Amazon

Continuous Improvement Manager

Area Manager

Site Manager

Junior Site Manager

Syddansk Universitet - University of Southern Denmark

Junior Research Assistant

Kverneland Group Kerteminde A/S

Master Thesis Project

ForeFlight

Data Consultant

Odense University Hospital

Semester Project

Follow for daily posts about Lean, CI & Innovation | Continuous Improvement Manager @ Amazon

Hi!👋 Ivan here

I'm an industrial engineer with 7+ years of experience in Operations Management and Continuous Improvement.

I serve two main groups of people:

	• Business owners and executives who want to turn their broken processes into brilliant ones (and save so much damn money) through Kaizen and Innovation

	• Founders and consulting firm owners within CI, Lean or Innovation who want to promote their businesses and make LinkedIn a legit revenue channel

(DM me for the details) 


I started writing on LinkedIn in October 2023. 

Since then, I have been sharing actionable, educational, and entertaining content to support LinkedIn community members in their continuous improvement journey. This helped me grow my audience from 9,000 to 100,000 followers in a year.

Join my newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/ddQncJM5

Ivan Carillo

26 Kaizen Leadership Mantras

Here are the 4 principles that I believe are most powerful (and why):

1/ Gemba never lies; go and see for yourself.

I've seen leaders make terrible decisions because they trusted Excel sheets over their own eyes. The problems that cost us millions are often visible on the shopfloor, but nobody bother to look. Reports tell you what people want you to know. Gemba tells you what's actually happening. I think the moment you stop walking the floor is the moment you lose touch with reality. Your operators won't lie to you if you show up regularly, ask good questions, and actually listen to their answers.

2/ Without psychological safety, Kaizen dies.

I've watched brilliant Kaizen programs collapse because people were terrified to speak up. Companies that blame individuals for systemic problems get exactly what they deserve. Silence. Workers hide defects, skip reporting near-misses, and watch waste happen rather than risk looking stupid or getting punished. I think this is why most Kaizen initiatives fail within a year. You can't improve what people won't talk about, and people won't talk about problems in a culture of fear.

3/ The person doing the work knows it best.

I learned this the hard way early in my career when I implemented a Kaizen idea. The operators supported it, then immediately went back to their old method the moment I left. Every time I've ignored frontline expertise, I've wasted time and money solving the wrong problem. I think we underestimate how much knowledge lives in the hands and muscle memory of people who do the same task hundreds of times daily.

4/ Kaizen culture doesn't support strategy. Kaizen culture is strategy.

I spent years thinking CI was something that helped execute our "real" strategy. I was wrong. Companies with a strong Kaizen culture adapt faster, survive disruptions better, and outperform competitors with superior strategic plans. I think this is the principle most executives miss. Your competitors can copy your products in months, but they can't copy a culture where thousands of people solve problems every single day.

P.S. What's your fav one in the list?

Founder of Gemba Walk AI — I help executives cut waste and fix the broken processes costing them millions

Brutal truth: most Kaizen implementations fail within 6 months.

Here's why (and how to fix it):

Common failure pattern..

↓ Launch with great enthusiasm 
↓ Form improvement teams 
↓ Run some workshops 
↓ See initial results 
↓ Get distracted by other priorities 
 ↳ Kaizen activities fade away

The missing ingredient? 
Systems thinking.

Successful Kaizen requires these systems working together:

1/ Total Quality Management

+Customer focus throughout organization
+Process-oriented improvement mindset

2/ Just-In-Time Production

+Elimination of waste in all forms
+Flow-based operations

3/ Total Productive Maintenance

+Equipment reliability and efficiency
+Operator involvement in maintenance

4/ Policy Deployment

+Clear targets cascading from top to bottom
+Aligned improvement efforts

5/ Suggestion Systems

+Employee engagement in daily improvement
+Recognition of participation

6/ Small Group Activities

+Quality circles and improvement teams
+Collaborative problem-solving
 
Most companies try to implement Kaizen 
…without these foundations. 

Remember:

Success requires patience.

+Start with one system
+Build it thoroughly
+Connect it to others gradually

…and never stop improving!

Founder of Gemba Walk AI • I help executives cut waste and fix the broken processes costing them millions

Most companies create fantastic value stream maps.

Then file them away. (I've seen it dozens of times) 

Video credit to Krish Sengottaiyan. Give him a follow

Teams spend weeks mapping their current state. 

They identify waste. 
They draft the future state

Then ...nothing changes.

You know why?

No one is responsible for the customer experience.

Traditional organizations are function-based.

→ Finance reports to CFO 
→ Operations reports to COO 
→ Sales reports to CRO

Each leader knows their department.
But nobody understands how value flows end-to-end.

No single leader owns value stream performance.

"Everyone" is responsible = No one is responsible

VSM needs an owner with authority. 
One leader who can make decisions across silos.

CEO could, but they operate too high to manage CI.

So it's key to assign executive-level VSM ownership. 

Before you map your next value stream, answer this:

Who owns the complete customer journey?

If you can't name them...
save yourself the effort.

P.S. Does anyone in your organization have E2E accountability for value delivery?

Pimms Associates

Pimms Associates is dedicated to growing agencies and creators.

Founder

ENDGAME

ENDGAME is an AI product development consultancy that helps companies ship products twice as fast - and build lasting AI capability inside their teams. I’ve joined as Strategic Advisor & Fractional CMO to refine the positioning, brand, and go-to-market strategy. What excites me about ENDGAME is its unique position between consultancy and engineering - taking the best of both, without the baggage. The team moves fast, builds brilliantly, and always puts client capability at the centre of the work.

Strategic Advisor & Fractional CMO

Hewitt Matthews Group

Chair

Sugar Creative

Advisor

BIMA (British Interactive Media Association)

The BIMA100 and BIMA Hall of Fame are two institutions in themselves. I am now chair of both, and aim to bring some strategic changes to how they operate and what it means to be inducted into either.

I am lucky enough to have won the BIMA100 nine times in my career, and it's been hugely beneficial for my profile and growing agencies. BIMA100 celebrates the top 100 movers and shakers in the UK’s digital industry. I aim to help others in the industry to experience these benefits too!

For those that don't know, BIMA (British Interactive Media Association), is the largest association of agencies in the UK and does amazing work supporting all areas of our industry.

Co-Chair of BIMA100 & Hall of Fame

Adapt

DCTR

Webtopia - eCommerce Scaling Experts

Quba

Ogogo Fitness

Entrepreneur & Advisor | On a mission to accelerate people's lives and business growth.

For over a decade my personal vision has been to create a world where everyone is free to do what they love.

I am an entrepreneur and coach to business founders.

My work with founders helps them find new levels of sophistication and to understand:

> Everything you want is on the other side of fear. I help people break down the barriers that are stopping them from moving forward in their lives.

> Reciprocity is the key to success and you will achieve success by doing things for others with no expectation of getting anything back. 

> Ego is the enemy, and knowing yourself and learning humility is key to success

> Having fun is often forgotten in the quest for success.

> You are the product of the five people you surround yourself with the most, so choose carefully.

I’ve spent my career operating in the intersection of strategy, creativity, technology, and marketing, and I’ve never been afraid of getting hands-on.

My first business was founded when I was 17, and I was pitching in boardrooms to VCs at just 18 years old. I went on to work at a global corporation in their mobile division just as mobile phones boomed. The timing could not have been better. Within 18 months, and at just 21 years old, I was offered the role of Head of Digital for Europe by the CMO. I didn’t take the role but it gave me confidence to follow my dreams and build an agency.

I then scaled my business to:

> 100+ people

> £7.5M revenue

> Acquired or founded 5 different companies (across technology, communications, digital marketing, creative, research and insights, and strategy)

> Won the biggest brands in the world (Coca Cola, JP Morgan, Pfizer, and more)

After 20 years of building a business I’m now dedicated to helping others:

1) Grow businesses and agencies from inception to multi-million revenue.

2) Transform low profit margin businesses to cash cows.

3) Help build teams that can operate agencies reliably without the founder needing to be involved at every step.

4) Navigate through difficult and complex mergers and acquisitions.

I’ve been lucky to be surrounded by brilliant people my entire career, all of whom I am incredibly grateful for.

Leveraging my journey's very real highs and lows, I share insights and strategies to inspire and guide. 

In my spare time, I’m a husband and father to my three wonderful children. I love the gym, reading, sailing, and spending time enjoying the Isle of Wight.

Jonny Tooze

The wrong people won’t see your value no matter how loudly you show it.
The right people won’t need convincing.

You can work harder, speak louder, or bend yourself. 
It still won’t land with the people who aren’t meant to get you.
Some audiences just aren’t your audience.
And that’s not a reflection of your worth.

The right people notice without you shouting.
They see the effort, the intent, the substance.
They recognise what you bring because they value the same things.

Life gets a lot lighter when you stop performing for the wrong crowd and put your energy into the people who actually get it.
Approval isn’t the goal.
Alignment is.

Focus on the rooms where your value is obvious.
That’s where you grow.

Follow Jonny Tooze for more posts like this.

Entrepreneur, strategist, and architect of modern businesses

The way you respond says more about you than what they did.

It’s easy to mirror negativity when you’ve been hurt, disrespected, or pushed too far.
You tell yourself you’re just responding in kind, but all it really does is drag you down to the same level.

Not every reaction deserves your energy.
Sometimes strength looks like walking away instead of firing back.
Sometimes kindness is the louder move.

Staying grounded when things get messy is not weakness. 
It's you choosing to rise above. 
It’s the quiet kind of power that keeps you focused on what actually matters.

Stay kind, even when it’s hard.
Especially when it’s hard.

That’s when it matters the most. 

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You don’t have to know someone’s title to treat them with dignity.
Respect has nothing to do with rank.

It’s easy to be polite to the people “above” you.
But how you treat the people who can’t offer you anything back says far more about who you are.

Respect isn’t earned through job titles or status.
It comes from recognising someone’s worth as a human being.

The best leaders I’ve met treat everyone with the same level of dignity, whether it’s a client, a colleague, or the person cleaning the office at 6am.
They understand something fundamental:
They don't treat respect like a 'resource'. It is simply not. 
Give it freely and people trust you. Give it selectively and the whole culture starts to crack.

Titles and roles will change but how you made someone feel stays with them.

Lead with respect, especially when there’s nothing to gain.

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Gratitude isn’t just for the big wins.
It’s for the quiet steps that got you here too.

You pushed through bad days and made decisions without any guarantees.
You were brave enough to take on risks that you were not sure you were ready for and made the best out of all the curveballs life threw at you. 

All of that shaped this moment.
Take a breath.
You’re further along than you realise.
 
You’ve earned more credit than you give yourself.
Keep going.
Yes, there’s more ahead, but look how far you’ve already come.

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No one ever feels fully prepared before they start.
Confidence doesn’t show up first. 

You build it in the process.

Every expert you’ve ever met began as someone figuring it out, looking unsure, second-guessing every move.
They learned by doing. By getting it wrong, adjusting, and trying again.

Waiting to feel ready feels safe, but it’s really just fear dressed up as preparation.
You don’t need another plan or another pep talk.
You need motion.

Start where you are. Use what you’ve got.
The answers show up once you do.

You don’t build confidence by waiting.
You build it by beginning.

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Entrepreneur & Advisor | Committed to accelerating people’s personal, business, and LinkedIn growth.

Mistakes are teachers, not anchors.
We often perceive them as failure, but they are feedback. 

Each one shows you what to adjust.
The more time you spend replaying the past, the less energy you have to shape what’s next.

You can’t move forward if you’re still analysing the rerun.
You can’t change what happened, but you can decide what happens next.
That’s the part you control. 
The choice to learn, to adapt, and to try again.

Progress doesn’t come from avoiding mistakes.
It comes from using them well.

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The fastest way to stall your career is to try and save everything.

We are conditioned to protect our time and hoard our money. 
But in the career game, holding onto your resources tightly is usually the same as losing them.

You hold three distinct currencies: Knowledge, Time, and Money.

Real velocity happens when you stop treating these like trophies to be guarded and start treating them like assets to be deployed.
Stagnation is almost always a refusal to make a trade.

-If you are early in your journey, you are rich in Time. Stop hoarding it on low-value activities. Spend it lavishly to buy the Knowledge that makes you valuable.

-If you have hit a salary ceiling, you likely have Money but lack specific, high-level Knowledge. Stop trying to learn slowly for free on YouTube. Buy speed. Spend money on the precise coaching or certification that bridges the gap instantly.

-If you are drowning in work because you are the expert, you need to spend Money to buy back your Time. You cannot scale until you trade cash for delegation and systems.

The people who move up aren't lucky. 
They are just willing to make the exchange that others find uncomfortable.

Identify the one currency you desperately need right now. 
Then, look at the other two and decide which one you are going to sell to get it.

You have to spend to grow.

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Is your current 'comfort zone' just a nicely decorated trap?

We all dread change.
It feels messy, unpredictable, and frankly, out of our hands. 
That’s why we cling to the familiar.

But here's the rude reality check: STAYING EXACTLY WHERE YOU ARE HAS A MASSIVE HIDDEN COST.

Think about it:
You stop fitting in your current job/routine.
The old habits that used to help you now just hold you back.
You simply outgrow the person you were last year.
The city you've lived in for the past 10 years is starting to feel small.

Life forces you to notice eventually when you ignore those signs.

Does change suck? YES. 
But the pain of being stuck somewhere that has become too small for you will eventually gets way louder than the stress of making a move.

You don't need to know the entire future.
We all think we do, or at leat what our 5 to 10 year plan looks like.

Really, all we need is enough nerve to take the next step.
The one that leads you toward who you're meant to be, not who you were yesterday.

Bigger, better you needs bigger, better space.

Staying the same feels safe for five minutes. 
But if growth is what you want? You have to move. 

Period.

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If you were a client project, would you accept the way you’re currently treating yourself?

We often pour 100% into our deliverables, meet every deadline, and manage every stakeholder expectation, but we leave the scraps for our own well-being.
We push through the "bugs" (burnout), ignore the warning signs, and skip the necessary maintenance.

But read this again: "You are the greatest project you'll work on."
Think about that.

When a high-stakes project starts drifting off course, you don’t view it as a failure of character. 
You view it as a strategy problem. 
You stop. 
You re-evaluate the scope.
You pivot.

You need to apply that same logic to your life.

You’re not weak for needing a reset. 
Only human.

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is stop doing everything for a moment.

Take the pause, fix the direction, then get back in the fight.

The most successful projects require constant iteration. So do you.

Who else needed this reminder today?

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Good leaders get results. 
Great leaders leave people better than they found them.

Do people leave the room more confident, capable, and inspired or are they drained, defensive, and doubtful?

Titles fade. Targets move.
What sticks is the effect you have on people.

Anyone can lead when things are smooth.
The test comes when you are under pressure. 
Do you decide whether to lift others or pass the weight down?

Authority can make people listen.
Humanity makes them care.

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The urge to quit usually peaks right before the breakthrough.

It’s a strange phenomenon, but it happens all the time. 

You’re putting in the work, showing up, doing the heavy lifting. 
And yet... crickets. 

The results aren't matching the effort. The feedback is silent. The needle isn't moving.

That specific moment when frustration is high and energy is low, is dangerous.
It feels very similar to failure.

But usually? It’s just lag time.

There is often a delay between the work we do and the results we see. 
We tend to judge our progress by visible outcomes (likes, sales, job offers), but progress can often be invisible at first. It’s the foundation setting.
It’s the roots growing deep before the tree shoots up.

If you are feeling like you’re hitting a wall today, consider this:

The wall might actually be a door. And you might be standing with your hand on the handle, ready to walk away because you haven't turned it yet.

Don't stop now.

Take a break if you need to.
 Rest? Absolutely. But don't fold. 

You are likely inches away from the very thing you’ve been chasing for miles.

Has there ever been a time in your career when you almost gave up, only to succeed shortly after? I’d love to hear your stories in the comments. 👇


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It’s easy to have a great attitude when you’re winning.
It’s easy to work hard when the validation is pouring in.
But what about when it’s quiet?

I’ve realized recently that the people I look up to most aren’t just the ones at the finish line. 
They are the ones who maintained their standard of excellence when the reward wasn't visible yet.

They didn't wait for success to validate their effort. 
Their effort was the validation.

Success is the outcome. 
Work ethic is the character.

If you are grinding today with no applause, keep going. That is the stuff that actually matters.

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A leader’s first job is simple: 
Believe in people enough that they start believing in themselves.

The leaders who make the most impactful difference aren’t the ones giving big speeches or soaking up the spotlight.
They’re the ones who notice potential early, even when it’s still rough, unpolished, or uncertain.

A bit of belief at the right moment can change everything.
It shifts how someone shows up, how they take risks, how they handle setbacks, and how quickly they grow.

People don’t need a manager who tracks every move.
They need someone who sees what they could become and gives them room to prove it.

When people feel backed, they step up and being trusted will empower them to stretch out of their comfort zones. 
When they feel supported, they rise.

Leadership is less about being the centre of the room.
We create the lift that helps others exceed their own expectations.

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You can choose comfort, or you can choose growth. 
You cannot have both.

The most dangerous thing about the "Comfort Zone" isn't that it is painful but that it’s predictable.

We look at the circle on the left and think it represents safety. 
But in a changing world, standing still isn't safe. 
It’s a slow fade.

The insight in this sketch isn't just about chasing dreams.
It is about the price you have to pay to get them.

Choosing courage demands a trade.

You have to be willing to let go of who you are right now to become who you are supposed to be. 
You have to accept that for a little while, you won't see the shore or the new land. You'll just be out there, swimming.
And that is exactly where the magic happens.

Don't let the fear of being lost keep you from being found.
Go find your ocean.

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It takes more than 'wanting' for your life to change.
It only changes if you show up.

We all have brilliant ideas and things we want to achieve, start a business, learn a new skill, tackle a huge project. 
But the wishing alone doesn't actually move the needle.
Wanting something is a good start but it's not enough.

The progress only happens when you show up.

A single decision can point you in a completely new direction, which is exciting. 
But honestly? It’s the boring, consistent daily effort that truly gets you to the finish line. 
That 1% improvement every day mounts up to something serious.

Don't wait for motivation to strike; just put in the reps.

What's one thing you're consistently showing up for this week, even when it feels a bit tough? 

Let's have a chat about it in the comments. 👇

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A lot of the things we call “hard” are just new.

We hit something unfamiliar and instantly assume it’s beyond us.
New skill? “Hard.”
New responsibility? “Hard.”
New habit? “Hard.”

Most of the time, that’s not true.
You’re not failing.  You’re just learning.

“Hard” usually means you haven’t done it enough times for it to feel normal yet.
Give it reps and it stops feeling scary.
Give it time and it starts to make sense.

So stop beating yourself up for not being good at something on day one.
Everything you’re great at now once made you feel awkward or unsure.

Give yourself some patience.
Give yourself some grace.
You’re not stuck.

Keep going.
'New' becomes 'normal' a lot faster than you think.

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Forget complicated management theories. The best way to get higher performance is incredibly simple.

Here’s the thing we all know but sometimes forget: when a company genuinely puts its people first, and I mean really puts them first, in the way they work every day. The difference is massive.

It’s not rocket science or some tricky management hack. It’s just common sense. When staff are treated like actual humans, not just expenses on a spreadsheet, you see things like:

Low turnover: Fewer people walking out the door. Saves you a fortune on hiring headaches.

Strong loyalty: They'll be proud to work there and will go the extra mile.

Higher creativity: They feel comfortable sharing their best, wildest ideas.

Better performance: Happier people just do a better job, full stop.

Honestly, it just boils down to respect. People will always give more when they're properly seen and valued. 
Treating staff well should never be 'nice-to-have'.

What's the best example you've seen of a company truly getting this right? Pop your thoughts below. 👇

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It is easy to look five years down the line, that part is exciting.
It is much harder to stare at a to-do list on a cold Wednesday morning. 
That part is usually boring (and tiring).

Most people are good at one or the other.

Some just dream and never start. 
Others work hard but forget where they are actually going, so they burn out.

The real trick is just holding two opposing thoughts at the same time:

-I know exactly where I want to end up.

-I know I have to get through this pile of work today to get there.

You don't have to be the smartest person in the room. 
Just be the one who can look at a distant goal and do the immediate, dull work without quitting.

Keep the target in mind. 
Crack on with the work.
Simple as that.

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Jonny Tooze

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The Battle

Ivan Carillo

Jonny Tooze

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