Innovation Skills
My career has been steeped in Technical Innovation.
Formal training, actual projects, personal prototypes, and leading large innovations.
Lean Six Sigma Black Belt
"Eating Waste for Breakfast"
I've held several formal positions in this space. I became the full-time Department Lean Six Sigma Black Belt (SSBB) for GE Aviation's Controls Center of Excellence.
​
But perhaps more importantly, I've utilized these tools to successfully bring programs back from the bring, to stabilize processes, and to give engineers their work/life balance back by identifying root causes and driving out waste.
Continuous Improvement
_edited.jpg)
Committed to Quality
I built the "Innovations" CI program for L3Harris as CI Manager.
I built the "Velocity" CI program for Uber ATG while the Director in Systems Engineering and Test.
This is how I engage people at every level.
​
By taking a more wholistic, end-to-end look at an engineering organization's flow, it's easier to understand why so many evenings and weekends are burning up! Not to mention morale. When old work is folding back on the new, leadership doesn't need to hire more people, it needs to tighten its processes.
Process Mapping & Instrumenting
Real Data Driven Decisions
I've been trained to use automation and workflow data to dig deep into business processes. I combined process maps and Business Intelligence data to unearth bottlenecks, reflected work (turnbacks), and process steps that are taking too long. Value Stream Mapping (VSM), meet Engineering!
Innovation Engineering
Creative Engineers are everywhere. But usable and timely innovation takes more.
Strategic "Blue Cards" and Tactical "Yellow Cards", Structured and Facilitated Brainstorming that really leverages your entire team. Meaningful Patent Research. Anticipating idea "Death Threats", and countering them early. The benefit of building mock-ups and simple prototypes. And critically, telling the story with a meaningful Value Proposition that your customers will want to hear.
The tools and training I received through Eureka Ranch on Innovation Engineering are world-class - and powerful when looking to align talent, organizational goals, and customer needs in exciting ways.
Innovation Sprints
Test your Ideas QUICKLY!
Innovation Sprints are a 5 day process that pulls your innovation team through knothole after knothole, using a variety of tools, thought processes, and mediums to tease out challenges, consider and rank alternate approaches, use basic tools to create proof of concepts in days, and drive to a meaningful conclusion.
​
I received Innovation Sprint training from experts, and then came back to my company and build out an entire training program at L3Harris. Where Innovation Engineering practices helps to align an engineering firm's strategic and tactical goals and begin the ideation process, Innovation Sprints drive one big idea home.
Mentoring and Facilitation
Fostering Technical Innovation requires Building Trust and Support
One of the great benefits of having served so many great organizations is all of the extra training I have been able to take advantage of. These ALL come to bear when I am leading Innovation.
Team Building
Influencing Skills
Team Facilitation
Change Acceleration
Career Mentoring
Emotional Intelligence
Executing Strategy at the Front Line
Over 100 more!
​