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Future of People at Work Blog
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From AI Anxiety to Partnership: Time Creation Through Design
FPW Symposium 2025 Blog Series, Part 6 "Will AI replace me?" The continuous improvement professional's question during our CI collaboration session captured a fear that rippled through every sector group. Yet in the same breath, participants complained about having no time for improvement work. The irony was stark: we simultaneously feared replacement by technology while drowning in work that technology could help manage. This paradox—fearing AI while desperately needing its.
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From AI Anxiety to Partnership: Time Creation Through Design
FPW Symposium 2025 Blog Series, Part 6 "Will AI replace me?" The continuous improvement professional's question during our CI collaboration session captured a fear that rippled through every sector group. Yet in the same breath, participants complained about having no time for improvement work. The irony was stark: we simultaneously feared replacement by technology while drowning in work that technology could help manage. This paradox—fearing AI while desperately needing its.
When Methodologies Compete, Organizations Lose
Insights from the Shingo Institute Webinar on Harmonizing Process Improvement  [Webinar video:  Register and watch here ] "We're trying to understand how work is going to occur," Bruce Hamilton  explained to webinar participants. "We see it as really critical." This straightforward statement captures the essence of an unprecedented collaboration among eight partner organizations working to address a challenge facing organizations worldwide: navigating the overwhelming proli
Five Initiatives, One Mission: Building the Future of People at Work
On a Sunday afternoon in October, in Manchester, New Hampshire, something remarkable happened. Twenty-six continuous improvement practitioners gathered—some in person, others joining virtually—not for another conference session, but to actively build the future they want to see. The FPWork Sunday Working Session ahead of the Northeast Lean Conference demonstrated what happens when organizations stop competing and start collaborating. Beyond Presentation: Working Together This
The AI Skeptic's Dilemma: When Continuous Improvement Leaders Can't Improve Together
"I can't believe that I haven't been able to do this before." Marc Braun's  confession during the second Lean Into AI webinar caught everyone's attention. Here was a CEO coach with 30 years in continuous improvement, someone who built cultures of coaching and problem-solving for a living, admitting he'd been stuck. Not stuck technically—his team members played with AI individually and saw its potential. They were stuck collaboratively. Despite being continuous improvement exp
The O.C. Tanner Story: 35 Years Proving People Have More to Give
FPW Symposium 2025 Blog Series, Part 5 "We were weeks from shutting down U.S. manufacturing. We'd tried everything—except truly listening to our people." Gary Peterson  stood before 110 symposium participants, sharing what many executives avoid: a story of near-failure, discovery, and transformation. His 38 years at O.C. Tanner, including 35 years of continuous improvement practice, offered something rare—longitudinal proof that the principles we'd been discussing actually wo
Nine Sectors, One Process: How Structured Dialogue Generated Breakthroughs
FPW Symposium 2025 Blog Series, Part 4 By Future of People at Work Symposium Participants and Claude AI* This article is the fourth in a series exploring the key insights and discussions from the Future of People at Work Symposium 2025, a groundbreaking event that brought together the Lean Community to address the pressing challenges facing today's workplace. Read the first , second , and third  articles in the series. A healthcare administrator placed a pink Post-it note on
The Impact Timeline: Understanding When Change Hits Different Sectors
FPW Symposium 2025 Blog Series, Part 3 "US manufacturing is going to die on the current pathway." The statement hung in the air during...
Building Bridges Across Improvement Communities: Three Months Later
FPW Symposium 2025 Blog Series, Part 2 "I've been thinking about our conversation in Salt Lake City," Bruce Hamilton began during the...
Breaking Down Silos: Why Cross-Functional Problem Solving Remains Our Biggest Challenge
"Help me understand how this approach helps the patient's needs being met." This simple question from Deb Thompson during this month’s...
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