Lean Leaders

Take advantage of Early Bird Registration! 

• Register by February 26, 2024 to receive $250 off our Spring 2024 Lean Leaders program ($4,250)!
• Prices return to $4,500 on February 27 until registration closes on March 19
• Use code EARLYBIRD at checkout 

Lean Leaders transforms leaders and change agents to make measurable, lasting achievement toward strategic goals. By combining pragmatic problem-solving tools and clear leadership techniques, emerging leaders from all levels of an organization can methodically improve business processes and empower teams! Check out stories of past Lean Leaders on our blog.

Spring 2024 cohort training dates:

• March 26 - Orientation (1 hour)
• April 22, 24, 26 - Training Day 1, 2 & 3
• May 30 - Training Day 4
• July 2 - Training Day 5 / Presentations

Throughout our multi-day, immersive process improvement training program, you will learn practical problem-solving tools derived from Lean, Six Sigma, Design Thinking, and Agile and immediately put them into practice on your own improvement project. Participants work with their supervisor and leaders in their department to identify a real-world process problem to work on throughout the training, and between training days, our coaches on the Partners in Public Innovation Team will personally guide participants in 1-1 coaching sessions to rapidly apply what they learn to their own business process. Ultimately, our new Lean Leaders will leave the training equipped to lead their own improvement projects and make lasting, measurable change!

Prior participants have collectively realized millions of dollars in savings while improving public services such as: enrolling low income seniors in Medi-Cal faster, helping agencies procure better services faster, or ensuring the timely hire and onboarding of new staff.

The tools you will learn -- and apply! -- include:

• How to analyze performance
• Tools to identify obstacles in your work, including process mapping, five whys, fishbone diagrams, spaghetti diagrams, and the impact/effort matrix
• Tools to eliminate obstacles, including standard work, visual management, error-proofing, and 5S
• How to translate your analysis into concrete ideas for improvement
• How to communicate improvement plans to stakeholders and supervisors
• How to create a plan, execute it, and track progress
• How to manage changes resulting from process improvement

Government agencies typically send individual staff or small teams to our open Lean Leaders cohorts, where they participate together with staff from other agencies. All participants are required to bring a process problem to work on; this problem must have been approved by their direct supervisor and the process owner. Our coaches can assist cohort participants in appropriately scoping their problem. During the three months of Lean Leaders, participants should expect to spend approximately 20% of their time on the cohort and their improvement project, including training days, coaching, and actual process analysis and improvement.