Meet Tanya Stinson, LSSMBB, MHQS, MCBA, CRP

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tanya Stinson, LSSMBB, MHQS, MCBA, CRP. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Tanya, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

I always knew in my heart that I was destined to help people, I just did not know how. A lot of my family were either in law enforcement or in healthcare, so I made the decision that I wanted to get into law enforcement and continue the family tradition. I went to school to be a peace officer, with the long term goal of working in Forensics for the FBI. Oh how I love those crime shows on TV! “Bones” is still one of my favorites! I wanted to find that “needle in a haystack” clue that breaks the case wide open, but life led me down another path.
Even though I was a Peace Officer, I never went to work doing that as my career. As a single mom of 4 young boys, I did not want to risk anything happening to me and my kids not have a mother, so I chose to step out of law enforcement and was blessed to get a temp job at the local power plant not too far from where we lived. It paid well, I could work days, and have off on the weekends. Shortly after I worked at the powerplant, I had gotten a permanent job working at an above ground coal mine in Hopkins County, TX, called Thermo Coal mine. I asked a lot of questions, and through an interview I was asked if I knew what Lean Six Sigma was and if I had any certifications. At the time I did not, but I was curious about what those words meant. I found a book called “The Toyota Way”, as I wanted to learn more about Lean and Six Sigma, as I was instantly attracted to the tools, methods, and techniques, as you could use root-cause analysis to eliminate defects, errors, wastes and inefficiencies from day-to-day work processes. Finding that “needle” in a haystack or “root cause” but in a much safer way!
I had finally found my purpose! It was like it was destined for me to learn and it was in my DNA to do this as my career! You learn how to perform analysis and investigate “why” things happened the way that they did, and how broken processes can negatively impact the people doing the work. I could help my organization to be safer, more efficient, and produce higher quality products! I was blessed to have a boss who saw my potential and my hunger to learn more, so he gave me the money to get to the highest level of LSS certification that I could get, a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. Not too long after getting my LSSMBB, the coal mine closed down. My family made the decision to move to the DFW area. I wanted to use my new certifications and experience to get into healthcare and help hospitals and clinics by doing the same thing in healthcare I was doing in Operations, by eliminating wastes, errors, defects, and inefficiencies for patients, patients’ families, and the people doing the work. I love doing this and I still live out my purpose each and every day. In 2020, I started my small business, called “Leaning Towards Change” where I teach, coach, certify, and lead different people and projects from all business aspects in how to use these tools to help their organizations to be more efficient, effective, and safer. I call myself a “secret super hero” as I help people in the background, and no one ever knows I am there, but I know in my heart and mind that I may be saving lives by just making sure to eliminate the broken processes that may negatively impact the people either doing the work or the patients, and that is worth everything to me. I am proud of who I am, who I have become, and am thankful to God for instilling the tools in me to do what I can to live out my purpose each and every day.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I teach, coach, certify and lead process improvement and change management tools, methods, and techniques to help eliminate wastes, errors, inefficiencies, and defects from day-to-day processes in home and work life. I have led several, very successful, diverse, multi-team improvement projects that have saved organizations millions of dollars along with saving lives. I also have designed online healthcare based process improvement and change management certification training and love to spread the PI culture by teaching others how to use PI and Change Management tools to help their organizations become leaner, safer, more efficient and of higher quality.
My small business is called Leaning Towards Change. I started my business in 2020, shortly after my mom passed of Covid, as I knew I wanted to live out my dream by teaching others how to help people by eliminating risks, errors, defects, and other process improvement failures that could negatively impact the people in healthcare.
My website is located at www.leaningtowardschange.com. I would love to work with organizations in healthcare and other business areas in leading teams in implementing process improvement and change management methods to help their organizations to become safer, leaner, more efficient, effective, and produce higher quality products/processes.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I would say that the three qualities that have helped me on my process improvement and change management journey are to be an effective listener, effective communicator, and having compassion and love for people. All kinds of people, regardless of where they come from. Everyone is different and each patient’s situation is different, so you need to be aware of that and be compassionate to their wants, needs, and expectations. It is important when people are telling you what is happening with them that you listen intently and practice empathy by stopping what you are doing and focusing on entirely what they are saying to you, without distraction, and then show them that you are listening by practicing repeat back. When you repeat back what they had said, be clear and concise. Get validation from them. Then answer their questions clearly and concisely as well. Make them feel important, like they are the most important person in the world at that time. Treat everyone this same way. Show them that you truly care about them.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

I am looking for organizations that would like to make positive changes in their organizations, as I would like to help by visiting their sites and walking out processes in current state and helping them to eliminate wastes, defects, errors, and inefficiencies.
I would like to help them save money, time, effort, and precious resources while helping them to become safer and produce higher quality products and processes. A lot of organizations think that their processes are perfect, but waste and inefficiency is everywhere. I am looking to branch out and not only teach, coach, and certify people on how to become change makers, I would like to lead large process improvement initiatives by partnering with organizations and helping them to build a sustainable PI Culture in house that can make positive changes for their organizations long-term. If you are looking for someone to come and help your organizations to get out of the red, meet your KPI’s and goals, and eliminate risks, look no further! I am here and I am happy to help! I am always on LinkedIn. All you have to do is call my cell phone, text me, or leave me a LinkedIn message, and we can connect and talk about how I can best help your organizations to become safer, more efficient, effective, and productive. I have worked with many large organizations in implementing very successful multi-million-dollar costs savings projects, helped organizations to become reaccredited with the Joint Commission, and received Magnet designations for projects that were completed. I have coached leaders in completing projects that won quality, safety, and leadership award several times over. I look forward to helping other organizations and their employees to do the same!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.leaningtowardchange.com/
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/tanya-stinson