Join Us at the LEI Summit: What If We Solved These Challenges Together?
- Eric Olsen
- Feb 9
- 4 min read
Future of People at Work Session | Friday, March 13, 2026 | 2:45–4:00 PM
LEI Lean Summit | Houston, TX
When over 70% of continuous improvement practitioners are over 40 years old, when staff are doing the work of 2-3 people with no time for improvement, when organizational silos fragment our efforts, and when AI promises both opportunity and disruption—are these problems any of us can solve alone? The evidence from practitioners across nine sectors suggests the answer is no. But it also suggests something more hopeful: when improvement communities work together across traditional boundaries, solutions emerge that none of us could find in isolation.
At the 2026 LEI Lean Summit in Houston, the Future of People at Work (FPW) initiative is hosting a special session that brings this collaborative philosophy to life. Whether you're already part of the FPW community or hearing about us for the first time, this 75-minute workshop offers something valuable: practical approaches you can use, connections with practitioners facing similar challenges, and pathways to continue the work long after the Summit ends.
What Is Future of People at Work?
FPW is a collaboration of partner organizations—including LEI as a founding partner—united by a simple belief: improvement communities achieve more together than in isolation. Alongside LEI, our partners include Catalysis, Central Coast Lean, GBMP Consulting Group, Imagining Excellence, Shingo Institute, The Ohio State University Center for Operational Excellence, Toyota Production System Support Center (TSSC), University of Kentucky, and University of Michigan.
Since our inaugural symposium in Detroit and second symposium in Salt Lake City, we've gathered insights from practitioners across manufacturing, healthcare, education, technology, government, and professional services. The patterns that emerged transcend industry boundaries—and they point to challenges that require collective wisdom to address.
Four Challenges That Keep Practitioners Up at Night
Through collaborative dialogue at Detroit, Salt Lake City, and subsequent gatherings, four foundational themes emerged:
Succession Planning: With the majority of CI practitioners approaching retirement, who will carry this work forward? How do we transfer decades of knowledge before it's lost?
Time Poverty: When everyone is doing the work of multiple people, improvement initiatives stall—not because people don't care, but because they literally have no capacity. This isn't a personal failing; it's an organizational design flaw.
Organizational Silos: Silos between departments, between leadership levels, between improvement methodologies (Lean, Agile, Six Sigma, Change Management)—divided efforts that fail collectively.
AI Integration: The opportunity to use AI as a tool for time creation rather than viewing it as a threat. If AI could eliminate tedious work, what would we do with that reclaimed capacity?
What to Expect at Our Summit Session
We won't lecture you about these challenges—you already live them. Instead, we'll use this session to think together.
The session opens with an A3-style introduction sharing FPW's background, current condition, and goals. But we deliberately stop before analysis. Rather than prescribing solutions, we present seven discussion topics derived from cross-initiative overlaps and invite you to help us think.
Topics include questions like: How do we build an educational pipeline from university programs through early career to executive engagement? How can AI enhance all improvement initiatives rather than replacing human connection? What would genuine collaboration between Lean, Agile, and Change Management communities look like? How do we make improvement work attractive to practitioners under 40?
You'll then "vote with your feet" to join a Lean Coffee breakout table around the topic that matters most to you. Each table runs timed, democratic conversation—proposing sub-topics, voting, discussing, and deciding together whether to extend or move on. It's a methodology you can take back to your own teams immediately.
A Hybrid Session: In-Person and Remote Participation
In-person participation is open to registered LEI Summit attendees. If you're at the Summit, join us in the room for the full experience—tactile engagement with flip charts and sticky notes, face-to-face conversation at your breakout table, and the energy of collaborative problem-solving.
For FPW community members who can't make it to Houston, we're also offering remote participation via Zoom and Miro. Remote participants will be assigned to breakout tables alongside in-person attendees, contributing through audio and digital sticky notes. It's the inclusive, boundary-crossing approach we advocate—modeled in how we run the session itself.
Whether you're sitting in the room or joining from your office, you'll leave with the same things: practical facilitation methodology, connections with practitioners working on similar challenges, and clear pathways to continue through FPW's monthly community meetings and active initiatives.
Who Should Attend?
This session is designed for two overlapping audiences:
If you're already part of the FPW community: This is a chance to advance our collective work, recruit new collaborators, and connect in person (or hybrid) with people you may only know from Zoom screens.
If you're new to FPW: Welcome. You'll experience our collaborative methodology firsthand, discover that your challenges aren't unique to your organization or industry, and find pathways to continue the conversation. No prior knowledge required—just curiosity and willingness to think together.
Join Us
FPW Session: Lean Coffee on Shared Challenges
Friday, March 13, 2026 | 2:45–4:00 PM
LEI Lean Summit | Houston, TX
In-person: Open to registered LEI Summit attendees
Remote: Available for FPW community members via Zoom/Miro
The improvement community is better together. We've seen it at Detroit, Salt Lake City, and gatherings across North America. Now we're bringing that experience to the LEI Summit.
We hope you'll join us—and help us figure out what comes next.
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Learn more: www.fpwork.org
Monthly FPW Community Meetings: Second Friday each month, 11:00 AM Eastern
LEI Summit Registration: events.lean.org
Questions? Contact Eric Olsen (eric.o@fpwork.org) or Rachel Reuter
Future of People at Work is a collaboration of Catalysis, Central Coast Lean, GBMP Consulting Group, Imagining Excellence, Lean Enterprise Institute, Shingo Institute, The Ohio State University Center for Operational Excellence, Toyota Production System Support Center (TSSC), University of Kentucky, and University of Michigan.
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