iSixSigma is publishing a series of short interviews with our community of Lean Six Sigma practitioners and leaders.

Today’s special guest – Gokhan Gureser.

You’re at a party and you’re introduced to someone new. Explain what you do in 2-3 sentences.

Just like people, organizations also desire to recognize their potential and unleash it. The companies call me and learn how to reach their potential with appropriate tools. We physically organize (using 5S), remove wasted time and energy (using Lean), optimize, analyze, and improve business processes and production operations (using modeling and Six Sigma).

Describe an “aha!” moment you’ve experienced on a Lean Six Sigma (LSS) project.

When I first noticed that I do not need to collect as many samples as “power and sample size calculations” led me to believe. I could use multi-stage sampling, for example.

What are you most proud of (in your current or a recent role)?

Proving that knowledge management and transfer can be realized even in organizations in which implicit communication overrules explicit communications.

What’s your best technique for breaking the ice with a new team?

My favorite icebreaker is the “someone who” game. It is played by writing out statements that all start with “someone who.” For instance, “someone who has ever played padel in Spain” or “someone who was born in New Jersey.” Then the team members search among themselves to match each person to a statement. You can end this session with an introduction of each person when announcing the right matches. (Disadvantage: needs initial work by supervisor.)

What book are you currently reading?

Ruhi Mucerret by Murat Mentes

What are your favorite movies?

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 3 Idiots and Once Upon a Time in Anatolia

If you are interested in sharing a peek at your life in the LSS world or would like to suggest someone to be profiled, please contact the iSixSigma editorial team.