At NWHPEC, we believe continuous learning extends beyond our own offerings. On this page, you’ll find a curated selection of webinars and conferences from trusted external sources that align with our mission to support your efforts to foster a culture of continuous improvement. These recommendations are chosen for their quality and relevance and to compliment our offerings.
ALL TIMES PACIFIC
AME Webinar: Leading Lean Projects: How Senior Leaders prioritize multiple improvement initiatives - April 2 @10am
Lean initiatives often struggle not because the methods are flawed, but because improvement work lacks the structure needed to move from intent to results. This webinar shows how project management provides the operational backbone for Lean, helping leaders select, prioritize, and execute improvement efforts more effectively. Senior leaders will learn how project management tools—such as project charters, prioritization frameworks, and governance models—fit naturally within a Lean operating system. The session focuses on how these tools bring clarity to purpose, scope, and decision-making, enabling Lean teams to focus on value creation rather than rework or misalignment. Using practical leadership scenarios, the webinar demonstrates how Lean practices like Voice of the Customer, A3 problem framing, and value stream thinking strengthen traditional PM techniques. Together, they help leaders prioritize the right projects, align stakeholders early, and manage flow from idea to implementation. The result is a disciplined, repeatable approach to Lean operations—where project management enables consistency and accountability, and Lean ensures speed, focus, and measurable impact.
Participant Benefits
- How to engage senior leaders as active sponsors
- How Lean tools clarify value, priorities, and decision rights
- How project management discipline strengthens Lean initiatives
- How leadership behavior and culture support flow
- How to reduce waste caused by misalignment and unclear ownership
Who should attend?
- Senior leaders and executives sponsoring Lean initiatives
- Directors and managers responsible for cross-functional delivery
- Continuous Improvement / Operational Excellence leaders
- Project, Program, and Portfolio leaders supporting Lean efforts
- Change leaders seeking sustainable adoption
Lean Portland Presentation: The Preconditions for Lean - April 7 @noon
The Preconditions for Lean: Cultivating the Mindsets and Human Systems Needed for Continuous Improvement
- When: Tuesday, April 7 | 12:00PM-1:00PM Pacific
- Where: Zoom, please register for calendar invite and link
In this thought-provoking presentation, lean transformation expert Andre de Merchant and leadership expert Thomas Cox explore the often-overlooked preconditions required for lean methodologies to take root and thrive within an organization.
Drawing on real-world case studies, Andre will share how even the most well-intentioned lean initiatives can quickly unravel when leaders fail to address the underlying mindsets, power dynamics, and systemic factors that enable a culture of continuous improvement.
Attendees will learn:
- The common pitfalls that cause lean efforts to collapse under pressure
- Strategies for cultivating the “higher self” mindset among leaders and managers
- Practical techniques for building the organizational systems and processes to sustain lean
- Key rituals for maintaining psychological safety and curiosity during times of crisis
Whether your organization is embarking on a new lean transformation or seeking to make your existing practices more resilient, this session will provide actionable insights to help you build the solid human foundations required for lasting success.
Key points:
- The tendency to revert to command-and-control under pressure
- Solving problem instances vs. problem classes
The need to maintain a “higher self” mindset and practice as a leader
Register here for this month’s discussion (or for the monthly series)
Lean Frontiers Webinar: Employee Onboarding and Basic Training using the Principles of TWI Job Instruction - April 8 @11am
Helena Industries develops Basic Skills training to build a base of foundational knowledge before frontline employees go to the shop floor. The principles of TWI Job Instruction are used in a multi-faceted approach consisting of instructor led classroom and hands-on training to introduce the job along with Showing & Telling, Illustrations are used to show what good looks like, and Practice is conducted in an off-line training area. Once the instructor is confident the learner can do the job additional Practice takes place in the real work environment and Coaching is tapered off as warranted.
Learn about Helena’s journey toward a repeatable program that provides new employees with knowledge and skills they need to succeed.
AME Virtual Tour: 2 Second Lean Tour at Footcom - April 8 @1pm
Join AME and host Paul Akers for the next highly rated 2 Second Lean tour series!
The 2SL approach is like Mentoring on Steroids for companies who are interested in developing their people.
Company President Ryan Power will lead this tour. Following an introduction of the company and its products / services he will visit each work area describing activities at each location. He will invite team members to participate in the discussion of adopted best practices and how the company made lean and continuous improvement a way of life. The focus will be inventory management, order processing and distribution. This will be followed by a question-and-answer session.
This event is part of AME’s 2 Second Lean Tour series hosted by Paul Akers, author of the book “2 Second Lean” and owner of FastCap.
Host Company
Footcom NZ is a New Zealand owned and operated family business importing and wholesaling a wide range of products for all footwear related trades. These includes footwear components and orthotic, podiatric and prosthetic consumables. Footcom customers include shoe repair and retail stores, podiatry clinics, and orthotic/prosthetic labs across New Zealand. The company operates from a 700 sq. ft. facility with a focus on warehousing, inventory management, order processing and nationwide distribution. Staffing includes seven full-time and three part-time in warehouse operations, customer service, sales, and administration. .www.footcom.co.nz retail stores, podiatry clinics, and orthotic/prosthetic labs across New Zealand. The company operates from a 700 sq. ft. facility with a focus on warehousing, inventory management, order processing and nationwide distribution. Staffing includes seven full-time and three part-time in warehouse operations, customer service, sales, and administration. www.footcom.co.nz
AME/KSC Webinar: Kata Coaching - All about target conditions and obstacles - April 15 @1pm
Many coaches who seek out the help of Kata School Cascadia are confused about targets, target conditions and obstacles. Coach Tracy Defoe will lead us through what makes for a target condition and how to check if yours is complete. Obstacles and obstacle thinking is one of the great gifts of kata practice. Learn how focusing on obstacles can give you traction on your challenges.
Presenters: Tracy Defoe & Mark Rosenthal
Lean Frontiers Webinar: Chaos, Flow, and the Magic in Between - April 15 @11am
In this session, you’ll explore how the core meta-patterns behind Training Within Industry (TWI) and Improvement Kata help leaders turn disruption into stability, creativity, and sustained flow. Drawing from real-world experience moving from highly structured learning environments into fast-paced multinational operations, this webinar shows why it’s the thinking, not the tools or pocket cards, that creates resilient systems and capable people. You’ll learn how these shared patterns build problem-solving muscle, align daily work to purpose, and keep teams performing even when formal structures fade. The future of work belongs to leaders who can preserve the magic while navigating chaos.
Presenters: William Harvey + Raaghavan Venkatram
AME/KSC Webinar: Kata Coaching - Experimenting and Learning
In kata we don’t plan our way forward, we experiment our way, learning as we go. Join Coach Mark Rosenthal to explore the striving phase of the Improvement Kata: experimenting and learning. This is the fly wheel that drives your daily learning practice. There are applications for many kata practices away from formal coaching; the Experimenting Record has wide applications in meetings and conversations beyond daily coaching.
Presenters: Mark Rosenthal, Maria Grzanka, Tracy Defoe
AME/KSC Webinar: Kata Coaching - What to expect as a coach or learner-improver - June 17 @noon
In our final webinar of this series, Coach Tracy Defoe will share what you can expect from learning to be a kata coach, or from your first efforts as an improver with a coach. You may find some uncomfortable situations that bring up not only assumptions but your self-image and feelings of competency. Be ready to learn and grow new skills along with a mindset reset.
Presenters: Tracy Defoe, Maria Grzanka, Mark Rosenthal