Episode 43: Dave Harry is The Process Whisperer
On this episode of Quality Time with MoreSteam, Dave Harry joins the show. Dave is well known throughout the world of continuous improvement as “The Process Whisperer.” Before becoming a Lean Six Sigma legend, Dave spent years as a US Navy helicopter pilot. He even gave Paul Newman a helicopter ride! (Yes, the Paul Newman.) As Dave explains, helicopter pilots understand Six Sigma better than most people. When you're flying a million parts in formation and 99.9% success won’t cut it, you learn to work for perfection.
In his conversation with host Dan Swartwout, Dave walks through his journey from military aviation to major OpEx roles with Northrop Grumman and Rolls-Royce. Toyota Kata also gets serious attention in this conversation. Dave is a self-proclaimed “Kata Geek” who has attended 10 Toyota Kata summits. Additionally, Dave shares what he learned from 15 years of judging ASQ's International Team Excellence Awards. Learn what separates breakthrough teams from box checkers.
Want to keep your virtual team engaged? Dave has plenty of tips. He keeps things light and fun, but when it comes to teamwork and process improvement, he’s serious about getting results. The Process Whisperer makes friends for life wherever he goes. Now it’s your turn to become friends with Dave Harry.
In this episode, you will hear about:
1:42 - What it means to be a Process Whisperer
3:13 - Dave’s background as a US Navy helicopter pilot
5:32 - The Paul Newman story
7:16 - Dave’s academic background
8:46 - Moving to the corporate world
10:02 - Becoming the Process Whisperer
12:59 - Projects that generated big cost savings
16:01 - Opening Process Whisperer Consultants
18:10 - Toyota Kata
24:25 - Post-pandemic challenges for Lean leadership
29:09 - Judging the ASQ International Team Excellence Awards
35:50 - Making friends for life
Additional Resources:
The Process Whisperer in Space?
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Quality Time With MoreSteam on LinkedIn
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Host • MoreSteam
Dan Swartwout is the host of Quality Time with MoreSteam. A lifelong Central Ohio resident, Dan is a double Buckeye. He earned both a BA and a law degree from The Ohio State University. Before joining MoreSteam, Dan had a long career as a host, comedian, and master of ceremonies. For 17 years, Dan was the studio audience host for the Ohio Lottery game show Cash Explosion. Dan was also the host of CBuzz, which was a collaboration between the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, WWCD 92.9, and the Columbus Dispatch. On CBuzz, Dan interviewed some of the most prominent entrepreneurs in Central Ohio. From 2002-2020, Dan toured the country as a standup comedian. Tracks from his comedy CD have been played over 5,000 times on Sirius/XM satellite radio. Now, Dan brings his experience and enthusiasm to Quality Time with MoreSteam -- it's business and fun, together.
The Process Whisperer • Process Whisperer Consultants
Dave Harry is CEO of Process Whisperer® Consultants LLC, a boutique process improvement consulting firm. As an independent Lean Six Sigma, Team Dynamics and Toyota Kata consultant, Dave has taught and lectured process improvement, project management and Toyota Kata classes throughout the US and internationally for over 20 years. Dave’s leadership and teaching experience includes with the University of Tennessee, Rolls-Royce Energy, Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, and KMPG Consulting. He has also had a successful U.S. Navy career as a Naval Aviator, International Defense Cooperation Agreements Negotiator and U.S. Defense Attaché. He has resided overseas in Spain, India, and Sri Lanka. He holds Lean Six Sigma certifications from ASQ, Rolls-Royce plc, SSD Global Solutions, and Northrop Grumman and actively participates on boards and leadership positions with the IISE OpEx Division, ASQ Lean Enterprise Division, IISE Industrial Systems Engineers Body of Knowledge (BoK) Governing Board, Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IEOM) Society Advisory Board and the Project Management Office associations. Dave has presented at IISE, ASQ, IEOM, TapRooT, PMI and AQI Conferences for more than 15 years. Dave is a PMI certified PMP®, has Lean Bronze Certification (LBC) through the SME/AME/Shingo Institute Alliance and is a Certified Scrum Master (CSM®). He has been awarded three master’s degrees, including a MSc Degree in Systems Management from the University of Southern California. (From Dave Harry's LinkedIn page)
