I call myself a Lean Evangelist (even as I also call myself a Lean contrarian). I specialize in helping organizations improve their productivity by helping them solve complex problems.

My focus is on Complex Problems, a class of problem which is typically hard to define, may have unclear end points, is systemic in nature, and the solution to which typically changes over time. What distinguishes complex problems from simply complicated problems is the dynamic, changing nature of the system which defines the problem.

Examples of complex problems include productivity improvement efforts, software and product development projects involving imprecise requirements, mergers and consolidations requiring a merging of cultures, and knowledge management and strategic planning projects. Any project requiring a large group to agree on a solution is likely a complex problem.

I use productivity in the six sigma [1] sense, as some function of effectiveness, the ability to deliver customer appreciated value, and efficiency, the ability to deliver that value with the least possible waste. The goal of course, is to maximize productivity. The challenge is that these two variables are very interrelated.

My thinking in these areas is based on 15 years with Hewlett-Packard Company in high volume manufacturing, decision support data systems, project and program management and process improvement efforts. I had many successes while in these roles, and unfortunately, a few failures. I’ve learned from both.

I also pull from nearly 10 years of experience in the Nuclear Industry. The focus there was not so much organizational performance, but rather safety. It is there that I was introduced to Demming, and especially, root cause analysis as the “system which allowed an error.” As Demming said, “a bad system will defeat a good person every time.”

I’m a student of Lean, as in the Toyota Way, as well as the theory bases which explain the effectiveness of Adaptive and Agile methods. I’ve been implementing lean, adaptive and agile methods for more than a 20 years, though I didn’t have a name for them until about a decade ago.

A little over ten years ago, I had the honor of being an engineer-on-loan from HP to a local school district. My task was to develop collaborative school-community partnerships. That two year assignment provided an outsider’s view from inside the system. It was sufficiently influential that I have much to say about school dynamics, and it significantly influenced my selection of a graduate degree program.

That graduate degree program is in Whole Systems Design, an Organizational Development program focusing on a system’s perspective to organizational performance. This, my undergraduate degree in Computer Science and my Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification all contribute to the paradox of being both an evangelist and a contrarian.

When I’m not thinking about process or systems, I’m usually with my kids, skiing, camping or bicycling.