Mike began his improvement journey in the late 1990’s using Kanban cards and production boards to reduce waste in the restaurant industry. In 2005 he joined Caterpillar, Inc. where he learned how to integrate process improvement with Six Sigma to increase heavy equipment sales in two Colorado territories. With a passion for education, Mike later began teaching folks how to use these simple principles themselves--first in the private sector (2009), and then later in the public sector (2012). Mike is currently the lean program manager at the Colorado Department of Heath Care Policy and Financing, the executive director for the Colorado Lean Network and serves as a State of Colorado lean champion. Mike loves learning about what drives people to improve processes while teaching them how to think differently. When he is not facilitating process improvements, Mike enjoys hiking, snowshoeing, biking and traveling with his wonderful wife, Melissa. View all posts by Michael J. Shull