Explore every episode of the podcast KaiNexus: Continuous Improvement, Leadership, and More

Continuous improvement work creates real value. Most of that value never reaches executives in a form they can trust.

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In this recorded webinar, Jeff Roussel, Chief Revenue Officer at KaiNexus, argues that CI does not have an impact problem. It has a translation problem. Only about 28 percent of the improvements tracked in KaiNexus show a direct, visible financial impact. So when an executive asks what the organization is actually getting from all this work, the answer usually arrives as a spreadsheet, a set of caveats about data quality, and a week of effort. That does not build confidence.

Jeff walks through what changes when improvement work gets described in the language leaders already use. Examples include a hospital system that documented $137 million in savings after reserving operating rooms for emergency cases and adjusting scheduling patterns, a global mining company with roughly 284,000 improvements and $178 million in impact across 12,000 employees, and a fintech company that went from $4.5 million to $15 million in documented savings in a year after deciding that if an improvement was not in the system, it did not count.

He also offers a structure for the next funding conversation. Start with the pain. Move to the impact on a metric leadership already cares about. Then make a focused ask, such as a 90-day pilot with one team and one metric, rather than asking to transform the whole program.

Mark Graban hosts and joins Jeff for an extended Q&A on:

Balancing short-term results against long-term thinking
Whether a CI program should fund itself beyond startup costs
How to handle soft benefits like engagement, morale, and quality without inflating the numbers
How to get the meeting when executives are not giving you their time
Why the problem with spreadsheets is usually trust, not the spreadsheets

Jeff offered to help listeners think through their own business case, whether or not software is part of the conversation: jeff.roussel@kainexus.com

More than 100 free recorded webinars: https://www.kainexus.com/webinars
Continuous improvement blog: https://blog.kainexus.com
Podcast: https://www.kainexus.com/podcast

Why do strong continuous improvement programs sometimes struggle to secure funding?

In this preview of an upcoming KaiNexus webinar, Mark Graban talks with presenter Jeff Roussel, Chief Revenue Officer at KaiNexus, about a common problem: CI leaders often describe operational challenges in language that does not connect with the priorities executives are prepared to fund.

Jeff explains why continuous improvement should be positioned not merely as a way to manage projects or count ideas, but as a business outcome engine that supports the organization’s mission and strategic goals.

They also discuss:

• Why CI programs can be valuable yet still fail to gain executive support
• How to translate improvement needs into organizational priorities
• Connecting CI work to safety, quality, customer satisfaction, engagement, and financial results
• Practical ways to reframe the case for investment

The full webinar, “Why Great CI Programs Don’t Get Funded—and What to Do About It,” will be presented live on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern.

Register or watch the recording afterward at https://info.kainexus.com/jeff-roussel-continuous-improvement-funding-webinar

Every process problem is a customer problem in disguise. CI teams are good at finding waste, reducing variation, and improving flow. Customers experience those same breakdowns as uncertainty, frustration, effort, and broken trust.

Slides, the resource list, and the full recording are on the episode page: https://www.kainexus.com/customer-signals-continuous-improvement-webinar

This episode is the audio from a recent session of the KaiNexus Continuous Improvement Webinar Series. Annette Behrensmeyer and Volker Probst of Resonance Growth Partners make the case for a second lens on improvement work: the customer signals already hiding inside your operational data. Repeat contacts, transfers, escalations, and frontline observations almost always show up before a survey score moves or a complaint lands. This isn't about replacing voice of the customer or launching another program. It's about enriching the signals you already use to decide what to work on next.

In this conversation:

• Why solicited feedback (surveys, interviews) arrives late and carries an effort tax, and where unsolicited signals fill the gap
• A three-step approach to connect customer signals to your improvement system, plus a simple way to weigh customer value against business value
• How a 32-bed med-surg unit turned its daily huddle into a 15-minute patient signal huddle and compressed a 60-to-90-day feedback loop into days
• How a med tech company cut call volume by 30%+, saved over $10M in shipping cost, and recovered $20M+ in annual recurring revenue by making an opaque process visible
• Four things any CI leader can start on this week

About the guests
Annette Behrensmeyer and Volker Probst are managing partners at Resonance Growth Partners, where they help organizations connect customer understanding, employee insight, and business performance. Annette is a Forrester-certified CX professional with more than a decade designing enterprise CX strategies and feedback-to-action operating models. Volker brings more than 25 years turning customer insight into action at enterprise scale across CX and operational excellence leadership. Hosted by Mark Graban, senior advisor at KaiNexus.

Voice of Customer has been a fixture in Lean and Six Sigma for decades, but the word "voice" carries a hidden assumption: that the customer has to do something -- answer a survey, write an email, lift a finger -- before you learn anything. Most of the time they don't, and you're left improving in the dark.

In this preview of our next Continuous Improvement Webinar, host Mark Graban talks with Annette Behrensmeyer and Volker Probst, managing partners at Resonance Growth Partners, about a broader idea: customer signals. These include the unsolicited, behavior-based indicators customers send all the time without being asked -- and the operational data that often reveals more than a survey ever could.

The conversation gets at a problem every CI leader knows: the gap between what customers say and what they do. Volker shares a story from when his wife was hospitalized while pregnant with twins, and a nurse asked her daily to fill out a survey and award a perfect score -- a built-in bias that tells you almost nothing about the actual experience. The better question is what behaviors and operational indicators reveal about how an experience really went, and what an organization should fix because of it.

The full webinar, Beyond the Voice of Customer: How Richer Customer Signals Can Improve Continuous Improvement, airs live Thursday, June 18 at 1:00 pm ET. There's relevant material here for manufacturing, service businesses, and healthcare leaders thinking about voice of the patient. Register at the link below, bring your questions for the live Q&A, or catch the recording here in the feed and on YouTube afterward.

Register: https://info.kainexus.com/webinar-customer-signals-continuous-improvement

Improvement efforts stall for reasons every CI practitioner knows by heart: unclear problem statements, missing data, inconsistent teams, rejected countermeasures. Anne Frewin argues those are symptoms. The root cause is the environment leaders create -- and Gallup's data backs her up: 70% of team engagement comes down to the manager.

In this episode, recorded as part of the KaiNexus Continuous Improvement Webinar Series, Anne walks host Mark Graban through her LEAD model -- four leadership mindsets that build the psychological safety improvement work depends on. For each one, she offers a single behavior you can put to work right away:

Leading with courage means talking about problems, not just making them visible -- moving teams from firefighting to "smelling the smoke." Embodying trust means going to Gemba with real curiosity: standing still, observing, listening to tone as much as words. Anchoring in clarity means communicating so it sticks -- frequent, visual, purposeful, two-way. Driving improvement means inviting ideas and letting people fix what bugs them, using three simple guardrails: Is it safe? Does everyone who needs to know, know? Can it be undone?

Anne also makes the case for treating employees as a key stakeholder alongside owners and customers, and shows what changes when you do. Engaged organizations see 63% fewer safety incidents, 21% lower turnover, 32% fewer defects, and 23% higher profitability.

The conversation continues into a wide-ranging Q&A on writing better problem statements, creating space for people to surface problems without fear, the limits of ROI thinking, and the hard work of coaching managers who rose through the ranks by being the boss.

Anne Frewin is a speaker, coach, and facilitator, and the founder of Employee Centric Leadership LLC. She has more than 15 years of experience implementing Lean principles across healthcare, biomedical, manufacturing, and professional services.

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Most continuous improvement programs don't stall because the strategy is wrong or the tools are missing. They stall because of what leaders do, or don't do, every day.

In this short preview, host Mark Graban talks with Anne Frewin about her upcoming KaiNexus webinar, Every Moment Matters: How Leadership Behaviors Shape Results Every Day, airing live on Tuesday, May 26 at 1 pm Eastern.

Anne walks through the LEAD model she'll cover in the session:

• Lead with courage
• Embody trust
• Anchor in clarity
• Drive improvement

For each, she'll share a specific behavior attendees can put to use the next day. The session applies whether you lead in healthcare, manufacturing, financial services, government, or nonprofits -- and whether you hold a formal title or lead informally.

Anne is a speaker, coach, facilitator, and founder of Employee Centric Leadership, LLC. She brings more than 15 years of Lean experience across healthcare, biomedical, manufacturing, and professional services, along with a finance background and master's degrees in healthcare administration and organizational leadership.

Register for the live session (the recording will also be available):https://info.kainexus.com/webinar-anne-frewin-leadership

Connect with Anne:https://www.linkedin.com/in/annefrewin/https://employeecentricleadership.org/

More KaiNexus webinars:https://www.kainexus.com/webinars

See KaiNexus in action:https://www.kainexus.com/continuous-improvement-software/kainexus/kainexus-demo-overview

Karen Martin joins Mark Graban for a wide-ranging Ask the Expert session, answering audience questions on organizational clarity, leadership behavior, value stream mapping, and continuous improvement.

Topics and questions covered include:

• Why organizations adopt Lean tools but still lack clarity around priorities, roles, and decision rights -- and the first discipline leaders should adopt to fix it
• What to do when senior leadership has lost enthusiasm for the Lean journey
• How to prevent "automating waste" when AI and automation enthusiasm outpaces process stability -- and why "a process has to earn the right to be automated"
• Whether bloated management layers or frontline cuts are the real problem when economic pressure hits
• How to get leaders to recognize their job is to develop people and remove barriers
• How to tell whether non-compliance with a mapped process points to a design flaw or an implementation failure
• Centralizing vs. distributing CI capabilities -- and why the CI team's real job is teaching, not doing
• Why the X-Matrix confuses leaders and what Karen uses instead
• The first signs of operational excellence (or its absence) when walking a manufacturing floor
• How to influence leadership when there's no top-down sponsorship
• Adapting value stream mapping for variable, non-linear work environments
• What to do when an organization is too busy fighting fires to improve
• Keeping CI momentum through executive and frontline turnover
• How to avoid "gemba theater"
• What motivates Karen to keep going when teams are stuck

Karen Martin is a two-time Shingo Award-winning author of Clarity First, The Outstanding Organization, Value Stream Mapping, and Metrics-Based Process Mapping. She is the founder of TKMG and TKMG Academy.

Learn more about Karen's work: https://tkmg.comTKMG Academy: https://tkmgacademy.com

Karen Martin -- founder of TKMG Inc. and TKMG Academy, and author of "Clarity First" and "The Outstanding Organization" -- joins Mark Graban for a short preview of the upcoming KaiNexus Ask an Expert webinar on March 11th.

In this conversation, Karen shares how she went from working in hospital laboratories as a microbiologist to building and running operations at a fast-growing HMO -- and eventually founding her own consulting and education business. She talks about what drew her away from Lean tools toward the bigger questions of culture, leadership, and organizational clarity, and why lack of clarity tends to generate more emotional friction in workplaces than people expect.

The live webinar is March 11th at 1:00 PM Eastern. No slides -- just an hour of questions and answers on Lean, operational excellence, value stream thinking, leadership, and organizational design. Submit your questions in advance or ask them live.

Register or find the recording

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TL;DR: Toyota’s real competitive advantage is not its tools -- it is mutual trust and mutual respect. Leaders are responsible for cultivating both. When trust is present, employees speak up, problems surface early, and continuous improvement accelerates. Without it, Lean becomes mechanical and unsustainable.

When executives discuss Toyota, the conversation often centers on tools.

Kanban. Andon. Standardized work. A3 thinking.

Those matter. But Toyota’s sustained performance does not come from tools alone. It comes from the leadership philosophy that makes those tools work.

At the center of that philosophy is mutual trust and mutual respect.

Not as cultural decoration.
As operational necessity.

Toyota is explicit: improvement depends on people surfacing problems quickly. That only happens when trust flows in both directions.

Toyota's own guiding principles website says they:

"Foster a corporate culture that enhances both individual creativity and the value of teamwork, while honoring mutual trust and respect between labor and management."

Leaders must trust employees to act responsibly.
Employees must trust leaders to respond constructively.

Without that reciprocity, performance deteriorates.

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TL;DR: Respect for People is the foundation of Lean management. It means engaging employees as problem solvers, creating psychological safety so people speak up, developing standardized work with teams instead of forcing it on them, and implementing improvement software with people -- not to them. It includes high standards and accountability. Without Respect for People, continuous improvement becomes mechanical and unsustainable.

Respect for People in Lean management is the principle that employees are capable problem solvers who must be engaged, developed, and trusted in order for continuous improvement to succeed.

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A dysfunctional workplace culture isn’t just an HR problem—it’s an operational one that directly affects retention, innovation, safety, and financial performance. In this episode, we explore the most common warning signs of a broken culture, including resistance to change, disengaged employees, burnout, lack of diversity in leadership, and the “black hole” where ideas and feedback disappear.

Drawing on research and real-world examples, we unpack why culture should be measured and managed as seriously as revenue or quality, and why surface-level fixes like perks or pizza parties don’t work. The conversation highlights three foundational pillars of a healthy, high-performance culture: strong employee engagement, alignment between people’s strengths and their roles, and continuous learning supported by psychological safety.

If your organization struggles with turnover, stalled improvement efforts, or chronic frustration on the front lines, this episode offers a practical lens for diagnosing the real issues—and a continuous improvement approach for fixing them at the system level.

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Operational Excellence rarely fails because of a lack of ideas. More often, it breaks down when strategy, daily work, and improvement efforts operate in silos.

In this episode, Mark Graban explores what it really means to take a unified approach to OpEx—one that connects strategy deployment, process discipline, employee-driven improvement, and leader-led initiatives into a single, coherent system.

You’ll hear how organizations move beyond disconnected spreadsheets, emails, and project tools to create visibility, alignment, and learning across all levels of the organization. Mark also discusses how platforms like KaiNexus support this work—not by replacing leadership or Lean thinking, but by strengthening the management system that makes continuous improvement sustainable.

This conversation is especially relevant for leaders trying to:

• Bring strategy to life at the frontline

• Balance top-down direction with bottom-up improvement

• Create visibility without micromanagement

• Turn Operational Excellence into how the business actually runs

Webinar page with video, slides, and more

What makes a Lean transformation last not just a few years, but two decades? At Electrolux, the answer wasn’t more tools, more training, or more Kaizen events. The breakthrough came when the company realized that leadership behaviors — not Lean mechanics — were the deciding factor in whether improvement stuck.

In this episode, Sandro Casagrande shares the story behind the Electrolux Manufacturing System (EMS), now in its 20th year. He explains why the early years of EMS produced uneven results, what changed when Electrolux shifted its focus to leadership habits, and how coaching routines, visual management, and leader standard work became the backbone of a sustainable improvement culture.

Drawing from more than 30 years with Electrolux, Sandro details:

• Why early EMS efforts succeeded in some plants but stalled in others
• How leadership behaviors became the turning point in creating organizational habits
• What neuroscience and habit loops taught Electrolux about sustaining change
• How coaching — not directing — accelerates team development and problem solving
• How sites reach gold and platinum performance levels, and why those gains hold even through turnover, new products, and process changes
• Why zero-injury safety goals became both realistic and expected
• How digitalization and platforms like KaiNexus now support global consistency and scale

Sandro also lifts the curtain on Electrolux’s leadership academy: a months-long experiential system where leaders learn by doing — running improvement cycles, receiving coaching, and ultimately becoming coaches themselves.

If you’re trying to build a culture where improvement happens every day, not just during events or crises, Sandro’s journey offers practical, hard-earned insight into what it really takes.

About the Guest
Sandro Casagrande is the Group Methodology & Documentation Leader at Electrolux. His Lean journey began in 1994, and he has been central to EMS from its earliest pilot projects through today’s global digitalization efforts. He was the first Italian to achieve EMS Master Gear certification and continues to guide EMS implementation across all business areas.

In this preview episode, Mark Graban talks with Sandro Casagrande of Electrolux about the upcoming KaiNexus webinar: “Unlock the Power of Leadership: The Electrolux Manufacturing System (EMS) Way.”

Register for the full webinar (Dec 10, 1 pm ET):
https://info.kainexus.com/unlock-the-power-of-leadership-the-electrolux-management-system-ems-way/webinar

Sandro shares insights from more than 30 years at Electrolux, including:
• How continuous improvement started with Total Quality Management in Italy
• The evolution of EMS from early pilots to a global system
• Why strong leadership behavior—not just tools and training—determines sustainability
• Lessons learned from uneven progress across sites
• How EMS Way reframed the company’s strategy to focus on culture, people development, and leader capability

If you're interested in Lean, leadership, cultural transformation, or sustaining improvement across a global enterprise, this discussion sets the stage for a powerful webinar.

Learn more about KaiNexus webinars: https://www.kainexus.com/webinars

The blog post

This blog summarizes key insights from a comprehensive whitepaper detailing UMass Memorial Health's remarkable transformation journey. 

When Dr. Eric Dickson stepped into the CEO role at UMass Memorial Health (UMMH) in 2013, he inherited what most would consider an impossible situation. The healthcare system was hemorrhaging money with a record $55 million operating loss, teetering on the edge of defaulting on publicly traded debt, and struggling with poor patient and staff satisfaction scores. Decision-making had ground to a halt, with executive departures leaving leadership gaps throughout the organization.

Fast-forward eleven years, and UMMH tells a dramatically different story. One that offers powerful lessons for any organization seeking sustainable transformation through continuous improvement. Here are the key takeaways from their journey:

In this special “Ask Us Anything” episode, Mark Graban and KaiNexus CEO Greg Jacobson answer listener-submitted questions and share candid thoughts on:

🔁 The five habit cues (and how to use them for lasting change)
📚 Books that shape how leaders think and grow—including new takes on familiar topics
🔍 What it really means when a measure becomes a target
🔊 Why audio learning fits modern leadership lifestyles
💡 Trust as the lubricant of continuous improvement—and why that matters now more than ever
📈 What’s coming next at KaiNexus to support improvement at scale

This episode blends practical insights, thoughtful reflection, and a little humor—ideal for anyone passionate about continuous improvement, Lean leadership, or building a better workplace culture.

🔗 Learn more: https://www.kainexus.com
📘 Mark’s book: https://www.mistakesbook.com

In this KaiNexus Continuous Improvement webinar, Mark Graban (author, speaker, consultant, and Senior Advisor at KaiNexus) is joined by Tracy O’Rourke (Lean consultant, coach, and co-author of The Problem-Solver’s Toolkit) for a powerful session on:“Leveraging Psychology for Effective Behavioral Change with Process Gemba Walks.”Get slides and moreGemba walks are a cornerstone of Lean and continuous improvement, but too often they fail to create real change. Why? Because simply walking the floor and asking questions isn’t enough. To truly shift behaviors and sustain improvements, leaders need to understand the psychology of how people think, feel, and respond in the workplace.In this webinar, you’ll learn how to:✅ Use psychology to make Gemba walks more effective and engaging✅ Identify behaviors that support or undermine a culture of improvement✅ Encourage employees to speak up without fear, building psychological safety✅ Avoid the pitfalls of Gemba walks that feel like “management by walking around”✅ Reinforce positive change through coaching and structured follow-up✅ Apply practical strategies for habit formation, motivation, and cultural alignmentTracy shares lessons from her work helping organizations implement Lean in healthcare, government, and private industry, while Mark offers insights from his books Lean Hospitals, Measures of Success, and The Mistakes That Make Us. Together, they highlight how blending Lean tools with behavioral science leads to stronger, more sustainable results.Who should watch:Leaders seeking to improve employee engagement and cultureLean practitioners and continuous improvement professionalsManagers frustrated by Gemba walks that don’t “stick”Anyone interested in connecting psychology, leadership, and operational excellenceResources & Links:Learn more about KaiNexus Continuous Improvement SoftwareExplore our full webinar libraryTracy O’Rourke’s resources

Registration link

To be presented Sept 30 at 5 pm ET by Tracy O'Rourke.

Do you have a painful process, but people don’t seem to want to embrace change to improve it? Does it seem that people are comfortable with the status quo? One of the most powerful Change Management tools you have is…Gemba Walks!  

Tracy O’Rourke

Co-Author "The Problem-Solver's Toolkit"
Co-Founder of the Just-in-Time Café
Co-Host of the Just-in-Time Café podcast
Master Black Belt UC San Diego Instructor

Parody Music Video CreatorA process improvement ZEALOT!

we’ll explore the psychology behind Gemba Walks specificallyrelated to some of the concepts shared in “Switch” by Chip & Dan Heath andwhy Gemba Walks are a MUST when you need difficult change to be easier

In this episode, Mark Graban reads a recent KaiNexus blog post by Danielle Yoon: “What Makes Employees Actually Participate in Continuous Improvement Programs?”

Here is the blog post

Employee participation is the heartbeat of any Lean or continuous improvement effort. Without it, even the best strategies stall. Drawing on research by Dr. Shweta Chopra and Jayaruwani Fernando—conducted inside a healthcare organization using the KaiNexus platform—this episode explores what really motivates people to engage with suggestion systems and improvement programs.

You’ll learn why performance expectancy (believing the system helps me do my job better) and social influence (seeing peers and leaders participate) are far more powerful drivers of engagement than system usability or resources alone. The findings highlight the importance of feedback loops, visible success stories, and leadership behaviors that create a culture where employees feel heard and valued.

Whether you’re leading a Lean transformation, managing a suggestion system, or simply striving to boost engagement in your organization, this research-backed discussion offers practical guidance on how to build momentum and make continuous improvement sustainable.

Read the blog post

Summary

The continuous improvement model is a systematic approach where organizations constantly implement small, incremental improvements to services, products, and processes. Built on seven core principles, this model enables businesses of any size to reduce waste, increase efficiency, and engage employees in meaningful change that directly supports strategic goals.

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You’ve identified inefficiencies. You have a clear roadmap. You know your improvement initiative can move the needle. What's next? You need executive buy-in.

One of the most common challenges for CI and OpEx leaders is getting senior leadership to engage, support, and actively champion improvement work. It's not that leaders don't care about the performance of CI and OpEx initiatives, but because of a combination of perception gaps, systemic challenges, and competing priorities. The good news? With the right framing and structure, it's absolutely possible to turn passive approval into active sponsorship. 

Below, we break down how to earn executive buy-in that translates into cultural and operational impact.

The blog post

Manufacturers in the automotive sector face significant pressures today, from rising material costs and supply chain disruptions to the demand for faster production times and stricter regulatory requirements. Achieving continuous quality improvement (CQI) remains critical, as it not only enhances product consistency and drives compliance but also helps manufacturers stay competitive in a market that is constantly evolving.

Fortunately, continuous improvement has a long history in automotive manufacturing. Many of the tools and techniques widely used by organizations worldwide were explicitly developed to ensure the quality and efficiency of automotive manufacturing. Toyota was a pioneer of many of the CQI approaches used today. Whether you are using language like CQI, TQM, Lean, TPS, or Lean Six Sigma, these approaches described below still apply.

As you might imagine, the benefits of a successful continuous improvement program are significant, including...

Link to the blog post

If you’re a CI leader, you’ve likely experienced the paradox: you’re driving improvements across the organization, but your executive team still sees your program as “supporting work” and not strategic work.

You may hear positive feedback, even encouragement. But behind closed doors, your program is being measured against a different standard.

The good news? The C-suite isn’t intentionally withholding their expectations. They’re just operating with a set of priorities that live in another language. And until your improvement program speaks it, you’ll struggle to get traction, attention, or budget.

Here’s what your C-suite actually wants from your improvement work, even if they haven’t explicitly said it, and how you can deliver on those expectations in a way that secures long-term executive support...

A webinar presented by Scott Gauvin, CEO of Macresco Consulting and the Co-founder of the Respect for People Roadmap

Video, slides, and more

Learning objectives:

• Identify the hidden barriers that prevent Lean from gaining traction—and discover practical strategies to overcome them
• Learn the nine behaviors leaders and employees can adopt to build a culture of continuous improvement
• Gain strategic insights into driving cultural change across teams and entire organizations

Scott Gauvin is the CEO of Macresco Consulting and the Co-founder of the Respect for People Roadmap. With 30 years of experience in operations, he has helped organizations around the world and across industries rethink the path to transformation—not just in process, but in mindset.

A contributing author to Leading With Compassion: Cultivating Connection from the Inside Out, Scott believes real change happens when organizations bridge the gap between culture and strategy. Right now, he’s focused on helping organizations unlock performance by systematically cultivating the behaviors that make it possible.

In this special episode, I'm joined by Bill Canady, CEO of Arrowhead Engineered Products and Chairman of OTC Industrial Technologies. Bill has spent over 30 years leading companies to profitable growth, building what he calls the “Profitable Growth Operating System.” He’s also the author of The 80/20 CEO, with a second book, From Panic to Profit, on the way soon.

We recorded this live as part of the KaiNexus Continuous Improvement webinar series. Bill shares hard-earned lessons on strategy, execution, and what it really takes to align a company around a few critical priorities.

We talk about:

• How to apply the 80/20 principle as a business operating system

• Why many improvement efforts fail from lack of strategic alignment

• The CEO’s role in creating a culture of continuous improvement

• Lean as a condition of employment—and what that actually means

• Daily management, small wins, and sustaining momentum

• Using Lean outside the factory—in sales, engineering, and the office

• The future of improvement, from AI tools to leadership mindset shifts

• What CI leaders should understand about a CEO’s perspective

Bill also discusses how he balances empathy and execution, shares thoughts on transforming healthcare through Lean, and offers advice for CI professionals who want to move into broader operational leadership roles.

Links:

• Bill’s books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Bill-Canady/

• KaiNexus Webinars: https://www.kainexus.com/webinars

Thanks again to Bill for sharing his time, his insights, and his candor.

Watch the recording

Presented by
Lindsey Booty, RN, BS, CNOR, is the Supervisor of Performance Improvement
Christopher Thomas, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at LSUHSC and Chief Quality Officer
LeaAnn Teague, MBA, MT(ASCP), SBB, PMP, is Sr. Director of Performance Improvement
from  Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center

In many hospitals, the process of recording, prioritizing, and addressing safety concerns raised by employees during patient safety rounds is often manual, fragmented, and lacks standardization. To overcome these challenges, Our Lady of the Lake Medical Center implemented KaiNexus to streamline the documentation, tracking, and resolution of safety concerns raised during patient safety rounds, while ensuring that risks are prioritized and addressed in alignment with the SAFER Matrix.

In this webinar, you'll learn how Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center leveraged KaiNexus to reinforce a culture where safety is everyone's responsibility. By providing a transparent and efficient system for raising and addressing concerns, team members are empowered to speak up, knowing their input will be heard and acted upon.

In this special preview episode, Mark Graban is joined by Lindsey Booty, Supervisor of Performance Improvement at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Register for the webinar

Lindsey shares how their team has built a culture of high reliability and accountability by combining weekly patient safety rounding with the powerful capabilities of KaiNexus—including weighted scoring and the SAFER Matrix.

You’ll learn how they:

• Close the loop on safety concerns raised by frontline staff

• Engage leadership in weekly visibility and action

• Use technology to drive transparency and accountability

• Align improvement methodology, leadership behaviors, and digital tools

This story is rooted in healthcare but packed with lessons for any industry focused on continuous improvement, safety, and culture change.

🎙️ Want to hear more? Join us for the full webinar on April 15 at 1:00 pm ET:
👉 Register here

📺 Can’t attend live? Register anyway and get access to the recording afterward.

#PatientSafety #ContinuousImprovement #KaiNexus #LeanHealthcare #ZeroHarm #AccountabilityCulture #LeadershipDevelopment #ImprovementCulture #LeanLeadership #HighReliability

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In this episode, we explore how continuous improvement serves as a key pillar within a broader operational excellence strategy in healthcare. While many organizations strive to enhance quality and efficiency, real progress happens when continuous improvement is not treated as an isolated initiative but as an embedded practice within a structured system. Operational excellence provides the strategy, alignment, and leadership framework necessary to sustain and scale improvement efforts across an organization.

A critical factor in achieving operational excellence is leadership commitment. Senior leaders must do more than support improvement initiatives—they must integrate them into the organization’s strategic direction. This requires a shift from traditional command-and-control leadership to a coaching and mentoring approach, where leaders ask the right questions, remove obstacles, and create an environment where continuous improvement becomes a daily habit rather than a series of isolated projects.

For continuous improvement efforts to be sustainable, organizations need a well-defined management system. Operational excellence replaces traditional project-based thinking with a structured approach that ensures improvement initiatives are aligned with long-term goals, also known as the organization's "True North." Without this alignment, improvement efforts risk becoming fragmented and disconnected from the larger mission of delivering safe, high-quality, and reliable care.

Cultural transformation is another essential element of this journey. Operational excellence recognizes that meaningful change takes time, requiring organizations to "slow down to speed up." Rather than rushing through process changes, healthcare leaders must foster a culture where thoughtful planning and execution lead to lasting improvements. A common vocabulary around improvement efforts also helps ensure clarity, engagement, and a shared understanding among staff, reinforcing the connection between individual contributions and the organization's broader objectives.

Prioritization is key to avoiding burnout and ensuring improvement efforts are impactful. Without clear priorities, organizations may scatter their resources across too many initiatives, leading to frustration and a lack of meaningful progress. Operational excellence encourages a focused approach, typically emphasizing three to four high-impact priorities that align with strategic goals and drive breakthrough improvements.

Technology also plays a vital role in continuous improvement. Modern improvement platforms help teams collaborate, share data, and measure the health of their improvement culture. Real-time reporting and analytics enable organizations to identify challenges faster and address root causes more effectively, ensuring that improvement efforts lead to measurable and sustainable results.

Ultimately, continuous improvement is most effective when embedded within an operational excellence framework. This integration helps healthcare organizations channel the passion of their workforce into practical, long-term solutions that enhance quality, lower costs, and improve patient outcomes. By fostering a culture where continuous progress is part of daily operations, organizations can achieve sustainable success and drive meaningful change for years to come.

Join Mark Graban and Greg Jacobson, CEO & Co-Founder of KaiNexus, as they explore the intersection of continuous improvement, checklist best practices, and the power of habit science. In this engaging episode of the KaiNexus Continuous Improvement Podcast, the duo discusses:Checklist Strategies: How simple cues and error-proofing techniques keep processes on track—whether in a live webinar, office, or remote setting.Habit Science in Action: Practical insights from influential books like Atomic Habits, Tiny Habits, and The Power of Habit that explain how structured routines lead to greater reliability and success.Lean Transformation & Technology: Reflections on the Lean Transformation Summit, the role of technology in driving lean initiatives, and how integrating these concepts can boost both quality and efficiency.Real-World Applications: Anecdotes and lessons learned from diverse industries, emphasizing how a well-designed checklist and a culture that respects continuous improvement can transform both business and personal practices.KaiNexus Innovations: A look at how KaiNexus is breaking records with its upcoming KaiNexus conference and its ongoing commitment to empowering organizations through efficient improvement strategies.Whether you're a lean expert or just beginning your journey in continuous improvement, this conversation offers actionable strategies and thought-provoking ideas to enhance your processes.

Join Mark Graban on the KaiNexus Continuous Improvement podcast as he sits down with Jeff Roussel, KaiNexus’ Chief Revenue Officer, to explore the evolving role of sales, marketing, and leadership in driving continuous improvement and operational excellence within organizations.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• Career Evolution & Leadership: Jeff reflects on his 11-year journey at KaiNexus—from a focus on sales to embracing a broader role that includes marketing, customer experience, and internal culture.
• The Importance of Commitment: A discussion on how leadership behaviors, particularly a sustained commitment to operational excellence, are critical to long-term success.
• Building a Business Case for Continuous Improvement: Insights into aligning improvement efforts with strategic business goals, showcasing how measurable outcomes support growth and innovation.
• Cultivating a Culture of Improvement: Real-world examples of embedding continuous improvement into job roles and driving organizational change, including the impact on employee engagement and operational results.

Key Takeaways:

• Continuous improvement is not just about activity—it’s about achieving tangible business outcomes.
• Leadership commitment and accountability play a crucial role in overcoming obstacles and maintaining momentum in improvement initiatives.
• Integrating sales, marketing, and customer experience under one cohesive strategy can create a lasting impact on both internal culture and external performance.

Why Listen?
Whether you’re a champion of operational excellence or a business leader aiming to align improvement efforts with strategic goals, this conversation offers actionable insights and thoughtful reflections to help you build a more resilient and agile organization.

Connect with KaiNexus:
Explore the KaiNexus platform and learn how it can enhance your organization’s continuous improvement journey.

Watch the recording

Presented by Shawna Forst, Performance Excellence, Quality & Risk Coordinator at MercyOne Newton Medical Center

What do physical education teachers and performance excellence professionals have in common? More than you think! This session will feature one former P.E. Teacher's perspective on the similarities between coaching kids and leading quality and improvement efforts in the workplace while also sharing how to leverage KaiNexus to support and encourage those endeavors.

In this webinar, you'll learn:

• To explore the basic fundamentals of being an effective coach, regardless of field.
• To identify how KaiNexus can be leveraged in being an effective coach.
• To understand how Lean methodology, leveraging KaiNexus, can help eliminate waste, build teamwork, reduce conflicts, reduce or eliminate defects, create IDEAL processes, services, and products as well as improve client satisfaction.

Shawna is the Performance Excellence Quality & Risk Coordinator and Lean Healthcare Coach at MercyOne Newton Medical Center. Shawna has been a Lean Healthcare facilitator since January 2007 and has two years of experience as a technician in a cardiac unit. Since then, she has had various roles in Healthcare Quality and Safety. Shawna graduated from Simpson College in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts in Physical Education and a Coaching Endorsement. In 2010, she became a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) and received her LEAN Green Belt certification in 2014. She also received her Masters in Business Administration from Western Governors
University in 2018.

About the Presenter:Shawna Forst

Register to view the webinar (live or the recording)Welcome to another engaging episode of the KaiNexus Continuous Improvement Podcast, hosted by Mark Graban. In this session, we present a sneak peek into our upcoming webinar featuring Shawna Forst, a former Physical Education teacher turned Process Excellence professional. The webinar, scheduled for March 5th at 1:00 PM Eastern, will explore the fascinating parallels between PE teaching and process improvement in professional settings.Key HighlightsCareer Journey: Gain insights into Shawna's unique career path from physical education to healthcare process improvement.Coaching & Communication: Learn about the importance of adapting coaching and communication styles to different individuals, drawing from Shawna's experiences with sports and behavior disorder children.Lean Methodology: Discover how lean methodologies can be applied to reduce waste and enhance efficiency in various professional environments.Join us for this insightful discussion that promises to offer valuable leadership tips and process excellence strategies, applicable across diverse industries beyond healthcare.Don’t miss out on this valuable opportunity to learn how coaching strategies from the field of physical education can inspire and influence process excellence in the workplace. Register now and be part of the conversation!Prepare to be inspired by Shawna’s journey and the skills that transcend industry boundaries. See you there!

Learn more and register

In this engaging episode of the KaiNexus Continuous Improvement Podcast, hostMark Graban welcomesGreg Jacobson, Co-Founder and CEO of KaiNexus, to discuss the much-anticipated KaiNexicon, the company's annual user conference. The conversation not only highlights the logistics and plans for the 2025 KaiNexicon but also dives into the essence of continuous improvement and the unique setup that makes this conference such a valuable experience.

Key Discussion Points

• Introduction to KaiNexicon 2025: Greg Jacobson shares his enthusiasm for the ninth annual KaiNexicon, emphasizing the conference’s goals and its role as a vital gathering for KaiNexus users.

• Reflections on 2024 and Forecasting for 2025: Greg talks about how closing out the previous year impacts a small team and shares optimism regarding the financial outlook for 2025.

• Importance and Impact of KaiNexicon: The dialogue explores the significance of KaiNexicon, especially the cultural cross-pollination among industries that attend.

• Continuous Improvement and Engagement: Both speakers discuss the structured feedback process used to enhance the conference each year, reflecting KaiNexus' commitment to improvement.

• Unique Features of KaiNexicon: Key aspects such as the SpeedNexus session, as well as interactive opportunities available to users, are highlighted.

• Product Sneak Peeks and Innovations: Greg shares his passion for product development and how Kinexicon serves as a platform to preview upcoming advancements.

  
  

  Memorable Quotes:

  • Greg Jacobson: "When you start realizing that you’re not copying and pasting even within industry, you can get a really excellent manifestation of what should lean or continuous improvement look like in your organization."

  • Mark Graban: "It’s not the type of event where you sit there passively for the whole time. There are interactive sessions."

  • Greg Jacobson: "At the fundamental core, all businesses are based on revenue, expenses, and people."

  Tune in next time for more insightful discussions on enhancing continuous improvement efforts.

To view the webinar recording, for slides, and more

Presented by Mark Graban
Hosted by Linda Vicaro

Are you looking for practical ways to eliminate errors and enhance efficiency in your organization? Join us for "Mistake-Proofing in Action: Real-World Examples Across Industries," an insightful webinar showcasing how organizations across healthcare, manufacturing, and service sectors have successfully implemented mistake-proofing techniques. Discover innovative solutions that prevent errors before they occur, improve safety and quality, and save valuable time and resources. Through inspiring case studies and actionable takeaways, you’ll learn how to adapt these proven approaches to your unique challenges. Don’t miss this chance to gain practical tools and insights to drive continuous improvement and operational excellence. Register today and see mistake-proofing in action!

Register for the webinar

February 12 from 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm ET

Presented by Mark Graban

Are you looking for practical ways to eliminate errors and enhance efficiency in your organization? Join us for "Mistake-Proofing in Action: Real-World Examples Across Industries," an insightful webinar showcasing how organizations across healthcare, manufacturing, and service sectors have successfully implemented mistake-proofing techniques. Discover innovative solutions that prevent errors before they occur, improve safety and quality, and save valuable time and resources. Through inspiring case studies and actionable takeaways, you’ll learn how to adapt these proven approaches to your unique challenges. Don’t miss this chance to gain practical tools and insights to drive continuous improvement and operational excellence. Register today and see mistake-proofing in action!

Mark Graban, a senior advisor to KaiNexus, is an internationally-recognized author, speaker, and consultant. His latest book, The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation, is available now. 

Mark is also the author of the award-winning book Lean Hospitals: Improving Quality, Patient Safety, and Employee Engagement and others, including Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More.

He serves as a consultant through his company, Constancy, Inc. Additionally, Mark hosts podcasts, including “Lean Blog Interviews” and “My Favorite Mistake.”

Education: B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern University; M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, and M.B.A. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s “Leaders for Global Operations” Program.

About the Presenter:Mark Graban

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We are often asked if continuous improvement and operational excellence are the same. They are not, but they are closely related. Continuous improvement involves constantly improving your business processes to reduce waste, cut costs, improve quality, and maximize human potential. It focuses on making each existing process perfect. Operational excellence goes further. It involves setting the organization up for growth by understanding what the market wants and creating an uninterrupted value stream that continuously feeds the need.
It is essential to understand the difference between these two complementary paradigms that guide business operations management so that you can apply elements of both to streamline operations and achieve your most critical strategic goals.

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Taiichi Ohno, the father of the Toyota Production System, once said, “Without Standard Work, there is no Kaizen.” That’s a pretty bold statement, but when you think about the continuous improvement cycle, it makes a lot of sense. How can you move from the current state to the desired state if the current state is a moving target? Standard Work, which documents the current best practice for performing a task or process, and ensures that everyone is applying it, is a prerequisite for improvement.

Here are 15 ways that Standard Work benefits organizations that leverage it.

Presented by Brent Loescher on Nov 19, 2024 Get slides and more

TKMG Academy

An exploration of implementing LSW throughout Sperber Companies, a distributed Landscape Maintenance business made up of organically-grown business and M&A (read multiple cultures). Covering everything from embracing current cultures, developing an organizational culture with a common language, level setting business leader responsibilities, introducing Lean thinking, and implementing daily rhythms, this webinar will discuss the efforts, hurdles, and learnings this 5-year-old business is living every day. Brent has spent more than 20 years working in and on the business, improving operations within high-speed manufacturing, warehousing, distribution, distributed-services environments, and governmental agencies. A Lean practitioner at heart, Brent received his formal Toyota Production System training while working for Toyota Motor Sales in their North American Parts Operations. While with Toyota, he was responsible for operational design of two new warehouses built in Puerto Rico and Mexico City. A certified TPS trainer, he developed strategic warehouse design standards, while also serving as the Toyota Customer Service Diversity and Inclusion Champion Coordinator. He helped develop a Lean program for the landscape maintenance industry, implementing and evolving continuous improvement programs across the country since 2009. This included co-leading a team focused on the operational integration of a $2 billion dollar merger. Brent is currently responsible for Learning & Development and CI for a start-up Landscape Maintenance & Construction company doing work in 14 states. He has a BA in Business Management from Mercyhurst University and is a retired military veteran, having served 21 years in the US Army and US Army Reserve.

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I often find myself falling into the common trap of believing that if something is worthwhile, it is necessarily difficult. I think we all expect that valuable things are hard. The truth is, however, that sometimes the most effective and impactful things we can do are really quite simple.

When it comes to continuous quality improvement, this is absolutely the case.

Here are 9 examples of quality improvement tools, techniques, and technology that are uncomplicated yet extremely valuable.

Mark Graban, from KaiNexus, chats with Brent Loescher about his upcoming webinar: It will be presented live on November 19 from 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm ET Register here An exploration of implementing LSW throughout Sperber Companies, a distributed Landscape Maintenance business made up of organically-grown business and M&A (read multiple cultures). Covering everything from embracing current cultures, developing an organizational culture with a common language, level setting business leader responsibilities, introducing Lean thinking, and implementing daily rhythms, this webinar will discuss the efforts, hurdles, and learnings this 5-year-old business is living every day. About Brent: Brent has spent more than 20 years working in and on the business, improving operations within high-speed manufacturing, warehousing, distribution, distributed-services environments, and governmental agencies. A Lean practitioner at heart, Brent received his formal Toyota Production System training while working for Toyota Motor Sales in their North American Parts Operations. While with Toyota, he was responsible for operational design of two new warehouses built in Puerto Rico and Mexico City. A certified TPS trainer, he developed strategic warehouse design standards, while also serving as the Toyota Customer Service Diversity and Inclusion Champion Coordinator. He helped develop a Lean program for the landscape maintenance industry, implementing and evolving continuous improvement programs across the country since 2009. This included co-leading a team focused on the operational integration of a $2 billion dollar merger. Brent is currently responsible for Learning & Development and CI for a start-up Landscape Maintenance & Construction company doing work in 14 states. He has a BA in Business Management from Mercyhurst University and is a retired military veteran, having served 21 years in the US Army and US Army Reserve. Brent is a girl-dad that, along with his wife, Kim, is anxiously awaiting the birth of their second grandchild. In his free time, he finds a way to see the Green Bay Packers wherever they play, enjoys boating, and spending time being creative around the house.

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Most of us have memories of playing the game of catch either as children or with our children. I really shouldn’t call it a “game” because there are no winners and losers. There is no defense because everyone is on the same side. One participant tries to deliver the ball to the other in a way that they will be able to grab and return it. The ability to catch and throw a ball is important because it is a foundation for success in many other, more complex sports. The Lean idea of catchball involves moving ideas and information from one person or team to another and, much like catch from childhood, it forms the basis for complicated decision-making and policy development.

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The process you use to develop your strategic plan is as important as the plan itself. Many organizations adopt the Hoshin Kanri method (also known as Hoshin Planning or Strategy Deployment), which integrates daily management with the strategic breakthroughs needed to propel the organization forward. Hoshin Kanri helps create specific, actionable plans and allocates the resources necessary to achieve them.

An important element of Hoshin Kanri is not just the setting of top-down objectives but also ensuring a two-way dialogue between leadership and employees, known as "catchball." This ongoing feedback loop ensures that strategic objectives are both communicated effectively and adjusted based on input from all levels of the organization. The entire process becomes an iterative cycle that aligns with the Plan-Do-Study-Adjust (PDSA) framework, fostering continuous learning and improvement.

Here are the seven steps typically followed in the Hoshin Kanri process:

Video, slides, and more

Presented by Melissa Sherman

Why is change so hard? Change is a complex and multifaceted process that often evokes a wide range of emotions and challenges. Despite these challenges, change is an inevitable part of life and is often necessary for growth, progress, and adaptation.

By acknowledging the difficulties associated with change and providing support, encouragement, and clear communications, we can help individuals and organizations embrace change and Continuous Improvements more effectively.

As continuous improvement practitioners, we don’t always think about the impact our continuous improvement initiatives will have on the employees.

Learning objectives: Throughout this session, we will look at various ways to improve the sustainability of our projects. Let’s discuss the importance of making sure we are embedding change management into your continuous improvement efforts. We will look at what change is, the resistance to it, the journey/change curve an individual goes through, the various change models, and some strategies you can use to assist in your efforts.

Accomplished Lean Leader and Sought-after Speaker recognized for driving continuous improvement initiatives and sharing change best practices, honed from 30 years of expertise in process excellence. Holistic ability to drive enterprise Six Sigma, Lean, and Kaizen deployments, delivering quantifiable productivity, efficiency, and waste elimination gains. Coached business teams during organizational adoption of agile solutions for high-level value delivery. Delighted business partners and stakeholders through strategic data-driven roadmap planning and creation.

The blog post

In this episode, we discuss how to create a culture of continuous improvement in the workplace. We'll cover seven surefire ways to promote improvement, including making it ongoing, involving all employees, removing barriers to improvement, celebrating all types of improvement, providing resources and recognition for improvement efforts, and leading by example. By following these tips, you can create a workplace where everyone is constantly striving to be better.

In today's episode host Mark Graban, a senior advisor with KaiNexus, chats with Yehor Skorodumov, a senior web application developer who joined our team earlier this year. In the episode, Yehor talks about his rigorous and analytical approach to researching companies, including KaiNexus. He also shares about the interviewing process, a little bit about what he does in his role, and what his first few months at the company were like. Learn more about KaiNexus: https://kainexus.com/ And KaiNexus careers: https://www.kainexus.com/continuous-improvement/kainexus-team

Mark Graban of KaiNexus talks with Melissa Sherman to preview her webinar... Register here Why is change so hard? Change is a complex and multifaceted process that often evokes a wide range of emotions and challenges. Despite these challenges, change is an inevitable part of life and is often necessary for growth, progress, and adaptation. By acknowledging the difficulties associated with change and providing support, encouragement, and clear communications, we can help individuals and organizations embrace change and Continuous Improvements more effectively. As continuous improvement practitioners, we don’t always think about the impact our continuous improvement initiatives will have on the employees. Learning objectives: Throughout this session, we will look at various ways to improve the sustainability of our projects. Let’s discuss the importance of making sure we are embedding change management into your continuous improvement efforts. We will look at what change is, the resistance to it, the journey/change curve an individual goes through, the various change models, and some strategies you can use to assist in your efforts. About the Presenter: Melissa Sherman Accomplished Lean Leader and Sought-after Speaker recognized for driving continuous improvement initiatives and sharing change best practices, honed from 30 years of expertise in process excellence. Holistic ability to drive enterprise Six Sigma, Lean, and Kaizen deployments, delivering quantifiable productivity, efficiency, and waste elimination gains. Coached business teams during organizational adoption of agile solutions for high-level value delivery. Delighted business partners and stakeholders through strategic data-driven roadmap planning and creation.

Welcome to the KaiNexus Continuous Improvement Podcast, hosted by Mark Graban, Senior Advisor at KaiNexus. In today's episode, we share insights from one of our YouTube videos, featuring two esteemed leaders from UMass Memorial Health. Cathy Burke and Jeff Marks discuss how KaiNexus, known internally as "Innovation Station," helps them drive leadership and continuous improvement in their organization.

Cathy Burke shares her leadership approach of inviting team members to raise opinions, identify obstacles, and work collaboratively—values that Innovation Station enables through its platform. Jeff Marks adds how the platform supports their weekly commitment to optimize performance, leveraging both new ideas and past solutions to avoid redundant efforts.

Together, Cathy and Jeff highlight the impact of empowering every employee, regardless of role, to contribute ideas that can affect change on a larger scale. Discover how Innovation Station tracks, monitors, and facilitates execution on these improvements, ensuring that opportunities lead to tangible successes.

To learn more about how KaiNexus can support your improvement initiatives, visit www.kainexus.com.

In this video, Mark Graban, senior advisor at KaiNexus, chats with Marc Haberer, a process engineer at one of our customers, Polytainers. At KaiNexus, we believe our success is best reflected in the achievements of our customers. Each year at KaiNexicon, we honor some of our most outstanding customers through the Nexie Awards. This Annual Nexie Award Ceremony is a cherished highlight of KaiNexicon, celebrating our customers' dedication and exceptional accomplishments over the past year. Learn more: https://blog.kainexus.com/customer/announcing-our-2024-nexie-award-winners This year’s Award for Top Turnaround goes to Polytainers. The Top Turnaround is awarded to the organization that has displayed the most progress using KaiNexus to build its improvement culture since last year’s conference. The Polytainers team has demonstrated a remarkable commitment to collaboration and their willingness to work with us on redefining their processes has led to a fantastic partnership. Building from the ground up is never easy, but through exceptional leadership, teamwork, and dedication, they have made leaps and bounds forward in creating standard practices. Their commitment to excellence serves as an inspiration to us, reminding us of the incredible impact that determination, an open mind, and partnership can have on achieving success. Thank you for being an incredible partner to us.

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When leaders consider implementing a structured business process improvement methodology, one of the challenges they often face is explaining to employees what types of opportunities to consider. Usually, there are some apparent needs that people attack immediately. Still, once those are addressed, it can be challenging to recognize the flaws in processes, especially ones you operate every day.

A practical approach for overcoming this issue is providing employees with categories of improvement potential to keep in mind. Sharing a few examples with your team — and asking lots of questions — can help spark ideas, get people thinking creatively, and foster innovation.
Of course, recognizing the opportunities for improvement is only the first step. Next, your team will need to leverage various improvement techniques to implement positive change.
This post breaks down common improvement needs into several categories and then covers several practical tools for problem-solving.

In this webinar, we’re mixing up the format a bit to maximize time for Q&A and discussion. Please watch this longer webinar first: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wwlaxfN8AE In this video, Mark Graban will give a short presentation that recaps and updates his thoughts on some of these concepts. We’ll also conduct some live polling (and see the results) related to the level of psychological safety that attendees feel in their organizations. Mark is also joined by KaiNexians Kaleigh Krauss and Linda Vicaro for discussion and their insights and stories. The rest of the webinar was a Q&A discussion moderated by Morgan Wright, where you can ask your questions related to how leaders can cultivate a culture where everybody feels safe enough to speak up about problems, ideas, mistakes, and more. Learning Objectives: Define psychological safety and explain its significance in the workplace. Identify the relationship between psychological safety and continuous improvement. Develop strategies for leaders to cultivate psychological safety within their teams. Understand methods to assess and sustain psychological safety in the organization. Mark Graban is an author, speaker, and consultant, whose latest book is The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation. He is also the author of the award-winning book "Lean Hospitals: Improving Quality, Patient Safety, and Employee Engagement" and others, including "Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More." He serves as a consultant through his company, Constancy, Inc, and is also a Senior Advisor for the technology company KaiNexus (and had his 13-year KaiNexiversary recently!). Mark hosts podcasts, including “Lean Blog Interviews” and “My Favorite Mistake.” Mark earned a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern University, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, and an M.B.A. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s “Leaders for Global Operations” Program.