I was surprised that GEO CEO Larry Culp's opening remarks weren't shared in the YouTube recordings from the GE Lean Mindset event held in New York and live-streamed earlier this month.
Larry Culp's Opening Remarks on Lean at GE
His comments were brief, but he had a lot of great things to share, which I'll share from my notes.
Larry said that customers and suppliers ask him, “What is Lean, and how do I do this?”
The GE event was designed for an in-person audience primarily composed of representatives from customers and suppliers. ‘The GE event was designed for an in-person audience that mainly consisted of representatives from customers and suppliers.
Larry said they could have taken everybody to a GE factory to learn, where they “could have gone deep, but an event like this was set up for ‘far and wide' education (and they can still take customers and suppliers to the “gemba” at their factories, which I'm assuming they do).
“Continous improvement is the goal.”
As Larry teed up the day, he promised we'd hear “different words, but similar mindsets.” This would include a “lifelong learning tendency that all the speakers have.” You can gauge that for yourself through the videos, and I think he was correct.
Read my previous blog post about common themes:
But back to Larry's remarks… he said he has been on this Lean journey for over 30 years, which started with a trip to Japan for a week in the early 90s, where he was “yelled at” most of the time while building air conditioners on an assembly line.
Three Lean Mindsets Larry Culp Emphasized
Larry mentioned three mindsets and principles:
The importance of “going to gemba” to serve the operators rather than sitting in fancy conference rooms.
Kaizen: a mindset for continuous improvement and a methodology.
How it's ultimately about the customer and adding value.
Larry said you have to “create an environment,” and they focus on “building a culture of humility, transparency, and focus” at GE.
“We're not done, but that's the path we're on.”
Other comments, quoting as closely as I can:
“You can't just talk about it. You have to change the way that you work. Lean is the way we've done about that. It's not just manufacturing. We use this approach everywhere.”
SQDC and Putting Safety First at GE
He ended with, “Our mantra is SQDC in that order,” as I've already written about here:
- Safety
- Quality
- Delivery
- Cost
Larry Culp's Closing Remarks
The video of his final comments are available on YouTube:
From my notes…
Larry commented about the opportunity to connect the dots between various speakers. The dots he connected are:
“Lean Applies Everywhere, If Leaders Let It”
First, “Lean applies everywhere… or at least it can if you let it.” He hopes the day inspires you to begin a Lean journey, personally and with your organizations. “It can be highly impactful and good fun.”
Secondly, “Any Lean journey really begins with us as leaders of our organization.”
Why Lean Must Start With Senior Leadership
Larry is frequently asked, “What's a common failure mode” for this? When a leader aspires to put a team on that path… and brings in consultants and has them dive in somewhere in the middle of the organization… it might get off to a start, but that's all you get.
Larry said leaders must “set the expectation, walk the talk, and stay with it.” Lean can't be implemented in a flavor-of-the-day effort.
Finally, and most importantly, it's very important to make this a team sport, referencing the session with Giannis Antetokounmpo and the one with Peyton Manning (whose excellent session was streamed, but isn't available in the recordings).
“When you make this about the team, you can do great things.”
What else stood out to you from his concluding remarks?
Again, please check out the entire series of videos here. As Larry said in the video, look through any notes you took and look for two or three things (not twenty) that you can do differently as a result (or stop doing).
Lean Culture Is a Leadership Choice
Larry Culp's remarks reinforce something that often gets lost in Lean transformations: culture doesn't emerge on its own, and it doesn't start in the middle of the organization. It starts with leaders–what they pay attention to, how they respond to problems, and whether they consistently show up to learn alongside their teams.
Going to the gemba, practicing kaizen, putting safety first through SQDC, and treating improvement as a team sport aren't slogans. They're daily choices. And as Larry emphasized, they require leaders to set expectations, model the behavior, and stay with it long enough for habits–and trust–to form.
For leaders watching these videos or reflecting on the event, the challenge isn't to do everything. It's to choose a few concrete behaviors to start–or stop–and to follow through. That's how Lean shifts from being something an organization talks about to something it actually lives.
If you’re working to build a culture where people feel safe to speak up, solve problems, and improve every day, I’d be glad to help. Let’s talk about how to strengthen Psychological Safety and Continuous Improvement in your organization.
