Feb 13, 2023
Video Version
About the Podcast
Hello and welcome to another edition of State of Readiness with your host, Joseph Paris. My guest today is Norbert Majerus; Author of “Lean-Driven Innovation” and “Winning Innovation” and a Lean Champion (Ret) from the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.
He confesses that he went into engineering because he didn’t like to working with people and felt that a career in engineering would find him in the corner of a room with a computer and being left alone to do his work. It did not quite work out that way.
Norbert spent most of his career at Goodyear’s Innovation Centers. Having first been introduced to Six Sigma, his natural gravitation was more towards Lean and the “people” side and skills associated with creating a problem-solving and leadership culture.
We then talk about culture change; a topic which appears to be on many people’s minds. But people rarely speak of what they would like to change from what, to what. They share the phrase “culture change” and just leave it hang there in the air like a cartoon bubble and leave it to others to figure out what was meant; a grand assumption on everyone’s part.
But Norbert does take the time to explain his ideas with respect to culture change; including the from what, to what.
Fun fact; “Luxembourgish” is a language…
About Norbert Majerus
Norbert
MajerusNorbert was born in Luxembourg and has a Master’s Degree in chemistry from the University of Saarlandes, Saarbrucken Germany in 1978. After graduation and for the next almost 40 years, Norbert works for the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, starting as a rubber chemist. Over the course of his career with Goodyear, he held several roles in the Goodyear Innovation Centers in Luxembourg and in Akron, Ohio and holds over 60 patents and trade secrets in the United States alone. The role he held the longest and for the final 15 years with the company was that of Lean Champion and is a Master Black Belt.
Norbert has taught workshops and given keynotes at many conferences around the world. Since retiring from Goodyear in 2017, Norbert continues to share with others the wisdom he has gained through his consultancy, his speaking opportunities, and his writings, which include two books; “Lean-Driven Innovation” and “Winning Innovation”.
Norbert is also a Shingo Academy Fellow, an Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) Assessor, and serves on the board of the Lean Product and Process Development Exchange (LPPDE).
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/norbert-majerus-5a746235/
Company: Norbert Majerus Consulting LLC
Title: Owner/Member
Website: https://www.leandriveninnovation.com/
Headquarters: Akron, Ohio
Year Founded: 2018
Company Type: Privately held
Company Size: Independent Consultancy
Industry Experience: Retired in 2017 with almost
40 years at The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co, holding the role of Lean
Champion Innovation for the last almost 15 years.
Practice Areas: Assist companies with; Lean
Product Development and Innovation, Change Management, Lean Project
Management, Managing People in a Lean Environment