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A Continuous Improvement gabfest where Tracy O’Rourke and Elisabeth Swan share what’s new in the world of Lean Six Sigma.
Episodes
7 days ago
7 days ago
Today’s highlight is Tracy and Elisabeth's interview with Tony Dottino—author, consultant, and one of the rare people who was actually in the room when modern quality thinking was taking shape. Tony worked alongside legends like W. Edwards Deming, Joseph Juran, and Philip Crosby, helped shape what became the Malcolm Baldrige Award, and influenced early Six Sigma thinking—and he’s still at it. We’ll discuss what’s changed, what hasn’t, and what’s got him on television now!
For Hot Apps, we’ll explore a mind-mapping tool that helps teams see problems in new ways. And for Q&A, we’ll unpack a deceptively simple question: What is a “shield,” and how can it help change agents actually change things?
- 0:00 - Intro
- 01:26 - What's on the Menu?
- 02:36 - Hot Apps
- 12:16 - Q&A
- What is a “shield,” and how can it help change agents actually change things?
- 23:22 - Featured Guest
- 57:45 - Featured Resources
Thanks for Listening!
Listen to more podcasts at JITCafe.com.
Link to the video version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/x5nzI1EBnlY
Monday Jan 05, 2026
Monday Jan 05, 2026
It’s a brand new year and Tracy & Elisabeth's highlight is their conversation with Bernadette Hill and Priya Venkatesan from UC Davis—two leaders who’ve helped shape a culture of improvement using approaches that may surprise you. Their work reminds us that progress isn’t always driven by new tools or frameworks, but by how people show up for one another.
And instead of the cafe's usual Book Buzz, Hot App, or Q&A, Tracy and Elisabeth are closing out the year with something different—a moment of reflection. After all, reflection is the step we’re most tempted to skip—and the one that gives us the biggest chance to learn.
Time to get down to business!
- 0:00 - Intro
- 01:27 - What's on the Menu?
- 05:14 - 2025 Reflections
- What’s your “Why” and how did you live it in 2025?
- 12:05 - 2025 Reflections
- What was your “faceplant” moment of the past year?
- 21:58 - Featured Guest
- 57:51 - Featured Resources
Thanks for Listening!
Listen to more podcasts at JITCafe.com.
Link to the video version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/QOcJPiEParI
Monday Dec 01, 2025
Monday Dec 01, 2025
Today's highlight is Tracy & Elisabeth's interview with Melisa Buie, co-author of the just-published Faceplant. We get the skinny on how someone with a PhD in Plasma Physics got drawn into the emotional landscape of failure, and all the great things that came out of it. For Book Buzz we’ll do a nosedive into Faceplant—hmm, might need to rethink that phrasing—but Tracy & Elisabeth give a more behind-the-scenes take on Melisa’s new book. And then for Q&A, we asked, What’s the latest example of process improvement in the wild? What have we seen?
Every problem solver faceplants eventually—it’s what you do next that counts. And regardless of next steps—be sure to include coffee.
- 0:00 - Intro
- 01:20 - What's on the Menu?
- 02:13 - Book Buzz
- 10:04 - Q&A
- What’s the latest example of process improvement in the wild?
- 19:57 - Featured Guest
- 51:49 - Featured Resources
Thanks for Listening!
Listen to more podcasts at JITCafe.com.
Link to the video version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/73dtX_um8oo
Monday Nov 03, 2025
Monday Nov 03, 2025
Today’s highlight is Tracy and Elisabeth's interview with Kristle Bulleman, Process Manager for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. She lets us in on what it takes to make the impossible happen — like granting a wish to meet a mermaid (and honestly, who wouldn’t sign up for that?).
For Hot Apps, Tracy brings firsthand experience on how to zhuzh up an event — especially when you want to add a little fanfare to picking winners.
And for Q&A, we tackle a classic leadership challenge: how do you reward improvement teams in ways that truly motivate? What works — and what falls flat?
- 00:00 - Intro
- 01:28 - What's on the Menu?
- 02:19 - Hot Apps
- 08:29 - Q&A
- “What kinds of reward and recognition efforts have you seen in regard to continuous improvement efforts, and to what extent have they worked?”
- 21:32 - Featured Guest
- 55:40 - Upcoming Events
Resources:
- New! Picture Yourself a Leader as an audiobook!
- Multiple-award-winning book, Picture Yourself A Leader
- 5S Baby!, Ms. Fix-a-Lot's latest Lean Rap Video
Thanks for Listening!
Listen to more podcasts at JITCafe.com.
Link to the video version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/epm0Yo9pf9Q
Tuesday Sep 30, 2025
Tuesday Sep 30, 2025
It's October at the Cafe, and Elisabeth and Tracy got to sit down with Meg Bowles—co-author of the New York Times bestseller How to Tell a Story—to explore why stories power so much of our work and lives. In Book Buzz, they spill what got underlined and dog-eared (stakes, structure, callbacks, and more) in today's book. And for Q&A, they tackle the evergreen trap: jumping to solutions before we’ve even named the problem.
- 00:00 - Intro
- 01:25 - What's on the Menu?
- 02:11 - Book Buzz
- 15:15 - Q&A
- "How do you handle the impulse to jump to solution?"
- 27:37 - Featured Guest
- 01:01:40 - Upcoming Events
- Lean Construction Congress
- New England Lean Summit
- Virtual Lean Coffee Discussion of Picture Yourself a Leader
- Hosted by the Michigan Lean Consortium:
- 📅 October 10 | ⏰ 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM ET
- 💻 Virtual | ✅ Members: Free | Non-Members: $20
- Register Now: https://lnkd.in/g72jzbig
Resources:
- New! Picture Yourself a Leader as an audiobook!
- Multiple-award-winning book, Picture Yourself A Leader
- 5S Baby!, Ms. Fix-a-Lot's latest Lean Rap Video
Thanks for Listening!
Listen to more podcasts at JITCafe.com.
Link to the video version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/Wgxuzsyf6B4
Tuesday Sep 02, 2025
Tuesday Sep 02, 2025
It's episode 115 and the highlight is our interview with Michael Bremer—the author who turned the humble Gemba Walk into an art form (and picked up a Shingo Award along the way). For our Book Buzz, we crack open Michael Bungay Stanier’s The Coaching Habit—because it’s always the right time to celebrate saying less and asking more. And in our Q&A, we dig into the potholes people stumble into when conducting Process Walks—aka Gemba Walks.
- 00:00 - Intro
- 01:31 - What's on the Menu?
- 02:21 - Book Buzz
- 16:24 - Q&A
- What are some potholes people stumble on when conducting Gemba Walks?
- 27:26 - Featured Guest
- 01:00:08 - Upcoming Events
Resources:
Thanks for Listening!
Listen to more podcasts at JITCafe.com.
Link to the video version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/zGvUULtZh-8
Monday Aug 04, 2025
Monday Aug 04, 2025
On today’s episode, Tracy & Elisabeth sit down with UK author and empathy firestarter Shola Kaye to unpack, among other things, something called “Empathy Hijacking”—yes, it’s a thing, and yes, it’s probably happened to you. For Book Buzz, we crack open Miracle Mornings and snoop through Tracy’s daily habits—was she ever a night owl? Then for Q&A, we go head-to-head on how we each structure our personal growth (and whether structure is even the right word).
Curious? Good. Let’s get into it!"
- 00:00 - Intro
- 01:25 - What's on the Menu?
- 02:08 - Book Buzz
- 17:29 - Q&A
- How do you structure your own growth habits?
- 30:20 - Featured Guest
- 56:18 - Upcoming Events
Resources:
Thanks for Listening!
Listen to more podcasts at JITCafe.com.
Link to the video version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/g0KYLs6VXXA
- Apple Podcasts
- Podbean
- Spotify
- RSS Feed: https://feed.podbean.com/JITCafe/feed.xml
Wednesday Jul 02, 2025
Wednesday Jul 02, 2025
In today’s episode, Tracy & Elisabeth sit down with process improvement pro Michelle Formanczyk to talk about her exciting new role for this year’s Michigan Lean Conference—and why you won’t want to miss it.
In our Hot Apps segment, we test drive Scribe, an app that magically turns your clicks into slick, step-by-step guides.
And for Q&A, we ask: Is AI a continuous improvement hero—or just another shiny tool in the toolbox?
Lean, learning, and a little splash of sass—let’s dive in!
- 00:00 - Intro
- 01:27 - What's on the Menu?
- 02:10 - Hot Apps
- 08:24 - Q&A
-
Is AI a continuous improvement hero—or just another shiny tool in the toolbox?
-
- 18:06 - Featured Guest
- 44:29 - Upcoming Events
Resources:
Thanks for Listening!
Listen to more podcasts at JITCafe.com.
Link to the video version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/8R-DxNeGcno
- Apple Podcasts
- Podbean
- Spotify
- RSS Feed: https://feed.podbean.com/JITCafe/feed.xml
Tuesday Jun 03, 2025
Tuesday Jun 03, 2025
Today’s spotlight shines on none other than Gwendolyn Galsworth—author, trailblazer, and the reigning doyenne of the visual workplace. In our feature interview, Gwendolyn shares powerful insights into how visual thinking transforms not just operations, but entire cultures. Get ready for sharp wisdom, strong convictions, and a dash of storytelling flair.
📚 Then, in a special Book Buzz/Q&A mashup, we turn the spotlight back on her writing—diving into a handful of her standout articles and books to explore one key question: What have we learned from Gwendolyn Galsworth?
Spoiler alert: A lot.
- 00:00 - Intro
- 01:24 - What's on the Menu?
- 02:03 - Book Buzz / Q&A
- Book Buzz: The Visual Workplace
- Q&A: What have we learned from Gwendolyn Galsworth?
- 16:04 - Featured Guest
- 53:07 - Upcoming Events
Resources:
- New! Picture Yourself a Leader as an audiobook!
- Multiple-award-winning book, Picture Yourself A Leader
- 5S Baby!, Ms. Fix-a-Lot's latest Lean Rap Video
Thanks for Listening!
Listen to more podcasts at JITCafe.com.
Link to the video version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/BFfALBcMrxM
- Apple Podcasts
- Podbean
- Spotify
- RSS Feed: https://feed.podbean.com/JITCafe/feed.xml
Tuesday Apr 29, 2025
Tuesday Apr 29, 2025
It's Episode 111 highlight is Tracy & Elisabeth's interview with best-selling author John Guaspari–about his latest book, If Engagement the Why, then Respect Is the How. We quizzed John on how an aerospace engineer ended up writing what could be a how-to guide for the Lean tenet: “Respect for People.” For Hot Apps, we’ll explore an offering from your local library that’s free and worth thousands, and for today’s Q&A, we ask, “Do traditional hierarchies make it harder to foster true respect between leaders and employees?”
Let’s explore why respect isn’t just nice to have—it’s how the world actually works—when it works.
- 00:00 - Intro
- 01:27 - What's on the Menu?
- 02:20 - Hot Apps
- 11:39 - Q&A
- "Do traditional hierarchies make it harder to foster true respect between leaders and employees?"
- 20:11 - Featured Guest
- 48:30 - Upcoming Events
Resources:
-
New! Picture Yourself a Leader as an audiobook!
-
Multiple-award-winning book, Picture Yourself A Leader
- 5S Baby!, Ms. Fix-a-Lot's latest Lean Rap Video
Ready or not, here we come!
Thanks for Listening!
Listen to more podcasts at JITCafe.com.
Link to the video version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/wkibL5SHn34
- Podbean
- Spotify
- RSS Feed: https://feed.podbean.com/JITCafe/feed.xml