Gemba Academy Podcast: Lean Six Sigma | Toyota Kata | Productivity | Leadership GA 623 | The Power of Entropy with Adam Lawrence
Mar 12, 2026
Adam Lawrence, managing partner and Kaizen practitioner who created the Wheel of Sustainability, explains why improvements backslide and how to hold gains. He describes his nine-element Wheel, contrasts it with Toyota’s culture, and outlines a web-based Sustainability System assessment that gives practical next steps. Conversations include entropy, leadership commitment, and a lasting 5S case study.
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Leadership Is The Hub Of Sustainability
- Sustaining improvements requires a systemic approach centered on leadership commitment as the hub of a Wheel of Sustainability.
- Adam Lawrence built nine elements around leadership so improvements don't backslide and problems stop resurfacing.
Five Year Pride After A 5S Kaizen
- A 5S Kaizen participant kept improvements three years later and eagerly showed Adam the area owner board and follow-on projects.
- The worker felt pride, had leaders' support, and used the board to sustain and expand improvements.
Entropy Means Control Should Be Continuous Improvement
- Complete control is unrealistic because entropy constantly pushes systems away from order; control is better framed as continuous improvement.
- Ron reframes 'control' in DMAIC to 'continuously improve' to acknowledge ongoing drift and improvement cycles.
