Patricia Malone on Zombie Projects, Kaizen, and the High-and-Easy Grid

🎧 Lean, Strategy, and the Upward Spiral: Patricia Malone’s Journey Building Strategic CapacityPatricia Malone, managing director of Enhance C-suite, has spent 35 years turning financial chaos into clarity — from manufacturing plant floors to defense contractors to PE-backed growth companies. She developed the theory of strategic capacity in her doctoral dissertation, helped triple the size of a body armor company through a complex acquisition, and now leads a fractional CFO and controller practice that has added over $150 million in enterprise value and unlocked $23 million in profit for clients. Her secret weapon: she shows up on site and never leaves until the team can run without her.✨ Key Insights You’ll Learn:How a failing lean project at a Michigan job shop sparked a lifelong passion for process transformationCutting order processing time from 20 days to 3 through Kaizen, cross-training, and one-piece flowLeading the acquisition of KTH Defense Systems and navigating the integration of two very different military and commercial culturesThe annual ritual at Armor Express where soldiers saved by the vests came back to celebrate with the plant floorWhy both Patricia and her husband lost their jobs the same week — and how that forced the career pivot that changed everythingThe high-and-easy grid: mapping initiatives by impact vs. effort to find where momentum livesWhat zombie projects are and how to identify them before they drain the organizationThe first 90 days of an Enhance C-suite engagement: cleaning balance sheets, building cash forecasts, and closing the books fasterStrategic capacity: the theory of organizational becoming and why it works like a flower, not a forcing functionHow Patricia uses AI as a research partner to do faster, deeper, more strategic work🌟 Patricia’s Key Mentors:Wayne Wirecloth Leadership: threw her into a failing lean project and inadvertently launched her transformation careerCFO at BAE Systems: far-sighted executive who created the director of business excellence role and bet on Patricia when few others didBrian Brennan (Enhance Partner): invited her into a new chapter after her daughter’s situation created an inflection pointHer Dissertation Committee: pushed her through grounded theory research that produced a one-of-a-kind organizational theoryHer Clients: every engagement since has deepened her theory and sharpened her practice👉 Don’t miss this rich conversation about what it actually takes to transform a business from the inside — and why the work is never just about the numbers.🔗 Connect with Patricia Malone:Website: enhancecsuite.comEmail: [email protected]📤 Transcript Available: Patricia Malone on Zombie Projects, Kaizen, and the High-and-Easy Grid📺 Watch on YouTube: Inspired Stories Podcast🌐 Our Website: The Inspired Stories Podcast📤 Special Thanks to Anthony Codispoti & AddBack Benefits Agency: AddBack Benefits Agency - Providing innovative employee benefits solutions that improve employee well-being while optimizing your bottom line Website: addbackbenefits.com