Lean Coaching and Training from a Solid Christian perspective

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About Ray Randolph, Effective Systems LLC, and PeopleFirstLean

  • 1978  Graduated from Franklin and Marshall College with a chemistry degree and settled in the Lancaster, PA area.
  • 1979  Married Irene. Still happily married with 3 sons and 11 grandchildren.
  • 1979-1986  Worked at a Medical Equipment manufacturing company, mostly in the engineering department doing new product development and internal production engineering support.
  • 1986-2005  Agreed to take a full time job with my church as business administrator. Was ordained as a Pastor in 1989, and took an “interim” role as Sr. Pastor in 1991. The church outgrew my leadership ability and we successfully found a superior Sr. Pastor in 2003, when my “interim” role finally came to an end! I served part time on the pastoral team for a couple years so the new Sr. Pastor could get established. I’m back to being a regular, grateful member.
  • 2005  Re-entered the marketplace doing a consulting project for a friend who was General Manager of a 250+ employee local grocery operation.
  • 2005-2007  Believing that consulting was a good fit for me, I started doing general advisory work for a variety of small business clients under the name, Effective Systems.
  • 2007  Became an enthusiastic fan of the Lean Business Culture after reading the book, The Toyota Way. Began learning and applying lean principles at an Amish-owned furniture company called Country Value Woodworks in New Providence, PA.
  • 2007-2013  Did Lean consulting for a variety of companies along with general consulting, software training, and some database programming. Continued to study and learn the Lean business culture
  • 2013  Transitioned to full time Lean consulting.
  • 2018  Read Gino Wickman’s book, Traction, and learned the power of a good leadership Operating System (OS). Although Wickman’s EOS is generally excellent and has helped a lot of small companies, I realized that there are a few areas that do not measure up to the standards of the Lean Business Culture. These include problem-solving, servant-leadership, people-development, and few others. I started developing a Lean-Friendly Operating System that better aligns with Lean’s approach in these areas. 
  • 2019  Began helping existing and new clients implement a Lean-friendly leadership OS as a first step in adopting the Lean Business Culture. I remain focused on Lean, but will help clients with a leadership OS if the lack of one is an obstacle to adopting Lean.
  • 2022  Took on the brand and domain name PeopleFirstLean.com to highlight the people-centered approach I think is both ethically right and vital for business success. My business continues with the legal name, Effective Systems LLC. But I hope to increasingly work in the marketplace under the name PeopleFirstLean.

Integrating Lean and my Christian worldview

The Lean Business Culture works because it is based on the nature of human beings, the nature of the physical world, and the nature of the competitive marketplace. These realities are true whether or not you share my underlying beliefs about how they came to be.

I routinely mention Christian foundations as I encounter them in teaching and coaching. This is especially true when I know that the company ownership shares my faith beliefs. I will gladly comply with your approach regarding how much to share during company-sponsored contexts. My printed material mentions Christian world-view connections in various places.

I do want potential clients to understand my worldview since that is part of determining whether I am a good fit for your organization. If you have more questions about this, please ask.