Matt Gaskin - Lean, Selling & Why Most Transformations Fail

TheInquisitor Podcast with Marcus Cauchi

What if everything you thought you knew about transformation was wrong? In this episode, Marcus Cauchi and Matt Gaskin cut through the nonsense and dive into the brutal truths about why most change programs flop—and what Lean really looks like when it’s done right.

💡 Key Takeaways:
🔹 Lean isn’t a methodology, it’s a mindset. It’s about learning, adjusting, and delivering value daily from the bottom up, not just implementing a new set of tools.
🔹 Go to Gemba! True leaders don’t make decisions from behind a desk, they go to where the work is happening. Want to understand inefficiencies? Get out there and see them for yourself.
🔹 Simplicity is hard. Lean sounds straightforward, reduce waste, increase value, but in reality, cutting through organisational complexity is an art form.
🔹 Selling isn’t about pushing, it’s about pulling. Lean organisations understand that the market should pull products through the value stream, not the other way around. Deadlines and durations are not the same thing.
🔹 The trap of traditional sales systems. Most sales processes are riddled with inefficiencies, so what are we actually prospecting for? The ideal customer isn’t just someone willing to buy but one who will return, expand, and refer.
🔹 Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation. When the task is simple, extrinsic rewards (like money) work. But when creativity and problem-solving are required, intrinsic motivation wins. The famous Candle Problem experiment proved this decades ago: when people were rewarded for solving it faster, they actually performed worse.

🚩 Red Flags in Transformation Programs:
❌ Consultants promising specific cost savings before they’ve even observed your processes? Run.
❌ Leaders who think transformation is about tools, not people? It will fail.
❌ Ignoring how change impacts individual contributors? Expect resistance and failure.

🛠 Lessons from Toyota:
Toyota is hard on the process, not the people, a critical distinction. Sustainable improvement happens when organisations hire problem solvers, not just people who follow orders.

🔥 If revenue wasn’t your primary measure of success, how would you define whether your transformation is working?

📲 Tune in now and rethink everything you know about Lean, sales, and leadership. Connect with Matt Gaskin on LinkedIn for more.