Empowering small businesses to reclaim time and accelerate growth through AI-powered automation | Inventor | Keynote Speaker

I lead enterprise AI adoption — turning ambition into execution.

With over 25 years guiding organizational transformation across industries, I’ve seen how the best processes, approaches, and technology fails without alignment, clarity, and a clear path to measurable impact. My work focuses on helping enterprises define what AI should do for their business, not just what it can do.

I specialize in building frameworks for responsible, scalable AI adoption that connect strategy, operations, and people. This includes:

Designing AI adoption roadmaps aligned with business goals and governance

Translating technical possibilities into clear, actionable business outcomes

Building cross-functional alignment between leadership, operations, and IT

Coaching teams to develop AI literacy and operational confidence

Heidi 💡 Araya

Cubic, LLC specializes in leadership development and management improvement through books, online courses, and on-demand videos. With over 25 years of experience, the company has contributed to advancing leadership practices across various industries, emphasizing actionable strategies like "Speed Leadership" to enhance organizational performance.  

As a Professor Emeritus and former educator with 23 years of teaching experience, contributions to leadership research and training are informed by hands-on expertise in engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain management. Known for thought-provoking content, the company reflects a commitment to equipping professionals with practical concepts and methods for growth and success.

Bob Emiliani

It's your Aunt Emily here. Believe me when I tell you that home is not the place for kaizen. Home is for relaxing. Sure, things should organized logically, but the home is not the workplace. 

At work, you are paid to do a job and to improve your job. At home, nobody is paying you. 

So relax and recharge and put all your thought and effort into kaizen while you're at work... but it is okay to read books about kaizen at home👍. 

👇

Shingijutsu-Kaizen (the method)
👉 https://lnkd.in/eYxwznnk

Kaizen Forever (the wisdom): 
English 👉 https://lnkd.in/eYrjRWkN
German 👉 https://lnkd.in/eYJew6Fw
French 👉 https://lnkd.in/e5XCHucX

Leadership Analyst and Management Historian | Multi-Book Author

Unfortunately, this happens all the time all the time with kaizen. Just because a financial calculation can be made or contrived does not mean one should do so. Too often kaizen activity is limited by financial calculations because the improvement and/or learning that comes from kaizen cannot be calculated. The learning is priceless because that leads to future improvement. Kaizen should be occurring every day. Financial calculations are usually not necessary.

So, this past weekend, the CEO of a big company flew me to Miami to meet with his CEO buddies on his yacht. He wanted me to talk about "Respect for People." Well, right from the get-go I struggled to hold their attention. They got annoyed with me real fast. Apparently the CEO who invited me thought I was there to talk about why CEOs don't get much respect from workers, and what workers must do to be more respectful of CEOs. Wow, talk about miscommunication! The CEO blamed it all on the HR VP. It was an awkward ride back to the dock.

This is an amazing post!! Lean folks are 𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁 𝘂𝗽 (what CEO Tom Polen said) -- 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 🤦‍♂️ (and Shingijutsu sensei never said that) 👉  https://lnkd.in/eNujWqFe). Apparently it's what Lean folks want to hear -- maybe because AI will extend the life of Lean just as Lean extended the life of six sigma. My original post has been reposted 13 times, 𝘂𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆, and has nearly 26K views. 🙁 It has almost become standard work for Lean people enthusiastically approve of incorrect information or disapprove of information that corrects incorrect information. 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹. REPOST THIS!

"If you’re not doing lean, do lean first,” he told me. “Get those systems and capabilities and then start applying AI on top of solid processes and systems. I’m 100% convinced that AI with lean is where you get the power." -- Tom Polen, CEO of BD

First, there is 0 percent probability that Shingijutsu consultants would say “do Lean first and then AI” because: 1) They don’t know anything about Lean and 2) their iron-clad devotion to the development of human wisdom through hands-on learning via daily kaizen.

Two other observations:

1. The old advice (circa 1999) was do Lean, then six sigma -- fix the process and then use six sigma to improve quality.

2. The new advice is do Lean, then AI. Same logic: fix the process and then use AI "on top of solid processes and systems."

The logic of the old advice was bad because it assumed the process, once fixed, did not need further improvement via kaizen. The logic of the new advice sounds similar. If so, both the old advice and the new advice rest on a faulty foundation.

Also, the old advice did not survive changes in leadership or ownership of the corporation, and the new advice likely will not as well. But we'll see.

Link to Fortune article 👉 https://lnkd.in/eg3zhbyS

In classically managed companies, top leaders typically view designers as the true talent and untouchable, operators as talentless overpaid laborers who should be laid off and replaced with machines, and sales people as necessary evils who don't really create value. 

Only one of these "money makers" is treated by company leaders as being correct in what they say and do: designers. Kawase-san teaches how erroneous this thinking is. 

Kawase-san's lesson is that companies don't suffer because they value designers too much, but because they ignore the messy human work of production and selling that actually turns ideas on paper into KING CASH.

Surprised? Read 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝙔𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 article by conservative economist Oren Cass. The article will give you insight into why most top business leaders have no interest in Lean management. There are lots of other ways to make money that do not require the CEO having to learn Lean, participate in kaizen, go to the genba, deal with culture change, and other things that top leaders see as unnecessary or unreasonable. Read the article "The Finance Industry Is a Grift. Let’s Start Treating It That Way" 👉 https://lnkd.in/eCcUzg9E 

If you want to know more about how high status people have long viewed society (and so much more), read Luke Kemp's book 𝙂𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙝'𝙨 𝘾𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚. 👉 https://lnkd.in/eFvxb4TV You'll learn a whole lot about leaders and business in wide-ranging historical context. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮: If you are ideologically opposed to well-researched books whose findings are rooted in reality, not myths, then you should avoid this book! Said another way: If you dislike the book, your weltanschauung (look it up) is rooted in myths. 🦄 You might want to fix that.

What do you think the answer to the riddle is?

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