Behind the Curtain: Adventures in Continuous Improvement
Endeavor Business Media
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The Progress Paradox: Is Your Process Mapping Hiding the Truth?
Process mapping is a powerful improvement tool—but only when it reflects reality. Too often, ego, reputation management and fear prevent teams from exposing the uncomfortable truths about how the…
The Progress Paradox: 5S vs 6S: Did We Misunderstand the Purpose of Safety?
Adding ‘safety’ as a sixth ‘S’ to the 5S lean tool may signal a weak underlying safety culture or a misunderstanding of the method’s original intent, say the hosts of Behind the Curtain: Adventures…
The Progress Paradox- The Danger of Starting Lean with 5S
While 5S is a powerful lean tool, improper implementation can reduce it to “cosmetic theater” and fuel employee resistance.
The Progress Paradox: What Does 'Good' Look Like After Years of Lean? (Lean Series, Part 3)
If you think problems disappear in mature lean organizations, you'd be wrong. What changes is how organizations react to those problems and how leaders' roles evolve.
When Can We Say We Are Lean, Part 2: Promise and Pitfalls of Maturity Models
Has your organization fallen prey to the three threats of lean maturity models? Dr. Mohamed Saleh and John Dyer discuss maturity model risks in this episode of Behind the Curtain: Adventures in…
Progress Paradox: When Can We Say We Are Lean? (Part 1)
Dr. Mohamed Saleh and John Dyer, hosts of Behind the Curtain: Adventures in Continuous Improvement, discuss why the question 'When can we say we are lean?' is so concerning. They discuss the three…
Does Standardized Work Stifle Creativity?
Standardized work is a baseline for improvement, "not a prison," says podcast cohost Dr. Mohamed Saleh in the latest episode of Behind the Curtain: Adventures in Continuous Improvement.
Do Belt Certifications Help or Hurt Continuous Improvement Efforts?
Yellow belts. Green belts. Black belts. In this podcast episode, hosts Dr. Mohamed Saleh and John Dyer continue their series exploring the difficult questions around lean, Six Sigma and continuous…
Lean or Six Sigma: the Progress Paradox
Podcast hosts Mohamed Saleh and John Dyer tackle a topic that drives a lot of passionate conversation. Is lean or Six Sigma the better improvement philosophy? One co-host argues it's a flawed debate…
The Progress Paradox: When Things Go Wrong, Who Is Really Responsible?
Hosts John Dyer and Dr. Mohamed Saleh discuss the responsibility for organizational problems, emphasizing that systems often drive behaviors and that leaders should focus on correcting structures…
The Progress Paradox: Why Do We Feel Stuck When Everything Is Green?
Dive into the topic of suboptimization, which occurs when individual departments focus on their own metrics at the expense of the overall enterprise, and learn tactics to drive enterprise-wide…
The Progress Paradox: Are Visions Effective?
Delve into why organizational visions often fail and learn tactics to develop visions your workforce can embrace.
The Progress Paradox: Do We Really Believe in Respect for People?
While 'respect for people' is a tenet many organizations claim, podcast hosts Mohamed Saleh and John Dyer delve into the truth of that statement. Does your leadership always show 'respect for people'…
From Fear Culture to System Accountability: The Ongoing Debate Over Deming’s 14 Points
Podcast hosts Dr. Mohamed Saleh and John Dyer share their favorites of Dr. Deming's 14 points and reflect on the management guru's most controversial principle.
Dr. Deming: Don't Leave Organizational Transformation on the Factory Floor. It's Everybody's Job
Hosts John Dyer and Dr. Mohammed Saleh discuss Dr. Deming's 14th point for management: Put everybody in the company to work to accomplish the transformation. The transformation is everybody's job.…
Institute a Vigorous Program of Education and Self-improvement: Dr. Deming's 13th Point for Management
Understand the essential requirements to building an organization of thinkers rather than button-pushers, and delve into how AI should contribute to building a learning organization.
Dr. Deming's 12th Point: Remove Barriers That Rob Workers of Right to Pride of Workmanship
Explore why pride of workmanship is important as well as common barriers that destroy it within an organization.
Eliminate Management by Objective: Dr. Deming's 11th Point for Management
Explore what the podcast hosts describe as Dr. W. Edwards Deming's "most controversial" point for management, one that many executives have a problem with.
Eliminate Slogans, Exhortations, and Targets: Dr. Deming's 10th Point for Management
Learn why Dr. Deming called Point 10 his "biggest pet peeve" among the 14 points for transformation. One hint: It blames the workers.
Break Down Barriers Between Departments: Dr. Deming's 9th Point for Management
Learn how silos encourage local optimization at the expense of the whole, and gather tools to break down those barriers.
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Behind the Curtain: Adventures in Continuous Improvement has published 76 episodes since June 2025, covering topics in Business.
Behind the Curtain: Adventures in Continuous Improvement is currently highly active with new episodes weekly. Average episode length is 22m.
