Congratulations Grindstone Mountain!
On Wednesday, our eighth Black Belt cohort of city employees completed their five day lean/continuous improvement training. One of the many great things that happen during these training sessions is the breaking down of silos within the city as people form relationships and begin to collaborate across departments. At Peak Academy we believe diversity is a strength so we try to mix up the cohorts as much as possible. For example, for this cohort we had folks from the police training and investigations, moccasin bend waste water treatment plant, accounts payable, parks maintenance, transportation department, treasury, human resources and the mayor’s office.
We were excited to invite back a past Peak Academy rock star to help with teaching during this session. Bonnie Mumpower has completed over 7 innovations and reached the top of the engagement ladder. Her dedication to continuous improvement and customer service was infectious and resulted in some great sessions. This is just another great reminder of how Peak Academy is really the people who go through the training and use the tools, not the training itself.
This Cohort has got to be one of the most motivated groups we have seen so far. Halfway through the training several folks in accounts payable were beginning to implement their innovations using just the tools we taught in the first few days. Our first completed innovation was turned in the day after the training was over by Morgan McCormick from parks! This is a new Peak Academy record. Congrats Grindstone Mountain cohort, we can’t wait to see the amazing improvements you create for our city and its citizens.