Karen Martin on Clarity First: Flow, Metrics, and Leading Improvement

Karen Martin on Clarity First: Flow, Metrics, and Leading Improvement

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 [https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenmartinopex/], 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 where every leader takes ownership of improvement. 🔻 How to know the difference between a value stream and a process and why it matters 🔻 How to choose the relevant few metrics instead of drowning in data you never act on 🔻 Why the Belt program created a dangerous gap between improvement specialists and the leaders who should own it 🔻 How to build an improvement culture when your organization was never designed that way 🔻 Why continuous improvement belongs to leadership, not a dedicated team 🔗 Learn more about Karen Martin and TKMG: https://www.tkmg.com [https://www.tkmg.com] 🔗 Connect with Karen Martin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenmartinopex/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenmartinopex/] 🔗 Learn more about KPI Fire: https://www.kpifire.com/ [https://www.kpifire.com/] 🎙 Hosted by Keith Norris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithnorris/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithnorris/]

Danny Toney on Data Driven Leadership

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 [https://www.linkedin.com/in/dannytoney/], 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 and how to fix that 🔻 How to spot a problem three months before a customer calls to complain 🔻 Why treating symptoms keeps the same issues coming back every single quarter 🔻 How 90 day priorities keep your whole leadership team pulling in the same direction 🔻 Why the most successful leaders have more clarity than everyone else and how to get it 🔻 How to use EOS as a tool that makes every person's work life better, not just the bottom line 🔗 Connect with Danny Toney on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dannytoney/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/dannytoney/] 🔗 Learn more about KPI Fire: https://www.kpifire.com/ [https://www.kpifire.com/] 🎙 Hosted by Keith Norris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithnorris/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithnorris/]

Katie Anderson on Building Teams That Think, Learn, and Improve

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 [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kbjanderson/], 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 avoid the trap of becoming the hero with all the answers. 🔻 Why great leaders “own the thinking process, not the thinking” 🔻 The difference between solving problems and developing problem solvers 🔻 The danger of focusing on templates instead of thinking frameworks 🔻 Why caring about people doesn’t mean carrying all the responsibility 🔻 How AI can accelerate learning without replacing human thinking 🔗 Connect with Katie Anderson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kbjanderson/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kbjanderson/] 🔗 Help shape Katie's next book by taking this survey (open til' May 22nd): https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScjlCi-Y3rfzihImMRahEfxMuPr4uqZ4TVqy7h5iRyEQ_uadQ/viewform [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScjlCi-Y3rfzihImMRahEfxMuPr4uqZ4TVqy7h5iRyEQ_uadQ/viewform] 🔗 Learn more about KPI Fire: https://www.kpifire.com/ [https://www.kpifire.com/] 🎙 Hosted by Keith Norris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithnorris/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithnorris/]

Jeff Gray on Building a Career in Continuous Improvement

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 [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-gray-123b0ab/] 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 companies solve real-world process challenges. 🔻 Why every organization, regardless of industry, runs on processes 🔻 The importance of reducing variation before improving flow 🔻 Why employee ideas often create the biggest innovation breakthroughs 🔻 The power of visual management and Obeya rooms in operational excellence 🔻 Why Continuous Improvement is about removing work, not adding more work 🔗 Connect with Jeff Gray on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-gray-123b0ab/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-gray-123b0ab/] 🔗 Learn more about Lean Revisions, LLC: https://leanrevisions.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/LEAN-REVISIONS-Capability-Statement-April-2026.pdf [https://leanrevisions.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/LEAN-REVISIONS-Capability-Statement-April-2026.pdf] 🔗 Learn more about KPI Fire: https://www.kpifire.com/ [https://www.kpifire.com/] 🎙 Hosted by Keith Norris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithnorris/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithnorris/]

Duane Deason on Smarter Cost Management

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 problems are usually system problems 🔻 You can’t manage what you can’t clearly see 🔻 Cost reduction vs. cost understanding 🔻 Data needs to be usable, not just available 🔗 Connect with Duane Deason on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/duanedeason/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/duanedeason/] 🔗 Learn more about the Efficacy Group Cost Management Services: https://efficacygroup.com/ [https://efficacygroup.com/] 🔗 Learn more about KPI Fire: https://www.kpifire.com/ [https://www.kpifire.com/] 🎙 Hosted by Keith Norris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithnorris/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithnorris/]