S3E4 – Jim Longshore – Strategy Execution Isn’t About Firefighting

2025-04-30

In this episode, Jim Longshore, Vice President at SBTI and author of The ABCs of Strategy Execution, shares insights from over 25 years of driving Lean Six Sigma deployments across manufacturing, healthcare, and insurance. Jim reflects on his early career experiences at American Standard and Trane, where the integration of Lean and Six Sigma first clicked, and how understanding measurement systems and capability analyses transformed his approach to strategic problem-solving. He outlines the key...

In this episode, Jim Longshore, Vice President at SBTI and author of The ABCs of Strategy Execution, shares insights from over 25 years of driving Lean Six Sigma deployments across manufacturing, healthcare, and insurance.

Jim reflects on his early career experiences at American Standard and Trane, where the integration of Lean and Six Sigma first clicked, and how understanding measurement systems and capability analyses transformed his approach to strategic problem-solving. He outlines the key components of a successful deployment, from having a single project hopper and champion, to building infrastructure that aligns improvement work directly to business strategy.

Drawing from real-world stories, like why recordable injury rates were misleading or how misjudged patient placement disrupted hospital staffing, Jim makes a compelling case for curiosity, clear metrics, and data-driven decision-making. He also weighs in on the future of Lean Six Sigma, the role of AI, and why leaders must resist rewarding heroics over consistency.

For anyone involved in operational excellence or strategy execution, Jim’s advice is simple but powerful: stop fighting fires, start preventing them.

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