The ALIGN Method: From 9 to 21 on the Shop Floor

Description

About this event This workshop is built from a real transformation: an engine assembly line that doubled output from 9 to 21 engines per week and cut grievances 85% — with zero capital investment. Rather than a lecture on lean tools, participants work through the same five-stage ALIGN™ Method the transformation itself followed: Assess Reality, Listen & Lead with Respect, Ignite Ownership, Govern the System, and Navigate the Next Cycle. Each of the four sessions pairs a short piece of the shop-floor story with a structured team exercise, so participants leave having already practiced the tool — not just heard about it. They'll conduct a live Gemba observation and name a gap between reported and actual conditions; rewrite a blame-driven conversation into a systems-focused one; state an adaptive stretch target and turn a team's resistance into a co-owned standard; and leave with a personal 30/60/90-day sustainment plan for their own workplace. Ideal for quality engineers, quality managers, Green/Black Belts, and continuous improvement leaders who want low-cost, high-trust culture tools they can put to use the following Monday — not just theory to file away. Participants will learn how to complete the worksheet, a rewritten standard, and a sustainment canvas: three artifacts they can apply to their own real work. Key takeaways / learning objectives: 1. Distinguish the reported condition from the actual condition using a structured Gemba observation technique. 2. Reframe a blame-driven conversation into a systems-focused one that protects dignity and surfaces real information. 3. Apply Adaptive Leadership — state the target, release the pressure — to co-design standards with the people who use them. 4. Build a daily-tracking and layered-audit structure that sustains a win instead of letting it fade. 5. Leave with a personal 30/60/90-day plan for driving culture change back at their own organization. Audience level: Intermediate to Advanced (practical application of behavioral leadership and Gemba techniques; also accessible to those beginning their culture-change journey) About Jason Neal Jason works as the operations leader for a high-volume manufacturing corporation. Having worked for several Fortune 500 companies, he has extensive experience working with conflict resolution and building self-directed work teams by applying servant leadership principles. He recently published the leadership book: Accidentally Aligned — How Leaders Create Value in Chaos. He holds a mechanical engineering degree from Miami University, as well as an MBA from Indiana Wesleyan University. He resides in Cincinnati, Ohio, with his wife and two children.