Why This Blog?
After decades in Continuous Improvement, working with businesses across industries, and recently publishing Cultivating Champions of CI, I wanted to create a space where we can explore the fun side of Continuous Improvement.
What You Can Expect
Through this blog, I’ll share:
✅ Original Cox-Box Cartoons – I started cartooning as a kid, mostly because I enjoyed drawing and cartooning allowed me to express my ideas in ways that people seemed to resonate with. I combined my drawing and Lean Six Sigma during my training.
It was only day two of my first of five weeks of Six Sigma Black Belt training when I felt I was in over my head. The only way I could survive was to try to find the humor in the situation I was feeling overwhelmed in. So, I drew a cartoon on the flip-chart paper at the front of the room before class started, reflecting how I felt. It was crude, but the class got a chuckle out of it. So did Jack, the Instructor.
It soon became an expectation that I’d draw a cartoon every day. I was happy to oblige. Fast forward two years, and I was put into Lean Black Belt training for another five weeks. As part of that training, we received Team Leadership Training with instructor Mary Federico. My reputation for drawing cartoons preceded me by that time. At the end of that five weeks, Mary introduced me to Mike Cyger, who was starting a magazine, iSixSigma, and thought my work would go nicely into his publication.
With that, one of my classmates suggested I call my cartoons, The Cox-Box, a play on words on the Data Transformation method, The Box-Cox. Well, that started what became a paid gig for drawing cartoons. And I did ok… Within a couple of years I bought my Harley motorcycle with the money it was brining in. Mary and I then worked on a creating a Lean Six Sigma Change Management comic book together, Another Crazy Idea. I’ll post that here sometime too… I still love to draw, create content for workshops, presentations, speaking engagements, training materials, and my recent venture into YouTube video creation with Mic Drop-Insights & Lessons from CI Thought Leaders.
I’m a creative by nature. I hope this website reflects my diverse skills in engaging people in a subject I’m passionate about.
Join the Conversation
Continuous Improvement is about learning, adapting, growing together, and having fun along the way. I’d love to hear from you! Drop a comment, ask a question, or share your own experiences, who knows, one might make it into a Cox-Box cartoon! — let’s build a community of CI leaders who push the boundaries of what’s possible.
Stay tuned for future posts.
Check out my YouTube Channel, where I interview guests on my Webcast: Mic Drop-Insights & Lessons from CI Thought Leaders. https://www.youtube.com/@CultivatingChampions
Thanks for being here!
— Gary