Episodes

  • State of Readiness | Alan Michaels; Director of Industry Research at Industry Knowledge Graph

    State of Readiness | Alan Michaels; Director of Industry Research at Industry Knowledge Graph
    Sep 25 2025
    Video Version About the Podcast In this episode of State of Readiness, host Joseph Paris speaks with Alan Michaels, founder of the Industry Knowledge Graph, a strategic planning tool built on Michael Porter's competitive strategy framework. The discussion traces Alan's multi-decade journey to develop a globally comprehensive, highly granular industry taxonomy and its transformation into a usable, dynamic digital platform. Alan recalls the pivotal moment in 1986 when, while working in IT at Manufacturers Hanover Bank, he was introduced to Porter's Competitive Advantage. The structured, recipe-like nature of Porter's methodology resonated deeply with him, prompting a career pivot toward corporate strategy. Over time, Alan held various strategic roles, including at IBM and in insurance, but ultimately dedicated himself full-time to his ambitious goal: to map the entire global economy by industry, using Porter's definitions of competitive structure and market forces. The result, launched in April 2024, is the Industry Knowledge Graph, a platform that classifies the global economy into over 24,000 distinct industries, based on competitive commonalities such as products, buyers, substitutes, and vendors. This granularity far exceeds traditional classifications like NAICS codes. For instance, while NAICS might group all jet aircraft in one industry, Alan's system separates fighter jets, commercial jets, and blimps into unique segments. Even within food, categories like potato chips, pretzels, and popcorn are treated as different industries based on buyer behavior and competitive factors. The platform supports top-down and bottom-up analysis. A user can examine which industries a company like PepsiCo operates in (156 in total), or conversely, explore a given industry like potato chips and see the top competitors, value chains, channels, and influencing trends. Users can also compare companies by overlapping and unique industry participation—offering a precise view ideal for M&A analysis, competitive benchmarking, strategic expansion, or private equity targeting. Alan emphasizes that his system empowers corporate planners, marketers, and strategists to cut research time dramatically. What previously took months—such as comparing competitors by line of business—can now be done in seconds. A standardized set of industry data fields, inspired by Porter's methodology, makes this possible. Each industry entry includes value chains, buyer segments, substitute threats, supplier dependencies, market trends, and more. To bring this vision to life digitally, Alan partnered with Semantic Arts, a leader in semantic technology and the data-centric revolution. Together, they formed Industry Knowledge Graph LLC, combining Alan's industry content with a modern knowledge graph platform. The system launched with an initial demo and subscription access, and plans are underway to expand its data, integrate public classification codes (e.g., NAICS, UN), and invite partnerships to enrich its content. Alan concludes by emphasizing that the Industry Knowledge Graph offers a strategic lens to view the economy—one grounded in Porter's logic, built with real-world granularity, and powerful enough to revolutionize strategic planning across industries. About Alan Michaels As the Director of Industry Research at Industry Knowledge Graph LLC, I am solely focused on enhancing our industry model of the global economy, which leverages the IBB model of the global economy (covering 25,000 industries) developed by Industry Building Blocks LLC. For the past 24 years, I have been building and maintaining the best available industry segmentation of the global economy by line of business, using Michael E. Porter's five forces industry analysis methodology. My business expertise is in corporate planning, business unit planning, industry analysis, new business development, and aligning and coordinating business and IT and other activities to make the whole greater than the sum of the parts. In 1994, I self-published (a Porter-inspired step-by-step corporate planning workbook) "Structured Strategic Planning" while teaching at Pace University Graduate School. In short, since reading Porter's book "Competitive Advantage" in 1986 I have been passionate about leveraging his five-forces industry framework to provide high-quality, granular, and comprehensive industry data to raise the level of strategic thinking. Executive Contact: Alan Michaels Title: Managing Director of Industry Research LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alansmichaels/ Company: Industry Knowledge Graph Website: https://www.industrykg.com/ Company Type: Private Year Founded: 2021 Practice Areas: Industry Model of the Global Economy, Knowledge Graph Platform, Market Segmentation, Five Forces Industry Analysis, M&A Analysis, Industry Taxonomy, Industry Classification Systems, Industry Ecosystems, Michael Porter Frameworks, Semantics, ...
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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • State of Readiness | Benjamin Taylor; MD of RedQuadrant

    State of Readiness | Benjamin Taylor; MD of RedQuadrant
    Jul 7 2025
    Video Version About the Podcast Benjamin Taylor, the Managing Director of RedQuadrant, engages in a thought-provoking dialogue with Joseph Paris, delving into the nuanced intricacies of organizational evolution and improvement within the public sector landscape. Drawing from their wealth of experiences and insights, Taylor and Paris underscored the paramount importance of democratizing knowledge accessibility and fostering collaborative group dynamics as catalysts for organizational advancement. Taylor elucidated the genesis of Red Quadrant, inspired by a London cab company's GPS system, symbolizing their vision of a network consultancy akin to a dynamic film crew, partnering with domain experts as the need arises. The discourse swiftly shifted towards the unique challenges inherent in driving operational excellence within public sector contexts, navigating the complexities of competitive tendering processes, and discerning the elusive nuances of client requisites. Taylor lamented the dearth of ethical considerations prevalent in government engagements, highlighting the exigency of infusing ethical imperatives into the fabric of public sector initiatives. Amidst discussions on the utilization of AI and systems thinking paradigms in public sector consultancy, Taylor evinced a fervent passion for converging systems cybernetics and complexity frameworks to distill practical insights for organizational enhancement. He underscored the indispensable value of understanding the interplay between humans and their environment, leveraging cybernetic principles to craft pragmatic tools for organizational optimization. Taylor and Paris also deliberated on the multifaceted challenges of maintaining organizational continuity and integrity amidst stewardship transitions, emphasizing the imperative of preserving institutional knowledge to avert potential programmatic disruptions. Concluding on a note of forward-looking optimism, Taylor expounded on the evolving landscape of complexity and systems thinking, envisioning a future where operational excellence knowledge permeates frontline staff, fostering islands of coherence through well-informed systemic perspectives. As the dialogue drew to a close, Taylor's impassioned advocacy for a holistic approach to organizational development resonated as a clarion call for embracing the transformative potential of complexity science in driving sustained business evolution. About Benjamin Taylor Benjamin Taylor brings an authentic, human, and inclusive approach to leadership and change. With a career that spans over 20 years helping public organizations tackle complex, systemic issues, he leads RedQuadrant, a UK-based consultancy, and a social enterprise academy dedicated to supporting public service leaders through learning cohorts, tools, and events. He also serves on the advisory board of The Operational Excellence Society and as a non‑executive director for Systems and Practice in Organization; the professional body for systems practitioners. People often know him as "Antlerboy", a anagram of "Ben Taylor" which he uses as a unique moniker which he adopted early on to maintain a consistent digital identity. A prolific communicator and thought leader, Benjamin publishes a regular "Transduction – leading transformation" newsletter and has contributed over 190 articles and 3 000+ posts on LinkedIn. His writing focuses on systems, cybernetics, organizational complexity, and the human-centered design of public services. He frequently reflects on the power of insight in transformation; underscoring that "It is easier to act yourself into a new way of thinking than to think yourself into a new way of acting". Outside of consulting, he hosts workshops and podcasts (such as on Evolving Enterprises), exploring leadership, complexity, and the art of meaningful public service transformation. Executive Contact: Benjamin Taylor Title: Managing Partner LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antlerboy/ Company: RedQuadrant Website: https://www.redquadrant.com/ Company Type: Private Limited Company Year Founded: 2018 Practice Areas: Public Service Transformation
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    50 mins
  • State of Readiness | Ron Crabtree; CEO of MetaOps Inc and MetaExperts

    State of Readiness | Ron Crabtree; CEO of MetaOps Inc and MetaExperts
    Apr 21 2025

    Video Version

    About the Podcast

    In the realm of strategic business discussions, Ron Crabtree, a seasoned entrepreneur, assumed the mantle of authority. With a keen understanding of the trials and tribulations inherent in business scaling and talent acquisition within dynamic environments, he underscored the necessity of fostering robust professional networks and discerning between strategic and tactical hiring approaches.

    In collaboration with the esteemed Joseph Paris, they delved into the pivotal role of effective facilitation in propelling organizational transformation and spearheading digital integration within Lean Six Sigma frameworks. Their discourse emphasized the indispensable fusion of technical acumen with interpersonal finesse for facilitators, stressing the criticality of holistic skill sets in driving successful change initiatives.

    Further discussions between Joseph Paris and Ron Crabtree centered on the strategic importance of network cultivation in achieving business triumphs and the ongoing challenges entailed in sustaining enterprise prosperity post-initial program iterations. Their insights coalesced around the imperative of cultivating cultures steeped in continuity and excellence, underscored by a contemporary leadership ethos.

    Transitioning from discourse to actionable directives, the duo outlined a comprehensive set of strategic imperatives aimed at catalyzing tangible business advancements:

    • Launching the Metapod podcast series in April 2024, with an inaugural focus on the Defense Production Act.

    • Provision of diverse training programs and curricula spanning Lean Six Sigma, supply chain management, and facilitation skills, deployable via both online and in-person modalities.

    • Engagement of meta experts as interim consultants, project managers, or subject matter authorities, fostering collaborative scoping processes to align client requisites with specialized resource allocations.

    • Continuous refinement of vetting, skills inventory, and client alignment protocols to ensure optimal matching of meta experts with client demands and opportunities.

    Grounded in Ron Crabtree's entrepreneurial acumen and Joseph Paris's transformative insights, these action items epitomized a strategic blueprint poised to drive organizational excellence amidst the dynamic currents of contemporary business landscapes.

    About Ron Crabtree

    LinkedIn Profile:
    Company:
    Title: CEO of MetaOps Inc and MetaExperts
    Website:
    Year Founded:
    About:
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    1 hr and 5 mins
  • State of Readiness | Michael Webb; President @ Sales Performance Consultants, Inc.

    State of Readiness | Michael Webb; President @ Sales Performance Consultants, Inc.
    Jan 29 2024
    Video Version About the Podcast I have known Michael Webb for several years. He has been a member of the Advisory Board of the Operational Excellence Society almost since its inception and led the Operational Excellence Society Chapter in Atlanta. We start the podcast by discussing the application of operational excellence and continuous improvement principles to sales and marketing activities. Paris made note of the challenges due to the personality-driven nature of sales and getting salespeople to document processes and how there might be a natural conflict between the human-empathetic side of sales with the data-driven needs of management. Michael explained how sales processes can be defined through engaging salespeople to determine what drives value for customers. This allows processes to be measured and improved. To this end, defining what is of value operationally is important and discussed how processes should focus on creating value rather than only eliminating waste. Michael highlighted how statistical analysis can be applied to sales activities like lead qualification when processes are defined properly. This brings more science to sales. And regarding management needs, Michael emphasized processes should serve salespeople but allow enough standardization for effective management and fostering opportunities for coaching. Striking a balance when it comes to documentation is ideal; harvesting only the information that is of value and minimizing the narrative form of documentation (nobody reads it anyway). Towards the end of the interview, Michael overviewed his books, including Sales and Marketing the Six Sigma Way which shows how Six Sigma principles apply to sales, and Sales Process Excellence which earned a Shingo Research Award and provides a textbook on improving sales processes. And finally, no interview would be complete today without some commentary on where AI is going and its impact on sales and marketing processes and personnel. To this end, we both believe that human interaction will remain important for establishing trust and empathy. About Michael Webb Michael Webb is an internationally known author and management consultant. He brings data-driven management approaches to sales and marketing organizations. Before starting his own consultancy firm, Sales Performance Consultants, Inc., he held roles in sales, sales training, and sales management for IMPAX Corporation, PCT Incorporated, Rockwell Automation, and others. When exposed to production improvement methodologies (e.g., Six Sigma, and Lean) he saw parallels to B2B sales production. He pioneered ways of helping sales teams distinguish value from waste. He also created ways for sales teams to develop operational definitions. These enabled continuous improvement in sales productivity, forecast accuracy, and other metrics. His approach recognizes the critical role beliefs play in the behaviors of sales and marketing people as well as customers. He engages front-line salespeople, managers, and executives as well as cross-functional teams. His 2006 book, "Sales and Marketing the Six Sigma Way", earned 4.5 stars on Amazon and sold more than 21 thousand copies. And his 2014 book, "Sales Process Excellence" earned the prestigious Shingo Research Award in 2015. His articles range from sales quality and process to reducing waste and capitalizing on customer value where they draw on his extensive experience working with direct and channel sales and marketing teams of large and small companies. Author of: Sales and Marketing the Six Sigma Way: In Sales and Marketing the Six Sigma Way, Michael Webb shows how to blend marketing and sales efforts with the cutting-edge methods of Six Sigma to boost their bottom lines. Sales Process Excellence, 2015 Shingo Award Winner: In 'Sales Process Excellence', Michael Webb traces sales and marketing problems to their root causes in traditional management methods, such as pushing product, setting quotas, and trying harder while doing the same things over again. LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeljwebb/ Company: Sales Performance Consultants, Inc. Title: Senior President Website: https://salesperformance.com/ Year Founded: 2002 About: Sales Performance Consultants, Inc., collaborates with B2B executives to extend operational excellence to sales and marketing. Clients systematically increase revenue, loyalty, and margin while wasting less time and money.
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    1 hr and 11 mins
  • State of Readiness | Scott Lushin; Senior Manager, Global Operational Excellence @ Donaldson

    State of Readiness | Scott Lushin; Senior Manager, Global Operational Excellence @ Donaldson
    Dec 19 2023
    Video Version About the Podcast My guest today is Scott Lushin, Senior Manager of Global Operational Excellence at Donaldson Company, Incorporated. In this episode, Scott takes us through his professional journey. Starting off in retail automotive and the restaurant business, it is obvious that has two passions; problem solving and leadership. Although his passion for problem-solving made itself readily apparent in his early life, his skills in leadership made themselves known later and over time. Scott started his journey right out of high school at an automotive service chain where he became manager and then training manager. After a few years, he eventually moved on to work in the food industry at a chain of restaurants; becoming training manager then district manager. Against his mother's advice against seeking a job in manufacturing, he joined Donaldson through a temp-agency. He has always been a 'thinker', a problem solver, even as a kid he loved to solve problems. The more complex the problem, the more fun they were to solve. He could spend days trying to unravel a problem and eventually he got very good at it. His problem-solving specialty is manufacturing and process improvements. Scott sees the world through a different lens, which is why he is often called upon to solve complex problems. He especially loves being thrown into a complex problem and forming a team to tackle it. Even though Scott did not (and does not still) have a college degree, Donaldson must have seen something in Scott, as he has been there 32 years. He has held positions and roles too varied to list, but include: Operations Supervisor, Manufacturing Engineer, C.I. Engineer, C.I. Specialist, Operations Management, and since 2019 leading efforts with Global Operational Excellence. There was a time when a person without a college degree could grow to leadership roles in a company and Scott is living proof. Has that time passed? Or has enough time not passed to make that determination. We shall see. LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottlushin/ Company: Donaldson Company, Incorporated Title: Senior Manager, Global Operational Excellence Website: https://www.donaldson.com/ Year Founded: 1915 Company Type: Publicly Traded (DCI) About: Donaldson Company, Inc. manufactures and sells filtration systems and replacement parts worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Mobile Solutions, Industrial Solutions, and Life Sciences. Its Mobile Solutions segment provides replacement filters for air and liquid filtration applications, such as air filtration systems; liquid filtration systems for fuel, lube, and hydraulic applications; exhaust and emissions systems and sensors; indicators; and monitoring systems. This segment sells its products to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the construction, mining, agriculture, aerospace, defense, and transportation markets; and to independent distributors, and OEM dealer networks. The company's Industrial Solutions segment offers dust, fume, and mist collectors; compressed air and industrial gasses purification systems; and hydraulic and lubricated rotating equipment applications, as well as gas and liquid filtration for industrial processes. This segment sells its products to various distributors, OEMs, and end-users. Its Life Sciences segment provides micro-environment gas and liquid filtration for food, beverage, and industrial processes; bioprocessing equipment, that includes bioreactors and fermenters; and bioprocessing consumables, such as chromatography devices, reagents and filters, and polytetrafluoroethylene membrane-based products, as well as specialized air and gas filtration systems for applications, including hard disk drives, semi-conductor manufacturing and sensors, battery systems, and powertrain components to OEMs and various end-users.
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    56 mins
  • State of Readiness | Ben Guttmann; Author of "Simply Put"

    State of Readiness | Ben Guttmann; Author of "Simply Put"
    Nov 8 2023

    Video Version

    About the Podcast

    Hello and welcome to another edition of State of Readiness. I am your host, Joseph Paris.
    My guest today is Ben Guttmann, Author of "Simply Put; Why Clear Messages Win―and How to Design Them."

    We start the conversation going back to high school where Ben was fortunate enough to have attended a high school that had a business department and offerings for those who were interested in business goings-on. It's here where Ben got hooked on marketing.

    We share our ideas on communicating, mostly born of experiences. Why do people feel they have to pack so many words around an idea to get the point across; and all at the risk of making the message less clear.

    As an example, Joseph shares his experience as an elementary school student. When returning from summer vacation, the teacher would always ask for a "500 word essay on what I did on my summer vacation." Joseph shares that "I went fishin' and I went swimmin.' Now I have to find another 493 words of fluff to pad it and complete the assignment."

    Ben shares how he and a few friends came to start their own marketing firm, Digital Natives Group, starting out of an opportunity that presented itself while they were attending Baruch College. One of Ben's professors, who also ran a marketing agency, needed help with digital marketing.

    They meet with the professor's partner, and Ben and his friend decide to start a marketing agency specializing in digital with the professor's firm being the first client. They even set-up shop in the basement of the professor's agency.

    So, in the spirit of "Simply Put", I will leave it here. Enjoy the podcast.

    Ben Guttmann is an experienced marketing and communications expert and educator on a mission to get leaders to more effectively connect by simplifying their message. He is a former co-founder and managing partner at Digital Natives Group, an award-winning agency that worked with the NFL, I Love NY, Comcast, NBC, Universal and other major clients. Currently, Ben consults with a range of thought leaders, venture-backed startups, and other brands.

    He went attended Baruch College where he earned his Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration and Marketing Management. He presently teaches digital marketing at Baruch as an Adjunct Lecturer and serves on the Advisory Board of the Zicklin School of Business.

    An interesting conversation which I am sure you will enjoy.

    LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benguttmann/
    Company: Unisphere Ideas
    Title: Principal
    Website: https://www.benguttmann.com/
    Year Founded: 2022
    Company Type: Sole Proprietor

    Also an Adjunct Lecturer at Baruch College Marketing Department where he currently teaches digital advertising,
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    1 hr and 10 mins
  • Jesse DePriest; President, Jesse DePriest Consulting, LLC

    Jesse DePriest; President, Jesse DePriest Consulting, LLC
    Sep 11 2023

    Video Version

    About the Podcast

    Hello and welcome to another edition of State of Readiness. I am your host, Joseph Paris.

    My guest today is Jesse DePriest, President of Jesse DePriest Consulting, LLC; Privately held consultancy specializing in Lean including; strategy development and deployment, leadership development, process design and analysis, process improvement, problem solving, teamwork.

    I have known Jesse for several years and his story is as American as Apple Pie.

    Jessie grew up on a dairy farm in Alaska where he was the youngest of 10 brothers and sisters. Those of you might not appreciate how challenging working on a family farm might, be not to mention that farm being a dairy farm. It starts with understanding that the cows have to be milked twice a day, every day of the year. There is no rest.

    But having such a challenging job and its responsibilities (even with 9 others to help out) makes a person both resilient and resourceful. Resilient, in that you better be tough and durable otherwise the job will break you. Resourceful, because the challenges make you want to always find easier and better ways of doing your tasks.

    Jesse went to university on an ROTC scholarship at the Oregon Institute of Technology where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering. Afterwards he went into the US Army as an officer flying and tending to Blackhawk helicopters; where he and his unit consistently earned performance commendations.

    After his time in the US Army, Jesse entered the private sector working at various manufacturing companies and also banking; which was his last W2 job before starting his consulting practice.

    The conversation follows Jesse's journey and the lessons learned along the way. Topics include his thoughts on; Lean principles and practices, leadership, psychological safety, why most everyone knows what should to create a high-performing organization but consistently fail to deliver it (hint: it has to do with KPI's), and other lessons learned from his experiences.

    An interesting conversation which I am sure you will enjoy.

    LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fjdepriest/
    Company: Jesse DePriest Consulting, LLC
    Title: President
    Year Founded: May 2019, Omaha NE
    Company Type: Privately held consultancy specializing in Lean including; strategy development and deployment, leadership development, process design and analysis, process improvement, problem solving, teamwork.
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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • Daniel Varroney; President & CEO of Potomac Core

    Daniel Varroney; President & CEO of Potomac Core
    Jun 28 2023

    Video Version

    About the Podcast

    Hello and welcome to another edition of State of Readiness. I am your host Joseph Paris.

    My guest today is Daniel Varroney, President and CEO of Potomac Core; a consultancy specializing in helping trade organizations transform into strategic partner for industry and professions.

    I have known Daniel for many years; having first met him when I was a member of the New York City Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) which is an organization of professionals serving the mergers and acquisitions ecosystem and he was its Global CEO.

    The main topic of our conversation is the challenges that businesses face today are bigger, faster, and more frequent than in times past.

    For your consideration, within just the last six years (since 2016 when President Trump was elected) we have had; tariff and trade wars (friends and adversaries alike), challenges with refugees and managing borders (not just in the States), Brexit, COVID (and everything directly and indirectly associated with it), Russia invasion of Ukraine (and the resultant food and energy disruptions), unacceptably high inflation (and the resultant interest rate hikes), political discourse, and probably several items I missed.

    How is a company, industry, or profession to cope? Not to mention influence?

    The obvious answer is to form advocacy organizations to act as platforms to consolidate their voice and interests.

    Which leads us to his book; "Reimagining Industry Growth" offers readers a blueprint to harnessing the power of leading industry associations as strategic partners. By utilizing those partnerships, business leaders will become able to leverage the collective strength of the supply chain to overcome challenges, address uncertainty, mitigate risks, and position their industries for growth.

    An interesting conversation which I am sure you will enjoy.

    LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danvarroney/
    Company: Potomac Core - Association Consulting
    Title: President and CEO
    Year Founded: 2012, Arlington Virginia
    Company Type: Privately held strategic consultancy that applies research driven strategies to reimagine new growth pathways for Industries and Professions. Our mission is to deliver research guided processes that help Trade Associations transform into Strategic Partners for Industries and Professions. As such, we help transform organizations into the important role of real time business solution providers.
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    45 mins