22% of the results."
 
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀
 
12 months later, incremental had doubled. Team engagement was up 40%.
 
Her leadership team had learned the most important skill: the willingness to disappoint people who owned the 22 dying projects.
 
𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀
 
If you're a C-level leader, you know the pattern: board pressure, 47 strategic priorities, exhausted teams, plateauing results.
 
You don't have an execution problem. You have a courage problem. You know what to kill - you're just afraid to kill it.
 
Most of what we're working on exists to make us feel busy, not to make us better.
 
Here's what she did:
 
One afternoon collecting hard data - not opinions. Which exposed whose projects were political theater versus impact based on customer evidence.
 
Then three steps:
 
𝟭. 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰 They defined "impact" = incremental growth. Not effort. Not politics.
 
𝟮. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗦𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 One Pareto chart showing which initiatives accounted for how much impact. The decision became obvious.
 
𝟯. 𝗔𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗩𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗲𝘄 3 projects became non-negotiable. Everything else was killed. With >80% of distractions removed, the team could finally focus on the most valuable projects.
 
The Pareto process isn't complicated: choose your metric, build the chart, act on what matters.
 
The hard part? Having the stomach to tell 22 teams their work doesn't matter enough to continue.
 
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴
 
Your team isn't failing because they lack capability. They're failing because you lack the courage to choose.
 
Pareto analysis gives you permission to stop doing everything else - and gives your people space to focus on what matters.
 
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 - 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀.
 
𝗣.𝗦. This week, pull your team together. Put your project list on the wall. Ask: "If we could only keep three, which three would transform our business?" The conversation will reveal whether you're actually leading - or just managing everyone's feelings.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗲 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗲.
𝗜 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗷𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴.

He wasn't.

15 years ago, I'd walk the Gemba with a clipboard and a mental scorecard:
• Counting defects. 
• Noting bottlenecks. 
• Logging failures.

I felt productive. Thorough. In control.

After one particularly "successful" visit - I'd found 14 issues - the plant manager pulled me aside.

𝑂𝑙𝑎𝑓, 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑒. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦'𝑠 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔.

I felt the heat rise in my face. He was right.

I was hunting for problems to punish, not opportunities to teach.

He taught me something Toyota's senseis had known for decades:
𝗞𝗮𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝘅𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀.

It's about sharpening what already works.

The mindset shift sounds small. But it rewires everything:

❌ Stop asking: 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑤𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒? 
✅ Start asking: 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑤𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠?

Here's what daily improvement actually looks like:

𝟭. 𝗦𝗲𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗴𝗶𝗳𝘁𝘀 
Every gap is a teaching moment. 
Your team learns more from honest reflection than flawless execution.

𝟮. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗲, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 
Lock in what works today. 
Then make it 1% better tomorrow. 
Repeat.

𝟯. 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗽 (𝗛𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗶) 
The best teams pause to learn before charging ahead. 
Slow down to speed up.

𝟰. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆, 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲, 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗱𝗮𝘆 
Improvement isn't a programme. 
It's a habit and a culture. 
And it belongs to everyone on the floor.

When you shift from refereeing to coaching, three things happen:
1. Teams own problems instead of hiding them 
2. Leaders coach improvement instead of commanding it 
3. Your culture gets better at getting better
   
That's not motivational fluff. It's compound interest for organisations.

Improve 1% daily, and your factory - and your people - transform quietly but powerfully.

𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀.
𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁𝘀.

I write more about Kaizen in my monthly newsletter - link in the comments below 👇

P.S. Are you refereeing or coaching on your Gemba walks?

Continuous Improvement - Executive Coach I Partnering with executives to build improvement cultures that grow people and deliver results

Kaizen (1)

I had no idea what a President's Kaizen was.
April 2008. My second week at HACH.

My boss asked me to lead a President's Kaizen.
I nodded confidently. 
Inside, I was lost.

"Team leader" sounded important. 
But I didn't know what I was supposed to do. 
I watched the facilitator guide the team through problems I couldn't even see yet. 

I felt like I was playing dress-up as a leader.

The week ended with results - not because of me, but despite me. 
The team improved the process. 
I mostly stayed out of their way.

𝗙𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝟭𝟳 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝟭𝟬𝟬+ 𝗞𝗮𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿.

I've learned that Kaizen isn't just about improving processes.
It's about building leaders who can build improvement cultures.

And after leading, coaching, and observing hundreds of events, I've noticed something consistent:

The leaders who create lasting Kaizen cultures share three capabilities.

1️⃣ 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲
The courage to make problems visible - especially your own.
Most leaders hide their red metrics. They explain them away. They wait until things are "better" before sharing.
Kaizen leaders do the opposite.
They say: "We're red. Here's why. Here's what we're learning."
Courage isn't about being fearless. It's about being honest when it's easier not to be.

2️⃣ 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆
The humility to admit you don't have all the answers.
In my first Kaizen, I thought I needed to look smart. I thought team leaders were supposed to know more than everyone else.
I was wrong.
The best Kaizen leaders ask questions instead of giving answers. They make their thinking visible so others can challenge it.
They say: "I don't know. Let's go look together."
Humility isn't about being modest. It's about being a learner first, expert second.

3️⃣ 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲
The discipline to follow through when no one's watching.
Kaizen events are easy. Kaizen cultures are hard.

The difference is what happens after the event ends. After the report-out. On Monday morning.
• Do leaders audit the new standard work?
• Do they coach when people drift back to old habits?
• Do they run sustainment reviews, or just move on to the next priority?

Discipline isn't about being rigid. It's about being consistent when it's inconvenient.

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟴:
You don't need to know everything.
You need to be willing to see problems (courage), learn from others (humility), and keep coming back (discipline).
These three capabilities compound over time.

Year 1: You're uncomfortable but present.
Year 5: You start seeing what others miss.
Year 17: You're teaching others to see.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗞𝗮𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗻:
It's a journey that takes time. 
It transforms you first. And when enough leaders transform themselves, the culture follows.

Every culture change starts with one leader choosing courage first.

I write about building Kaizen cultures that grow people and results - link in my profile

𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀. 
𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴.

That's how long we spent proving what a junior engineer figured out in an afternoon.

We built spreadsheets. 
Held reviews. 
Cited past failures.

Everyone nodded thoughtfully. We didn't get anywhere for 3 weeks. 

Then she said: 𝐶𝑎𝑛 𝑤𝑒 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦?

We did. 
It took two hours.
It worked.

Sakichi Toyoda taught us this: 𝐵𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑑𝑜 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑡.

Real Kaizen isn't elegant PowerPoints. 
1. It's quick tests. 
2. Small experiments. 
3. Daily learning.

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗱𝗼 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆:
✅→ They spend 20 minutes testing instead of 3 hours explaining why it won't work 
✅→ They celebrate fast failures that teach something 
✅→ They ask 𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑤𝑒? not 𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 ... 

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗽 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀?
Great teams use Kaizen to trystorm more than they brainstorm.


Because improvement doesn't come from perfect plans. It comes from imperfect action: 
𝐾𝑎𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡.

🔖 𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗲 this post for later.
🙏 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗲 for more practical Kaizen lessons that help leaders turn ideas into action.

Sakichi Toyoda: "Before you say you can't do it, try it."

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀. 
𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀.
 
In my 27 years with Danaher and Procter & Gamble,
I’ve watched Continuous Improvement succeed in the toughest environments - 
and fail in the easiest ones.  

And the reason is almost never the process.  It’s the behavior of the person leading it.
 
I once watched a team shut down the moment a CI “expert” walked into the room. He hadn’t even spoken yet. But they already knew what was coming: corrections, lectures, judgment.
 
He spent the whole session proving how much he knew.  The team spent the whole session trying not to look wrong.
 
Nothing improved.
 
That’s when I learned: Continuous improvement dies the moment ego enters the room.
 
You can spot ego-led CI instantly:
⚠ The CI "expert" who corrects your use of "muda" but can't tell you where the real waste is.
⚠ The facilitator who lectures operators like they're schoolkids.
⚠ The Lean purist who argues theory while the team waits for help.
⚠ The person so busy teaching the tool that they forget to solve the problem.
 
That's not continuous improvement. That's continuous intimidation.
 
Real CI professionals do the opposite.
✅ They ask instead of tell. 
✅ They observe instead of assume. 
✅ They prototype instead of debate. 

They build capability, not audit compliance.
 
𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀.
 
If CI feels like an exam, people don't improve the work - they perform for the auditor.
 
Improvement only happens when leaders make it safer to try than to stay silent.
 
𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆.
 
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗖𝗜 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗯𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

“𝙄’𝙫𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙖 - 𝙤𝙧 𝙛𝙚𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙨."
A regional president said last week. 

Dashboards everywhere. 
Clarity nowhere.

We looked at the reports. 
Pages of metrics. 
Most noise.

I asked, “𝐼𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑?” 
He knew instantly.

We elevated that metric. 
Linked it to daily behaviour. 
Cut the rest.

And execution improved: 
1. Faster decisions
2. Shorter meetings
3. Teams focused again

More data isn’t better leadership. 
Better focus is.

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 - 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗴𝗼 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁.

PS: What’s the one metric that really tells you how your business is doing?

This is powerful: 
𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑔𝑜 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡, 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑤. 
𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑔𝑜 𝑤𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔, 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟.

Thanks, Sameer Kataria, for sharing your reflections 🙏

The Window and Mirror: Building a Culture Where Innovation Thrives

In the world of Lean Leadership, there's a principle that separates truly transformative cultures from stagnant ones: "When things go right, look out the window. When things go wrong, look in the mirror."

This isn't just motivational rhetoric—it's the foundation for building organizations where innovation thrives and noble failures become stepping stones rather than stumbling blocks.

The Window: Deflecting Success Outward

Great leaders instinctively credit their teams when success arrives. They look through the window and point to the people who made it happen—the engineer who spotted the defect, the operator who suggested the process improvement, the team that stayed late to solve the problem.

This isn't false modesty. It's strategic culture-building. When you consistently direct success outward, you create psychological safety. Your team learns that their contributions are seen, valued, and celebrated. They become more willing to take the intelligent risks that drive continuous improvement.

The Mirror: Owning Failure Inward

Conversely, when experiments fail or problems emerge, exceptional leaders look in the mirror first. They ask: "What conditions did I create that allowed this to happen?" or "How did my decisions contribute to this outcome?"

This isn't about self-flagellation—it's about modeling accountability and removing the fear that paralyzes innovation. When leaders own failures, they send a powerful message: "We're in this together, and it's safe to try."

Why Noble Failures Deserve Celebration:

In Lean organizations, we distinguish between two types of failure:

1. Preventable failures stem from deviation from known processes or ignoring established standards. These require correction and learning.

2. Noble failures emerge from well-designed experiments in uncharted territory. These deserve celebration because they generate invaluable learning that moves the organization forward and are stepping stones for future success.


The Lean Leadership Challenge:

This approach requires genuine humility and uncommon courage. It means resisting the instinct to protect your reputation when things go sideways.

But here's the paradox: leaders who consistently practice window-and-mirror thinking often build the strongest reputations. Their teams achieve more, innovate faster, and remain intensely loyal.

Your Next Step:

Look at your last team success. Did you look out the window?

Examine your last setback. Did you look in the mirror first?

The window and mirror aren't just metaphors. They're daily practices that shape whether your organization adapts and thrives, or calcifies and declines.

Choose wisely. Your culture is watching.

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