Episode
136: Stop Solving Your Team's Problems with Paul Akers
- Podcast
- The Dwayne Kerrigan Podcast
- Published
- Apr 22, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3664
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://www.dwaynekerrigan.com
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Summary
Most business owners think AI and new technology will fix what's broken in their company. Paul Akers disagrees — and he's been inside factories with 10,000 employees on every continent to back it up. In Part 2 of this conversation, Paul and Dwayne go deeper into the mechanics of Lean culture, and why the secret to happiness and business success might be the same thing. In this episode: Paul's three-word formula for rolling out Lean in any organization without blowing up the culture: slow, consistent, and self-selection The 30-minute challenge: instead of solving an employee's problem on the spot, Paul gives them 30 minutes to come up with three solutions on their own — and why that single shift changes everything about how a team operates Why Lean is not a burden — it's pure joy: when every tool is where it belongs, every process flows, and people aren't waiting on you to fix things, the business stops grinding and starts moving Paul's take on AI and technology: they are accelerants to a well-run company, not a substitute for one Episode Highlights: 00:00 - Technology Not The Answer 00:17 - Podcast Intro And Setup 01:20 - Change Only When Ready 01:58 - Burn The Ships Commitment 03:05 - Slow Consistent Self Selection 04:11 - The Bob Conversation 06:17 - Labor Laws And Firing Customers 07:14 - Communicate With Video 09:11 - Lean Should Feel Fun 10:28 - Tools And Process Thinking 13:00 - Progress Equals Happiness 13:33 - Gemba Walkthrough Basics 15:22 - Teach People To Solve Problems 17:30 - Meetings Are Mostly Waste 20:19 - No Departments Just Lean 21:25 - What Gemba Really Means 22:56 - Job Sites And Lean Visits 25:21 - Action This Day - Winston Churchill 28:43 - Capture Lists And Proximity 31:04 - Text Expanders For Flow 32:23 - Instant App Sharing 32:54 - Flow With Te…