What would make your most skeptical team member ask to come back for more improvement practice? What would make their leader want to join them?

Maria Mentzer has spent years developing and honing a proven recipe for exactly that. Through hundreds of Model Line Workshops across industries and business functions, she has made improvement ridiculously easy to enter and such a valuable experience that people get hooked.

Teams solve problems that matter to them and see immediate results. Leaders develop alongside them, practicing how to help. Growing skill, belonging and visible progress build the intrinsic motivation to keep going. With continued practice, value-creating behaviors become habits, learning spreads and the gains compound.

In this energetic, story-driven session, Maria shares what makes that experience work, including the preparation and support that make “just show up to practice” possible. She connects her practical recipe with the research of her colleague and Operatinal Excellence thought leader, Steve Spear, and draws on real engagements to show how much performance organizations can release from the people they already have.

Expect humor, a familiar skeptic and a chance to examine your own approach. You’ll identify one barrier that makes improvement difficult in your organization and choose a change that makes practice easier, more meaningful and worth coming back for.

Format: Interactive keynote or conference presentation, adaptable to 30–45 minutes.
Audience: Leaders, continuous improvement and operational excellence practitioners, transformation leads, and anyone responsible for helping teams improve how they work.
Participants will:
• Identify a barrier that makes improvement difficult to start or sustain.
• Explain how meaningful practice builds skill and intrinsic motivation in teams and leaders together.
• Choose one practical change that helps people participate, create value and want to keep improving.