GA 636 | Taking Control of Your Life with Joel Steele
The episode features Joel Steele, author of *Life Switch*, discussing how to seize control of one’s personal and professional trajectory. Steele frames his message around moving from a life of “three Fs”—failure, follower, felon—to the “three Ps”—potential, passion, purpose—illustrating a dramatic personal turnaround that underpins his coaching philosophy. Key insights include the power of a clear, vivid vision, likened to a puzzle’s picture on the box, which guides daily decisions and helps sort life’s scattered pieces. Steele emphasizes incremental daily actions that create momentum, and he treats failure not as a setback but as essential fuel that forces responsibility and growth. The conversation also ties these ideas to lean‑manufacturing tools such as future‑state mapping, showing a direct parallel between business process improvement and personal development. Memorable quotes pepper the dialogue: Mark Twain’s reminder that the second most important day is discovering why you’re here; Steele’s “why not me, why not now?” mantra; and his declaration that he would wear a sticker saying “I love failure.” The puzzle analogy and the “pilot light” metaphor for sustaining motivation further illustrate his practical approach. For listeners, especially those in continuous‑improvement or leadership roles, Steele’s framework offers a replicable roadmap: define a vivid end‑state, commit to small, purposeful actions, and reframe setbacks as learning catalysts. Applying this mindset can accelerate personal performance, enhance resilience, and translate directly into more effective organizational change initiatives.
GA 635 | Emotions Are Not the Enemy with D. Earl Johnston
In this episode of the Gemba Podcast, host Ron welcomes Doug Johnston, author of Choosing Emotions: Thinking With Your Head and Acting With Your Heart. Johnston explains his "Emotionary"—a dictionary of 272 emotional states illustrated with thousands of real‑world quotes—and...
GA 634 | Doubling Profits in 90 Days with Ben Hansen
The episode introduces Ben Hansen, the "Profit Doctor," who claims his firm can boost a struggling company's net profit by five percentage points—or roughly double it—within a 90‑day engagement. Hansen frames this promise around uncovering and sealing "profit leaks," a...
GA 633 | Be Curious and Seek Knowledge with Andy Olrich
The episode features Andy Olrich, an Australian lean practitioner who transitioned from trade work—starting as an appliance repair technician and later an underground coal‑mining electrician—to a consultant and podcaster. Olrich shares his career trajectory, emphasizing how formal lean and Six...
GA 632 | Performance Unleashed with Chris Libutti
The episode of GA 632 features former Army Ranger Chris Libutti, now a professor, entrepreneur and author of “The 7R² Framework.” Libutti discusses how his special‑operations background informs his approach to performance, leadership and the new book that distills seven paired...
GA 627 | Value Stream Mapping on University Campuses with Kristin Kielich
The episode spotlights Kristin Kielich, Director of Operational Excellence for the University of California’s Office of the President, and her effort to embed lean methodologies—particularly value‑stream mapping—into a sprawling public‑university system. She explains how the UC system, serving 300,000 students...
GA 622 | The State of AI with Steven Remsen
The Gemba Podcast episode features Steve Remsen, a former Intel continuous‑improvement leader, discussing how Lean Six Sigma evolved within a high‑tech environment and how it intersects with emerging AI tools. Remsen recounts his transition from a physicist‑scientist to an enterprise‑wide...
GA 620 | Is Your Lean Operating System Talking or Singing? With Royden Johnson
The Gemba Podcast episode with South African lean practitioner Royden Johnson explores whether a lean operating system is merely "talking" or truly "singing," using the metaphor of rhythm to illustrate the depth of engagement required for sustainable improvement. Johnson frames...