Guy Parsons

Guy C. Parsons’ 20+ years of delights and frustrations consulting with firms attempting to make operational and cultural transformations sparked an evolution in his relationship with his professional coach, Allan Milham, and was the inspiration for Out of the Question: How Curious Leaders Win.

As Founder and Managing Principal of Value Stream Solutions (VSS), he provides lean manufacturing consulting, leads Value Stream MappingSM workshops and delivers educational presentations on Lean Principles. Guy also conducts training workshops on behalf of the Lean Enterprise Institute, for both public events, and company specific engagements for clients such as BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman, and Federal Mogul.

At the Lean Enterprise Institute, Guy's role was to develop the program for the annual Lean SummitSM. He worked closely with Jim Womack in developing and managing research projects, educational materials, seminars, and building a network of lean thinking leaders in industry. Guy worked closely with Mike Rother and John Shook to produce Learning to See, a powerful tool used to guide cohesive lean transformation activities.

Prior to joining the Lean Enterprise Institute, Guy was president of Merlin Metalworks. Merlin is a small high-end titanium bicycle frame builder that Guy purchased and transformed from a batch and queue operation to single piece flow. Jim Womack was an investor and active board member.

Before his introduction to lean thinking, guy was VP Corporate Development for the CML Group, a holding company consisting of Nordic Track, Nature Company, Boston Whaler and several others. He has also worked for Bain & Company in consulting, and for a venture capital funded start-up in the furniture industry.

Guy received a BA in Economics and Computer Science from Connecticut College. He received an MBA from Harvard University, with a focus on manufacturing strategy and technology implementation. Guy has been a guest lecturer at Babson College, Harvard Business School, and MIT, and is an Emeritus Status Shingo Board Member.

Guy resides in Cambridge, MA with his wife and two children.