In-house adidas group continuous improvement expert Jitesh Ramachandran joins us and shares that he’s got 20 years of experience in manufacturing. His original job was to go to each and every supplier to train them and coach them on lean methodology principals with the motive of improving the quality cost and delivery of those suppliers. He worked his way up at his initial company and over to adidas and then worked his way up in adidas and over the HQ in Germany where he was told by the CFO to improve engagement and effectiveness and efficiency will follow. Jitesh brings us through his entire process of making adidas process excellent. 

Ep.59: Jitesh Ramachandran, Adidas

Examining organizational effectiveness and efficiency.

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Reka Mishra is the managing director of the transformation office for the SVB Financial Group. She lays out the basics of mergers and acquisitions before diving in on operational excellence. For M&A;, it is imperative to have a target operating model in place. That model must consist of four key elements: people, process, technology, and data. Change management, communication, and HR must also be involved from the onset in order to best address the concerns of the employees. When M&A; happens for the sake of digital transformation, it is especially critical that the enterprise is sensitive to the human element. Reka explains how to strike the right balance in order to make the transition as smooth as possible. Mergers and acquisitions aren’t a one-and-done, and they must lead from the top. As Reka says, “It's absolutely critical to get all the executives aligned and in agreement because then you can have a very clear path forward, and then you know you're meeting everybody's expectation. And also it's helpful in them communicating to their employees what's happening at an organization-wide level. It's a consistent message. It's a consistent buy-in.”

Ep. 156: Reka Mishra, SVB

Adrian Terry, VP of GM Financial’s OpEx function, discusses their unique approach to IT and RPA. Initially, IT had some processes they wanted to automate. From there, a pilot was developed. It soon became clear that the broader organization could benefit from similar processes, so GM onboarded their own RPA business automation talent. Now, IT and RPA have been conjoined. While each department still has their direct leadership, the “two headed monster” reports to a governance function. Next, Adrian details the execution and benefits of the pod model they’ve developed. After Adrian explains the structure, deployment, and communication aspects of the design, he talks scale. Finally, after briefly touching on some growing pains of the transformation, Adrian sums up the meticulous, thought-out execution of the pods and the future of the business. Adrian doesn’t do anything unless he does it well.

Ep. 155: Adrian Terry, GM Financial

Joining us today is Kristen Workman, director of lean office transformation at Schneider Electric. While she has been with the company for over 20 years, she only recently entered her current role. In this conversation, she discusses the transition into a new department. Coming in as an outsider, Kristen has the advantage of looking at team projects through an objective lens while still maintaining the integrity of the company she knows so well. Kristen further discusses the advantages of “diversity of thought.” Next, Kristen stresses the importance of engagement across the enterprise, from the C-suite down. Without a general understanding of company processes, alignment is difficult. Kristen carried her “what works, what doesn’t” strategy into her new role, but that’s not to say she is bored with the same ol’. The continuous improvement journey never ends, as new technologies, and opportunities are ever present. Kristen shares more of her problem-solving strategies and opinions on the future of work, technology, and enterprise throughout the rest of this episode.

Ep. 154: Kristen Workman, Schneider Electric

Gary Pilacinski, director of business process improvement engineering with LA Care Health Plan, discusses the importance of cultural transformational change. From start-ups to legacy organizations, Gary stresses how critical culture is for the success of an enterprise. One common stumbling block to a successful culture change is a lack of buy-in from the C-suite. Conversely, if upper management sees a need for change but doesn’t effectively implement it, employees who have been with the organization for years—or decades, even—may get stuck in their ways. If that is the case, empowering frontline staff is key. Gary discusses ways to do just that. He also elaborates on how he is working to implement Lean and PI within his organization and how healthcare at large can approach the same issues. Hint: training the trainers is key. Change is uncomfortable. But with transparency, engagement, and most important, keeping the interests of the patient front and center, Gary believes Lean culture transformations are not only possible, but necessary for the success of the healthcare sector and those it serves.

Ep. 153: Gary Pilacinski, L.A. Care Health Plan

Karen Tilstra is the co-founder of the Florida Hospital Innovation Lab. In this conversation, Karen emphasizes the intent of the Innovation Lab, which, not surprisingly, is innovation. However, the process to innovation is often overlooked. Karen describes it as a “multifaceted journey of learning, of discovery, of openness.” In other words, innovation isn’t instantaneous, nor does it happen in a silo. When a brand thinks they know what’s best for their customers—instead of interacting with those customers—it’s often the beginning of the end. Karen details Sears’ downward spiral as an example. Next, Karen questions the value of the typical enterprise growth mentality. Is “grow or die” a myth or a reality? True, meaningful innovation involves the application of certain soft skills that aren’t immediately apparent. Karen drives their importance home in this insightful, outside-of-the-box conversation.

Ep.59: Jitesh Ramachandran, Adidas

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