

KaiNexus: Continuous Improvement, Leadership, and More
KaiNexus
We deliver practical insights and real-world strategies for Lean, Six Sigma, and Operational Excellence. Through lessons from KaiNexus webinars and conversations with customers, improvement leaders, and team members, each episode explores what it takes to build a resilient culture of Continuous Improvement. Learn how organizations engage employees, strengthen problem-solving capability, and sustain meaningful operational results across industries. Whether you're new to CI or leading major transformation, this podcast offers tools and perspectives you can put to work immediately.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Nov 15, 2019 • 3min
Webinar Preview - Ritu Ward on Leadership Behaviors
Register at https://info.kainexus.com/continuous-improvement/continuous-improvement-leadership/guide-change/webinar/signup
Leadership Behaviors to Guide Effective Change
Today's podcast is a quick preview of the upcoming webinar, presented by Ritu Ward and hosted by Jeff Roussel.
November 19 from 1:00 - 2:00 ET
In this webinar, you will learn:
Leadership elements of change management
Designing a system to navigate leadership behaviors
Reflections of “A Journey” using elements discussed
About the Presenter:
Ritu Ward is the Regional Vice President for Mercy Labs in the West Region. She is an accomplished and talented executive leader in healthcare operations and system designs.
Ward has held multiple leadership positions in large healthcare systems. Her expertise includes developing and maintaining client relations, strategy development, regulatory compliance and process improvements through technology tools and developing future leaders. She has spoken at both local and national conferences about service as the key driver for delivering healthcare. Over the past 15 years she has informally mentored young adults entering into the profession and mid level leaders advancing their careers in healthcare.
Ward received her Bachelor in Medical Technology from George Washington University, a Bachelor in Biology from Howard University and a Masters in Organizational Management from University of Phoenix. She is a Medical Technologist, a Six Sigma Black Belt, Certified A3 Problem Solver and a Fellow with American College of Healthcare Executives. She is a member of Clinical Laboratory Management Association, National Association of Female Executives, serves as chair of Mercy Women in Leadership for the education committee and vice chair on mentorship committee for Greater Charlotte Health Care Executives Group.

Nov 7, 2019 • 13min
Kade Jansson - Why Did You Join KaiNexus?
For the latest in our series, our guest is Kade Jansson, an onboarding manager who is part of the KaiNexus customer experience team. Today, we talk about why Kade joined the company three years ago, as he found an opportunity to combine interests in technology and business -- a hybrid of those two interests -- in a way that solves problems for customers. We also talk about disc golf and chat more about Kade's backyard chickens... and you won't be surprised that he's going through successful PDCA cycles of continuous improvement that's driven measurable results (with and for the chickens).
Learn more about the KaiNexus team: https://www.kainexus.com/continuous-improvement/kainexus-team

Nov 5, 2019 • 10min
Adam Darnell - Why Did You Join KaiNexus?
For the latest in our series, we're joined by Adam Darnell, the training and enablement manager at KaiNexus. In this episode, Adam talks about the three factors that were pillars of his recent search for a new opportunity: 1) company culture 2) mentoring and leadership and 3) personal and professional growth opportunities. Adam shares advice for others about how they can learn more about a company's culture before joining. We also chat about two of his passions outside of work -- composing music for commercials, films, and apps -- and also traveling the world when he can.
Learn more about the KaiNexus team: https://www.kainexus.com/continuous-improvement/kainexus-team
Listen to samples of Adam's music and sounds here: https://audiojungle.net/user/sinesphere/portfolio

Oct 30, 2019 • 11min
Bri Hudock - Why Did You Join KaiNexus?
For the latest in our series, we're joined by Bri Hudock, an account manager who joined the KaiNexus team very recently -- September, 2019. You'll hear why having a strong mission is important, how Lean makes her think of Carol Dweck's "growth mindset" concept, and you'll also hear a bit about her passion outside of the workplace -- improv comedy.
Learn more about the KaiNexus team: https://www.kainexus.com/continuous-improvement/kainexus-team

Oct 28, 2019 • 33min
Ask Us Anything! Episode 25
Join us in episode 25 of our popular Ask Us Anything webinar series to listen to questions answered by this dynamic duo from KaiNexus' team of continuous improvement experts: Mark Graban & Greg Jacobson.
Topics and Questions Today Are:
Do you dress up for Halloween?
How important is it to have a single accepted methodology at an organization? (e.g. PDCA, DMAIC) -- can this cause confusion?
How does KAINEXUS differentiate from a Project management software like Monday.com or Asana?
How do we measure engagement (besides a once-every-two-years Gallup survey)?
How can we start a successful deployment of an OpEx culture? Any must dos or do nots?
What are success criteria of a continuous improvement organization? Leaders, skills, behavior, core team...?
Join us for Episode 26 in January 2020!

Oct 16, 2019 • 1h 2min
Webinar Recording: Learning to Embrace Positive Deviance
Recorded October 15, 2019
Presented by Paul Wainwright, hosted by Mark Graban and KaiNexus
Learning Objectives:
Reflect on traditional idealisms of change management and consider how these may be your enemy
Identify the need for positive deviance in an organizational setting
Consider the cultural elements required to not only embrace positive deviance by also promote and encourage it
Paul Wainwright
BSc (Hons) MSc MBA CMgr MCMI
Managing Director, Initi8 Business Excellence
Paul is the Managing Director of Initi8 Business Excellence, a consultancy business specializing in enabling organizations to achieve positive an progressive change. The eight core elements supporting the Initi8 Business Excellence framework are focused on Strategy, Design, Leadership, Process, Change, Customer, Learning & Empowerment
Having worked with a range of organizations in various sectors Paul has experience of leading business improvement projects, introducing continuous improvement frameworks and working with senior leaders to train and develop their leadership and management skills. As a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Paul is very familiar with the challenges that organizations face 'on the ground' and actively works with leaders of organizations to go to Gemba and overcome these challenges.
Paul also works closely with a local university delivering material on their MBA course whilst also offering free consultancy to local charities to help them formulate and deploy operational strategies enabling them to reach their goals and objectives.

Sep 27, 2019 • 8min
Fixed: Preview of Paul Wainwright's Webinar on "Positive Deviance"
On October 15th, I'll be hosting the latest in our KaiNexus Continuous Improvement Webinar series.
I'm really excited that the presenter will be Paul Wainright, as he has been a great advocate for KaiNexus.
Click here to register for the webinar, which is intended to provide tips for leaders and managers:
Learning to Embrace Positive Deviance
"Learning Objectives:
Reflect on traditional idealisms of change management and consider how these may be your enemy
Identify the need for positive deviance in an organizational setting
Consider the cultural elements required to not only embrace positive deviance by also promote and encourage it"
This is a preview of that webinar.

Sep 16, 2019 • 42min
Cinnamon Dixon on Tiered Huddles at Cleveland Clinic
We saw Cinnamon give a great presentation at this year's Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit, so we asked her to do a podcast with us talking about Daily Tiered Huddles and how that fits into the Lean approach at Cleveland Clinic.
Hosted by Mark Graban
Here is a link to the Cleveland Clinic Improvement Model that we discuss. `
What role does Visual Management play in the CCIM system?
What are the “tiered huddles?” Can you talk first about the front-line huddles? What gets talked about? What are the expected responses or actions coming out of the meeting?
Then, how do the huddles follow upward in the leadership chain?
What sorts of issues get escalated vs. being handled locally or at a certain level of the organization?
How did you roll these out?
What have you learned and adjusted during the time you’ve been using these huddles?
What advice would you have for others on daily tiered huddles?
Biography
Cinnamon Dixon, MA, CDP is the Director of Continuous Improvement at the Cleveland Clinic. She has over 15 years of experience in organizational effectiveness and continuous improvement.
Cinnamon started her career at the Cleveland Clinic as an organizational effectiveness consultant. In that role she led the development of teams and leaders. Her work included leading system-wide initiatives such as the implementation of the employee engagement survey which focused on how to create and sustain an engaged culture, she was also instrumental in developing and facilitating the Cleveland Clinic Experience which was an interactive exploration for over 50K caregivers on how each person contributes to the mission and values of the organization.
During this time her curiosity for continuous improvement peaked. She shifted her focus towards creating and sustaining systems that support the great behaviors that we want to see in our leaders and teams. This led her to join the Continuous Improvement team. In her current role she leads a dedicated group of Continuous Improvement Specialists who execute projects, programs and apply lean methodology as they work to advance the foundation for a continuous improvement culture enterprise-wide.
Cinnamon is also an adjunct instructor for Tri-C Corporate College in Cleveland, Ohio. There she teaches a variety of courses centered on organizational effectiveness and continuous improvement.
She earned her M.A. in Diversity Management Psychology at Cleveland State University with an emphasis on leadership development, group processes and adult learning.

Sep 10, 2019 • 1h 1min
From Ambivalence to Action: Leadership Lessons from Motivational Interviewing
Webinar recorded on Sept 10, 2019 -- Presented by Mark Valenti, hosted by Mark Graban and KaiNexus.
From Ambivalence to Action: Leadership Lessons from Motivational Interviewing
Most people struggle with changing their behavior. Changes seem overwhelming and unreachable. As professionals, we often support, educate, and coach people to continuously improve behavior. You are invited to join your colleagues for a unique webinar that will help you build your change coaching skills and learn new approaches to communication.
In this webinar, you will learn:
The history and common misperceptions about Motivational Interviewing
The 3 crucial elements of behavior change
Successful applications of Motivational Interviewing to real-life workplace situations
Some tips to start applying the concepts
About the Presenter:
Mark Valenti has a background in health systems management, human behavior, and patient activation. He enjoys connecting with partners such as the National Board of Medical Examiners with their China Health Coach program or with Australia’s Flinders University on an innovative approach to patient chronic condition self-management.
He helps others uncover their intrinsic motivation to reach their goals. His unique teaching framework, “Activate Your Audience,” helps speakers better express their messages.new approaches to communication.

Sep 6, 2019 • 8min
Webinar Preview - Motivational Interviewing and Leadership
This is a preview of the webinar that will be presented on Sept 10 by Mark Valenti.
Click the link to register From Ambivalence to Action: Leadership Lessons from Motivational Interviewing
The same link will work for the recording after Sept 10.
Mark Valenti has a background in health systems management, human behavior, and patient activation. He enjoys connecting with partners such as the National Board of Medical Examiners with their China Health Coach program or with Australia’s Flinders University on an innovative approach to patient chronic condition self-management.
He helps others uncover their intrinsic motivation to reach their goals. His unique teaching framework, “Activate Your Audience,” helps speakers better express their messages.


