Past Events
8th Annual Lean Symposium Recap
Event Date: September 18, 2024
Topic: Energize Your Continuous Improvement Journey
The 2024 Lean Symposium brought together a dynamic mix of industry leaders, continuous improvement professionals, and innovators from across the region. With a focus on reigniting momentum in CI initiatives, the event delivered high-impact learning, practical tools, and real-world stories to fuel organizational growth and transformation.
Keynote Speakers & Highlights
Andy Temte, Ph.D.
Author, Educator, Business Leader
Dr. Andrew Temte set the tone for the day with a powerful keynote on leadership in complex times. Drawing from his books “Balancing Act” and “The Balanced Business,” as well as his experience as former CEO of Kaplan Professional and current founder of Skills Owl, Andy challenged attendees to lead with intention—balancing trust, accountability, and workflow to create healthier, high-performing organizations.
Rod Holum
Founder of Coulee Tech & Coulee Techlink | AI & Cybersecurity Expert
Rod Holum brought cutting-edge insights in his keynote focused on the intersection of AI and Continuous Improvement. As an entrepreneur and tech leader, Rod shared how AI is already transforming lean practices by enabling smarter decisions, predictive analytics, and faster innovation cycles. His session left attendees excited—and better equipped—to embrace digital transformation in their CI strategies.
Rob Van Craenenbroeck & Sandra Noworul
HR Leader & Organizational Coach Duo
In one of the most inspiring moments of the day, Rob Van Craenenbroeck and Sandra Noworul delivered a joint keynote that highlighted the profound link between culture, coaching, and sustainable change. With experience across manufacturing, healthcare, academia, and more, Rob’s insights on navigating organizational recovery and transformation were amplified by Sandra’s deeply human approach to leadership and culture-building.
Sandra, the Director of Coaching and Culture at ISTO Optimize, shared real-world techniques to reduce stress and overwhelm, elevate performance, and create cultures where people—and businesses—can thrive.
🌍 With coaching experience across 5 continents, Sandra reminded us: “Thriving teams aren’t built by chance—they’re built by design.”
Event Highlights
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Executive Lessons on Lean: What works—and what doesn’t—from the C-suite
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Culture as Strategy: Why the "soft stuff" is actually the hardest (and most important)
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AI for CI: Harnessing artificial intelligence to accelerate Lean success
Take Aways
From real-life success stories to ready-to-use tools, this 2024 symposium gave participants:
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A renewed energy for their CI journey
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Strategies to align leadership and culture
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A glimpse into the future of Lean through AI
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Expanded networks of like-minded professionals