GA 363 | Lean, Loss, and Lessons Learned with Lee Houghton

Change should start with you as an individual first before you ask anybody else to do something different. And that starts with recognizing that your thoughts drive your behavior and changing what you do to help the other people. So I think those three things are so relevant and transferable into the world of change.

Today, I'm excited to welcome Lee Houghton to the show. Now, Lee and I were introduced by our mutual friend Adam Lawrence, and boy, oh boy, did we have a fun time chatting. Lee, as you'll hear, is from England and he has his own podcast. In fact, after we recorded our podcast, we stopped and then started again and he interviewed me. So I'm gonna definitely link to the interview that he and I did in our show notes. But Lee went on to share one of the most powerful stories that we've had on the podcast ends up that a few years ago, Le Lee's best mate, as he says, best friend for us Americans, he, his friend Chris unfortunately passed away. But before Chris passed away, he shared three lessons, three key lessons with Lee. And Lee had asked him for Chris's best advice and some key lessons before he passed away. And so the majority of the episode is then Lee explaining what those three lessons were and then how he is trying to. To live those lessons today through his consulting work. So Lee is a kind of a continuous improvement, lean consultant there in England and how he's trying to really honor Chris and the things that Chris believed in. So it's a very powerful episode. So I really want you to listen to the whole thing. We're gonna link to everything that Lee and I talk to in the show notes, and there's some good stuff in there. So remember, 363 is this episode. So Gemba podcast, look for episode 363 again, GembaPodcast.com and look for episode 363. Okay, enough for me. Let's get to the show. Lee, welcome to the show. How's it going?

Oh, thanks so much, Ron. Honestly, I've been waiting. I can't wait to do this. I've been so looking forward to chatting with you today. Thank you for this opportunity.

You're welcome. And thank you to our mutual friend Adam for Adam Lawrence for introducing us over email. So how do you know Adam?

So, because I've got a podcast as well. And as you probably know, Adam is releasing a book. So as part of his marketing activities, I think he's been reaching out to share his message. And so we've been talking and that's how great. And he mentioned you.

Yeah, Adam's Fantastic. So, yeah, great job. And I've listened to your podcast and just. So everybody listening now. As soon as we are done recording this one, we're going to. I'm gonna save the file, we're gonna turn the tables, and Lee's gonna interview me. So I don't know when yours is gonna come out with me, but we'll link it all up in the show notes and all that kind of stuff. Yeah. So, yeah, that's gonna be a lot of fun. But, Lee, I know you listened to the show a few times at least, and we do like to begin all of our episodes with our guest sharing a quote. So do you have one?

I do indeed. Yeah. So my favorite quote, and people are probably gonna get bored of me saying this now, but my favorite quote is from one of. I think it's the only quote I know of Socrates. It's my favorite quote. In total, it's my favorite Socrates quote. And he said, I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think. And what I've taken from that is that all we are trying to do in the world of improvement, because thinking drives behavior. And if you can make people think, you can get them to do. Or they are more likely to complete different actions. So we can't impose anything on anybody, but we can just challenge their thinking. And if we make people think about something, then they might do something different. So, yeah, that is my favorite quote. So my quest really is just to hopefully help people think a little bit different about what they've done to make today better than yesterday.

Yeah. So I'm hearing kind of like a New Jersey accent or something like that maybe. So what part of the world are you calling in from Lee? And that was actually a joke.

So I am actually. So, yeah, I don't think I actually have an accent, but yeah, from the north, northwest of England. So I live in between Manchester and Liverpool in the. In the northwest corner of England. Got it. Got it.

I love it.

I love it.

I'm just messing with you. I am always jealous every talk to you British people, like, with your awesome accents. And here I am with this, like, I grew up in Ohio and I live in Texas now, so I have this, like, mixture between Midwest and. I don't know, it's a mess. So it is what it is.

If I'm honest, Ron, nobody's ever said that they're jealous of my accent. So thank you very much for that. That's the first.

Oh, wow. It's awesome. I love. I love that English accent. It's so cool. So, anyhow. All right, well, hey, Lee, tell us a little bit about your background. Tell us about how you first got introduced to all this continuous improvement stuff that we play in and then tell us what you're up to these days.

Yeah, no, perfect, thank you. So 15, 16 years ago, I was employed in a public sector organization and my manager said to me, said, he said, we're about to embark on this program and we think with your personality that you'd be brilliant for it. So improvement. I didn't choose improvement. Improvement, I think chose me. And what was amazing about it is when I was growing up and I used to play football or soccer in the playground at school, I would score a goal and I'd get a feeling inside and I loved that feeling of scoring a goal. And then, then I used to DJ at parties or in pubs at night. And when I play a song and you get a dance floor of people to be jumping up and down and singing along and enjoying themselves, I got a feeling that because I'd created that moment that allowed those people to enjoy themselves. And then when I fell into improvement and I started to understand it a little bit more and I started to have some success with it and when you could see the moment, the penny drop moment in people's heads when they realized that actually things can change, things can be better, I got that feeling again. So that is really what's been burning, this burning desire to try to get people to feel more things about improvement because that gives me that feeling that they can achieve more. So I did that and I did it in the public sector. And then my dad said to me, he said, lee, you've never had a job working in the public sector. You need to get yourself a proper job. So I then decided to try to my hand at improvement in the private sector. So I got a job in a telecommunications business and then I got a job in a logistics business. All improvement, lean focus. And then I left the logistics business and I'd been tailoring my CV to be a consultant one day. That was my aspiration, that was my dream. That's what I wanted to be, to help people feel that feeling that things can be better. So I didn't have the, I guess the guts really to go out by myself to do it. So I saw a job advert to be a employed consultant. So I thought this was a safe option. So I applied for that. And then during that employment, I, in fact, actually, Ron, do you have a friend that if you've not seen them For a week, or you're not seeing them for a month, or you might not see them for a few months. So when you get back together, it's like you've never been a part.

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

Yeah. Perfect. Perfect, yeah. So I've got one of them and a guy called Chris. And it was when I was working on the client side as an employed consultant, I got a phone call to tell me that Chris had taken a turn for the worse and that I needed to come home. So I was in London at the time and I got on the train. I came out of the Preston train station, got into a taxi and dashed over to the hospice where he was. I went into the room where he was lying and his sister was there, his ex partner was there, one of our other friends was there. And he was looking a lot paler than he was just a couple of days before. Because I had not been around for the few days, I said to everybody that I'll stay the night with him. So I lay on the couch for the evening after sending everybody home. And at 10 to 8 in the morning, it was time for me breakfast. So I got up, and his name's Chris. I got up and I said, chris, I'm just going to go and freshen up. I will be back in a moment. So I went into the bathroom, I had a wash, I brushed my teeth, and then I left the bathroom. And I looked over at Chris. And as I looked over at him, his chest expanded. And then that was it. He didn't breathe anymore. And he chose in that moment to leave. I made a few phone calls to tell people what had happened. And I went and sat outside and the sun was beating down. And this was two years ago, the sun was beating down on my back. And I was thinking to myself, I was thinking, I'm a fraud, really. Because every morning I wake up and I tell my children that they can be whatever they want to be. And I was reflecting on my life and I wasn't what I wanted to be. I'd always wanted to have my own business. I'd always wanted to deliver improvement the way that I thought it should be done and utilizing the experience and lessons that I've had. But I wasn't doing that. And the more I thought about it, the more that Chrissy's three lessons really resonated with me. Because extremely grateful and honored to have been able to have a number of conversations with him in the leading up to his passing. Because when he was told that there was no more that medication could do for him. And then it was just a matter of time. He said to me, said, you've always wanted to be a consultant. Let me give you a few thousand pounds to set you up. And I was like, no, no, I don't want any of your money, Chris. That's your boy's trust money. And he said, well, what do you want? What can I give you? I said, well, what I'd really like is three lessons through your eyes when you're reflecting on your 39 years. Because it was cancer that got him his third bout of cancer at the age of 39. I said, I'd love three lessons through your eyes when you're reflecting on your life. And he was like, blooming heckley. I wish you'd have just asked for the money. That was far easier. This is going to take some thinking about. So I went back to see him a few times, a number of times, and on a few occasions he'd go, I've got a lesson for you. And the first time was he said, the first lesson is when him and his ex partner were splitting up, he said he tried to be somebody that he wasn't. He tried to be who he thought she wanted him to be. And it didn't make him happy, it didn't make her happy, and they still ended up splitting up. So he said, the first lesson is, no matter what, always be yourself. And for the last two years, I've been really trying to understand what that means to me and I've been reflecting back over my change journey, my delivering improvements. And there's been certain times when I've not always been myself when I've been delivering it, but when you think about authenticity, that really is the key to building relationships with people. And also when you think about that Socrates quote that we spoke about is when you can't teach anybody anything, you can only make them think. Thinking drives behavior. So always being yourself, really for me now, is about understanding your thoughts and how those drive behaviors. And if you can make people think and change those thoughts, then you can deliver something different. So that was the first lesson that you left me with. Always be yourself. A couple of weeks after that, I went back to see him and he says, you always come to see me when you're not on a client site. And one of our other friends rings him at lunchtime every single day. And he said, we've had a number of opportunities growing up where we could have been friends with other people, what it turned out. So me and Chris, we moved onto the same street when we were one year old, he was my best man at my wedding. He was godfather to my youngest. So we were close all the way through. Although we went to different schools, we had opportunities to make different friends with different people. But he said if he had done some of them, probably wouldn't have been with him near the end. So he said, no matter what, make good friends, because you never know when you're going to need them. And for the last two years, I've been trying to live that. But not just friends. I think it's connections, clients, customers, peers, leaders. It's everything. This whole world that we live in now is a far better world when we're connected through people and if we do everything we can to make good friends. And I always remember thinking back to when I got my first job in improvement. I went into the pub that night to tell my friends and Chris was there. And Chris said to me, he said, oh, you're one of them, are you? I said, what do you mean, one of them? He said, one of them that if you one of them who goes into businesses and tells them how to do their job better, if you come into where I work and told me how to do my job better, I would tell you to go away. And I thought, and thinking back now, reflecting back, I think if my best mate wouldn't allow me to help him to do what he does better, then what chances have I got with anybody else? And I think that comes down to this, making good friends. It's so important that if we want people to do things, if we want people to get better, if we want people to think differently, then it's about taking time to make good friends with people and build those relationships with people. So that was the second one. And then the third one, we had an opportunity to go watch the Foo Fighters. So we bought tickets before it was terminal, and eight of us went to Manchester City's football ground to watch the Foo Fighters play. On the way back from that, his youngest boy, who was 14 at the time, said, is it too late for his dad to go to Anfield because we all support Liverpool. So we arranged that on the Sunday, which was three days after the Foo Fighters concert, and we wheeled him around. We had an amazing day. We had ice creams, we all bought Liverpool tops, We had food and drink. And on the way back from that, I was driving and There was his two boys, 14 and 16, sat behind, and my boy, age 4, behind me. And he looked at me, Chris looked at me and he said, how many times have we had an opportunity to do this? And I said, lots of times. He said, well, why did we wait till I was 39, wheelchair bound and terminal? And he was like. I was like, yeah, yeah, really, really good point. He went, so the third lesson's time's limited. So when I was sitting on that bench opposite the Chris's room after just watching him take his last breath, and I was reflecting, I'm a fraud. I'm not doing everything that really for the last two years has been the catalyst for me starting my own business with my business partner Jason. Starting the podcast that you mentioned at the start, Ron, and it's trying to live those three lessons in everything I do. So always being myself and understanding that my thoughts drive my behaviors and trying to make myself think and other people think. Trying to make the best of relationships, new, old, to make good friends because you never know when you're going to need them. And then acting now because time's limited is one of my biggest frustrations is those people that say they want to start a diet on Monday or they want to do this thing at the beginning of next week, or we only want to improve that process at the beginning of next month. If you really, really wanted to improve it, why would you not just start now? Because your reason's obviously not big enough to start now. So I guess apologies for the little digression there with a little bit of a roller coaster story. But with those three lessons and with Chris, what we do now in this bit. So we settled this business two years ago called Get Knowledge. It's founded on learning, but also it's a business improvement consultancy that really is just. We're just always trying to be ourselves because we only want to attract like minded people and work with companies that have our value. So our values spell the word fact, fun, authentic, caring and trust. And we just want to make the most of all relationships that we've got. And if we've got an idea for a new product or we can help somebody, we just want to do that now because you never know how much they might need that help. So, yeah, I'm gonna pause for a breath there, Ron. Actually, I'm conscious that I've just thrown a lot at you.

Yeah. So this is the 363rd episode that we've ever produced and I gotta tell you, that's the most powerful. Tell me about your background story that I've ever had. So thank you for sharing with that and I'm so sorry for, you know, your loss of your, of your of your best mate there, Chris. And it's devastating to hear those types of stories, but at the same time, it's also, there's beauty in the story, you know, and there's purpose and there's meaning in that story. And so be yourself. Be connected through people. Make good friends. I've been taking notes. Times limited, act now. Wow. I mean, if we all really took those to heart, not only would we be better people, but we would all have a much better world, right?

Completely. Yeah, completely. And what I've been trying to do is because Chris had the reasons why they were important to him when he was reflected. But when I think back to my 15 years in change and maybe. And when you deliver in a change program and you want people to do something different or you want people to improve and you just think that actually you've got the right answers, it doesn't change. Start. Change should start with you as an individual first before you ask anybody else to do something different. And that starts with recognizing that your thoughts drive your behavior and changing how. What you do to help the other people. So I think those three things are so relevant and transferable into the world of change. I am so grateful to have those opportunities to chat with Chris, but also and for him to share those three lessons because I think they're so powerful and so applicable in everything we do, whether it's social media, whether it's selling stuff, whether it's delivering change, or whether it's just living.

Yeah.

Living life.

Yeah.

Because we're always told, aren't we, about the power of be authentic, Be yourself. And some people are themselves and some people aren't. Everybody is a version of themselves. But for me, really, it starts with that little voice in your head and understanding the power of that voice in your head.

Yeah.

I mean, I could talk. I could talk about these all day, Ron.

Yeah, no, it's awesome.

I'll pause for a breath now.

Well, what. I really appreciate it, you know, a few episodes ago here, and I was looking at my thing, episode 351, I did with this young lady named Lily Bojanova, and she rocked my world. At the end of our interview, I was interviewing her, and then she. She's asked if she could ask me a few questions, and I said, well, of course, you know, and. And then she, you know, I thought, here comes like, oh, what's your favorite lean tool? Or, you know. No, she says. She says, hey, Ron, so what's the. What's the biggest or what is truth? I was like, what. What Is truth? Like, well, how about, you know, how about value stream mapping or something like that? Let's go there. Taktime. I got it. You know, time over demand, you know, and. But no, what is truth? And so it really caught me off guard.

And.

And the thing that the response that I gave was related to probably not even a true quote of all time, you know, but it was in the movie Gladiator, Right, the movie, you know, and. And it's right before, I think, this big battle with Germania or whatever, and Marcus is there with his, his, his. His guys, and he's giving a big speech, you know, and then he says the words, you know, what we do in life echoes in eternity. And I remember the first time I heard that, I was like, holy smokes, man. What a powerful statement, you know, and, you know, I'm a person of faith, so for me, that means something. But even for anybody, no matter their. Their backgrounds or their beliefs, I think we can all agree that, you know, the things that we do, the people that we meet, the.

The.

The. The way we treat others, those things are going to definitely echo in eternity. And if you think about the way you're honoring your friend Chris right, by with these three lessons and sharing them again and again on this podcast, you know, on your podcast, and the work that you're doing, I mean, what Chris did in his life is echoing through you and now through me, you know, because I've heard the story. So that's what, that's what's so beautiful about this whole journey that we're on, right, called life, that we really can, you know, change for the better. And that's our. I think our big responsibility as continuous improvement folks, is that, you know, we almost have a special responsibility because we have certain tools and techniques and gifts that we can bring to the world that when we do it the correct way and with the right spirit boy, we really can change the world for the better. Right? Because we know how to do it. So.

Yeah, couldn't agree more. Couldn't agree more. And I think. And I think what. What Chris's three things there, I think it's. It's tools, second after relationships first, relationship with yourself first. And how you approach delivery of change, relationships with other people so you can understand their problem, you can understand where they want to get to, and you can also build rapport with them and then application of tool and methodology and approach to help them get there. And I think there's a lot of people that start with tool. And I think I'd like everybody to just flip that really, and just be themselves, build relationships and just start now, no matter how small that thing is. Yeah. And I think that's a successful. Yeah, that's the success recipe for change for life.

Yeah. Oh, I love it. Hey, what's the name of your podcast? Because I want everybody listening to this to go pick it up and subscribe today. What's the name of it?

Oh, man, no, thanks for asking. Yeah, it's Business Problems Solved. Yeah. So that's what it is. 100. It's not as, not as many episodes as yours. I think we're up to about 120 episodes, something like that. But yeah, business Problem Solved. I tell the story of Chris a number of times in that. And the best thing I find about the podcast is that I'm not one to journal, but I really wish I did journal. But having a podcast every single week, I can listen to my very first episode and I can listen to an episode more recently and I can see how I've changed in the journey that I've been on. So my podcast, because I talk about Chris in it a number of times and when I'm having different reflections about, about Chris's passing and his lessons, I'll share those on there. So it's like a, it's an audio log plus interviews with, with, with amazing guests.

I love it.

Like documents my, my last two years.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I can totally relate. You know, I, Yeah. Over the years, you know, just. Yeah. All the different people you've talked, but just the, the. I know. I'm sure it's the same for you. Every time I interview someone, I learn something, you know, because I, I try. Learner. Right. And so sometimes I, I gotta remind myself, look, you're the host here, Ron. You gotta like ask questions. But like, you know, there, I'm like, I'm taking notes and I'm listening. Oh yeah. Okay, so what else? But yeah, completely. Yeah, I love it.

And I think that comes back to that Socrates quote as well. I can't teach anybody anything. I can only make them think. And the more people that we spot that we speak to you on your podcast and me on mine and just everybody in daily life, all of those conversations with people just make us think. And if we're thinking differently, we might do something different or if we. So I think that's why that quote is so beautiful.

I think, oh, fantastic. Fantastic, man. You know, I think that we probably need to do a follow up episode because there's like a million different Directions we could go from here, but, you know, the sake of time, maybe we'll wrap this one up. But man, thank you for coming on. This has been a really, really awesome episode and it's not where I expected it to go, to be honest with you, but sometimes that's the beauty of this podcasting thing. You just got to hit record and see what happens. Right?

Yeah. No, completely. Honestly though, Ron, thanks so much for the opportunity to have a chat with you today. It's been an absolute pleasure.

Yeah. Hey, so in addition to your podcast, what's. Is there any best way for folks to connect with you on social media website, anything like that?

Yeah. So LinkedIn is the place where I can be found more often than not. So that's just Lee Horton. That's h o u g h t o n. The business website is getknowledge.co.uk and I'm actually, I've just found. I found the Clubhouse app. So I'm on that quite a bit now, hosting different rooms on that, talking all things improvement and solving business problems. Cool. And that's just Lee Horton.

Got it. Well, we'll link to everything in the show notes so folks can just remember. If you can't remember anything, just. Gembapodcast.com this is episode 363, gembapodcast.com, look for episode 363 and we're gonna link to everything that Lee just said and then some. So again, thanks for coming on. It's been really fun. Thank you for sharing your story with Chris of Chris and yeah, keep up the great work.

Perfect. Thanks very much, Ron. Have an amazing day.

You too, man. Take care. Cheers. Thanks for listening. Whether you've been on the continuous improvement journey for many years or perhaps you're just getting started, Gemba Academy is here to support you. And while we're best known for our more than 1500 lean and 6 Sigma teaching and virtual tour videos, we also have a team of experienced Lean and Six Sigma practitioners available for one on one coaching, as well as a variety of Lean and Six Sigma certificates, vacation options. To learn more and to schedule a demo, head on over to gembaacademy.com.