The Podcast

Jerry Grunewald is the rare R&D leader who turned a factory network into a learning organization on purpose. He talks straight about why institutionalizing learning motivates people, and why the goal is value creation, not vanity metrics. You also hear how career growth was explicit, people were pushed to self-actualize into roles that actually created value.

He lays out the Red, Green operating rhythm in plain terms. Run value-creation events, delete busywork, and you reliably free 20 to 30 percent of a team’s time, then you spend that time on higher-value skills and projects. It is specific, measurable, and tested across sites.

Selection criteria are simple and ruthless, the three whys, why do it, why us, why now, so you avoid the right answer at the wrong time. He contrasts 20 to 30 year plant horizons with technology you must revisit every three to six months, which creates a real pacing mismatch teams must plan around.

Culture changes were specific and operational: senior permission was explicit, and supervisors were measured as coaches, not as the best mechanics. Change management sometimes means changing management. If you run product, ops, or R&D, you will steal these moves.

Here’s a teaser…

Find Jerry on Linkedin

What You Missed on Sunday

Here’s what we covered in Sunday’s newsletter edition…

Last week’s edition broke down just how brutal VC funding has been throughout 2025 (unless you’re one of the AI mega-co’s). This week, we’re outlining key steps that founders can take to ensure their innovation future. Read on for a breakdown of how to approach funding into 2026 and where to focus your efforts to ensure your own survival.

Here’s what you’ll find: