Uncommon Sense - Tools to Improve your Work Forever

Leadership decisions around AI are still forming, and a lack of clarity is starting to show.

Hear from Anthony Richardson, PMI Senior Consultant guiding leaders on AI adoption in real organisations, as he answers the questions we’re hearing most often:

• Should everyone in the organisation get a licence?
• How do we know which AI tools people should be using?
• How Much Does AI Remember About Us? 
• Will my people become too dependent on AI?

This is a focused 13-minute conversation offering the guidance you need to lead AI adoption with confidence.

More resources:

• AI’s True Power Is Confidence, Not Capability
• The Role of Leaders in AI Adoption 
• AI for Performance Improvement Courses

More from PMI:

• Dive into our Knowledge Hub for more tools, videos, and infographics
• Join us for a PMI LIVE Webinar
• Follow us on LinkedIn

Take your improvement career to the next level with PMI's Lean Six Sigma Certifications - now available in two new and accessible formats, built around you. 

• Explore On Demand >>
• Explore Distance Learning >>

If your strategy deployment feels like a box-ticking exercise, it’s a sign that something fundamental has been lost along the way.

In this episode of Uncommon Sense, PMI Director Consultant Sean Buckland explores how Lean strategy deployment has quietly drifted away from its roots. Instead of connecting strategy to value streams, teams and learning, many organisations have replaced process with targets, and called it progress.

Listen now and discover what true Lean strategy deployment looks like, and how to spot when your strategy is drifting into a wish list.

 More resources:

• Lean Thinking Is Not About Efficiency
• Reinvigorate Your Strategy
• Implementing Lean in Different Management Cultures

More from PMI:

• Dive into our Knowledge Hub for more tools, videos, and infographics
• Join us for a PMI LIVE Webinar
• Follow us on LinkedIn

Take your improvement career to the next level with PMI's Lean Six Sigma Certifications - now available in two new and accessible formats, built around you. 

• Explore On Demand >>
• Explore Distance Learning >>

Which everyday leadership behaviours are building trust… and which might be eroding it?

Join Partner Consultant, Des Kelly, in conversation with Susannah Clarke as they explore what it really takes to earn trust as a leader. Using the simple but powerful “Trust Equation,” Des shares how credibility, reliability and emotional safety combine, and how unchecked self-interest quietly undermines them all.


More resources:

• Essential Reading for Your Lean Six Sigma and Improvement Journey 
• Lead Change: A Guide to Shaping Organisational Culture
• The Role of Leaders in AI Adoption

More from PMI:

• Dive into our Knowledge Hub for more tools, videos, and infographics
• Join us for a PMI LIVE Webinar
• Follow us on LinkedIn

Take your improvement career to the next level with PMI's Lean Six Sigma Certifications - now available in two new and accessible formats, built around you. 

• Explore On Demand >>
• Explore Distance Learning >>

Improvement practitioners know the fear: you’ve done the work, you’ve found the solution… but your improvement project just doesn’t progress. The reality is that sometimes budget shifts, priorities change, stakeholders block. But stalled improvement projects aren’t wasted.

In this episode, Damion Albinson joins Susannah Clarke to unpack what you still gain when implementation doesn’t happen. From uncovering hidden quick wins, to spotting strategic misalignment early, to resetting how teams think about feasibility, Damion shows why these moments are some of the richest learning opportunities in the improvement cycle.

More resources:

• How to Identify your First Green Belt Project
• Selecting a Problem
• Celebrating Success, Learning from Failure

More from PMI:

• Dive into our Knowledge Hub for more tools, videos, and infographics
• Join us for a PMI LIVE Webinar
• Follow us on LinkedIn

Take your improvement career to the next level with PMI's Lean Six Sigma Certifications - now available in two new and accessible formats, built around you. 

• Explore On Demand >>
• Explore Distance Learning >>

If your team isn’t using AI yet, it’s not just their problem. It’s yours. The innovators will dive in fearlessly, while the survivors hold back. Your challenge? Create the conditions for confident experimentation without risking chaos.

Join Anthony Richardson in the studio with Susannah Clarke as they explore how leaders can anchor AI adoption in process thinking and turn hesitation into action. Drawing on real examples from PMI’s AI for Leaders programme, Anthony shows how recognising the spectrum of adoption helps leaders create the conditions for safe experimentation, early wins, and lasting impact.

How can you bring AI into your team in a way that treats it as a valued digital colleague? Tune in to find out.

More resources:

• AI’s True Power Is Confidence, Not Capability
• Discover Your AI Readiness Mindset
• The AI Ready Practitioner

More from PMI:

• Dive into our Knowledge Hub for more tools, videos, and infographics
• Join us for a PMI LIVE Webinar
• Follow us on LinkedIn

Take your improvement career to the next level with PMI's Lean Six Sigma Certifications - now available in two new and accessible formats, built around you. 

• Explore On Demand >>
• Explore Distance Learning >>

Sometimes the biggest risks in your business aren’t obvious. They’re hidden in the gaps between teams. Work gets done, but critical information gets lost, compliance slips, and frustration builds.

In this episode, Damion Albinson and Susannah Clarke reveal how understanding the internal voice of the customer transforms how teams collaborate. Using real examples from a complex logistics environment, Damion shows how moving from “I didn’t know you needed that” to consciously understanding your role in the wider process can make a real difference.

If you want practical insight into bridging the hidden gaps in your processes and building a team that’s consciously competent, this episode is a must-listen.

 More resources:

• SIPOC Template
• Understanding the Voice of the Customer
• Systems Thinking From a Leadership Perspective

More from PMI:

• Dive into our Knowledge Hub for more tools, videos, and infographics
• Join us for a PMI LIVE Webinar
• Follow us on LinkedIn

Take your improvement career to the next level with PMI's Lean Six Sigma Certifications - now available in two new and accessible formats, built around you. 

• Explore On Demand >>
• Explore Distance Learning >>

Even the best-designed processes can drift over time, but Process Confirmation stops small deviations from becoming major gaps.

In this episode, PMI Senior Consultant Damion Albinson explains why Process Confirmation isn’t about auditing but understanding how work really happens. He explores how this approach helps leaders stay connected to operational reality, using the insights to strengthen performance and build capability at every level.

From frontline operators to leaders managing improvement systems, Damion shares practical examples of how you can use Process Confirmation to uncover variation, validate standards, and drive Continuous Improvement in a structured, positive way.

More resources:

• Improvement Toolbox – Process Confirmation
• Lean Thinking Is Not About Efficiency
• Establishing Visual Management and Daily Huddles

More from PMI:

• Dive into our Knowledge Hub for more tools, videos, and infographics
• Join us for a PMI LIVE Webinar
• Follow us on LinkedIn

Take your improvement career to the next level with PMI's Lean Six Sigma Certifications - now available in two new and accessible formats, built around you. 

• Explore On Demand >>
• Explore Distance Learning >>

You’ve delivered the project. The results are in. But six months later… the old ways of working have crept back in. So how do you stop progress from slipping away? 

Join PMI Senior Consultant Damion Albinson as he shares how to close the Improvement Cycle with confidence, turning delivery into lasting impact. Learn how thoughtful implementation, genuine stakeholder engagement, and building team capability can help change take root and grow.

If sustaining improvement feels like the toughest part, this episode will show how to make success stick and build momentum for what comes next.

More resources:

• Step change improvement using the PMI Improvement Cycle
• 5 Challenges of Embedding Control Charts in Daily Process Management
• Key Steps to Successful Project Planning

More from PMI:

• Dive into our Knowledge Hub for more tools, videos, and infographics
• Join us for a PMI LIVE Webinar
• Follow us on LinkedIn

Take your improvement career to the next level with PMI's Lean Six Sigma Certifications - now available in two new and accessible formats, built around you. 

• Explore On Demand >>
• Explore Distance Learning >>

What exactly is the problem? And what isn’t? It sounds simple, but getting clarity here can be the difference between chasing assumptions and finding the real root cause. 

Join PMI Director Consultant Stuart Gibson in the studio with Susannah Clarke as they discuss Is/Is Not, a beautifully simple tool often underused in problem solving. With a practical example involving soggy pizzas, Stuart shows how moving beyond scoping questions can generate powerful clues, test theories, and steer you toward evidence-based solutions. 

More resources:

• The Joy of Problems
• Transform You Problem Solving Mindset 
• 8D Problem Solving Template
  
  

More from PMI:

• Dive into our Knowledge Hub for more tools, videos, and infographics
• Join us for a PMI LIVE Webinar
• Follow us on LinkedIn

Take your improvement career to the next level with PMI's Lean Six Sigma Certifications - now available in two new and accessible formats, built around you. 

• Explore On Demand >>
• Explore Distance Learning >>

Different approaches, same goal: better performance. That’s why Agile and Lean Six Sigma work together; aligning people, roles, and responsibilities to get the best out of every team.

Join Anthony Richardson in conversation with Susannah Clarke as they reveal how Lean Six Sigma roles like Green Belts, Black Belts, and Sponsors align with Agile roles such as Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Developers.

Learn when and how these roles intersect, why it matters for delivering improvements, and how clear role alignment can make your projects faster, smarter, and more effective.

More resources:

• Agile Improvement Explained  
• Agile Meets Lean Six Sigma: A Case Study 
• Setting Up for Agile Success

More from PMI:

• Dive into our Knowledge Hub for more tools, videos, and infographics
• Join us for a PMI LIVE Webinar
• Follow us on LinkedIn

Take your improvement career to the next level with PMI's Lean Six Sigma Certifications - now available in two new and accessible formats, built around you. 

• Explore On Demand >>
• Explore Distance Learning >>