George Saiz on ”We Started With Respect” and His Career Focused on Improvement

Episode page with video, transcript, and more

My guest for Episode #481 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is George Saiz.

As a coach, writer, and speaker, George Saiz actively promotes enterprise excellence through a people-centric culture to the next generation of leaders. 

In his new business novel, We Started with Respect, he shares from his executive experience in the medical device industry and the many best-practices sites he visited as president and CEO of the Association for Manufacturing Excellence. He is retired and currently resides with his wife in Carlsbad, California.

Questions, Notes, and Highlights:

• What's your Lean origin story?
• The Goal — a business novel
• The leader going first with the learning??
• Compliance vs Commitment 
• Using Lean as business problem solving vs. tools for operations?
• Exposure then to Lean / TPS?
• The need to focus on process AND people (culture)
• What aspects of Lean don't work without a high enough level of mutual trust?
• Gallup surveys show that two out of three employees are disengaged to some degree –causes or root causes?
• Examples of companies that invest well in supervisor and manager training?
• The need to DESIGN culture?
• Tim Clark's podcast, “Culture by Design“
• Tearing down the walls — starts with executive leadership team
• Looking back — key Influences and mentors?

The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in its 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare industries. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network.