KPI Fireside: A Continuous Improvement Podcast

What does it take to design an organization where work actually flows and improvement never stops?

In this episode of KPI Fireside, host Keith Norris sits down with Karen Martin, president of TKMG and internationally recognized thought leader in operational excellence, Lean management, and business performance. Karen shares how organizations can achieve clarity, eliminate the obstacles that slow work down, and build the conditions w...

Most leadership teams are flying blind. They have plenty of data but no clarity on what actually matters, who owns it, or what to do when things go off track.

In this episode of KPI Fireside, host Keith Norris sits down with Danny Toney, Certified EOS Implementer and business improvement consultant, who helps leadership teams cut through the noise and drive measurable traction.

🔻 Why your weekly meetings feel like a four out of ten ...

What separates organizations that improve occasionally from those that build improvement into their DNA?

In this episode of KPI Fireside, host Keith Norris sits down with Katie Anderson, internationally recognized leadership consultant, speaker, and author of the Shingo Award-winning book Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn. Katie shares how leaders can create learning-driven cultures, develop people through problem solving, and avoi...

Every company has problems. The difference is whether those problems become expensive failures or opportunities for innovation.

In this episode of KPI Fireside, Keith Norris sits down with Jeff Gray to explore how Continuous Improvement principles can help organizations reduce waste, engage employees, improve quality, and create sustainable operational systems. Jeff shares stories and lessons from decades of experience helping compa...

What separates companies that control costs from those constantly reacting to them?

In this episode of KPI Fireside, host Keith Norris sits down with Duane Deason to unpack what smarter cost management really looks like in practice. This isn’t about cutting budgets or tightening spending. It’s about understanding where cost is created, where value is lost, and how organizations can make better decisions with clearer data.

🔻 Cost pro...

What happens when continuous improvement teams can clearly prove their impact?

In this episode of KPI Fireside, host Keith Norris sits down with Chris Keahey to break down why tracking ROI is one of the most critical and overlooked aspects of any CI program.

Chris shares how his journey from firefighting into Lean Six Sigma shaped his approach to discipline, standard work, and decision-making under pressure. But the core of the conve...

What if the biggest mistake leaders make… is trying to be the answer?

In this episode of KPI Fireside, host Keith Norris sits down with Cheryl Jekiel, founder of the Lean Leadership Center, to unpack one of the hardest shifts in leadership: letting go.

🔻 Why most leaders are underprepared to lead—and how that shows up in real organizations

🔻 How letting go actually creates stronger, more capable teams

🔻 The difference between direct...

Why do so many continuous improvement programs fail to deliver lasting impact?

In this episode of KPI Fireside, host Keith Norris sits down with Jess Orr, a business transformation leader with deep experience in Lean and continuous improvement, including time working directly at Toyota. Jess shares why many organizations limit their results by concentrating improvement efforts in a small group of specialists instead of building a sy...

What happens when teams deliver everything they were asked for—but still miss what the customer actually wanted?

In this episode of KPI Fireside, host Keith Norris sits down with Francine Bejarano, a program and product delivery leader who has led major technology and transformation initiatives at companies like T-Mobile, IBM, and Verizon.

🔻 The difference between output metrics and outcome-driven success

🔻 Why success must be defin...

In this episode of KPI Fireside, host Keith Norris sits down with Stan Bryant, a senior project management professional and principal of Strategic Initiative Solutions. With a career spanning large-scale technology integration, operations leadership, and PMO development, Stan shares what it takes to lead complex projects, build PMOs that prove their value, and help organizations connect project execution to measurable business resu...

In this episode of KPI Fireside, host Keith Norris sits down with Lyndsay MacLeod, an award-winning continuous improvement professional with more than 20 years of experience leading transformational change across engineering, manufacturing, and financial services. With a background spanning Lean Six Sigma, process improvement, Agile, and operational excellence, Lyndsay shares how Lean principles can strengthen technology teams, why...

In this episode of KPI Fireside, host Keith Norris sits down with Chris Roser, a worldwide renowned expert for lean production; Toyota, McKinsey, and Bosch Alumni, and professor for Production Management at the Karlsruhe University of applied sciences.. Drawing on decades of experience in manufacturing, supply chain management, bottleneck detection, and Lean research, Chris explains why improvement fails without standard work.

🔻 Wh...

What separates short-term Lean initiatives from lasting Lean cultures?

In this episode of KPI Fireside, host Keith Norris sits down with Nick Belcher, a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and Lean Culture Architect who has spent decades helping organizations move beyond Lean tools and build people-first improvement cultures. Nick shares why lasting transformation happens when leaders focus on developing people, reinforcing behaviors, ...

Why do Lean tools fade away in so many organizations? And what actually makes improvement stick?

In this episode of KPI Fireside, host Keith Norris sits down with Marcial Portillo, a global operations and continuous improvement leader with more than 30 years of experience improving manufacturing and supply chain performance across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Marcial currently leads deployment of Spirax’s operational excellence f...

What separates organizations that struggle from those that truly win?

In this episode of KPI Fireside, host Keith Norris sits down with Jennifer Ralston. As CEO & Founder of HKPO and the HKPO Veterans Academy, she empowers organizations to innovate, execute, and sustain excellence. From Lean Six Sigma transformations at the American Red Cross to global strategic planning and culture assessments, Jennifer shares practical insight...

Is AI coming for your job—or just the parts of it you never liked doing in the first place?

In this episode of KPI Fireside, host Keith Norris sits down with Reed Shell, a project management leader with more than 30 years of experience in enterprise delivery and transformation. Reed teaches project management and artificial intelligence at the University of Utah and advises organizations on applying AI responsibly without losing hum...

Why does Agile fail even when teams are trained and processes are in place? In this episode of KPI Fireside, host Keith Norris talks with Dean Kynaston, co-author of Agile Project Management for Dummies and Scrum for Dummies, about the leadership gaps that quietly derail Agile.

🔻 Why Agile is about adaptability, not process compliance

🔻 The difference between Agile values and the Scrum framework

🔻 What actually happens in an effect...

Why do large organizations invest heavily in technology and still fail to deliver real value? In this episode of KPI Fireside, host Keith Norris sits down with Chris Gunderson, a former oceanographic officer who spent decades working inside U.S. defense programs.

🔻 Why “technology without value is worthless” and how organizations confuse output with impact

🔻 How Porter’s value chain connects upstream activity to downstream customer...

How do leaders unknowingly create cultures of compliance instead of commitment? In this episode of KPI Fireside, host Keith Norris sits down with Michael Stevens, Presidential Professor of Leadership Studies and a global expert on the people side of performance, to explore what truly separates management from leadership and why respect, not authority, is the real driver of execution.

🔻 Why leadership is less about directing work an...