Redesigning the Future of Work—Better Together: Insights from Improvement Leaders
- Eric Olsen
- May 14
- 4 min read
Updated: May 26
In an era of rapid technological change and evolving workplace dynamics, organizations face unprecedented challenges in maintaining engagement, purpose, and productivity. The "Redesigning the Future of Work—Better Together" webinar, hosted by the Lean Enterprise Institute on May 13, 2025, brought together three distinguished lean thought leaders to explore these pressing issues and share practical insights.
The Power of Collaborative Improvement
The webinar's central theme—that we're "better together"—resonated throughout the discussion as Gary Peterson (O.C. Tanner), Ken Snyder (Shingo Institute), and Tyson Heaton (Lean Enterprise Institute) shared perspectives on how organizations can thrive amid disruption by embracing collaborative approaches to improvement.
"When we began our lean journey, we borrowed so much from everybody that we can't even keep track of where everything came from anymore," noted Gary Peterson, describing O.C. Tanner's philosophy of "shamelessly stealing" (or borrowing, as he preferred to call it) successful improvement practices from diverse sources. This approach to improvement—learning across organizational boundaries and adapting practices to fit specific contexts—exemplifies the "better together" principle at the heart of the discussion.
AI Integration: Enhancing Human Work, Not Replacing It
A significant portion of the conversation focused on AI and technology integration. All three speakers emphasized that when properly implemented, AI should augment human capabilities rather than replace people. Ken Snyder shared how organizations successfully using AI are "purposeful about their tech," spending about half as much as competitors while getting twice the benefit—a "4x factor" of efficiency.
Peterson provided concrete examples from O.C. Tanner, where AI has dramatically improved quality inspections, document creation, and cross-departmental processes. "It's just helping us do more, helping us do it better," he explained, while emphasizing that AI implementation at O.C. Tanner has not resulted in layoffs but instead has enabled people to focus on more valuable work.
The speakers underscored that the most successful AI implementations are those where technology is pulled in to address specific gaps, involves the people using it in its development, and focuses on making work better rather than eliminating jobs.
Building Learning Organizations Through Psychological Safety
Another crucial theme was the importance of creating environments where people can learn, experiment, and grow. The panel discussed how organizations often face resistance when transitioning from command-and-control leadership to more engaging, empowering approaches.
Peterson shared a compelling story about his early days at O.C. Tanner, when managers were "bearing down on people telling them to shut up and do the job" and team meetings consisted of 15 minutes of awkward silence. Transforming this culture required training managers to embrace a different leadership style and showing team members they could succeed with a different approach to work.
Sally Gatlin, an attendee, highlighted in the chat that "creating a culture of safety, psychological safety to share ideas and improvements, is necessary to build the culture"—a point the speakers strongly endorsed. Snyder emphasized that respect for individuals and humble leadership are foundational principles for creating the psychological safety necessary for learning to flourish.
From Accountability to Ownership
An interesting discussion emerged around terminology, particularly regarding "accountability." Ken Snyder noted that his organization avoids the term because it's often linked to blame. Instead, they focus on responsibility and ownership, asking "Who is responsible for improving that?" rather than "Who is accountable?"
This subtle but important shift in language reflects a broader theme about creating work environments that foster intrinsic motivation and engagement rather than compliance. As one participant noted, "ownership leads to stronger engagement."
Looking Ahead: The Future of People at Work Symposium
The webinar served as a preview for the upcoming Future of People at Work Symposium, scheduled for June 26-27, 2025, at O.C. Tanner in Salt Lake City. This in-person event will provide an opportunity to experience firsthand the collaborative improvement approaches discussed during the webinar and engage with a community of practitioners tackling similar challenges.
As Gary Peterson described, visitors to O.C. Tanner will see "teams who are focused on working together successfully... this connection, this real positive vibe, super proud of the good feeling that I think ought to exist in the workplace all over the world."
The Takeaway: Start Where You Are
Perhaps the most empowering message from the webinar was that transformation doesn't require waiting for executive buy-in or organization-wide initiatives. As Gary Peterson advised, "You have a circle of influence where you can do exactly what you just said... You can make great things happen in a small space and then grow it."
This practical approach to improvement—starting small, demonstrating success, and allowing positive change to spread organically—offers hope to change agents at all levels of organizations.
Join us at the Future of People at Work (FPW) Symposium, June 26-27, 2025, at OC Tanner's facility in Salt Lake City, where we'll explore these and other innovative approaches to improvement methods. Learn more at https://www.fpwork.org/
Connect with us:
Follow the FPW LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/future-people-work/
Register for monthly FPW conversations: https://forms.gle/yXPbCXURdfvYtjmn9
Check out this FPW related event from our partner organizations: https://www.fpwork.org/fpw-events
This post was developed through collaboration between the authors and synthesized with Claude.AI assistance, demonstrating the potential of human-AI partnership in knowledge sharing while maintaining authenticity through author review and validation.
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