Send us Fan Mail

We pull an excerpt from Oscar’s book Predictably Broken and ask the question so many biopharma teams avoid: if the work feels broken, why doesn’t anyone fix it. We argue the issue isn’t apathy or ignorance, but the real weight of diagnosing root causes, aligning stakeholders, and sustaining change in a system that normalizes constant firefighting.

We also separate symptoms from root causes, because most teams try to cure the cough while the virus keeps spreading. A handoff problem often looks like a communication gap. A nomenclature problem creates quiet chaos across functions and systems. A behavioral problem shows up when expectations for day-to-day work are fuzzy or unevenly enforced. And almost every cross-functional fix becomes a “side quest,” a real project layered onto an already packed job, which is how operational friction survives long enough to become “normal.”

If you care about biopharma operations, process improvement, change management, and reducing operational risk, this one will hit home. Subscribe, share this with a colleague who lives in firefighting mode, and leave a review with the one friction point you wish your organization would finally fix.

Episode sound familiar? Reach out for a 30 min situation read so that we can look at your situation together. https://sigmalabconsulting.com/call

Learn more about us by visiting: https://sigmalabconsulting.com/

Order Predictably Broken Now! https://books2read.com/predictablybroken

Check out video episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@LeanByDesignPodcast

Want our thoughts on a specific topic? Looking to sponsor this podcast to continue to generate content? Or maybe you have an idea and want to be on our show. Fill out our Interest Form and share your thoughts.

Send us Fan Mail

A tiny stain on a garage ceiling doesn’t feel like a big deal until it comes back, darker, wider, and harder to ignore. That’s the exact pattern we see in operational dysfunction: the real problem isn’t loud, it doesn’t send alerts, and it rarely shows up where it started. It creeps in through missed deadlines, vague responsibilities, unclear ownership, and reporting requirements no one truly understands.

As we close out season three of Lean by Design, I’m sharing short snippets from my book, Predictably Broken, written for people who sense something is off at work but don’t yet have the language to describe it. If you’re new to the industry and assumed the system was solid, if you’re a middle manager working all hours just to keep things from breaking, or if you lead teams and can feel operations slowing everything down, this one will land.

This reading from the prologue uses a real story from my first home purchase near Greater Boston: a “fixed” leak that was painted over, only to resurface years later because the water traveled along an unexpected path. We connect that to Lean operations, process improvement, and root cause analysis, and we zoom out to the bigger question: where is the slow leak in your organization, and what will it become if nobody opens the wall?

If this resonates, subscribe, share the episode with a teammate, and leave a review so more people can learn how to spot problems early and start real repair.

Episode sound familiar? Reach out for a 30 min situation read so that we can look at your situation together. https://sigmalabconsulting.com/call

Learn more about us by visiting: https://sigmalabconsulting.com/

Order Predictably Broken Now! https://books2read.com/predictablybroken

Check out video episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@LeanByDesignPodcast

Want our thoughts on a specific topic? Looking to sponsor this podcast to continue to generate content? Or maybe you have an idea and want to be on our show. Fill out our Interest Form and share your thoughts.

Send us Fan Mail

The origin story of a business is rarely clean, and it’s almost never convenient. Oscar and Lawrence sit down for a candid, unscripted conversation. We look back on how their partnership started in grad school right as COVID pushed everything virtual, and why staying committed after the class ended mattered more than the original idea. That disruption shaped the way they think about entrepreneurship, operations, and showing up when no one is grading your work anymore. Lawrence shares why he’s stepping away from the podcast and business for a move and mini sabbatical, and we talk honestly about what was built, what changed, and what Lean by Design and Sigma Lab Consulting are to become next.

The hosts talk through the early days of testing business ideas in the biopharma space, the challenge of standing out in a crowded services landscape, and why momentum gets harder after the class ends and the deadlines disappear.

Lawrence shares a practical view of the technician skills gap and specialized needs like calibration, plus the real-world complications of trying to start a company with coworkers. From there, they get honest about what actually drives operational excellence: consistent delivery, repeat clients, clear communication, and the tough alignment conversations that no AI tool can do for you.

Oscar and Lawrence also cover the habits that kept them sharp, especially reading, research, and pattern spotting as the industry changes every few years. And they share some of the scrappy proof-of-concept work: free networking events, learning to explain the value to people outside biotech, and building systems that make work transferable. Finally, the two reflect on a major turning point: shifting from standard consulting services to building a product, and what that demanded from us in product management, workflows, and support.

If this conversation hits home, subscribe, share it with a friend building something on the side, and leave a review so more operators and founders can find Lean by Design. What part of building a business feels hardest for you right now?

Episode sound familiar? Reach out for a 30 min situation read so that we can look at your situation together. https://sigmalabconsulting.com/call

Learn more about us by visiting: https://sigmalabconsulting.com/

Order Predictably Broken Now! https://books2read.com/predictablybroken

Check out video episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@LeanByDesignPodcast

Want our thoughts on a specific topic? Looking to sponsor this podcast to continue to generate content? Or maybe you have an idea and want to be on our show. Fill out our Interest Form and share your thoughts.