In 2016, Executive Platforms interviewed Norbert Majerus about his Shingo Prize-winning book Lean-Driven Innovation: Powering Product Development at The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. Norbert was about to retire as a Master Black Belt of Six Sigma and Lean Champion of Goodyear after ten years of bringing lean product development processes at Goodyear’s three innovation centers in Akron, Ohio, Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg, and Hanau, Germany, and with some unexpected downtime after breaking a leg during a skiing accident he decided to write a book about his experiences. It's a wonderful business story, well-told, that is still much admired by lean manufacturers to this day.
You can imagine our interest, then, when we heard Norbert has written a new book in his retirement, Winning Innovation: How Innovation Excellence Propels an Industry Icon Towards Sustained Prosperity, but this time it is a work of fiction? We reached out to do another interview on both books, this time as part of The bluEPrint Podcast series. We hope you enjoy the conversation!
About Norbert Majerus
Beginning in 2005, Norbert implemented a principles-based lean product development process at the three Global Innovation Centers of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. For more than a decade he was Goodyear’s lean champion in research and development.
Norbert, born and raised in Luxembourg, has a Master’s degree in Chemistry from the Universitaet des Saarlandes, Saarbruecken, Germany. He joined Goodyear in Luxembourg in 1978, transferred to Akron in 1983, and has worked most disciplines in the Goodyear innovation centers in Luxembourg and Akron.
In 2016, Norbert published his first book, Lean-Driven Innovation, which won the Shingo Institute's Research Award. Also in 2016, with Norbert’s guidance the Goodyear R&D organization applied for and received the AME Excellence Award. Norbert is a popular keynote speaker and has conducted workshops in the United States and many other countries. He retired from Goodyear in 2018.
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Geoff Micks Head of Content & Research Executive Platforms
Geoff joined the industry events business as a conference producer in 2010 after four years working in print media. He has researched, planned, organized, run, and contributed to more than a hundred events across North America and Europe for senior leaders, with special emphasis on the energy, mining, manufacturing, maintenance, supply chain, human resources, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, finance, and sustainability sectors. As part of his role as Head of Content & Research, Geoff hosts Executive Platforms’ bluEPrint Podcast series as well as a blog focusing on issues relevant to Executive Platforms’ network of business leaders.
Geoff is the author of five works of historical fiction: Inca, Zulu, Beginning, Middle, and End. The New York Times and National Public Radio have interviewed him about his writing, and he wrote and narrated an animated short for Vice Media that appeared on HBO. He has a BA Honours with High Distinction from the University of Toronto specializing in Journalism with a Double Minor in History and Classical Studies, as well as Diploma in Journalism from Centennial College.
