Fluke didn't have a performance problem.

It had a future problem.

In Episode 10 of the Lean Focus Podcast, Damon Baker sits down with Wes Pringle, CEO of Evident Scientific, to unpack how one of the most respected industrial brands in the world made a high-stakes decision: reinvent the business while it was still winning.

At the time, Fluke was the clear leader in handheld industrial test tools.
Trusted brand. Dominant market share. World-class hardware.

But the world was changing.

Industrial environments were becoming more automated.
Fewer technicians. More connected systems.
The value was shifting — from the tool… to the data behind the tool.

Fluke had a choice:

Protect the core that made them successful.
—or—
Build the future before the market forced them to.

In this conversation, Wes breaks down what that transformation really looked like:

• The moment he realized success was becoming a constraint,
• Why moving into software challenged the identity of the organization,
• How internal resistance shows up when people fear what change means for them,
• The strategic bet that made the transformation irreversible,
• Why speed, iteration, and customer pilots mattered more than perfect planning,
• How Fluke built a new growth engine in predictive and preventative maintenance,
• What it takes to protect a new venture inside a large, successful company.

Wes also shares a reality most leaders underestimate: You are asking your best people — the ones who built the current success — to question the very model that made them successful.

And that's where most transformations fail.

This episode is a real-world look at what it takes to navigate disruption from a position of strength — not theory, not hindsight, but leadership in the moment.

Because the biggest risk isn't disruption.

It's believing you have more time than you do.

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GE Aerospace is a world-leading provider of jet and turboprop engines, as well as integrated systems for commercial, military, business and general aviation aircraft. At any given time, there are approximately one million* people flying on GE Aerospace-powered aircraft.

In Episode 9 of the Lean Focus Podcast, Damon Baker sits down with Phil Wickler, Chief Transformation Officer at GE Aerospace, to explore how the company is driving operational discipline across a global workforce of more than 57,000 employees.

Despite strong results, leadership believed the company could operate with greater clarity, discipline and customer focus. Prior to becoming a standalone company in 2024, GE Aerospace launched FLIGHT DECK, their proprietary lean operating model. FLIGHT DECK is how the team delivers for their customers, with a relentless focus on safety, quality, delivery and cost, always in that order. In this conversation, Phil shares how GE Aerospace is:

• Driving a rigorous commitment to continuous improvement across the organization
• Offering immersive learning where leaders experience the power of Lean firsthand
• Scaling transformation across the business through transformation roadmaps tied to multi-year business objectives
• Leveraging Lean tools and behaviors to advance the company's culture
• Connecting daily management at the Gemba directly to enterprise performance and customer outcomes.

Phil also explains why transformation at scale must be leader-led, and how managing operational drivers creates stronger and more sustainable performance.

Because the best companies don't wait to change. They focus on continuous improvement every day to run the business better.

* Figures include equipment made by GE Aerospace and Joint Ventures

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Most companies think Finance reports performance.

The best companies know Finance should drive it.

In this episode of the Lean Focus Podcast, Damon Baker sits down with Mark Dyas, CFO of Lighteum Medical, to discuss what happens when a Lean-thinking CFO stops acting like a scorekeeper and starts operating as the connective tissue of the business.

Mark has led transformation across public companies, privately held organizations, and private equity-backed environments, and he's seen the same pattern repeat itself: strong historical performance masking operational risk, leadership teams reacting to results instead of managing the drivers, and Finance focused on reporting the news instead of changing the outcome.

In this conversation, Mark shares how he:

• Identifies operational problems before they show up in EBITDA or cash flow,
• Turns Finance from a reporting function into a value-creation engine,
• Uses data and storytelling to challenge assumptions without creating blame,
• Focuses organizations on the critical few drivers that actually move enterprise value,
• Builds cross-functional alignment through processes like Sales, Inventory, and Operations Planning, capital discipline, and performance management,
• Balances financial discipline with culture, trust, and long-term organizational health,
• Navigates the tension between traditional GAAP accounting and the operational behaviors required for Lean performance.

This episode is a masterclass for CEOs, CFOs, and private equity leaders who want Finance to do more than measure the business — they want it to help run it.

Because the most effective Finance leaders don't just report the story.

They help rewrite it.

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