GA 130 | How to Succeed at Every Stage of Your Lean Journey with Greg Williams

You're listening to episode 130 with Greg Williams.

Welcome to the Gemba Academy Podcast, the show that's focused on helping individuals and companies achieve breakthrough results using the same continuous improvement principles leveraged by companies such as Toyota Del Monte and the U.S. department of Defense. And now, here's your host, Ron Pereira.

Hey there.

This is Ron Pereira with Gemba Academy, and I'd like to welcome you to another edition of the Gemba Academy Podcast. As always, thank you so much for taking time out of your day and your week to listen to the show and for watching our Lean and Six Sigma training videos over at Gembacademy.com, we definitely appreciate each and every one of you. Now, today, I'm excited to welcome my friend Greg Williams to the show. Now, Greg wears many, many hats, and for his day job, Greg works for a company called Aera Energy. He's a lean director there, and he's been there for quite some time. He'll tell you a little bit more when he explains his background. But Greg is the conference chair for this year's AME Dallas conference that's coming up, and we've obviously mentioned it many, many times on the podcast before, but Greg is the man. It's the whole conference is his responsibility. So if it doesn't go well, it's Greg's fault. No, just kidding. Greg's fantastic. And he's telling us that the show is going to be really, really good, attendance is going to be really strong, and it's going to be a really good show. Now, Greg is also the chair elect for AME and next year he's going to be the chairman of the board. So it's a pretty big job. And Greg's been associated with AME for, I believe, 17 years, something like that. And so he's been around for a long time. So during this episode, we do talk a little bit about the conference and gives, he gives us some, pulls the curtain back a little bit and tells us a little bit about what's going on and how things are going. And then we really kind of get into his experience over the years working with so many different types of organizations and talking about some of the trends that he's seeing and maybe some of, you know, some of them, let's say, not so good trends that might be associated with continuous improvement and Lean. And Greg actually offers some ideas for how he might counter those. And he also gives us a lot of insight into how he goes about coaching leaders and how he challenges leaders to be better and and really get some really nice, practical advice. So I really enjoyed talking with Greg. I've known him for a few years. He's just a fantastic guy. Now, as you know, if you want to go to the conference, the AME conference, and you haven't bought your ticket yet, Gemba Academy can save you 10%. Just go to gembaacademy.com ame Again, gembacademy.com ame There's a coupon code on there to save you 10%. You can also RSVP for our free cocktail party that we're gonna be Tuesday night of the show. It's just a few hours. Free drinks, free food, no sales pitch, Just a great way to network and just meet some folks that practice Lean, and we'd love to see you there. Now, show notes for this particular episode can be found over@gembapodcast.com just look for episode 130. 130. Again, gembapodcast.com and look for episode 130. Okay, enough from me. Let's get to the show. All right, Greg, well, thanks so much for coming onto the show. Where are you calling in from?

Thank you, Ron. It's a pleasure to talk to you today. I'm calling in from Bakersfield, California.

Okay. We've had a lot of California folks on lately, man. It's like a lot of Lean action going on out there. All right. Well, Greg, I mentioned in the intro your. Your role there with AME this year, the chair elect, and then next year you'll be chairman of the board of ame. So that's pretty incredible and awesome. Congratulations on that.

Well, thank you. I'm excited about that.

Yeah. Yeah. And then. And then your, I guess your day job, right? Lean director at ERA Energy. So I'm excited to have you on and work with you guys at ame. It's always a great pleasure to work with you, and we really enjoy it, so. Well, Greg, I know you listen to the show. Let's go ahead and kind of get things started with you. Maybe just telling everyone a little bit about your background and how you first came to learn about continuous improvement.

Okay, sure. As far as my day job goes, I've been with ARRA for about 35 years. A little over 35 years. I started as a roustabout out in the oil field and welder's helper and relief operator. I also, I worked in just about every department that we have out there in the oil field. And then after that, I spent some time in training, developing, and conducting our technical Training classes and then I spent eight years as an engineering supervisor leading our chemical and thermal engineering support team. For the last 19 years though, I've been in the lean and CI area. Currently lean director at ERA. But when ARRA was formed, so back in 97, Shell Oil Company and Mobil merged to create ERA. And at that time I was in that engineering supervisor role. They didn't decentralize that function. I had to find something else to do at that point and I had a real passion for continuous improvement. And so that just a natural fit. I started working at that point in our continuous improvement group and have been there ever since. And then with regards to Ame, I've been an active member for about 17 years with Ame. Been longtime Champions Club member with Ame. I was a Western Region president for a few years and currently the chairman for this year's Dallas Conference. I'm excited about that. We've got that coming up, as you know, and then looking forward to being chairman of the board next year in 2017.

Yeah, fantastic. Well, I do want to ask you about the Dallas conference. How's that looking? How's it shaping up?

Oh, it's looking great. Registration is strong. We're going to have over 2,000 people in attendance there. Wow. You know, we've been working on this conference for almost three years. You know, we have a large committee that's pulling this together. We've put an amazing program together. Got some outstanding keynote speakers. Emmett Smith, Colonel Arthur Athens, Karen Martin, a good friend of mine. I believe she's a good friend of yours as well. Y Dale Crownover with Texas Nameplate, Jeff Leiker and others. So some great keynotes. We're going to have 54 practitioner presentations. Some really great companies presenting in that area like Barry Wehmiller and Crown Equipment, Goodyear, IBM, Ingersoll, Rand, intel and a number of others. A lot of great practitioner presentations so that you know, you can hear firsthand how these other organizations are applying lean and you know what's working for them. I got, you know, we've got 14 special interest sessions, 40 tours, 40 workshops and just a lot of other programs going on. So it's going to be a action packed week as usual and I think we've just got an outstanding program put together.

Yeah, I can't wait. So excited. It's going to be here before we.

Know is it is 24, 28. So it's, it's going to be here soon.

Exactly, exactly. So I mean over the year obviously with your, I guess your work there at arup, especially with ame, you've had an opportunity to network with just a number of different organizations across, I guess, all kinds of industries. So what are kind of, what are some of the trends that you're seeing with respect to lean and enterprise excellence?

Well, that's a great question. First, I would say while I've seen a lot of progress, I still see a fairly low level of employee engagement across a lot of organizations. There's some real opportunities there. You know, According to research, 70% of employees are disengaged. And that's not surprising considering that seven out of eight people, again according to research, feel that they work for a company that does not care about them as an individual. You know, if you let that soak in for a minute, you know, seven out of eight people feel they work for a company that does not care about them as an individual. You know, that's, that's 88% of the workforce. So, you know, how engaged are you going to be if you don't believe that your company really cares about you? So that's that. You know, it is a trend that I see across industries. Secondly, I see that a lot of companies and organizations are doing a really good job with the tools. You know, you walk through the plants and you see some great 5s and visual management, Ocean Conry leader, standard work value, stream maps, etc. But a lot of them are really struggling to build their desired culture, which of course leads to that lack of engagement that I mentioned already. So there's, there's a lot of companies are, they're, they're, they're looking for their purpose, you know, and by the way, that kind of leads me back to the conference. You know, the theme of the conference is purpose driven Excellence. And so, you know, what these companies are trying to understand, you know, what is our purpose, what is the culture we're trying to create and how do we create that culture? So there is a lot of work going on where people are. Organizations are trying to understand this, but some are really struggling to do that as well and to create that culture for that sustainability. And I would say the third trend that I see is that it's around sustaining the journey. A lot of organizations are struggling with sustaining their lean journey. Whether it's due to churn in the leadership or lack of a supporting culture or lack of organizational discipline, they're really having a difficult time sustaining the gains and pushing on to the next level. Now, there are some companies that are doing outstanding as well, but I would say that those are some trends that I'm seeing across a lot of the companies, whether it's healthcare, manufacturing, service industries. Those are some common trends.

I know you can't just wave a magic wand in a sentence or two, tell everybody the solution or the countermeasure, but do you have any ideas or some just thoughts worth explaining, experimenting with, and how we might counter these issues?

Yeah, some of the ideas that come to mind is, first of all, as leaders, what kind of culture are they trying to create? Have they spent time really clearly articulating in their own mind and with the organization what that culture looks like? Do they understand then what behaviors will be required from leaders and the associates to create and sustain that culture? And then what are they, as leaders, doing to instill those behaviors throughout the organization? Ron, I believe that culture is the starting point. It's the foundation. It creates the environment for the lean journey to be successful. The right culture doesn't necessarily guarantee a successful lean journey, but I can guarantee you that you won't have a successful lean journey without the right culture. So I think that's a really critical piece.

So what's the right culture? I know you're a very experienced guy, so I'm going to push you and challenge you a little bit here. What do you think? What's the right culture to make it work, to make lean work? I mean, trust, right? Things like trust and autonomy. What else?

Well, engagement, I think, is a really critical piece. To what extent are people contributing their ideas? To what extent does everyone in the organization feel like they have a say in how to improve their. The process is that they have a say in how to make their work better every day. So do you actually have processes in place for allowing people to contribute their ideas? And then when they do contribute those ideas, do you take those ideas serious? Do you follow up if you can't implement it, do you explain to them why you can't implement it? Is there that respect? You mentioned respect already, but is there that respect that shows that we care what you think, we want to hear it, we're going to act on it, and we really want to get 100% engagement throughout the organization. So that's a big part of that culture. I think the trust, the respect, the engagement, those are all really critical pieces that lay the foundation for be able to then implement the tools and leverage all of the lean processes. But again, if you don't have those things in place first, it's really hard to really get all the engagement you need to get everyone on board and moving in the right direction.

Yeah. Yeah. So I'm guessing that you do, you know, a lot of coaching with other leaders across your network who may be struggling. Is there anything else or any other key points besides these things that we've talked about already that you. That you challenge them to think about?

Oh, absolutely. One thing that I always challenge leaders to think about in particular is, you know, how much time they're spending at the Gemba, you know, where the work is actually getting done, where the value is being added. And equally important, when they are there, what are they talking about? You know, what do they talk to the people about when they're at the Gemba? I'm sure that most of us have heard, you know, Fujiho Cho's admonition for leaders to go see, ask why, and show respect. You know, I think that we can learn a lot if we reflect on his advice relative to what we do when we're at the Gemba. You know, I often recommend that leaders simply talk to their people about the jobs that they're doing, find out what kind of problems they encounter on the job every day. What can you do to help eliminate some of their problems? What I find is a lot of times leaders will go to Gemba, and they're looking for ways that the people at the Gemba, you know, their associates, can help them solve their problems. Well, I think it's really important that the leader find ways that they can help some of the people's problems that are working for them, and that goes a long way toward building trust. So leaders going to Gemba is critical, but then once they get there, how they spend that time and do they really show that respect and concern? Do they show a real concern for how can I, as a leader, make your job better? How can I, as a leader, make your job easier and just, you know, make you feel more fulfilled as a part of this organization.

Where do you see people go wrong with Gemba walks? Leaders in particular? What do they do wrong when you. When you see it wrong?

Well, one of the things I see that happens is, you know, they can be come across as, I'll just say it, arrogant. You know, that they're there, they've got the answers, and, you know, they want to find opportunities to tell you what the answers are. And they're not there to truly inquire and. And find out how they can help. They're there to look for problems or to, you know, give you advice or, you know, to somehow show that they've got the answers, whereas it should be Just the opposite. You know, they should be going there and saying, how can I help? Rather than, I've got all the answers here. Let me tell you what you need to do next.

Yeah, yeah, no, exactly, exactly. So we've. Across our podcast, we've got all kinds of listeners. Some are just starting, some are, you know, let's say intermediate, if you will, and some, you know, we've got some ninjas out there, right? Some lean ninjas who are super advanced. So you've been at it for some time, and I would consider you a ninja. I don't know if you would, but. But give us some advice or maybe some. Some tips. Maybe at least one key point for each of those three people. The beginner, intermediate, and the. And the ninja.

Okay, well, for beginners, I mentioned earlier that, you know, that we should start with the culture, you know, so. And then move on to the tools. So, you know, so if you're. If you're kind of a beginner on the journey, you know, really think about what is that culture that you're trying to create. And I think that goes a long way to get that articulated in your mind. That way you can see what true north is, what are you heading towards, and then think about how to get there. But also build a network of lean practitioners that you can learn from and share with along the way. That has been so valuable to me. And of course, AME is a great way to do that because you can build a network, and everyone's so anxious to share and learn together. So our motto, share, learn, and grow. And we're serious about that, and that's a great way to do it. So build that network. And then also, I would say early on, create some model lines that you can kind of use as laboratories to learn and experiment, see what works for your organization. And then, of course, use these model lines to teach others. So those are a few things for you. If you're just beginning your journey, I think to think about. And then for those that are partway down the road, I think you called it intermediate. Take time to reflect on your journey. Japanese word for reflection is hansei. Take some time for hansei. Reflect on how things have gone, what's worked, what hasn't, why have they worked, why have they not worked? Just really reflect on that. Be very deliberate about learning what's working well, what's not, and why. And then look for, if you have pockets of excellence in other areas that are really struggling, maybe you could move some champions around in your organization, move a champion where you Got some things that are working really well, move into an area that's struggling and help those areas get up to par. So I think reflection and then moving some champions around in the intermediate stage, I think is really valuable to. And then, of course, for those that are advanced, really think about the whole enterprise. So assess your enterprise excellence, maturity. Have you established your culture? Do you have a lean business model throughout your organization, or do you still need to do some work in the back office area or some of the other areas, engineering? And also, I think a really important one is have you assessed the leadership behaviors across your organization? Do your leaders and their behaviors, do they really support the culture that you're trying to create? Do they really enable that engagement that you need to have when you're really advanced on your lean journey? Do you have a system to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to contribute their ideas and that everyone's solving problems every day again across the entire enterprise? Mm. Mm.

So since I have you on and you the. You're the man as it relates to this year's conference, I do definitely. I got a few conference questions, if that's okay. So.

Sure. Absolutely.

So what advice do you have for the first time conference attendee? Let's say someone's really never even been to a conference and they're going for gusto and they're going to amb, the biggest one out there. What tips do you have for that person?

A couple of tips. One would be to really study the whole conference schedule before you get there, because there's so much going on every day. You've got so many concurrent sessions going on. And so if you wait till you get there to try and figure out where you're going to go next, it just gets overwhelming. So I would say study that program before you get there. Kind of put a plan together. You can deviate from your plan once you get there, but. But go in with a plan, I think that's one really big one. And then another one I would say is take advantage of that opportunity you're there with, you know, about 2,000 people, start to build that network, you know, get people's business cards. And, you know, one tip, because I do this, I collect a lot of business cards. You get back to the office and it's like, you know, why do I do. Why did I get this card? There was something, you know, that I wanted to talk to this person about. So make a note on every card that you collect. You know, I want to talk to Bill about leader standard work, you know, Whatever it happens to be. And that way, when you get back, you. It just kind of jogs your memory and say, okay, I remember why I wanted to get his card. And so, I mean, that's a couple of things. Really know what you're going to do before you get there and. And take full advantage of that opportunity to build a network when you're there.

Yeah, yeah. You know, it's funny, the. We've got our whole team going. Obviously we'll be manning our booth, but the. The many of us will. Will be attending some conference, you know, sessions as well. And. And so our folks are. They're really. They're doing exactly what you said, just going through and making out a schedule, mainly because we booth as well, you know, so. Sure, but a couple people can be in sessions while one's man in the booth and that sort of thing. But yeah, I think it is. It could be overwhelming, really. There's so much going on.

Exactly. And that's another thing I would just really encourage everyone to do is to visit all of the exhibitor booths. There is a, you know, there's gonna be a lot of exhibitors there, and it's just a great opportunity to see what kind of resources are available out there. And so I really encourage people to visit all the booths. And we're excited to have you guys back again this year as well. Yeah, well, outstanding.

Thanks. I'm a little biased, and I just got to say, I think our swag may be the best, you know, at the conference. So if you want some cool, lean swag, you got to come by, give Academy's booth, you know.

Absolutely.

That's a great time. I just have so much fun. So. All right, so last question. Just kind of really related to ame, especially as you become the chairman of the board. Like, where do you see the future of AME and let's say manufacturing in North America?

You know, first of all, look at why this is an important question. The US Manufacturing sector employs millions of workers, supports nearly five and a half million jobs in other industries. And a lot of people don't realize this, but if the US Manufacturing sector was an economy, it would Rank as the 8th largest economy in the world.

Oh, wow.

I didn't know that. Yeah, it's amazing. And as we know right now, in many respects, it's really struggling. So about five years ago, AME went through. We went through a painstaking process really, of reflecting on our vision. You know, what do we want to be when we grow up as an association? And we committed to a new and what we believe is very meaningful purpose and vision. And that purpose statement is a manufacturing renaissance driven by people centric leadership coupled with enterprise excellence. So that people centric leadership coupled with enterprise excellence, we think is a very powerful formula. And we believe that that's what the manufacturing sector really needs to kind of get out of this slump that we're in and bring manufacturing back to North America. And so we've woven that through our. The fabric of everything that we're doing, you know, that combination, that formula. We've woven it through the conference, we've woven it through the offerings that we offer at the, you know, at the regional level, the workshops, through our webinars and podcasts, everything. We try and find opportunities to really weave those that people centric leadership and enterprise excellence together, coupled together as a formula in all that we're doing. So one of the ways that we're doing that is we're working with CEOs and senior executives, we're partnering with Bob Chapman, President CEO of Barry Wehmiller and a lot of other great CEOs, leaders in manufacturing, to address what we're calling this crisis of leadership in North America. So we've already seen some really encouraging progress in a lot of these organizations that we're working with as a result of AMEs efforts. But we want to just continue, want to positively impact thousands more organizations and hundreds of thousands more people, and we think we're going to be able to do that.

I don't want to get into politics or anything like that, but I'm wondering if we could convince Bob Chapman to run for president, you think he'd go through that?

I don't think he would, but I think he'd be a great one.

Wouldn't he be the guy? That guy's pretty special.

He sure is. He absolutely is.

All right, very good. All right, well, let's go ahead. Transition into the reflection section, Greg. And the first question. You know, we spend a lot of time in Lean talking about those two pillars, right? That continuous improvement, the tools, the things that we can do and touch. Right. It's kind of the easy part to define, but respect for people is that other one, and that could be harder to define. So I'm curious, what does respect for people mean to you?

Well, I could probably go on for a while on that, but I think if I was to just kind of boil that down, I would say to genuinely care about the people in your care, do you genuinely care about them? And does that genuine care come across in your interactions with them. I think if it does and it's real and it's sincere, it's genuine, I think it will come across. And that really helps to build the trust that you need to be an effective leader and for the whole organization to be effective in whatever they're doing. So, you know, again, I think it boils down to that. That genuinely caring about the people that you know, that you lead.

Yeah. What's the best advice you've ever received?

Oh, wow. A couple of.

Could be from grandpa. Grandma doesn't have to be, you know, well, Shingo or anything like that.

When I was going way back, but when I was in high school, I remember that my, you know, my dad told me, don't ever turn down an opportunity because you think that you might not be qualified. Take the opportunity, study hard, learn fast, and be the very best that you can possibly be at that job. And, you know, he. I saw him do that throughout his career, and so he really practiced that, and that really has served me well in my career to both my day job and with ame. So that's one thing that comes to mind. One other that really comes to mind, and it's kind of connected, I guess, in a way, too. A professional mentor of mine told me several years ago, don't be preoccupied with thinking about, what's your next opportunity? What's your next promotion? What do you want to do next? Just be the very best at what you're doing right now, and those opportunities will present themselves. And so I've tried to live by that. And again, I think that that has proven true. Just be the very best at what you're doing right now.

I love that. Do you have a personal productivity habit that others might benefit from?

Well, one that I use, and it has really helped me, is starting every morning, looking ahead at the schedule for the day. I mean, before I even, you know, leave the house, I look at the calendar and just kind of get in my head, you know, what am I going to be doing today so I can start preparing mentally for it as well as maybe there's other things that need to do to prepare for it as well. But just having, you know, starting the day with a. With a clear understanding of what you need to accomplish that day.

I love it. So over this past year, is there anything as you've been kind of practicing and employing Lean, or maybe it's with your work at AME as well, could be that surprised you?

I guess, as I've really gotten more and more involved with the People centric leadership side and talking with CEOs, talking with different organizations about what they're doing on their people centric leadership journeys. I've been surprised that so many leaders don't go to the Gemba. I guess I had an assessment, a personal assessment, that that was pretty much a common practice and that, you know, leaders really do spend a lot of time at the Gemba. And I've been surprised that that really isn't the case. If you look across, if you visit organizations across multiple sectors, multiple industries, that there's a lot of leaders that really spend that time at Gemba. And that was a little bit of a surprise to me. I would have expected more of that. And I think we're starting to see more changes as that becomes more of a focus and as people centric leadership becomes more of a focus. I think we see some changes there. But I've been surprised at that low level of engagement at the more senior level in the organizations. Yeah.

Let's say you're going through your week and things just aren't going like you hoped they would, and you need to recharge and refocus. Do you have a routine or ritual that you follow to, to do that?

Well, as far as recharging, for me, you know, I personally spend some time in scripture. I'm a Christian, so, you know, I like to end the day and start the day, you know, with a little bit with some scripture and prayer and that that really helps to keep me going and helps to recharge me. Other than that, another thing that I sometimes need to do is just kind of escape for a little bit, even if into a conference room, but just spend some time alone just thinking about things and reflecting and getting my head together. So a combination of finding that quiet time when I need it and then also that time and scripture and prayer.

Yeah, I do the same thing. 6am I start with scripture and then we're out in the barn doing CrossFit, me and my kids. That's how I start every day.

Fantastic. That's awesome.

Bam.

Bam.

All right, so you've obviously been around for practicing lean a long time. You've seen a lot, done a lot, have accomplished a lot. But is there a knowledge or skill area that you feel you need to improve in order to become a better lean thinker?

Yeah, I think for me is sometimes I need to get back to the basics more. Some of the things that I learned early on in my lean journey, you know, I found that if I go back and read books that I Read. Way back at the beginning, when I first started doing this, I start, you know, I get reminded of, you know, a lot of things that I knew early on and kind of just kind of forgotten about. So I think going back to the basics and relearning things is one thing. And then, and also, to be honest, practice what I preach in terms of, do I have good discipline around my standard work around visual management? Am I using the tools that I'm teaching others to use, whether it be at home or in the office, to what degree am I practicing what I preach, if you will? Yeah.

It's a lot easier to teach than to practice, isn't it?

Exactly.

We say the same thing. I was talking to Kevin Meyer, you know, Kevin and business partner, and we're, you know, we're far from perfect here at Getba Academy. We got some things that we're like, you know, Hoshin and whatnot. It's like we practice it, but it's like, holy smokes, Come on, people, let's go.

That's right.

You know. Yeah. It's a journey, right?

It's a journey. It is. It absolutely is. So.

All right, very good. Well, Greg, I really appreciate you taking time. I know you're really busy. Can't wait to see you here and, and, you know, about a month, you know, here in Dallas, and it's going to be a. Going to be a great week. How can people connect with you, Greg? Well, are you on LinkedIn or anything like that?

I am on LinkedIn, absolutely. I am on LinkedIn. And then I keep up with that. So that's a great way to do it. And then if you go to ame.com and look at the national board members there, I believe it has the email addresses there. And they can connect me through me, with me through email as well. But LinkedIn's always a good way.

And ame.org correct? Yeah.

Yes.

Your marketing people are like, no.

That'S right. Let's see. Ame, I got my browser up.

Let's give Ame. Let's see. Advanced machine and engineering company. We're going to give you guys some love.

You know, you're going to get me in trouble.

It's all good. Ame.orgame.com yeah, that's where you go. All right, Very good. All right, well, thanks a lot, Greg, and, and I look forward to seeing you soon.

Thank you, Ron. I look forward to seeing you and your whole team as well. Thank you very much. Have a great day.

You, too. Take care.

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