Gemba Academy Podcast: Lean Manufacturing | Lean Office | Six Sigma | Toyota Kata | Productivity | Leadership

Most leaders assume that the right argument, delivered clearly, will change minds. Owen Fitzpatrick has spent 30 years studying why that assumption is wrong. A psychologist who has worked inside some of the world’s most extreme propaganda environments, from North Korea to Rwanda to his own teenage years, Owen brings a framework to this conversation that reframes how belief actually changes. The implications for anyone trying to lead a continuous improvement effort are hard to ignore. In this episode you’ll learn: What the purpose of life being “defeated by greater things” reveals about continuous improvement (3:37) How a single question changed the trajectory of Owen’s life and work (5:00) Why the inner critic is the wrong label for what actually holds people back (9:18) How propaganda works in three parts and why it mirrors what happens inside our own minds (14:35) Why naive realism is the single biggest obstacle to influencing anyone (22:43) How recognizing inner propaganda a