Episodios

  • Voice of the Customer, Voice of the Team with Rich "Raz" Razgaitis

    Voice of the Customer, Voice of the Team with Rich "Raz" Razgaitis
    Mar 31 2026
    On this episode of Quality Time with MoreSteam, we welcome back Rich "Raz" Razgaitis to the show. Host Dan Swartwout has known Raz since the second grade. Raz was also the second guest ever on Quality Time with MoreSteam. That was two years ago, and as you will learn, a lot has happened since then. Raz is the co-founder and CEO of FloWater, a company on a mission to restore clean drinking water across the United States. Raz's mission is the same. But two years later, the company has grown a lot. (Oh, and since that last episode, Raz has been named EY's Entrepreneur of the Year for the Mountain West. Not bad.) Raz and Dan dig into what it actually takes to scale a business the right way. How do you rebuild a team after a crisis forces you to downsize? How do you design a hiring process that shows you something real about a candidate? Raz looks for two things in a potential employee: competency and chemistry. He explains exactly what he means by both, and why getting one without the other can cost you. Raz also shares the story of a tagline his team spent months developing that his customers completely ignored. It turns out the customers had already written a better one themselves. This episode is a great reminder that voice of the customer cannot be manufactured in a conference room. Because they've been friends for over 40 years, the conversation between Dan and Raz is just as fun as it is informative. They talk about Raz's children's book, which went to number one with a bullet. And Raz shares how cooking dinner sometimes means more than just cooking dinner. Raz and Dan's second grade teacher, Ms. Blume, would be proud of this episode. We think you'll like it, too. In this episode you'll hear about: 2:34 - Reintroducing Raz and FloWater 7:16 - Crossing one billion plastic bottles saved 10:25 - Redesigning processes while rebuilding the team 13:44 - Competency and chemistry 18:53 - Finding the right chemistry fit 23:31 - Continuous improvement in the interview process 32:29 - Learning the Voice Of The Customer while building a business 40:49 - Standardizing processes to ensure quality at every station 46:13 - Entrepreneur of the Year 47:13 - Clean Water is Awesome: No, Really! 50:23 - Steak dinners Additional Resources "Raz" (Rich) Razgaitis on LinkedIn FloWater FloWater on LinkedIn Clean Water is Awesome: No, Really! MoreSteam's Website MoreSteam's YouTube Channel Quality Time With MoreSteam on Facebook Quality Time With MoreSteam on Instagram Quality Time With MoreSteam on LinkedIn MoreSteam's Website Subscribe to MoreSteam's Newsletter MoreSteam on LinkedIn Dan Swartwout on LinkedIn Subscribe to Quality Time With MoreSteam Apple Podcasts Spotify Amazon Music YouTube
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    56 m
  • The COO Who Started in Aisle Five With Joe Baker

    The COO Who Started in Aisle Five With Joe Baker
    Mar 17 2026
    What does a grocery store in Philadelphia have to do with running a billion-dollar operation? If you're 17-year-old Joe Baker, quite a lot, actually. Joe started bagging groceries at 17. By 24, he was the youngest store manager in company history. And by 32, he was running a billion-dollar business for Hertz in Los Angeles. Today, Joe Baker is the COO of Veritext and a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, and the lessons he learned as a grocery bagger still resonate with him all these years later. On this episode of Quality Time with MoreSteam, Joe explains how he leads at the intersection of people, process, and technology. For Joe, the industries may change, but his approach does not. Joe puts people first, and he believes that a great culture is the foundation of a great organization. Joe and host Dan Swartwout get into the good stuff. How do you earn trust in a new organization? How do you get people to actually buy in? How do you build a culture where people care? Joe has been answering those questions his entire career. Business is a game of inches. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They are also in every minute, every second of this interview with Joe Baker. In this episode, you will hear about: 1:42 - Meet Joe Baker 5:39 - Getting into Villanova's MBA program 8:38 - The common thread throughout Joe's career 10:24 - Learning about leadership at Joe's very first job 12:56 - Why Joe's first job was so impactful 15:29 - The best opportunities for improvement or change when joining a new organization 18:18 - One of Joe's first mentors 20:19 - Joe's introduction to Lean Six Sigma at Hertz 26:24 - Business is a game of inches (voice of the customer) 30:52 - Dan's survey story 32:38 - Conducting effective surveys 36:04 - Joe's work coaching and developing people 37:12 - Joe studies leadership at 17… yes, 17! 40:00 - Learning from John Maxwell and Jack Welch 41:53 - Being open and genuine as a leader 45:45 - Finding the right balance as a Lean Six Sigma leader 49:46 - Using data to tell a story 52:30 - Analysis paralysis in sports and business 58:14 - Joe's final thoughts Additional Resources: Joe Baker on LinkedIn Books By Joe Baker Joe Baker at Veritext MoreSteam's YouTube Channel Quality Time With MoreSteam on Facebook Quality Time With MoreSteam on Instagram Quality Time With MoreSteam on LinkedIn MoreSteam's Website Subscribe to MoreSteam's Newsletter MoreSteam on LinkedIn Dan Swartwout on LinkedIn Subscribe to Quality Time With MoreSteam Apple Podcasts Spotify Amazon Music YouTube
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    1 h
  • Leadership Under Pressure with Adelaido Godinez

    Leadership Under Pressure with Adelaido Godinez
    Mar 3 2026
    This episode of Quality Time with MoreSteam focuses on leadership in service of others. Adelaido "Ad" Godinez is a retired Army colonel with 31 years of service. He has held senior roles across both the public and private sectors and brings one of the most impressive resumes the show has ever seen. As this episode shows, he's just as honest as he is accomplished. How is leadership affected by pressure, values, and daily habits? Ad and Dan talk about what happens when pressure builds and you start losing sight of the good work you are actually doing. Ad explains how he rebuilt his daily routine after leaving the military. His nightly "three things I am grateful for" habit might sound small, but it turned out to be a game changer. This episode also shows what respect for people looks like in real life. You'll hear the story behind Ad's surprise visit to MoreSteam HQ. He stopped a workday cold to publicly thank MBOE coach Ken Robinette in front of the whole team. The conversation also covers more traditional lean topics, like kata-style coaching and solving problems people actually care about. Ad is generous with his stories and his wisdom. He does not pretend any of it was easy. But it was definitely worth it. This episode will be worth it for you, too. In this episode, you will hear about: 3:15 - Meeting Ad at MoreSteam HQ 6:01 - Even the very best need coaching 8:37 - Respect for people 9:31 - Ad's background 12:16 - Advising national leaders during the pandemic 16:32 - Pressure creating self-doubt 18:52 - Going from the military to the corporate world 23:11 - Performance systems and recovery systems 26:58 - Expressing gratitude on a daily basis 31:59 - The MBOE Program at The Ohio State University 33:43 - Learning from those around you 36:56 - Becoming a better teacher, coach, and student 40:20 - Authentic leadership 42:06 - When the situation calls for a different leadership style 45:16 - Building up the people around you 49:35 - Asking Ad to return to the show 51:41 - Ad's consultancy, SOI Solutions 54:05 - Wrapping up the episode Additional Resources: Adelaido "Ad" Godinez on LinkedIn SOI Solutions MoreSteam's YouTube Channel Quality Time With MoreSteam on Facebook Quality Time With MoreSteam on Instagram Quality Time With MoreSteam on LinkedIn MoreSteam's Website Subscribe to MoreSteam's Newsletter MoreSteam on LinkedIn Dan Swartwout on LinkedIn Subscribe to Quality Time With MoreSteam Apple Podcasts Spotify Amazon Music YouTube
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    57 m
  • The Daily Work of Leadership with Jon Dario

    The Daily Work of Leadership with Jon Dario
    Feb 17 2026
    On this episode of Quality Time with MoreSteam, Jon Dario joins the show. Jon is currently the CEO of Edison Properties. He has also spent over 30 years translating operational excellence principles across industries most people think are completely different. For example, Jon ran Gap's busiest store in New York City. He oversaw 240 locations and $1.7 billion in business at Travelex. Plus, he's got experience in banking and real estate. Regardless of the industry, Jon has noticed one problem that never goes away. How do you get consistent results when everything is moving fast and nothing ever slows down? Strategy sounds great in the conference room. But when that strategy hits the floor, things can fall apart. Jon and Dan explore why that happens. They also talk about leader standard work and daily rhythms that actually help. Jon explains what it takes for people to feel safe enough to try new things and occasionally fail. This episode covers the stuff that makes leadership so challenging. Jon doesn't pull punches, and he's got the stories to back it up. Of course, this is Quality Time with MoreSteam, so there's some college football in the mix. Oh, and we'll have you singing a jingle you haven't thought about since the 90s. You're welcome. If you want operational excellence that's honest and real instead of theoretical and rehearsed, this is the episode for you. In this episode, you will hear about: 1:41 - Meet Jon Dario 4:40 - Universal management challenges 6:10 - Getting strategy from the executive suite to the store floor 8:22 - Effective communication strategies for leaders 10:48 - Authentic humility in leadership 13:44 - Multiple locations and leader standard work 15:11 - Effective huddles in a fast-paced environment 18:20 - Giving people the freedom to try 21:24 - We Are Penn State 24:28 - The manager's core purpose 27:49 - Jon's shift from retail to banking 34:30 - Dealing with resistance to change 38:20 - Old Navy in the 90's 45:05 - Continuous improvement and high workforce turnover 48:03 - Jon discusses the books he has written 50:51 - What Jon wishes he had learned earlier Additional Resources: Jon Dario's Website Jon Dario on LinkedIn Get Jon Dario's Books Jon Dario's Author Profile on Amazon MoreSteam's YouTube Channel Quality Time With MoreSteam on Facebook Quality Time With MoreSteam on Instagram Quality Time With MoreSteam on LinkedIn MoreSteam's Website Subscribe to MoreSteam's Newsletter MoreSteam on LinkedIn Dan Swartwout on LinkedIn Subscribe to Quality Time With MoreSteam Apple Podcasts Spotify Amazon Music YouTube
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    54 m
  • Most Meetings Shouldn't Happen with Evan Unger

    Most Meetings Shouldn't Happen with Evan Unger
    Feb 3 2026
    On this episode of Quality Time with MoreSteam, Evan Unger joins the show. Evan is the Managing Partner at Schwartz + Associates. He's spent over 30 years helping organizations work together. Evan's held leadership roles at Merck and CommonSpirit Health. One time, he even facilitated the meeting where his own position got eliminated. It's exactly as awkward and fascinating as it sounds. Here's Evan's brutal assessment: most meetings are 30 to 40 percent effective. Maybe. That's a staggering waste. Evan has spent decades figuring out why it happens and how to fix it. He shares a dead simple technique for virtual meetings. It stops the same three people from dominating every conversation. He also explains how to handle the "hippo effect." That's when the highest paid person's opinion shuts down everyone else in the room. This includes the people who actually know what's going on. The conversation covers Evan's career from the GE Workout days to his pandemic pivot. After losing all his work in 2020, Evan spent weeks depressed on his couch. His wife told him to get it together. What happened next involved meditation, mural boards, and a complete business transformation. You'll also hear how Evan signed up for a ten-day silent meditation retreat and what he learned there. Plus, why facilitators create meetings that shouldn't exist and what manila envelopes have to do with continuous improvement. What's the plane flight metaphor for running a kaizen event? Why do leaders get promoted for expertise but fail at collaboration? How do you hold space for the quiet people when the VP is in the room? Find out in this episode. And yes, you'll probably laugh a few times, too. In this episode, you will hear about: 2:28 - Meet Evan Unger 4:46 - A playoff football cliffhanger! 6:01 - Transformation in big, complex organizations 7:19 - When Evan facilitated his own departure 9:18 - Facilitation as a style of leadership 11:35 - Pivoting from in-person to online 15:59 - Using chat to make online meetings better 18:12 - HIPPO: The Highest Paid Person's Opinion 19:54 - Dealing with the "HIPPO Effect" 22:28 - Humility in leadership 25:13 - Collaboration before everybody was online 28:04 - Meeting mistakes 29:22 - "So many meetings should not be allowed to happen." 29:53 - A Kaizen event is like a plane flight 32:09 - Universal leadership skills 34:19 - How psychology and economics factor into Evan's work 37:23 - Evan's history with meditation 40:46 - Meditation and Evan's approach to leadership 42:42 - Closing thoughts and Evan's program Additional Resources: Evan Unger at Schwartz + Associates Evan Unger on LinkedIn MoreSteam's YouTube Channel Quality Time With MoreSteam on Facebook Quality Time With MoreSteam on Instagram Quality Time With MoreSteam on LinkedIn MoreSteam's Website Subscribe to MoreSteam's Newsletter MoreSteam on LinkedIn Dan Swartwout on LinkedIn The box score of the NFL Playoff Game mentioned in this episode Subscribe to Quality Time With MoreSteam Apple Podcasts Spotify Amazon Music YouTube
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    46 m
  • Daily Management or Daily Chaos with Darren Walsh

    Daily Management or Daily Chaos with Darren Walsh
    Jan 20 2026
    On this episode of Quality Time with MoreSteam, Darren Walsh joins the show. Darren is a Lean leadership coach and author with over 30 years driving transformations across industries like medical devices, aerospace, and healthcare. Oh, and also video games. We definitely talk about video games. Darren wrote the book Making Lean and Continuous Improvement Work: A Leader's Guide to Increasing Consistency and Getting Significantly More Done in Less Time. It's been getting a lot of buzz in the world of Lean. Darren wrote his book after seeing the same struggles everywhere he went. Teams want to improve. But they can't seem to make it stick. There are thousands of certified Green Belts and Yellow Belts, but most organizations still struggle with day-to-day problems. Darren spent years researching why that happens and how to fix it. Darren shares stories from his time at Sega in the 90s. As a member of Generation X, host Dan Swartwout finds this topic especially interesting. Darren also talks about building sustainable improvement cultures as opposed to chasing quick wins. It's a great conversation with one of the foremost leaders in continuous improvement. What should daily management actually accomplish? Why do frontline managers play a bigger role in continuous improvement than most people realize? Learn the answers to these questions and more. And of course, because it's Quality Time with MoreSteam, there are some laughs along the way. Plan. Do. Check. And act by downloading this episode! In this episode, you will hear about: 1:46 - Darren's background 5:23 - Why Darren wrote Making Lean and Continuous Improvement Work 9:06 - The number one takeaway from Darren's book 11:44 - Continuous Improvement at Sega 16:55 - The first 30 or 60 days at a multi-site transformation 20:16 - Implementing Lean in smaller businesses 22:26 - Frontline managers who spend time on the wrong things 25:18 - Visiting the Gemba with the right mindset 28:50 - Organizations that want to improve but get stuck 33:31 - The standard work of Lean management 37:12 - Darren's next book (and how you can help!) Additional Resources: Making Lean and Continuous Improvement Work and Darren's Contact Info Darren Walsh on LinkedIn MoreSteam's YouTube Channel Quality Time With MoreSteam on Facebook Quality Time With MoreSteam on Instagram Quality Time With MoreSteam on LinkedIn MoreSteam's Website Subscribe to MoreSteam's Newsletter MoreSteam on LinkedIn Dan Swartwout on LinkedIn Subscribe to Quality Time With MoreSteam Apple Podcasts Spotify Amazon Music YouTube
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    40 m
  • Thomas Paider and Lean Lessons Learned in 2025

    Thomas Paider and Lean Lessons Learned in 2025
    Jan 6 2026
    Quality Time with MoreSteam is starting 2026 by bringing back one of the most popular episodes from 2025. Host Dan Swartwout opens the show with a look back at the amazing lineup of guests who joined the show last year, from Shingo Prize winners to Lean Enterprise Institute board members to college professors and healthcare leaders. Then, Dan introduces one of his favorite interviews from last year, the conversation with Thomas Paider. Tom is the co-author of The Lean IT Field Guide and Vice President for Technology Infrastructure and Computing at Nationwide. He also serves on the Board of Directors for LEI. Think about this. Why do so many people think Lean is just about cutting costs? In reality, Lean is so much more. Tom talks about the misconceptions that hold technology teams back and what really changes when leaders focus on moving people to more valuable work. He explains how Lean, Agile, and DevOps actually fit together. He also talks about why leaders should initially focus on changing their own management system. Tom talks about what thriving IT cultures look like. He also explains why visual management matters in the IT sector and how going to see different industries sparks creativity. Tom's profound words are worth hearing again in 2026 as Quality Time with MoreSteam kicks off the new year. In this episode, you will hear about: 0:15 - Dan looks back on 2025 5:53 - Introducing Thomas Paider 7:20 - Tom's Background 10:34 - Working on Y2K 12:11 - Key Messages from  the Lean It Field Guide 14:05 - The Operational Definition of IT 15:45 - The First Steps in a Lean IT Journey 19:39 - Misconceptions About Lean in the Technology Space 22:05 - Moving People to More Valuable Activities 24:38 - Agile in IT 28:08 - The Early Days of the Lean IT Transformation at Nationwide 30:12 - Advice for IT Teams Starting Their Lean Journeys 32:51 - Learning from Other Industries 35:24 - Overcoming Resistance 37:55 - Lean, Agile, and DevOps 42:18 - Tom's Proudest Moments at Nationwide 44:00 - Peyton Manning 45:02 - The Future of Lean Technology 48:19 - Tom's Experiences as a Runner Additional Resources: Thomas Paider on LinkedIn The Lean IT Field Guide: A Roadmap for Your Transformation MoreSteam's Website Subscribe to MoreSteam's Newsletter MoreSteam on LinkedIn MoreSteam's YouTube Channel Dan Swartwout on LinkedIn Subscribe to Quality Time With MoreSteam Apple Podcasts Spotify Amazon Music YouTube iHeart
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    53 m
  • A Kaizen Carol

    A Kaizen Carol
    Dec 23 2025

    Grant Gemberson just wanted to push that year-end Kaizen event into January and get on with his holiday to-do list. Instead, Gemberson received an unexpected visit from three ghosts: the Ghost of Projects Past, the Ghost of Present Performance, and the Ghost of Future States. (You know where this is going, right?)

    In this special holiday edition of Quality Time with MoreSteam, host Dan Swartwout shares a Lean Six Sigma twist on a seasonal classic. During this episode, you will follow Grant through conference rooms, Gemba walks, and two very different futures as he confronts his own "we tried that once" mindset. MoreSteam's own Josh Cantie narrates the action.

    This episode is fun and festive, but it also deals with some important questions. Why do improvements sometimes fade? What counts as real support from leaders? And what does it look like when Kaizen is a daily habit, not just an event on the calendar? It's holiday fun and continuous improvement in one short, special episode. Happy holidays from MoreSteam!!

    In this episode, you will hear about:

    1:37 - Meet Grant Gemberson

    2:31 -  The Ghost of Project's Past

    6:33 - The Ghost of Present Performance

    8:54 - The Ghost of Future States

    11:54 - The Closing Scene

    Additional Resources:

    MoreSteam's Website

    Subscribe to MoreSteam's Newsletter

    MoreSteam on LinkedIn

    MoreSteam's YouTube Channel

    Quality Time With MoreSteam on Facebook

    Quality Time With MoreSteam on Instagram

    Quality Time With MoreSteam on LinkedIn

    Dan Swartwout on LinkedIn

    Subscribe to Quality Time With MoreSteam

    Apple Podcasts

    Spotify

    Amazon Music

    YouTube
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    15 m