Ever-So-Lean Podcast

Why would people get behind a change they’ve had no say in? In this episode of UKNCI Live, Matt Sims, Stuart Robertson and Nikki Libera explore what it really takes to engage people in change, sharing honest stories of getting it wrong and the lessons that followed. From rearranging a workplace without asking the people who use it, to rebuilding trust when previous promises have gone nowhere, we discuss why good intentions can still create frustration. We explore how listening to everyday frustrations, making small improvements that matter to people and giving quieter voices space to contribute can build confidence and ownership. We also discuss difficult conversations, the fears surrounding automation and AI, and why developing people needs to be part of the change. A practical, open conversation for anyone leading change who wants their people involved from the start. Have an experience to share or a topic you’d like us to cover? Join the UK Network for Continuous Improvement on LinkedIn and keep the conversation going. Join the Community: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/42461005/ Learn more about UKNCI: https://uknci.uk/ UKNCI LIVE is broadcast in partnership with the Ever-So-Lean Podcast. https://eversolean.com/ever-so-lean-podcast/

UKNCI Live: When can we say a CI benefit has been delivered? If you work in Continuous Improvement, you’ll probably recognise the feeling of having to justify your role again and again. People want to know what’s been saved, what’s improved and when they’ll see the return. But meaningful change doesn’t always show up in the numbers straight away. In this episode, Matt Sims, Maxine Wood and Stuart Robertson are joined by Nikki Libera to tackle a question Nikki brought to the UKNCI community: When should a CI benefit be counted as delivered? They talk about the pressure to claim results early, how to show progress while building capability, and why value goes beyond money saved. They also get into the role leaders and frontline teams play in making sure an improvement lasts. It’s an honest conversation for anyone who has had to explain the value of CI while still doing the work to make it stick. Your Voice | Your Experience | Our Community Join the Community: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/42461005/ Learn more about UKNCI: https://uknci.uk/ UKNCI LIVE is broadcast in partnership with the Ever-So-Lean Podcast. https://eversolean.com/ever-so-lean-podcast/

What’s the biggest challenge facing Continuous Improvement in UK organisations right now? In this episode of the Ever-So-Lean Podcast, we bring you the first ever UKNCI LIVE, originally broadcast live across the UK Continuous Improvement community. Joining the conversation are UKNCI Founders Matt Sims, Maxine Wood and Stuart Robertson, bringing different experiences and perspectives to a question that affects CI professionals across every sector. There are no slides, no presentations and no suggestion that anyone has all the answers. This is an open and honest conversation about what’s really happening in organisations right now. We explore leadership buy in, engagement, culture, sustaining improvements, making CI relevant and the challenges of working in that space between leadership expectations and the people experiencing change on the frontline. Different organisations. Different industries. Different levels of maturity. Yet many of the challenges are remarkably similar. So what is holding Continuous Improvement back? What are organisations getting right? And what could we be doing differently? Whether you work in CI, lead it, support it or simply have a passion for making organisations better, this conversation is for you. Your Voice | Your Experience | Our Community Join the Community: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/42461005/ Learn more about UKNCI: https://uknci.uk/ UKNCI LIVE is broadcast in partnership with the Ever-So-Lean Podcast. https://eversolean.com/ever-so-lean-podcast/

Who do you turn to when you’re the improvement person? Continuous Improvement can be a surprisingly lonely place. You spend your time helping others solve problems, challenging thinking, building capability and trying to create change. But who do you talk to when you need to bounce around an idea, share a challenge or simply speak to someone who understands what you do? In this episode of the Ever-So-Lean Podcast, I’m joined by Maxine Wood and Stuart Robertson for an open conversation about something we think is missing in the UK Continuous Improvement community: connection. We talk about the strength of the improvement networks in Ireland and Northern Ireland, why similar communities seem harder to find across the wider UK, and what happens when practitioners from completely different industries get together and realise they’re facing many of the same challenges. We also explore the importance of mentoring, giving back, learning from each other and creating spaces where people can contribute, but also have somewhere to lean when they need it. Because Continuous Improvement shouldn't just be about tools, methodologies and qualifications. Sometimes, you just need to find your people. So, who’s in your Continuous Improvement network? Key Takeaways Continuous Improvement can be a lonely place.People responsible for improvement are often trying to influence others, challenge thinking and create momentum without having a strong network around them. There is a genuine gap for a UK Continuous Improvement network.The conversation highlighted how difficult it is to find an obvious, accessible UK wide community specifically for CI practitioners. It needs to be accessible to everyone.Conferences and professional bodies have an important place, but not everybody has the budget or opportunity to access them. There is space for something free and open alongside them. Different industries, same challenges.Whether you're in retail, utilities, hospitality, manufacturing or somewhere completely different, the underlying challenges around engagement, leadership, culture and sustaining improvement are remarkably similar. We can learn a lot from the communities already working well.Ireland and Northern Ireland came through particularly strongly in the conversation, with practitioners connecting, visiting organisations, sharing experiences and genuinely helping each other. A network should be somewhere you can contribute AND lean on.This is probably my favourite point from the whole conversation. Experienced people can give back, newer practitioners can learn, and everyone has somewhere to ask questions, share experiences and find people who understand what they do. Key Resources Stuart Roberson's LinkedIn👉 linkedin.com/in/stuart-robertson-mba-152b64140 Maxine Wood's LinkedIn👉 linkedin.com/in/maxine-wood-98734246 UK Network for Continuous Improvement (UKNCI)👉 https://www.UKNCI.uk 👉 https://www.linkedin.com/groups/42461005/ Find out more about Ever-So-Lean, including our learning programmes at👉 www.eversolean.com Explore the Lean Competency System👉 https://www.leancompetency.org/ Learn more about the British Quality Foundation👉 https://www.bqf.org.uk/ If you’re enjoying the Ever-So-Lean Podcast, please take a moment to rate and review it. It genuinely helps more people find the show and keeps these conversations going. Where people thrive, performance follows.

Why do so many continuous improvement programmes start with real energy, deliver some great early results, and then struggle when it comes to scaling? In this episode of the Ever-So-Lean Podcast, I’m joined by Chris Dando, CEO of Reinvigoration Group, for a really open conversation about what it actually takes to make improvement stick. Chris has spent more than 20 years working in Lean and operational improvement across hundreds of organisations, and we get into some of the patterns we’ve both seen along the way. Improvement becoming dependent on a handful of experts. CI teams growing into standalone functions. Organisations measuring how many people they’ve trained rather than what has actually changed. And improvement teams finding themselves having to constantly justify the value they bring. We also talk about the shift from experts solving problems for people, to building the capability for people to solve their own problems. For Chris, the goal is ultimately to get improvement thinking into the minds of everyone across the organisation, with the right level of support and expertise where it is genuinely needed. Chris shares the story behind Reinvigoration, the growth of the Lean Competency System and the development of OpX, an operating system designed to help organisations scale continuous improvement, build capability and make the impact of improvement visible. There’s also plenty of conversation about careers, education, entrepreneurship, learning from mistakes and why neither of us has ever been particularly interested in having everything mapped out.