Scaling What Works—Without Breaking What Doesn’t, with Justin Kenney and Katie Bockwoldt

Today’s highlight is our interview with Justin Kenny, Chief Performance Officer, and Katie Bockwoldt, Statewide Director of Performance Improvement for the State of Vermont—two leaders quietly reshaping how government delivers results. What starts as a conversation about training programs quickly turns into something more systemic: a shift toward communities of practice, performance logic models, and a more human-centered approach to continuous improvement.

For Hot Apps, we take a closer look at Justin’s homegrown “Praise Board” built inside Microsoft Teams—a deceptively simple tool that raises a bigger question: can recognition be operationalized? What happens when it becomes visible and shared?

And for Q&A, we asked: What does it really take to sustain a Lean Six Sigma deployment—and how much of that comes down to leadership behaviors around recognition and engagement?

• 0:00 - Intro

• 01:06 - What's on the Menu?

• 02:30 - HotApps

  • Praise Board

• 12:51 - Q&A 

  • What does it really take to sustain a Lean Six Sigma deployment?

• 24:45 - Featured Guest

  • Justin Kenney and Katie Bockwoldt

  • State of Vermont - Chief Performance Office

• 1:04:31 - Featured Resources

  • UC San Diego In Person Green Belt Class

  • Last Month's Episode: Culture Is Not An App, with Greg Jacobson and Mark Graban

  • NEW Second Edition: The Problem-Solver's Toolkit: A Surprisingly Simple Guide to Your Lean Six Sigma Journey

  • NEW on Audible: Picture Yourself a Leader

  • 5S Baby!, Ms. Fix-a-Lot's latest Lean Rap Video

Thanks for Listening!

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Link to the video version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/xEFNfNz70C0

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