Testimonials
David M. O’Brien
I have known Mike Orzen since early 2017 when we engaged him to assist in the deployment of Lean at The Standard. Working with our fledgling Lean Center of Excellence Mike delivered executive training, developed and implemented a deployment plan for Lean in the Information Technology (IT) organization, trained Lean coaches so that subsequent IT deployments could be completed without his assistance and coached IT leaders on Lean leadership behaviors.
Mike has deep expertise in the deployment and sustainment of Lean in office and information technology environments, He was effective as a coach of coaches and received strong positive feedback on his training from the executive team. He seeks to understand the culture of the organization and adapts his style to fit that culture. He is humble and respectful and was able to adjust his coaching to all levels of the organization from executive to the front line. Overall, we have been very pleased with his work and I personally benefitted from the coaching he provided me.
I strongly recommend you consider him for your Lean, Lean IT or other improvement initiative.
David M. O’Brien, CIO & Sr. VP Information Technology, The Standard Insurance Company
Sue Larson
Mike’s Lead with Respect workshop was enjoyed by our entire management team. Mike is a very engaging speaker and his thorough understanding of the behaviors and practices made the two-day workshop fun and extremely informative. What I liked about the class was how real Mike was and how he didn’t judge anyone’s answers. No question was dumb. His input on how to listen better has been very helpful.
Sue Larson, Plant Manager Costco
Jeff Bivens
We added Mike Orzen to our project team at a time when all hope seemed to be lost – the situation was dire, the stakes were immense, and there were no more second chances. Despite these challenges, Mike delivered quick, focused genius through two Lean IT workshops and several coaching calls, tripling our throughput in less than 2 months to set our project on a path for success. Mike possesses an almost spooky ability to help people gain effectiveness at continuously understanding and improving their situation. He does this through careful listening and questioning, respectful and fun engagement, and the application of the most extensive Lean IT skills and experience on our planet.
Jeff Bivens, Director of Technical Program Management Workiva
John M. Bernard
Mike is brilliant and understands best-practice management as well as anyone I know. He has particularly deep expertise in the application of these concepts to the IT organization — to a depth that I would say he is world class caliber. Thoughtful, caring, hardworking, Mike is one of those rare people in life I just love to hang out with and think.
John M. Bernard, Founder and Chairman of Mass Ingenuity
Christopher Kellogg
Mike assisted me in strategizing my company into the next level of manufacturing and drove me into confident decisions for future growth that changed my life into unbelievable directions Thanks Mike, you are a gem.
Christopher Kellogg, VP National Business Development, Corrosion Companies Inc.
Carl Hoefer
Mike is a capable and proven transformation agent who partners with his clients to facilitate their Lean transformation. His approach and ability to coach others is top notch, and I have witnessed his ability to foster the creation of a Lean IT environment and culture within a complex organization.
Carl Hoefer, Project Manager - Product Development and Engineer Nike
Chris Richards
Mike did an outstanding job facilitating a large group through a value stream mapping exercise. The team included participants ranging from Sr. VP’s to independent contributors. Mike’s subject matter expertise, coupled with his facilitation skills, were critical in helping us identify and document a large cross functional value stream that was previously presumed to be functionally oriented work. His top qualities include: Great Results, Personable, Expert.
Chris Richards, Vice President Con-way
Richard Carroll
Mike helped us design, plan and implement our Lean Office program for a campus of over 1,000 people in such a way that provided a clean handoff to internal resources. Their understanding of Lean at the tactical level combined with their competence in the boardroom to ensure that our Kaizen activities and measures align with our corporate objectives. Their skills in leadership, facilitation, education, information systems and governance have helped us build a sustainable foundation that will create significant value for our customers and competitive advantage for our enterprise.
Richard Carroll
VP Information Systems
Lean Program Executive Sponsor
Morris Weinstock-Blair
When Acumed knew that a search for a new ERP system was imminent, Mike helped us to find a path forward in keeping with our innovative product devlopment culture. We knew the task ahead would be painstaking, so we wanted to be sure to do it in the right way. Steady Improvement assessed our environment and made recommendations which helped us to allocate the necessary cross-functional team resources. Their guidance put us on the right path and allowed us to implement with a speed and capability that is making others who have gone through the same process envious.
Morris Weinstock-Blair, IT Manager Acumed, LLC
Scott Koch
Mike Orzen and Associates Lean Leadership Program helped us consolidate and coordinate our efforts across our entire US operations. Now our continuous improvement initiatives in sales, engineering, planning, production, finance and administration are all moving towards consistent and measurable goals, and showing significant results.
Scott Koch, CFO of Beall Corporation
John Gillam
The combined expertise of Mike Orzen and Associates developed from their diverse experience in employee development, manufacturing, project management and software systems has been instrumental in the successful implementation of an ERP system replacing legacy systems that were over 20 years old in a company with over 100 years of conservative
John Gillam, former Director of Operations Boyd Coffee Company
Lee Robinson
Mike Orzen and Associates skillfully guided this corporation through a process of identifying and implementing software to provide a strategic advantage over our competition. Working with executive leadership they developed a project plan, interviewed various stake-holders, guided decision makers to build consensus, created and implemented an action plan, assessed progress, and brought the project in on time and on budget.
Lee Robinson, CFO of Bonar Plastics
Jamie Meyers
Central City Concern is a large and diverse non-profit organization serving the needs of Portland’s homeless community. When I came on board as the first central IT director for the organization, Mike Orzen and Associates assessed our information system needs and budget constraints, and helped us create an effective IT development road map.
Jamie Meyers, IT Director, Central City Concern
Jackie Barretta
Mike Orzen & Associates has consistently delivered high quality lean consulting and positive bottom line results over the past two years. His expertise in Lean and Six Sigma applied to non-manufacturing environments enabled us to launch our Lean transformation and realize significant results. Mike’s grasp of applying Lean to IT issues is very rare. We successfully completed numerous improvement Kaizens throughout our IT functional areas with impressive results. His ability to effectively work with people at all levels of the organization made the experience possible. A great coach, teacher, and motivator – I strongly recommend him.
Jackie Barretta, CIO Con-way
Ajeet Khalsa
Mike Orzen and Associates represents the highest quality of consultants a business can work with to improve business operations as they have an enormous tool box of practical management skills, a strong appetite for positive change, and genuine concern for the clients ability to learn, apply, and use the knowledge they impart.
The Mike Orzen and Associates team was very much the right team at that right time to help a frustrated group of managers find practical and business size correct methods, systems, and simple management tools to establish a frame work for perpetual improvement. They have a rich and practical experience in working with simple to complex business issues and have a superb positive attitude about creating a business culture that strives to improve everyday.
Ajeet Khalsa, Director of Operations Golden Temple
Rajesh Solanki
Mike Orzen and Associates’ deep understanding of Lean Enterprise IT systems provided our team clarity in understanding our Lean execution needs. Their quality approach provided excellent state of the art guidance. We continue to look forward to working with them to create the business case vision for lean execution systems.
Rajesh Solanki, Director, Lean Six Sigma Ingersoll Rand, Security Technologies
John Haines
Our involvement with Steady Improvement has been very beneficial. They have a realistic and practical approach that effectively combines the science and discipline of Lean process improvement with the art of actual implementation within an organizational structure. As a non-profit organization, increasing efficiencies and positive outcomes means we can provide better services to our community without increasing our costs. In just a few months, we have already realized dramatic productivity and service level improvements, and we are seeing the skill set of lean process improvement positively impacting our other programs.
John Haines, Executive Director, Mercy Corps Northwest
James P. Fee Jr.
Over the past 18 months I’ve worked with Mike Orzen and Associates on EDI, Web Store, Product Configurator, and ERP projects. I have found the Mike Orzen and Associates consultants to be excellent communicators, experienced facilitators and team leaders, delivering beyond expectations and within budget, and following up to ensure we continue to utilize technology to its full capacity. Their consultants interact well with all levels of the organization, from senior management to IT technician, and their personalities and communication style engage and value all. They have the valuable ability to operate strategically at a fairly high level, as well as tactically down in the details of a specific project.
James P. Fee, Jr. Vice President, Portable Monitoring Welch Allyn Monitoring
Paolo Chiappina
Mike was instrumental in providing our company with a deeper understanding of Shingo Prize criteria during an OPEX workshop. He made the workshop fun and provided lots of great coaching points to help us in our efforts to pursue operational excellence. His top three qualities are: Personable, Expert, and Creative.
Paolo Chiappina is the director of Lean and QMS Hanesbrands, Inc.
Roger Chen
Mike received rave reviews from a group of 20 leaders that attended his Shingo Assessor Workshop over 2 days. He is able to build rapport and engage people with diverse experiences in meaningful dialogue to help them understand concepts and useful applications of lean and Shingo. We plan to work with Mike again, he is terrific.
Roger Chen, Corporate Director of Performance Executive Martin Memorial Health Systems
Christopher Kellogg
Mike assisted me in strategizing my company into the next level of manufacturing and drove me into confident decisions for future growth that changed my life into unbelievable directions Thanks Mike, you are a gem.
Christopher Kellogg, VP National Business Development, Corrosion Companies Inc.
Elizabeth King
Mike brings a wonderful blend of energy, experience and knowledge to his work. The team really came together and delivered wonderful results under his guidance as a teacher and coach. I highly recommend him! Top qualities: Great Results, Personable, Expert.
Elizabeth King, Exec Director, ESCO Corp.
Richard Day
Mike is one of the sharpest guys I know. He really understands business, processes and most importantly people. He’s a hands-on manager/leader that owns his projects and delivers results.
Richard Day, President of PED Manufacturing and Columbia Soft Corp.
Robert J. Witt
Mike Orzen and Associates has helped guide the development and implementation of large and complex ERP, EDI, and CRM projects at Veris. As consultants and team members they keep highly diverse teams on schedule, while ensuring thorough discussion, analysis, planning and implementation. I believe the success we have seen with these projects is a direct result of Mike Orzen and Associate's ability, expertise, and commitment.
Robert J. Witt, Controller Veris Industries
Travis Pierce
Mike Orzen and Associates are the type of people who look out for the well being of their client above all else. I do not consider them just consultants; they are also excellent mentors. I am amazed at their level of understanding of business processes and the people that make them work. I would recommend them to lead, manage, or be team members of any business project or initiative that aims to improve processes and reduce costs.
Travis Pierce, IT Operations Mgr Warn Industries, Inc.
Nathan Holt
Mike met all of the key attributes of a successful workshop and it showed in our workshop survey where participants scored them 93% for overall satisfaction. Beyond professionalism and dedication to creating successful workshops, Mike also demonstrate a great deal of experience in the areas of Lean and also IT. It is very rare to find someone who can speak the ‘language of IT’; in detail and yet also speak the ‘language of lean’; based on Lean TPS principles. Mike has this ability and I consider him a leader and pioneer of this new and exciting area of lean.
Nathan Holt, Corporate Leader, Enterprise Lean Sigma Transformation Avery Dennison
Gayle Burrow BSN, MPH, CCHP-RN
Michael’s vast expertise and experience working with groups allowed the team to look at their work, step out of the box and look at new ways of doing the work. He is calm, supportive and can lead a group to a higher place with techniques that do not bring competition or ownership, while allowing the team to to move to a new level of thinking.
I would recommend Michael as his skilled facilitation allowed us to improve the continuity of care in our program.
Gayle Burrow BSN, MPH, CCHP-RN Director Multnomah Health Department
Robert Witt, Director, Insitu
I have worked with Mike Orzen and Associates on numerous projects centered around IT and business process improvement. They have consistently provided high-quality project management skills, experienced insight and a relentless focus on delivering value. I recommend them without reservation.
Robert Witt, Director, Insitu
Keith Burnett
I would recommend Mike Orzen to anyone who is looking for a facilitator for a Lean Kaizen event. We used Mike to facilitate an EDI Customer On-boarding Kaizen event and he did an outstanding job working with a team of business and I.T. subject matter experts. His knowledge of Lean, his facilitation skills and his people skills were a valuable contribution to the success of the team and the significant outcomes achieved during the Kaizen event.
Keith Burnett, V.P. Administrative Services Con-way
Thomas R Yackel MD MPH MS
Mike presented a workshop for our IT managers and staff on Lean for Healthcare IT. Our organization is just getting started on our Lean journey and Mike’s presentation was a very helpful introduction with a specific focus on IT that was especially helpful. Having the Lean concepts immediately resonate with our staff was key to getting them engaged.
Mike is a humble, light-hearted, and knowledgeable presenter, someone you enjoy listening to. He has a lot of experience that he was able to draw from when asked during the workshop. His advice is both practical and challenging at the same time.
I can recommend Mike without hesitation to anyone seeking a Lean consultant with an IT focus.
Thomas R Yackel, MD MPH MS Chief Health Information Officer OHSU Healthcare
Vanetta Abdellatif
Mike has worked with Multnomah County Health Department for more than three years. I have enjoyed getting to know him and his work. Mike demonstrates enthusiasm, insight and humility as he supported our quality improvement work and transformation using Lean. He brings with him both a high degree of knowledge, excellent communication skills and a coaching style that is both respectful and effective.
He has worked with us on at least 15 rapid improvement events and shares our goal of coaching and training our own staff to better leverage the tools of Lean to build a safety culture of continuous improvement with sustained results. Our first project that was labeled “impossible” by many staff members was very successful; and has shown sustained results for over two years. Mike is warm, approachable, very knowledgeable and inspires those who work with him to continuously improve.
Vanetta Abdellatif, Director, Integrated Clinical Services Multnomah County Health Department
Tom Paider
I engaged Mike Orzen for a Coaching Workshop focused on uplifting the skills of our internal lean and agile transformation coaches. Mike did not disappoint, creating a one day workshop that brought a practical approach to teaching coaching and transformation patterns. Further, he worked with the participants to put together an action plan to put in place the things they learned in class. Mike’s hands on approach and follow up have enabled our coaches to continue learning after the workshop ended. Mike is truly a lean leader and a “coaches’ coach.”
Tom Paider, AVP, IT Build Capability Nationwide
Ron Davis
I highly recommend Mike Orzen to help launch a Lean IT improvement initiative. Mike helped WD IT understand Lean IT concepts, how to apply them, and help us assess and identify the areas for improvement. His personable yet direct coaching style worked very well the Lean program team members and his enthusiasm for the benefits of Lean was extremely motivating. The team members reported how much they enjoyed working with Mike and the participants left empowered and “ready to go”. His work with us has already led to significant improvements and the team is eager to do more. I have a great deal of respect for Mike’s expertise and he more than proved his extensive credentials in his work with us.
Ron Davis Sr., Director of Business Information Systems Western Digital
Tom Armstrong
I first heard Mike speak at Ohio State University, Centre for Operational Excellence and was impressed with his ability to clearly translate the principles of Lean and Operational Excellence into tangible, credible examples applied to the world of IT. So much so that I engaged him to work with my Leadership team. Over the course of his 3-day workshop, he skilfully captured the attention of a group of 25 “battle hardened” IT veterans through very detailed hands-on application of Lean tools and methods cleverly applied to IT challenges. We left the workshop with a clear understanding of how to apply lean to our IT operations, a Lean IT roadmap, and practical skills that will further our Lean evolution. I would fully recommend Mike for similar assignments in other IT operations.
Tom Armstrong, CIO Aggreko
Lee Ann Dudney
It is my privilege to recommend Mike Orzen as an excellent resource for Lean consulting. Mike’s consulting services to PNNL in 2012-13 were invaluable in helping us launch a Lean IT improvement initiative.
Mike demonstrated proficiency in assessing our environment to identify improvement opportunities, training team members on Lean IT concepts, helping us define and establish methodologies that would work in our environment, facilitating our initial kaizen events, and helping us begin to engrain Lean thinking into our culture. He draws from a diverse experience base such that we benefitted from a wealth of lessons learned from many others who launched Lean initiatives before us. In addition, his personable nature makes him easy to work with and well liked throughout our organization.
One of the things that stands out about Mike is his commitment to coaching us to be self-sustaining beyond our formal engagement with him. He worked closely with our designated Lean facilitators to coach them not just in Lean concepts, but also in general facilitation techniques and group dynamics – skills that they have been able to utilize beyond their roles in our Lean initiative. He also was attentive to conducting educational activities for our leadership team members throughout the engagement. As a result we feel empowered to take the next steps on our own in our journey. We are much further along as a direct result of his consulting and his genuine commitment to our success.
I am confident that any organization looking to launch or further enhance their own Lean initiative would benefit greatly from Mike’s expertise and talents. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
Lee Ann Dudney, Principal Project Manager Information Management Services
John McCoy
We contracted with Mike Orzen to initiate our Lean IT improvement project, and I am highly pleased with the results. Mike engaged effectively with both management and staff. He takes a holistic approach to Lean IT, and his partnership with our leadership team went well beyond just executing kaizen events. His guidance ensured that our leaders created the right environment for the initiative to succeed. He was masterful at guiding the kaizen events and engaging our staff. He quickly turned several skeptics into advocates using a very pragmatic methodology to identify business process improvements. Most importantly, Mike was a very effective coach for our Lean IT coaches in training, and we are now in a position to sustain Lean IT moving forward with our internal team.
John McCoy, Division Director, Information Management Services Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Robert Slepin
Mike Orzen literally wrote the book on Lean IT. Several colleagues and I first had the privilege of experiencing Mike’s Lean training at the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value where he is on the faculty, and we later retained him as a Lean coach and to teach an introduction to A3 thinking and value stream mapping to our entire IT department (100 people).
Mike is not only an expert in Lean IT; he also is highly effective in teaching the philosophy, principles, methods, and tools to an entry-level IT audience and in coaching more advanced Lean students in the finer points of the routines of continuous improvement and coaching front-line leaders and staff. I highly recommend Mike to fellow CIOs wanting to make their IT departments a great place to work and recognizing the need to think and act very differently in order to create increasing value from information and technology for their organizations and stakeholders.
Robert Slepin Chief Information Officer Healthcare Industry
Peter Walsh
Mike Orzen was engaged by Lean Enterprise Australia to work on the implementation of Lean improvements for the Technology Service Management group within ANZ bank, one of the major banks in Australia. Mike’s expertise in Lean IT was a key factor in his appointment as the lead consultant for this assignment.
The work was completed over a nine month period in 2013 and included the following:
Lean IT assessment
Engagement with senior leadership including the CIO
Advice on implementation of Lean IT practices and integration with ITIL
Presentations and training sessions for a wide audience within the business
Value Stream Mapping of 2 core end to end processes
Coaching of improvement teams during the implementation phase
Use of visual management and A3 problem solving with project teams
Coaching and mentoring of internal lean facilitators
Submission of recommendations to management for sustaining gains
This work was completed successfully and the projects delivered significant measurable gains to the business. The Lean IT methodology was well received by those involved and the work resulted in the development of internal capability for ongoing improvement.
Mike Orzen conducted this work with a high level of professionalism and energy. He has a very engaging style and was able to gain buy‐in from all levels within the organisation. His knowledge and experience of how Lean is applied in an IT environment was generously shared. There was highly positive feedback from the internal teams on Mike’s presentation style and ability to guide and motivate.
Peter Walsh, President Lean Enterprise Australia
Aaron Duhig
I highly recommend Mike Orzen as an expert in Lean methodologies, specifically in the application of Lean concepts when applied to IT Service Management.
Mike was contracted by the ANZ Bank as a Lean consultant and facilitator throughout 2013 and was responsible for Lean training, mentoring and assisting with the implementation of Lean improvement initiatives within the Technology Service Management department.
Mike has exemplary communication skills and is the first Lean professional I have met who has the capability of clearly articulating Lean manufacturing concepts and applying them to the delivery of services in a heavily information reliant and driven industry. In addition, he has a wealth of direct personal experience within information technology working with a multitude of corporations ranging from small to enterprise sized businesses which gives him the ability to provide specific and relevant examples in how continuous service improvement can be achieved using Lean.
I have taken many of Mike’s teachings and applied them to the management of my team through the creation of standard work, removing variation and decreasing the levels of rework and effort required to execute BAU activities. This has resulted in increased capacity within the team and subsequently supported the ongoing delivery of operational improvements.
Mike would be a tremendous asset to any company that is willing to learn from him and put his teachings into effect and has my highest recommendation.
Aaron Duhig, Manager of Global Incident Management
Rajesh Solanki
As the AMER Regional Lean Sigma Champion of Plexus Corp., it is my pleasure to prepare this letter of recommendation for your future clients based on the exemplary services rendered by you at our Boise, ID and San Jose, CA sites.
We had requested your services to coach our site leadership team and hourly associates to successfully implement value stream transformation strategies by utilizing your extensive experience with transforming businesses.
After several onsite visits you were able to instill a passion for change and a desire to solve problems using the PDCA cycle. Today, the teams coached by you are able to continue driving waste reduction autonomously by tackling each of the continuous flow constraints you helped them identify.
I would be honored to be a reference for your future client engagements.
Rajesh Solanki, Lean Sigma Champion – AMER Plexus Manufacturing Solutions
Linda Pearce
Mike is truly a professional, a coach, a teacher, and an excellent communicator. His understanding and training on solving problems using Lean principles is the best in the country. He shares and effectively transfers his knowledge and builds new behaviors in those he coaches and teaches. His approach is so effective because he teaches people how to behave differently so they adopt new work methods, which are constantly focused on process understanding and continuous improvement. His work with our company has been instrumental in building a new culture, making many interdepartmental process improvements, increasing efficiency, and helping us make big leaps forward in the way we see our work and approach problem solving.
We are grateful for the hours we get to spend with Mike. He’s had a big positive impact on many Finance and IT improvements which span the whole company.
Linda Pearce, CFO of Tillamook Creamery
Bill Smith
We have worked with Mike Orzen for three years and during that time, our organization has significantly transformed the way we do our work and the way we improve our work. Mike is a very experienced and talented coach and consultant in that he has the ability to connect with people at a level that enables them to move to higher levels of engagement and thinking. It was Mike’s initial assessment of our culture and work environment that caught the attention and imagination of my leadership team, positioned us to embark on our Operational Excellence transformation, and positioned us to have progressed so far. We are a more effective organization today than we were three years ago and Mike has been a major factor.
Mike provides an effective combination of communication, process improvement, lean and people skills that brings out the best in others. I have never worked with a more effective coach and teacher and the feedback from our people at every level of the company has been very positive. Perhaps the greatest testaments to Mike’s effectiveness are the results we achieved at both a business performance level and a social level after he leaves. We have more effective teamwork, transparency of problems, and effective problem solving than ever before. We also have a greater alignment of purpose than we have ever experienced. Our company has a long way to go, but we would not be this far had it not been for Mike’s support.
Mike is a wizard when it comes to connecting with people and getting them to see, know, and act! He models the behavior and thinking we aspire to develop in our people. Perhaps the best part is that Mike’s approach centers on transferring his knowledge in a fun and non-threatening was – so our people do the learning and hard improvement work. He has successfully developed and mentored our core lean/continuous improvement group, leadership team, managers, and supervisors so they are positioned to achieve more and sustain the gains long after he has been on site.
I recommend Mike and his company without reservation. He’s the best!
Regards,
Bill Smith
GM-Plexus Boise
Angie Palmer
Our organization was so pleased with Mike Orzen’s Lead with Respect Workshop that we engaged him two months later to guide us through a Two Day Lean Problem Solving Workshop. In the Lean Problem Solving Workshop, Mike lead us through a “deeper dive” of the principles, tools, and techniques of Lean principles and specifically, problem solving.
Our organization has historically been “top down” problem solvers. Under Mike’s guidance, we are realizing that those at the top cannot continue to be the “firefighters” if we want to get maximum organizational results. We must develop our personnel to become the problem solvers . Mike’s two day workshop provided us with practical tools to implement the Lean problem solving techniques across our organization.
Over the past 30 years, we have engaged in many different motivational and leadership techniques. After completing Mike’s two workshops, we feel that, for the first time, we now have a practical, sustainable method to lead and develop our people. We are excited to watch this journey unfold across our organization. We highly recommend both of Mike’s workshops!
Angie Palmer, President/COO, Health Systems Management, Inc.
Humberto Melo
I strongly recommend MIke Orzen as a knowledgeable consultant in Operational Excellence. I have worked with Mr. Orzen during the last 18 months and he has assisted my team to develop an Operational Excellence Model for Monsanto.
Mr. Orzen has a unique style of coaching, in guiding an organization to “discover” the key concepts and develop the required systems to drive behaviors in the organization. This attribute is more powerful than just “instruction”, since the team embraces the model early in the development stage. He also has a high level of energy, which drives and motivates the team. In addition, his facilitation skills engage every individual in the room.
Finally, he was completely engaged with my team as his customers, to be successful in the Operational Excellence journey. He provided additional follow-up and coaching during the implementation phase.
If you have any additional questions, please contact me at your convenience.
Humberto Melo, Monsanto Operational Excellence
Saras Micro Systems
Bart DeProspo
Mike is an exceptional leadership coach who played a pivotal role in my professional growth journey at Saras Micro Devices.
During my time working with Mike, he was able to develop a large range of leadership skills in a fast pace, ever changing environment. Mike consistently provided profound insights, that helped me reach my full potential as a young leader in a startup environment. Mike’s style is empathetic and empowering and his ability to create space for me to develop my strengths, weaknesses and aspirations is something that sets him apart.
I was able to gain extremely valuable insights in communication, decision-making, and how to handle complex situations through Mike’s guidance and mentorship. Mike has a unique ability to distill complex leadership concepts into actionable steps. This helped me not only navigate challenges with confidence and clarity, but also to solidify those teachings that will be immensely useful throughout my entire professional career. In addition to the actionable steps, one of the things I enjoyed most is Mike was always able to connect current challenges with fundamental literature readings as well. This combination of literature and hands on coaching provided a unique development experience, especially, in being able to coach young leaders.
Mike is not just an exceptional coach but also a mentor and a true champion of personal and professional growth. His expertise, compassion and unwavering support is what enabled me to continue to find success and growth in my leadership abilities.”
Bart DeProspo, Ph.D./MBA
Director of Product Management
Saras Micro Devices
Linda Weaver PL Business Enablement & Customer Solutions
I recently had the privilege of having Mike as my coach for my Lean Leader Academy project at The Ohio State University. His expertise and guidance was instrumental in my successful completion of the program. He took complex concepts and helped me apply them to my project. He was truly committed to my success throughout the entire process.
Joe Daniels US Navy
I wholeheartedly endorse and recommend Mr. Mike Orzen as an outstanding Lean structured problem-solving coach. Having collaborated with him extensively on multiple occasions on improving my own processes, System Operational Verification Test (SOVT), and witnessing his expertise firsthand, I confidently vouch for his remarkable skills, commitment, and eGectiveness in guiding organizations towards sustainable improvement through Lean process improvement methodologies. Mike brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the realm of Lean structured problem-solving. His deep, profound understanding of Lean principles, value stream mapping and analysis, combined with his pragmatic approach to applying them in realworld situations, makes him an invaluable asset for any organization seeking to streamline processes, eliminate waste, and drive continuous improvement. One of Mike's standout qualities is his ability to connect with individuals at all levels of an organization. Whether working with employees responsible for accomplishing the day-today tasks or with senior executives, he fosters an environment of trust, collaboration, and shared purpose. Through his engaging coaching style and insightful guidance, Mike empowers teams to identify root causes, implement eGective solutions, and sustain improvements over the long term. Mike's dedication to his craft is truly commendable. He invests the time to understand each organization's unique challenges and opportunities, tailoring his approach to suit their specific needs, goals, and objectives. His enthusiasm and passion for Lean principles shines through in every interaction, inspiring others to embrace change, challenge the status quo, and strive for excellence in everything they do. Furthermore, Mike is a consummate professional with a genuine commitment to delivering results. His passion for IT-enabled processes and pragmatic approach to problem-solving ensures that initiatives are not only eGective but also in alignment with the organization’s broader objectives, goals, and values. Whether facilitating workshops, coaching individuals, or spearheading large-scale transformation, Mike consistently exceeds expectations. In summary, my working with Mike has been an absolute delight. He brings humor, expertise, and captivating engagement to the table. I have full confidence in Mr. Orzen’s capacity to drive significant change and assist organizations in achieving their Lean objectives. His expertise, integrity, and commitment and unwavering dedication render him an indispensable asset for any organization committed to excellence and continuous improvements. Should you require any further information or assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Joseph S Daniels Network Chief Engineer/SOVT Technical Warrant Holder (TWH) Naval Warfare Information Warfare Systems Command, Office of the Chief Engineer
Enis Iplikci
I have had the privilege of getting to know Mike over the past year through his formal coaching sessions. Mike is an amazing coach who is an expert at asking curious questions, listening with his heart and creating a space for me to think and come up with my own solutions to my challenges. Thanks to the coaching I received from Mike, I can easily say that I am a better problem solver, leader and also a coach. Building trust with empathy, positive attitude and his methodology are the major contributors and differentiators that I, without any hesitation, highly recommend Mike to anyone who is seeking coaching for development.
Enis Iplikci
Continuous Improvement & Strategy
Deployment Leader
Portland General Electric