Melisa Buie
Laser physicist–turned problem solver with a PhD in Nuclear Engineering/Plasma Physics and decades of leadership in manufacturing; co-author of Faceplant and experienced in continuous improvement, Six Sigma, and technical leadership.
Top 3 podcasts with Melisa Buie
Ranked by the Snipd community
14 snips
Dec 10, 2025 • 42min
60| Bounce Back From a Faceplant: How to Flip the Script on Failure [with Melisa Buie and Keeley Hurley]
Keeley Hurley, a practical continuous improvement leader, and Dr. Melisa Buie, a laser physicist turned problem solver, share short, candid stories about setbacks and resilience. They unpack emotional reactions, the FREE recovery steps (Focus, Reflect, Explore, Engage), premortems, the Conspirator Matrix of fear-driven responses, and how leaders can normalize experimentation to learn forward after a faceplant.
8 snips
Jul 23, 2025 • 55min
Melisa Buie on Lean Culture, Scientific Thinking, and Empowering Engineers
In this conversation, Dr. Melisa Buie, an operations leader with a PhD in nuclear engineering, dives into her transition from Six Sigma to a focus on empowering teams through Lean culture. She emphasizes the importance of psychological safety and encourages leadership behaviors that endorse continuous improvement. Sharing insights from her book, Problem Solving for New Engineers, she highlights the gap between academia and real-world engineering challenges. Melisa also explores using scientific thinking and small experiments to foster innovation and resilience in the face of failure.
Apr 1, 2026 • 32min
A Better Way To Fail with Dr. Melisa Buie
Dr. Melisa Buie, an engineer and operational-excellence leader who wrote Faceplant, discusses how to make failure safe and useful. She explains the FREE framework for reflecting on setbacks. They talk about separating stories from facts, using small experiments, and how leaders can model cultures where people can learn without fear.
