204: The Top 12 | How to Uncover Root Causes of Chaotic Growth with Lauren Hisey

Lauren Hisey thought she wanted to be a lawyer until she took some law classes and realized she didn’t have a passion for it. A chance encounter working at a call center while in college helped her discover that her true love was in operations. This love is evident as she recounts her operational journey and likely explains why her original interview made it to our list of the Top 12 most downloaded episodes.

Eventually, Lauren went on to have a successful career working at AT&T and Nielsen, leading projects that saved both companies millions. Now, Lauren has her own consultancy where she applies her signature “calming influence” as well as Lean Six Sigma principles to help companies improve profitability and achieve sustainable growth.

In this episode, she shares a behind-the-scenes account of how she helped a company turn around a grim situation – handling unanticipated demand for their new product with limited, burnt-out staff, high customer support hold times, and rising costs. While doing so, Lauren describes what a Gemba walk is and why uncovering root causes is essential to identifying and solving the right fast-growth challenges.

Special Guest: Woodstock, GA USA

Location: Atlanta, GA USA

Air Date: May 29, 2022

Resources

Websites:

Lauren Hisey Consulting: learn more about Lauren and how you can request a free 60-discovery call.
Lauren’s YouTube channel: learn more about topics like AI and continuous improvement as you work to improve operational efficiency at your company through Lauren’s videos.

Books:

The Basics of Process Mapping, 2nd Edition: a book by Robert Damelio.

Professional Organizations:

Kettering Executive Network: an Atlanta, GA-based professional organization that offers “…educational and networking opportunities for members through weekly meetings, social events, community involvement and special interest groups.”

Articles:

What is Lean Six Sigma? learn more about Lean Six Sigma in this article by Lauren.
My Continuous Improvement Toolbox: an article by Lauren where she shares some of her favorite Lean and Six Sigma tools for improving processes.

Related Episodes

073: Wes Graham’s Primer on Process Improvement

074: Love Hudson-Maggio’s Data Management Process

109: Boosting Customer Experience in Contact Centres with Marianne Rutz

159: The Toyota Way for Achieving Operational Excellence: A Masterclass with Jeffrey Liker, Ph.D.

161: What is Six Sigma and How Does it Lead to Operational Excellence? A Masterclass with Dr. Frank Barsi

Credits

Producer & Host: Alicia Butler Pierre
Podcast Editor: Olanrewaju Adeyemo
Video Editor: Gladys Jimenez
Transcription: Jodie Maquiran
Sponsor: Equilibria, Inc.

Bios

More About Guest, Lauren Hisey:
Lauren Hisey s the Founder and CEO of Lauren Hisey Consulting where she helps business owners and leaders uncover and solve their business problems. She is not your typical consultant or coach. She uses a calming influence, Continuous Improvement, and Lean Six Sigma through regular conversations to help create effective change within any business. As an expert in Lean Six Sigma, Lauren helps businesses to improve profitability and culture to drive sustainable growth. She has spent 14 years living and breathing Lean Six Sigma and Continuous Improvement as a coach, consultant, trainer, and speaker with different sizes of businesses, universities, podcasts, and various networking associations. She has a passion for Continuous Improvement and loves to show others how to use it effectively in their businesses.

Her accomplishments include capturing $16 M in cost savings and revenue generation for companies like AT&T, Nielsen, non-profit organizations, as well as small and medium businesses. Lauren has certifications in Lean Six Sigma (MBB) and Project Management. She holds a Master of Business Administration from St. Leo University and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Government from the University of South Florida. She resides in North Georgia with her husband on four acres. Lauren likes to spend time with her husband, hiking, gardening, cooking, working out, kayaking and yoga. Lauren has worked with such organizations and associations as Dress for Success, Kettering Executive Network, Women-in-Lean, Miracle League, and the USF Corporate Mentor Program.

More About Host, Alicia Butler Pierre:
Alicia Butler Pierre is the Founder & CEO of Equilibria, Inc. Her career in operations began over 20 years ago while working as an engineer in various chemical plants and oil refineries. She invented the Kasennu™ framework for business infrastructure and authored, Behind the Façade: How to Structure Company Operations for Sustainable Success. It is the world’s first published book on business infrastructure for small businesses. Alicia hosts the weekly Business Infrastructure podcast with a global audience across 55 countries.

More About Sponsor, Equilibria, Inc.:
Equilibria, Inc. is an operations management firm specializing in business infrastructure for fast-growing organizations. Our mission is to provide access to tips, resources, and proven frameworks that revolutionize the way small businesses operate. We do that through original podcast episodes, blog posts, videos, presentations, workshops, and coaching sessions.