Upcoming Events: August 3-5: Annual Conference in Traverse City September: Lean Story WebEx September 30: GEMBA event at Livingston International October: Educational Event with ASQ Detroit October 14: Event at Orlans Group November 18: Gemba Walk at Menlo December: Year End Event Register now!
In keeping with the conference theme “Lean 3.0: The Next Frontier†Karen Ruedinger from Northwestern Michigan College will share her insights on possible future trends and how lean may play into them.
During much of Karen’s career, she has had the good fortune of being allowed to spend time thinking about market trends and where they might lead. While at Steelcase, she was part of a team of researchers, marketers and designers who were charged with redefining the company’s storage product offering. This led her to work with some of the best minds in investigative research, ideation and design from IDEO to Doblin Group. She then went on to work in R&D for the office furniture leader where she developed business models for new products and services. One of her great pleasures was attending the annual Ten Year Forecast visioning events put on by the Institute for the Future where Steelcase was a member.
While at Northwestern Michigan College, Karen has continued her work at the intersection of research, analysis and planning in order to help frame decisions such as how best to grow or make more sustainable, existing programs and services. She has had the pleasure of developing and leading the environmental scanning process at the College where a team of faculty and staff survey the external environment and seek to identify key trends that inform NMC’s strategic planning assumptions.
Karen earned a BA in business and art from Alma College and her MBA from the University of Michigan. While she’s not sure she’s a futurist yet, she understands that it is increasingly critical that we all develop the skills of envisioning our desired future.
Don't miss out! Register today!Did you know that the Deming Institute Annual Conference will be held in Lansing this year? Now is your opportunity to attend! Our very own MLC Chair, Dennis Sergent and MLC Volunteer, Eric Budd will be facilitators!
