Pathways to Excellence how to lead and assess organizational transformation
Overview
A Pathway to Excellence: Unlock the True Potential of Your Improvement Efforts
Strengthen your capability to influence your organization’s improvement practices.
Organizations typically believe their improvement initiatives are highly effective—often supported by dashboards, maturity scores, and internal assessments. Yet results remain uneven, fragile, or overly dependent on a few strong leaders.
One reason this gap persists is a lack of visibility. Senior leaders rarely see how improvement unfolds across the enterprise. Front-line teams often lack a view of the broader system. And well-intentioned assessments are shaped by siloed perspectives rather than enterprise reality.
Join us for this dynamic 2-day in-person workshop. It is designed for experienced improvement leaders working in complex, multi-site, or global organizations who want to sharpen their judgment—not learn another set of tools.
Unlike traditional assessments that dive deep into operational practices and tool usage, the AME approach examines how improvement operates as a leadership system—how strategy connects to daily management, how decisions reinforce or undermine improvement, and how capability scales across an enterprise.
This enterprise-level perspective is especially relevant for organizations seeking greater coherence, consistency, and sustainability across sites, functions, and regions.
The AME Lean Sensei® provides a fundamentally different perspective than most internal assessments, focusing not on compliance or tool adoption, but on how the organization actually goes about the business of improvement—day after day. This perspective is especially valuable in organizations where internal assessments have become normalized—or politicized.
Through hands-on case studies drawn from manufacturing, healthcare systems, software/AI development, global services, and large-scale cultural transformations, you’ll sharpen your ability to spot patterns, identify gaps, and distinguish surface activity from true systemic maturity.
Effective assessment is not intuitive—it is a learned capability that improves with practice, feedback, and exposure to high-performing systems. Guided by seasoned AME senior assessors, you’ll develop the skills to ask better questions, “see beneath the surface,” and communicate findings in a way that inspires action and builds alignment at every level.
Don’t just measure improvement—master it.
Reserve your spot today in this in-person only workshop and take the next step toward becoming a trusted improvement leader.
Host Company
Wellspan Gettysburg Hospital, As a regional leader in high-quality care, and a mission-driven, physician-led integrated health system, our team is dedicated to delivering exceptional care for all – one patient, one community, one unique health care need at a time. From supporting lifelong wellness to providing nationally recognized, advanced specialty care, to being a deeply committed community partner, we are focused on improving health across Central Pennsylvania and Northern Maryland. WellSpan is made of more than 23,000 dedicated team members at over 250 patient care locations, with nine respected hospitals serving Adams, Franklin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lycoming, Northumberland, Snyder, Union and York counties, and a multispecialty medical group that employs over 2,500 physicians and advanced practice providers.
Presenter
Michael Bremer, author & Improvement leader, is a semi-retired business executive and award-winning author, with a diverse career spanning productivity, information systems, financial leadership, and global consulting.
He began his corporate career at Beatrice Foods, serving as Director of Productivity and later Director of Information Systems. He served as Chief Financial Officer and Board Member of the Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME). Michael spent 28 years as President of The Cumberland Group, a Chicago-based global consulting firm.
Michael was also involved in education and innovation, serving as adjunct faculty at the University of Chicago’s Graham School for 15 years, and mentoring manufacturing-focused startups at mHUB Chicago, an innovation incubator.
Agenda
Tuesday, March 24 and March 25, 2026
March 24, 2026
Day One
8 am Welcome and Introductions,
8:30 a.m. Roles, responsibilities, and standard work for assessors ,
- AME definition of excellence: What language are we using
- Case study: Hands-on practice assessing using applicant documents
- Host site tour in preparation for day 2 Gemba activities
March 25, 2026
Day 2
8 am Conducting an effective site assessment, Asking the right questions,
- Quick look at AME Lean Sensei,
- Hands-on practice: Gemba walk #1, report out,
- Hands-on practice Gemba walk #2, report out,
- Developing a valuable feedback report, verbal feedback to the host site
PARTICIPANT BENEFITS
More deeply articulate what excellent improvement practices, management practices, and operational systems look like
• Gain confidence in assessment skills and capabilities.
• Provide more actionable feedback and recommendations to their leadership.
• Utilize the AME Lean Sensei® self-assessment tool and apply lessons learned to improve or augment their organization’s current assessment tools.
• Leverage the AME Excellence Award criteria and the Pathway to Excellence framework to elevate improvement practices in any organization.
The workshop will empower participants’ to engage their senior leadership and drive their organization forward on a Pathway to Excellence, improving their effectiveness as change leaders. The AME Lean Sensei offers a unique perspective compared to most internal assessment instruments; it’s focused on the organization’s improvement practices.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
C-level executives and operational leaders,
Change leaders responsible for lean and operational excellence transformation, or any individual interested in improving their ability to assess their organization’s current state and determine next steps on the Pathway to Excellence.
Your organization will benefit most if 2 or 3 people attend.
Safety Requirements
Participants will have to sign a non-disclosure agreement
No weapons
No Photos allowed during the gemba walks
OTHER REGISTRATION INFORMATION
We strive to host events that are inclusive and accessible to everyone to fully participate and engage. Please email events@ame.org if you have any questions.
If you are not already a member of AME, we invite you to join at this time. Membership benefits include complimentary and discounted event registrations throughout the entire year. To learn more about membership benefits, please visit here.
By participating in this event, you grant AME, or anyone authorized by AME the right to use or publish in print or electronic medium any photograph or video containing your image or likeness for educational, news, or promotional purposes, without compensation.
Cancelation Policy: This event may be canceled by AME for any reason. AME is not responsible for incidental costs incurred by registrants. For paid events, registration fee less a $20 administration fee will be refunded up to one week before the event. Substitutions may be made up to three days prior to the start of the event.