
Hosted in partnership with Oakland University, this event is part of the
LEI Lean Transformation Community-Building and Workshop Series.
This one-day, in-person workshop provides insights, coaching, and tools to help leaders understand how to leverage lean practices to enable the people within their organizations to improve their performance and deliver business results.
Too often, organizations don’t get the results they expect from their lean initiatives. With your new understanding of the interactions between lean processes, tools, and behaviors (including lean’s too-often overlooked “people side”) through the lens of socio-technical systems theory and four psychology frameworks, you’ll discover how your behavior and lean practices . This insight will help you plan how to get the results you expect with a deliberate focus on the behaviors and practices needed to achieve your goals.

is a socio-technical system where lean processes and tools (technical) and leadership behaviors (socio) influence individual behaviors, which, in turn, determines performance outcomes. So, any shortcomings in either component or a misalignment between the two will negatively affect individuals’ behaviors and lead to suboptimum performance that leads to poor business results. This workshop will help you diagnose these issues and give you tools to resolve them.
This workshop, presented in a lively mix of theory, relatable examples, self-reflection, and small- and large-group discussion, gives you the tools you need to diagnose why you aren’t getting the results you expect from lean and help you create the conditions to fix the problems — or further improve performance. Additionally, the workshop offers time to plan what you’ll change once you’re back at the office.
Ultimately, this workshop will set you on a path to understanding that the relationship between behaviors and lean practices will help you cultivate a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement driven by engaged high-performance teams — and get the results you expect.
Who Will Benefit?
Anyone who coaches, manages, or leads at any level in any industry, whether in a lean-thinking organization or not.
What Will I Learn?
Upon completion, you will be able to:
- Recognize how lean is a socio-technical system comprising systems, processes, tools, and behaviors.
- Understand four psychology frameworks that provide insight into people’s behavior, including Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Pink’s Three Elements of True Motivation, Rohnke’s Psychological Performance Zones, and Dweck’s Growth vs. Fixed Mindset.
- Use organizational psychology frameworks to understand, assess, and discuss how the relationship between lean practices and behaviors impacts business results.
- Create a plan to leverage the relationships between lean practices, tools, and behaviors to help your team achieve its goals.
Group Discount
Register three or more attendees for the same workshop and save 12.5% off every registration. To receive a group discount, register as a group through the registration link and the discount will automatically apply.
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel your registration for in-person workshops four weeks before the course start date for a full refund. A cancellation occurring within four weeks of the workshop dates will be subject to a $350 fee. To cancel, please call LEI at (617) 871-2900 or email registrar@lean.org.
Coursework
I. Introduction:
- Understanding how behaviors influence business results
- Socio-technical system’s theory: Understanding the relationship between systems, processes, tools, and behaviors
II. Understanding peoples’ behavior:
- Habits
- Motivation
- Resistance to change
- Influence of systems, processes, and tools
III. Effective management system:
- Psychological safety
- Leadership behavior
- Operating system
IV. Creating the conditions for better performance:
- Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
- Pink’s three elements of true motivation
- Rohnke’s psychological performance zones
- Dweck’s fixed vs. growth mindset
V. Developing a plan:
- Deliberately creating the conditions for better performance to deliver business results
- Being explicit and transparent about expectations
Katrina Appell, PhD
Senior Coach
Product and Process Development
Lean Enterprise Institute
President, Katrina Appell Consulting
With over 15 years of coaching, facilitating, training, and team development experience, Katrina is passionate about supporting organizations in lean transformation. She has coached lean principles and practices at many companies in various industries, including Caterpillar, Michigan Medicine, Pella Windows & Doors, TechnipFMC, US Synthetic, and Whirlpool. At LEI, Katrina co-developed and teaches LEI’s Designing […]
Read more about Katrina Appell, PhD