Powering Gemba Walks with Artificial Intelligence | Follow for posts on Continuous Improvement and Innovation

Hi - I'm Ivan, an industrial engineer with 7+ years of experience in Operations Management and Kaizen.

I serve two main groups of people:

1. Executives tired of broken processes burning money - I show them how to fix it and recapture 15-30% in Muda

2. Founders in Continuous Improvement who know their stuff but can't crack LinkedIn - I show them how to turn it into a legit revenue channel

(send me a direct message for more info)

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 Kaizen journey. It helped me grow my audience from 9,000 to 100,000 followers in 2024.

I have been posting around:

	• Continuous Improvement
	• Lean Manufacturing
	• Growth Mindset
	• Innovation

Including insights on 5S, Value Stream Mapping, Leadership, Industry 4.0, and Problem Solving. 

Now I'm building Gemba Walk AI to make every Gemba Walk part of a learning system, where collective insights drive faster, better decisions than any single expert could achieve.

For free weekly tips, subscribe to The Kaizen Geek newsletter.

Ivan Carillo

You've got the organizational pyramid upside down.
 
Most organizations look like this:
 
-CEO 
-VPs
-Managers 
-Supervisors
-Frontline Workers
 
But successful Kaizen companies flip it:
 
+Frontline Workers
+Supervisors
+Managers
+VPs
+CEO
 
Why does this matter?
 
Traditional Thinking:
"Management knows best"
 
Kaizen Thinking:
"Those doing the work know best"
 
In the flipped pyramid:
 
+Decisions flow UP from the Gemba
+Leadership serves those who serve customers
+Managers become obstacle removers, not order givers

Powering Gemba Walks with Artificial Intelligence

If your processes are broken, stop blaming people.

(do this instead)

To solve a problem, 
you must first become aware of it.

Here's yours: your standardization sucks.

Taiichi Ohno once said:
"Without standards, there can be no Kaizen."

Yet most "standards" are..

→ 47-page documents nobody reads
→ Outdated procedures from 2019
→ Tribal knowledge in someone's head

Standardization is something different.

I learned this watching a subway crew in Asia last year:

→ 9 minutes to clean an entire train.
→ 50+ people doing it identically.
→ Zero supervision needed.

Their secret?

Visual standards everywhere.

→ Floor marks for equipment placement
→ Colour codes for cleaning sequences
→ Shadow boards for every tool

Not robots.
Empowered humans with solid methods.

When problems occur, they ask:

"How did the standard fail?"
Not "Who failed?"

P.S. Can a new employee follow your standards on day one?

If not, you don't have standards.

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Founder

Advisor

Writer

Amazon

Junior Research Assistant

Powering Gemba Walks with Artificial Intelligence  | Follow for posts on Continuous Improvement and Innovation

English

Italian

Don't overcomplicate things.
Choose Wisely.
Build Simple.
Think Lean.

Never invent rules from the Ivory Tower. 

Go to the Gemba instead.

When British colonizers faced a cobra problem in Delhi, they had a 'brilliant' idea: 

Pay people for every dead cobra.

It worked. At first.

Then someone realized: 
Why hunt cobras when you can farm them?

Cobra farms sprouted up. 
The government stopped the bounty. 

The farmers released their snakes. 
Delhi ended up with MORE cobras than before.

This is the Cobra Effect. And it happens in your plant too.

You create a metric. 
Your team hits the target. 
The real problem gets worse.

Why? 

People game bad metrics instead of solving problems.

I've seen it hundreds of times on the Gemba:

-operators hiding defects to hit quality targets
-teams rushing through audits to meet completion rates
-supervisors closing tickets without fixing root causes

PS: What's the worst metric gaming you've seen?

Kaizen vs. Innovation 

Both are essential, but they serve different purposes. 

Kaizen:  

+Incremental improvement  
+Low risk  
+High involvement  
+Low investment  
+Immediate results  
+Continuous process 

Innovation:  

+Breakthrough change  
+Higher risk  
+Specialized teams  
+Larger investment  
+Delayed results  
+Periodic events 

Best companies don't choose between them. 

They use Kaizen to optimize current operations  
and Innovation to create new value. 

Kaizen builds the foundation that makes Innovation possible. 
Innovation creates the leap that Kaizen then refines. 

Together, they form a powerful system for sustainable growth.

Do you wanna start your Continuous Improvement journey?

Learn to see the 3M's of Lean.

Most leaders can't see waste.
Because they don't know the 3M's:

The 3M's of Lean refer to  

+Muda
+Mura
+Muri

Three Japanese terms used in the Toyota Production System (TPS).

These concepts are key to identifying why your processes are broken:

1/ Muda → Waste

What customers won't pay for.

Muda can be further classified into:

→ Type I: Muda which cannot be eliminated immediately
→ Type II: Muda which can be eliminated quickly through Kaizen

Example: 

I watched a nurse walk 2.7 miles per shift.
Not caring for patients. Just fetching supplies.

That's Muda.

***
2/ Mura → Unevenness

Mura can be seen as variation in quality, cost, or delivery.

It often leads to Muri and Muda.

Example:

Monday: Skeleton crew drowning
Friday: Full staff standing idle

Creating both overtime costs AND wasted wages.
That's Mura.

***
3/ Muri → Overburden

Unreasonable stress or burden placed 
on workers and processes.

Muri often results in safety and quality issues.

Example:

Expecting 60 minutes of work
in 45-minute windows.

Guaranteeing mistakes and burnout.
That's Muri.

P.S. Which M is killing your operation?

Look closer. It's all three.

Companies waste millions on complex automation while ignoring 5S. 

(which could solve 80% of their efficiency problems) 

This doesn't mean automation is wrong. 
But it should build upon, not replace, solid 5S basics. 

5S is a systematic method for workplace organization. 
It uses 5 principles starting with 'S':  

1/ SEIRI (Sort) 
 ↳ Remove unnecessary items 
 ↳ Keep only what's needed 
 ↳ Eliminate clutter 

2/ SEITON (Set in Order) 
 ↳ Organize remaining items 
 ↳ "A place for everything" 
 ↳ Label and mark locations 

3/ SEISO (Shine) 
 ↳ Clean thoroughly 
 ↳ Regular maintenance 
 ↳ Inspect while cleaning 

4/ SEIKETSU (Standardize) 
 ↳ Create consistent procedures 
 ↳ Document best practices 
 ↳ Visual management 

5/ SHITSUKE (Sustain) 
 ↳ Maintain the system 
 ↳ Regular audits 
 ↳ Make it habitual 

Most teams stop at Shine.

Clean up. Celebrate. Move on.

But without standards, there's no way to maintain it. 
Without discipline, it's just another "program."

Programs come and go. 
5S should be daily practice.

Most people are standing in the wrong line.

Look at this image ↓

Where do you stand when change hits?

Five doors. 
Five lines.
Five responses to change.

Two are packed: resist and complain. 
These lines never get shorter.

Acceptance? A few people. 
Advocacy? Even fewer.
Leadership? Nearly empty.

This is about human nature.

We gather where it feels safe.
But impact lives in the empty lines.

Fast, Cheap, Good - Pick two.

(trade-offs are inevitable)

"We need it fast, under budget, and perfect."

Everyone knows it's impossible. Nobody says it.

Three months later: 

The project is late, over budget, or broken.

You can't have everything.

The worst project managers? 

They promise all three. 
Then they blame the team when it doesn't work.

The most common tendency? Falling into the blame trap. But Deming proved this decades ago:


85% of performance problems come from broken systems and processes. Only 15% stem from workers themselves.

Yet when something goes wrong, we immediately ask: "Who messed up?" Wrong question.

The right question: "What in our process allowed this to happen?"

When you blame people for system failures, you fix nothing. You destroy morale and ensure the same problem happens again.

Your people want to do good work. Give them a process that makes it possible.

PS. Gemba Walks make processes visible. 

I wrote Gemba Moonwalker, a 55-page ebook that can help you build your Kaizen culture (one walk at a time).

Download it here, it's free: https://lnkd.in/dj8wmpQS

Data already shows what is about to break, but you are too distracted to look elsewhere (and that's why same problems keep coming back)

Credit to Oleksandr Khimiak (give him a follow)

Problems keep coming back because your team members ignore what the data is already showing them.

Your machines send five signals before problems escalate:

1/ Sequence deviations

The cycle completes, but the order or timing shifts. This is your earliest warning of instability.

2/ Rising servo power draw

Load increases slowly. No alarm trips. Then suddenly you're firefighting.

3/ Micro-stops

60 seconds here, 30 seconds there. Over a shift, you've lost hours in performance loss.

4/ Parameters drifting inside tolerance

Everything stays "in spec." But quality gradually drops, or throughput falls.

5/ Manual interventions

Every workaround leaves a fingerprint in your process, even when operators don't write it down.

This data exists in your systems right now. But teams stay in reactive mode. 

They lack tools to turn signals into insights. So they rely on opinions in root-cause meetings. 

PS. What signals is your team missing?

47 times I walked past it. Third week at the plant. Same operator, same station same routine. Everything looked "normal." Then my mentor asked:


"What do you see?"

"An operator doing his job well."

He smiled. "Count the steps."

That's when it hit me:

Worker picking up part → 3 steps
Getting tool → 7 steps
Processing part → 0 steps (machine does the work)
Returning tool → 7 steps
Placing finished part → 5 steps

22 steps total. 
Only 1 activity added value.

So, obviously, this layout sucks.

PS. What waste are you walking past every day?

Think about this morning. How much time did you spend searching for your phone, a file, or a tool? That's Muda.

Looking for things adds no value. It wastes skills and creative potential. Every minute searching creates frustration and dissatisfaction.

Now multiply one person's search time by the number of people who search and how often they search. By every day of the year.

That's the real cost of disorganization.
Every minute searching: 
→ Adds zero value 
→ Wastes talent 
→ Creates frustration

And it's costing you more than you think.

Disorganization costs you money, talent, and opportunity every single day. Your team wastes hours that could solve real problems instead.

PS. What did you spend 10 minutes looking for today?

Everyone wants to jump straight to solutions. But you can't improve what you don't understand. Before building your continuous improvement culture, answer this:


Where exactly are you now?

Rate your organization (0-10) on:

→ "We" vs "Me" mindset
→ Accountability vs Blame
→ Continuous Learning vs Know-It-All
→ Standardization vs Chaos
→ Prevention vs Fire-Fighting
→ Data-Driven vs Gut-Feel

The gaps you find are your roadmap.

PLEASE
 
Stop providing vague or no feedback. 
 
That's hurting your team.

Image credit to Edoardo Pallaro (give him a follow)
 
Yeah, ‘you need to improve’ or ‘Great job’ isn't enough.
It never actually was.
 
According to Zippia, 72% of people find their work
more satisfying if their company have a feedback culture. 
 
What’s the difference?
 
Vague:
 
"You need to be more creative with your proposal."
 
Actionable Feedback:
 
"Try adding diagrams in your proposal. It will add more appeal."
 
Here are 5 ways you can give actionable feedback:
 
1/ Be Specific. And Clear
 
 ↳ Avoid vague statements 
 ↳ Use clear, and objective language 
 ↳ Clearly outline the actionable steps
 
2/ Focus on Behaviours
 
 ↳ Use non-judgemental language to make your point
 ↳ Separate the individual from the action
 
3/ Offer a Path Forward
 
↳ Encourage them to develop a growth mindset 
↳ Rather than being stuck on wrong, give them a way to move forward 
 
4/ Create a Safe Space
 
↳ Be transparent. And talk openly
↳ Demand the same from them 
 
5/ Keep It Regular
 
↳ Integrate actionable feedback into your people management style
↳ Schedule 1:1 meetings to address key concerns.
  
P.S: What’s your approach to feedback?

KISS emphasizes simplicity over complexity. Here is the core idea: 


Simpler solutions are more robust, easier to understand, and less prone to errors.

Simplicity should be your key design goal. This means prioritizing essential features and avoiding over-engineering.

Use KISS in problem-solving, software engineering, product design, and beyond. 

Remember:

Straightforward approaches consistently outperform complex ones.

Innovation isn't a way to justify your salary. Listen to your customers. Identify their real pain points. Then solve their problems. Here's how:
  

Start with what your customers actually need. Don't innovate for the sake of novelty. Turn customer input into innovation instead. 

Here are the main steps I suggest you follow:

Listen first → Talk to customers before building anything new.

Solve real problems → Focus on what's broken or missing. 

Use what work → Don't rebuild from scratch when proven solutions exist.

Hire expertise → Bring in people who've already solved similar problems.

Innovation is about making things work better for the people who use them.

PS. You have another way besides Innovation to improve:

Kaizen →  Small improvements through ongoing human effort, teamwork, and training.

If you like Kaizen, you'll enjoy my weekly newsletter.

Join here: ivancarillo.com

You can order sushi by menu
 
Or you can say “I trust you”.
 
Credit to Marco Zima Simonella (give him a follow)
 
Original post below:
 
My family loves sushi.
Even my kids scream “sushiii” every Friday.
It’s our little tradition.
 
This week we shifted it to yesterday.
You can skip a Friday.
But not a full week.
 
Especially after we spent the Christmas week in Sicily without sushi!
 
We ordered delivery and I picked the different sushi types for the whole family.
 
And it made me think of omakase.
The classic Japanese way to eat sushi.
 
It politely says:
I trust you.
 
That trust is not just handed out.
Sushi chefs spend 10s of years mastering the skills and earning it.
 
Promotions work the same way.
You can get the title but trust comes later.
You earn it by mastering the skills of leadership.
 
Until people can finally say:
I trust you.

Turning product managers into leaders in conflict and ambiguity | Global Product Leader

The future belongs to community builders who understand that value comes from real connections between people. Here are the communities I will be part of in 2026:
 

We're heading toward a world flooded with low-quality AI content. As more people spend time with synthetic chat that feels human (but isn't quite), the ability to be in a virtual space and in real life with other human beings is only getting more valuable. Especially people who are on the same path.
 
With every new person who joins a community of people on the same path, new stories emerge. Things they've tried, things they've done that could be incredibly valuable to you. That is only possible when human beings come together with human beings.
 
These are the communities I am betting on to strengthen my new identity in 2026:
 
Nomads.com → I travel a lot since I left my corporate career. I realised that I like to travel slowly so that I can establish new habits where I am and make local friends. They call it slowmading. Pieter Levels' community is interesting. The guy has a way of looking at life that I like, so I hope to find more people here who vibe the way I do.
 
Modern Maker → My friend Jacob Pegs excudes incredible energy, and the people who interact with him know it.  I have been part of his community for over a year now, but not very actively in 2025. When I went back to read their conversations, I was really impressed. I will be more present this year (https://lnkd.in/dDdTUa7Y)
 
MicroConf Connect → Rob Walling books are the best I have found on the subject of bootstrapped SaaS. It feels natural to me to become part of his community. I haven't signed up yet, but I'm sure I'll find some good vibes there.
 
Kaizen Community → I plan to build my community in 2026. I want to give leaders who are building a Kaizen culture the opportunity to share their experiences. I haven't set anything up yet, but you can express your interest in joining here: https://tally.so/r/VLGV5E
 
PS. You can still stand out with content, but you'll by being more human.

Kevin Kelly, founding executive editor of Wired magazine, distilled decades of wisdom into his book 'Excellent Advice for Living'. Here are my favourite pieces of advice from him:
 
1/ Prototype your life. Try stuff instead of making grand plans.
 
I walked away from my corporate life with no backup plan. I don't have all the answers to move forward, and that's ok. I am letting curiosity guide me. Every day, I do more of what I love and less of what drains me. Action beats planning. Start before you're ready. Build something real, even if it's messy. 
 
2/ Don't measure your life with someone else's ruler.
 
When I joined Amazon, I told myself: "senior manager in 7 years." I worked harder than anyone around me to hit that target. For a while, it worked. Then I realized I was following someone else's playbook. Your definition of success is the only one that matters. Stop comparing yourself to others. What brings them joy might bore you to tears. 
 
3/ A major part of travel is to leave stuff behind. The more you leave behind the further you will advance.
 
I'm minimalist, but I still struggle to let go—especially of relationships that no longer serve me. It's painful but necessary. Leave room in your bag for what you'll discover. The lighter you travel, the faster you move.
 
4/ Gratitude will unlock all other virtues and is something you can get better at.

I'll explore the science of gratitude ore in 2026, as I don't practise it enough. Most people practice gratitude wrong. Listing what you're grateful for produces weak results. The real power comes from receiving gratitude or witnessing others receive genuine thanks. Find one meaningful story where gratitude was genuinely given and received, then revisit it for 1-5 minutes regularly.
 
5/ Perhaps the most counterintuitive truth of the universe is that the more you give to others the more you’ll get. Understanding this is the beginning of wisdom.
 
I firmly believe in this. And I've experienced it directly on here. Sharing Kaizen tips created opportunities I couldn't have engineered through a conventional path. Reciprocity and contribution create returns, but often in unexpected forms and on longer timelines than pure transactions.

Helping Leaders Ignite Change Through Inner Growth 🌱

There are truly two ways to live in 2025:

1. Striving endlessly for more. Feeling separate & disconnected.
2. Living fully in the present. Aware of our shared connection.

Most live stuck in the first.

Inevitably leading to stress, burnout, and a sense that something’s missing.

The bigger problem?

This way of living doesn’t just drain your energy, it costs you the deeper joys of life:

- A clear & peaceful mind.
- Meaningful relationships.
- A deep sense of fulfillment.

The truth?

You don’t have to sacrifice well-being for success.

Life doesn’t need to feel like a constant grind.

Your way forward:

Live (and lead) with presence, connection, and intention.

My goal is to help leaders and organizations:

- Embrace the present moment to lead with clarity & connection.
- Build emotional intelligence for stronger relationships.
- Shift focus from individual goals to shared progress.

The future belongs to those who lead with the heart, inspiring collective growth over individual ambition.

--

I am a husband, father and co-creator.

For 15+ years, I have been building tech companies and supporting leaders to:

- Improve lives
- Extend quality time
- Foster positive change

My deepest purpose in life is to touch and improve as many lives as possible.

To achieve this, I share everything I know and continue to learn over time.

It's up to you to decide how to use this knowledge to help others.

If you ever want to work with me, my door is open.

If not, take what you learn and pay it forward. 

We are all in this together!

Marco Franzoni

If your job drains your energy,

It’s too costly.

Just because you can carry the load,
doesn’t mean it’s worth the weight.

When your spark becomes strategy.
When days off still feel like work.  
When your phone feels heavier than your purpose.  

That’s not balance.  
That’s burnout.

Here’s how I protect my energy (and still perform at my best) 👇🏼

1. Lead from presence, not pressure  
↳ The team mirrors your nervous system.  
↳ Regulate yourself, elevate everyone.

2. Protect recovery time like revenue  
↳ You don’t rise by running empty.  
↳ Rest sharpens, it doesn’t soften.

3. Redefine ambition  
↳ Chasing everything dilutes excellence.  
↳ Choose impact over image.

4. Replace urgency with clarity  
↳ Emergencies are rarely real.  
↳ Slow is smooth — smooth is fast.

5. Audit your attention  
↳ Your focus is your fuel — guard it.  
↳ Check what drains vs. what drives you daily.

6. Set “end-of-day anchors”  
↳ Write 3 wins, close the laptop, step away.  
↳ Completion beats perfection every time.

7. Build emotional buffers  
↳ One mindful breath before every meeting.  
↳ Calm is your new competitive edge.

No title is worth losing yourself.

Work should amplify your life,
not consume the parts that make it meaningful ✨

👉🏼 Which energy habit will you start today?


♻️ Repost to help your network protect their energy while performing at their peak.  
🙂 Follow Marco Franzoni for science-based strategies on focus, EQ & purposeful performance.

Mindful Leadership Advocate | Helping leaders live & lead in the moment | Father, Husband, & 7x Founder | Follow for practical advice to thrive in work and life 🌱

If you have to make yourself smaller to fit in,

it’s time to find a space built for growth.

It’s not a confidence issue, it’s a context issue.

Because the wrong environment can turn
strength into self-doubt.

Here’s how a limiting culture quietly gets to you:

❌ You triple-check every word because candor feels risky

❌ You hide your pace because moving fast triggers pushback

❌ You lower your standards to fit a room that fears growth

And before you notice, you forget the version of you 

Healthy rooms don’t need you muted.

So here’s a leaders checklist:

↳ Do people elevate your ideas or water them down?

↳ Can you bring tension with care — without fallout?

↳ Do your strengths spark collaboration or insecurity?

You’re not the problem.
The environment is.

And there are always two choices:

Change the culture.
Or move to a room that can handle your full range.

Don’t spend your life adjusting to places that deplete you.

Choose people who sharpen your presence and stretch how you think.

Find environments that recognize your strengths, not feel threatened by them.

You were built to expand.
Not to fold.

💬 Who in your life expands your potential?
Tag them. Let them know.


♻️ Please repost to promote cultures that help people rise. 
🙂 Follow Marco Franzoni for more.

Success isn’t about being the brightest.

It’s about who sharpens you ✨

I used to feel safest being the expert.

Turns out, that comfort was my ceiling.

Real expansion starts when you:

- Feel exposed, not impressed
- Listen more than you speak
- Stay long enough to be stretched

Here are 5 shifts that changed my growth path 👇🏼

1) Celebrate others out loud  
↳ Generosity compounds trust and momentum  

2) Admit what you don’t know early  
↳ Clarity arrives faster without pretending  

3) Let others finish your thinking  
↳ Pausing invites better ideas to emerge  

4) Track patterns, not opinions  
↳ Repeated signals matter more than loud takes  

5) Build rooms, not pedestals  
↳ Systems beat solo brilliance every time  

Growth isn’t about standing out alone.  
It’s about rising inside the right ecosystem ✨  

Which shift feels most uncomfortable right now?


♻️ Please repost to promote collective growth over ego.  
🙂 Follow @Marco Franzoni for more.

Fear-led leadership may hit fast.  

But trust-led leadership lasts.

I've seen it too many times, leaders chase quick wins.

While they lose the people who could help them build something lasting.

When fear takes the wheel, teams choose:

↳ compliance over creativity  
↳ caution over contribution  
↳ burnout over belief  

Here’s what to do to make your people stay:

❌ Ignoring the quiet ones  
↳ Silence often hides disengagement.  

❌ Micromanaging every move  
↳ It tells people you don’t trust them.  

❌ Confusing urgency with importance  
↳ Not everything needs to be a fire drill.  

❌ Holding back feedback until it’s too late  
↳ Growth happens in real time, not in reviews.  

❌ Rewarding results over relationships  
↳ You’ll hit targets, but lose loyalty.  

What to start doing instead:

✅ Lead with clarity, not control  
↳ Direction beats pressure every time.  

✅ Coach, don’t control  
↳ Help them think, not just execute.  

✅ Build psychological safety  
↳ Let people speak without fear of fallout.  

✅ Celebrate small wins  
↳ Recognition fuels intrinsic motivation.  

✅ Share your own learning curve  
↳ Vulnerability builds credibility.  

Fear can force performance for a moment.  

But trust fuels momentum that lasts.


♻️ Please repost to promote people↳first leadership.  
🙂 Follow Marco Franzoni for more.

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