FPW Monthly Community Meeting - January Meeting Summary

January 10, 2025 | 8:00-9:00 AM Pacific (11:00 AM Eastern)

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BZMYzkY-78GGCqJIS_4AxxOJj8Vn5K0wlGjU5C2NciI/edit?usp=sharing 

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Meeting Overview

Attendees: Representatives across academic institutions, healthcare organizations, manufacturing companies, consulting firms, and professional organizations

Facilitators:

• Eric Olsen, Leader of Future People at Work (FPWork.org)

• Rachel Reuter, Co-Lead of Future People at Work (FPWork.org)

Platform: Zoom with Miro collaboration board https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVKm4rtGI=/

 

Key Discussions & Decisions​

1. Meeting Structure Innovation

New 10,000-foot plan for session structure:

• Lightning Round Report Outs (5 min)

• Impromptu Networking: "Why are you here?" exploration (3 rounds, 4 min each)

• Lean Coffee Table Breakouts (25 min)

• Report Outs & What I Need From You (WINFY) sharing

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2. Working Group Reports

Ways of Working (WOW) Group

Progress:

• Moving to weekly meetings (Fridays 12:00-1:30 PM CST) with Jim Benson hosting

• Planning experiments for June symposium demonstration

• Focus on design thinking approach

• Diverse representation spanning higher ed, museum, manufacturing, and healthcare sectors

Lean Academics Group

Current Focus:

• Improving student problem-solving and teamwork capabilities

• Current challenges in teaching vs. administrative lean application

• Exploring revival of Lean Education Academic Network (LEAN)

• Potential coordination with POMS College lean research community

• Need for better onboarding mechanisms for new participants

Adjacent Communities Group

Key Updates:

• Exploring connections with adjacent communities such as PMI, Change Management, Six Sigma, and Agile

• Started tracking potential collaborating organizations: Adjacent Communities Spreadsheet

• Discussion of branding beyond "lean" to broader improvement methodologies

• Focus on "Better Together" theme for June symposium

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3. "Why Are You Here?" Exercise Results [See expanded result Appendix]

During impromptu networking rounds, participants shared their motivations for joining FPW, revealing five key themes:

• Professional Development: Focus on learning and collaboration across domains

• Knowledge Sharing: Strong desire to transfer knowledge to next generation

• Strategic Concerns: Need to address erosion of lean principles and reputation

• Philosophical Questions: Exploring fundamentals of improvement thinking

• Practical Impact: Emphasis on human-centered workplace improvement

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4. Upcoming Symposium

• Dates: June 26-27, 2025

• Location: O.C. Tanner, Salt Lake City

• Theme: "Better Together"

• Goal: Demonstrate integrated improvement approaches

• Actively seeking adjacent community participation: Collaboration Spreadsheet

Action Items & Owners

1. All members: Add named responses to "Why are you here?" on Miro board (By Jan 24)

2. WOW Group: Launch weekly meetings and design thinking sessions (Starts Jan 17)

3. All members: Contribute adjacent community contacts to shared spreadsheet (Ongoing)

4. Eric O & Rachel R: Develop onboarding mechanisms for new participants (By Feb meeting)

5. All Groups: Begin experiment planning for June symposium demonstrations (Report progress Feb)

Resources

• Website: https://www.fpwork.org/

• Miro Board: https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVKm4rtGI=/?share_link_id=423004583324

• Adjacent Communities Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_e1ATTwHbIWUPOD05a6AUy0cppeEDHMBRIPs3ecrSvA/edit?usp=sharing

• Meeting recordings and AI-processed transcripts: Available upon request

• Monthly Community Zoom summaries: Available on Miro Board

For questions or corrections, please contact: eric.o@fpwork.org or rachel.r@fpwork.org

Next Meeting: February 14, 2025 | 8:00 AM Pacific (11:00 AM Eastern)

 

Appendix A: "Why Are You Here?" Exercise - Detailed Analysis

View exercise results on Miro Board

 

Exercise Format

Three rounds of 4-minute impromptu networking discussions where participants explored their motivations for participating in FPW. Responses were captured on Miro board and synthesized into key themes below.

Response Categories

1. Professional Development & Learning

• Learn virtual community best practices (Melinda M.)

• Personal growth through collaboration (Dan T.)

• Technology integration with lean tools (Fred B.)

• Understanding others' ways of working (Jim)

• Expanding lean higher education network (Bill B.)

2. Knowledge Sharing & Teaching

• Share learnings with 20-30s workforce (Susanna)

• Bridge design/construction lean practitioners

• Inspire next generation about lean (Dave O.)

• Simplify complex improvement ideas (Susanna)

• Transfer work-saving practices (Susanna)

3. Strategic Concerns & Challenges

• Erosion of lean principles

• Need for stronger leadership recognition

• Businesses have 'ruined' lean reputation globally - what are we going to do about it?

• Expanding critical thinking in education (K-12 through university)

4. Philosophical Questions

• Finding universal principles beneath tools

• "Are these principles business tools or life philosophy?" (Tania L.)

• "What's the best way to organize humans to solve problems?" (Tania L.)

5. Practical Impact

• Improving work-life balance

• Reducing workplace friction ("take away the hurt")

• Moving toward ethical focus over product focus

• Building cross-sector problem-solving community

• Integrating appropriate technology with ways of working (Fred)

Community Building Insights

The responses suggest a mix of practical, philosophical, and professional development motivations, with a strong focus on evolution of lean thinking and teaching, while addressing current challenges in the field. Key themes include:

1. Knowledge Transfer

   • Strong emphasis on intergenerational learning

   • Need for accessible teaching methods

   • Balance between preserving core principles and evolving practices

2. Community Development

   • Bridging academic-practitioner divide

   • Creating support systems for newer practitioners

   • Building connections across sectors and methodologies

3. Evolution of Practice

   • Modernizing traditional approaches

   • Integrating technology thoughtfully

   • Maintaining focus on human-centered improvement

This feedback will help guide FPW's programming and community building efforts, particularly in developing resources and opportunities that serve both experienced practitioners and those new to the field.

LinkedIn Blog Post:

Future People at Work: Building Bridges Across Improvement Communities

Last week's FPW community meeting highlighted an emerging shift in how we think about workplace improvement. As one participant noted, "Businesses have 'ruined' our reputation around lean - what are we going to do about it?" This candid observation kicked off a deep exploration of why we're all here and what we might build together.

The FPW community, representing a diverse mix of practitioners, researchers, and educators from manufacturing, healthcare, academia, and technology sectors, is tackling this challenge head-on. Through structured networking discussions and focused breakouts, several key themes emerged that point to an exciting path forward.

Why We're Here: More Than Just Tools

During our "Why are you here?" exercise, participants shared motivations that went far beyond traditional improvement methodologies. Fred B. from Budapest spoke about augmenting lean principles with modern technology, while Dave O., fresh from 20 years at Toyota to University of Michigan faculty, emphasized getting the next generation excited about making the world better.

These voices reflect a broader sentiment: we need to evolve from tool-focused improvement to something more fundamental. As Jim Benson put it in the Ways of Working breakout, we're seeking "a more human-centered approach to workplace enhancement."

Making Real Progress

Three working groups are actively moving this vision forward:

Ways of Working (WOW) Group is launching weekly design-thinking sessions to develop practical experiments, bringing together perspectives from higher ed, museums, manufacturing, and healthcare. They're tackling the challenge of making improvement principles accessible without the traditional baggage.

Lean Academics Group is bridging the gap between theory and practice, working to improve how we develop problem-solving capabilities in the next generation of professionals. They're exploring revival of successful past initiatives while adapting to current needs.

Adjacent Communities Group is building connections with adjacent communities such as PMI, Change Management, Six Sigma, and Agile. Their work embodies our "Better Together" theme for the upcoming June symposium at O.C. Tanner in Salt Lake City.

A Call to Action

Want to be part of reimagining workplace improvement for the next generation? Here are ways to engage:

1. Join our monthly community meetings (second Friday, 8AM Pacific)

2. Contribute to our adjacent communities initiative: Adjacent Communities Spreadsheet

3. Mark your calendar for the June 26-27 symposium in Salt Lake City

4. Visit FPWork.org to learn more

Our next monthly community meeting is February 14th. We're particularly interested in connecting with:

• Next-gen improvement practitioners (20-30s)

• Technology innovators interested in human-centered workplace enhancement

• Educators passionate about problem-solving capabilities

• Anyone interested in building bridges across improvement methodologies

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As our community has highlighted, the challenge isn't just about tools or techniques - it's about finding the underlying universal principles that will help us solve society's largest problems. We'll be exploring these universal principles in our next community meeting. If that resonates with you, we'd love to have you join the conversation.

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Looking Ahead

The June symposium theme "Better Together" reflects our core belief: the future of workplace improvement lies not in methodology wars but in thoughtful integration of diverse approaches. We're seeing this play out in real time as our community tackles challenges from manufacturing floors to university classrooms to tech startups.

Connect with me at eric.o@fpwork.org or Rachel Reuter at rachel.r@fpwork.org to learn more about getting involved. The future of work is being shaped right now - let's make it better together.

#FutureOfWork #ContinuousImprovement #Innovation #Leadership #BetterTogether

[Note: Eric Olsen is co-leader of Future People at Work (FPW), an emerging community focused on evolving workplace improvement methodologies for the next generation. Learn more at https://www.fpwork.org/ ]