Alan Goodman: The Zenquest of Leaders with Jess Ollenburg

Today we’re talking about great things coming together in Leadership, Quality Excellence, Lean Six Sigma and evidenced practices in Youth Development. We’ll be dropping some Structured Methodology for Problem Solving. While Ollenburg LLC enjoys work with so many industries, services and nonprofits, much of our practice over the years has featured in depth job analysis for manufacturing and automation. We’ve so enjoyed touring client facilities to study and design operations, flow, innovation and getting the right people in the right seats with the right resources; and these are mutual passions of today’s host and guest.  Contact and topic info are at: Alan Goodman - The Zenquest of Leaders Podcast — zenquest.online.

When we speak of problem-solving methodology, We can’t help but sing the praises of Appreciative Inquiry, The 5 Whys, SWOT Analysis and deBono’s Six Hats of Thinking. In fact, when we presented Six Hats at Johnson Controls International Headquarters in the technology showcase for FUEL Leadership Bootcamp, the JCI leaders were so enthusiastic about what Six Hats can do, they synched up the showcase lighting to mirror and transition with the color of the hat we were describing. 

Our guest is Alan Goodman! Our conversation today will also highlight Entrepreneurial risk, Zen via the Emotional Lap, Getting Past Failure and Adventures in Dishwasher Loading. 

We met Alan through Marquette University’s 707 Hub, when Ollenburg LLC sponsored Rev Up MKE by delivering coaching to the winning startup. Alan won that competition and returned the following year as a judge.

Here’s a little intro on today’s guest…

• Alan is the Founder and King of Desserts for the award-winning A Goodman’s Desserts. He counts the Milwaukee Bucks, Marquette University and nationwide dessert lovers as his clients. His business has been featured on WISN, TMJ4 and national news.
• Alan is also the Department Chair of the Quality Engineering program at Milwaukee Area Technical College, where the focus is on teaching Operational Excellence. Leaning into his 20+ years’ experience as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, Alan is launching into the Consultant space where he coaches businesses through his Operational Excellence and Lean Bootcamps. 
• He is a Faculty Member for the SPARC small business accelerator program at Scale Up MKE. 
• He earned BS and MBA in Finance from Hampton University and Temple University,  and he is a lifetime member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity
• A Philadelphia native, Alan has resided in Milwaukee Wisconsin  for almost 20 years with his wife Lisa and their three children. Alan believes in following your dreams and is a fellow champion of the human spirit.