KPI Fireside: A Continuous Improvement Podcast15 Des 2025

Dan Barata on The Leadership Discipline Missing In Most Transformations

How do you build a continuous improvement culture that actually sticks, especially across large, complex organizations? In this episode, Keith Norris talks with Dan Barata, Corporate Director of Continuous Improvement at East Penn Manufacturing. With decades of experience across manufacturing, healthcare, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals, Dan shares why CI must start with people, not tools, and how leaders can create the space, safety, and opportunity for real improvement to happen.

🔻 How Dan’s early path in industrial engineering shaped his people-first approach to continuous improvement.

🔻 Why training alone does not equal empowerment and what leaders must do next.

🔻 The importance of building human connection before introducing process improvement.

🔻 How failing forward is different from simply failing and why not all failures are created equal.

🔻 Why standard work is the foundation for improvement and not the enemy of creativity.

🔻 How leaders can create psychological safety so people feel comfortable trying new ideas.

🔻 Why engagement and alignment matter as much as cost savings when measuring CI impact.

🔻 Dan’s guidance on utilization, capacity, and creating time for both improvement and people development.

🔻 Why coaching and mentoring matter more than running a few isolated improvement projects.

🔗 Connect with Dan Barata on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-j-barata-pe-mba/

🔗 Learn more about KPI Fire: https://www.kpifire.com/

🎙 Hosted by Keith Norris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithnorris/

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and everywhere you get your podcasts.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(67)

Tom Foster on How Accountability Starts With Structure

What if most of your communication breakdowns and personality conflicts aren't people problems at all?In this episode of KPI Fireside, host Keith Norris sits down with Tom Foster, author, speaker, and...

29 Jun 52min

Tina Agustiady and Jennifer Ralston on What Happens When AI Meets Continuous Improvement

Lean has always been about working smarter. AI might be its most powerful tool yet.In this episode of KPI Fireside, host Keith Norris sits down with Jennifer Ralston and Tina Agustiady for a practical...

22 Jun 55min

John Garrett on Building a Culture People Stay For

What if your company expected every single employee to submit improvement ideas within their first six months on the job?In this episode of KPI Fireside, host Keith Norris sits down with John Garrett,...

15 Jun 45min

Darren Dolcemascolo on Turning Improvement Into Sustained Execution

What separates organizations where continuous improvement fades after a leadership change from those where it becomes part of the company's DNA?In this episode of KPI Fireside, host Keith Norris welco...

8 Jun 49min

Karen Martin on Clarity First: Flow, Metrics, and Leading Improvement

What does it take to design an organization where work actually flows and improvement never stops?In this episode of KPI Fireside, host Keith Norris sits down with Karen Martin, president of TKMG and ...

1 Jun 58min

Danny Toney on Data Driven Leadership

Most leadership teams are flying blind. They have plenty of data but no clarity on what actually matters, who owns it, or what to do when things go off track.In this episode of KPI Fireside, host Keit...

25 Mai 51min

Katie Anderson on Building Teams That Think, Learn, and Improve

What separates organizations that improve occasionally from those that build improvement into their DNA?In this episode of KPI Fireside, host Keith Norris sits down with Katie Anderson, internationall...

18 Mai 47min

Jeff Gray on Building a Career in Continuous Improvement

Every company has problems. The difference is whether those problems become expensive failures or opportunities for innovation.In this episode of KPI Fireside, Keith Norris sits down with Jeff Gray to...

11 Mai 42min