My guest for Episode #276 is a Lean consultant (although he might not prefer that term) and an author, A J (Andy) Sheppard. Andy is the author of The Incredible Transformation of Gregory Todd: A Novel about Leadership and Managing Change. He also contributed a chapter to my Practicing Lean book project. You can download the PDF of his chapter here and I hope you’ll consider buying the book (it’s for a good cause). He is a coach for leaders of change. His core expertise is helping workforces to quickly achieve systematic change in practice. A former McKinsey & Company consultant, he has now spent eighteen years working out this art of transformation in diverse industrial environments across the USA, Europe and Asia. He also continues to draw from prior experience of navigating change in corporate environments and experiencing it on shop floors. Further information about Andy can be found on www.ajsheppard.com. Andy is also happy to take any follow-up questions about leading change on his Goodreads Author Page. I hope you enjoy the conversation, which touches on Lean, change management, the need to balance empathy and urgency, and more.