Pre-Order ‘Ignite the Brilliance of Many’
Create a spark in one that ignites the brilliance of many, so that possibility thrives. Everywhere. Every day.
Because true excellence is not a momentary achievement; it is a culture, sustained and shared.
IgniteXcellence partners with leaders and organizations to build cultures of sustainable excellence — grounded in the Shingo Model, advanced through immersive workshops, and brought to life by teams who believe brilliance is everywhere.
Shingo Workshop Schedule
Award Winning Facilitators
Culture Measurement Guide
Digital Room - Daimler Trucks - Cleveland Clinic Akron General - Utah Transit Authority - US Synthetics - A.O. Smith - Baptist Memorial Hospital - Vale Oman - New Age Industries - Gallo -
Digital Room - Daimler Trucks - Cleveland Clinic Akron General - Utah Transit Authority - US Synthetics - A.O. Smith - Baptist Memorial Hospital - Vale Oman - New Age Industries - Gallo -
Spark.
Ignite.
Thrive.
Our Team.
Judy Cloo
Managing Director
Tara Lee
Sr. Consultant
Drew Butler
Lead Consultant
Tracy Duncan
Consultant
The Shingo Workshop Series.
Our amazing Host Sites
Every workshop is hosted by a real organization actively practicing enterprise excellence. Structured Go & Observe with direct access to the people doing the work — not a simulation.
Spark.
Ignite.
Thrive.
Daimler Trucks
A premier commercial vehicle manufacturing facility bringing Daimler's global operational standards to life on the floor of a South Carolina plant.
FCCC Freightliner offers participants a rare window into large-scale automotive manufacturing culture and continuous improvement in practice.
Digital Room
Home of one of the fastest-growing print tech companies in the US. Nine plants operating at scale with Shingo principles embedded throughout by IgniteXcellence's own Drew Butler, Director of Operational Excellence.
Factory of the Future opening Cleveland, Ohio — late summer 2026.
Six workshops. One transformational journey. Delivered virtually from world-class host sites across the US — with the depth, facilitation quality, and host site access that only a dedicated practitioner affiliate can provide.
US Synthetic
Shingo Prize recipient and Utah Manufacturer of the Year. A family-oriented culture built around innovation, quality, and genuine respect for people — with over 45 years of precision manufacturing excellence at its foundation. One of a handful of enterprise-wide Shingo Prize winners since the award criteria were elevated.
Cleveland Clinic Akron General
A world-renowned healthcare system demonstrating that enterprise excellence is not limited to manufacturing. Cleveland Clinic Akron General brings the principles of the Shingo Model to life in a high-stakes clinical environment where culture and patient outcomes are inseparable.
Get the
Measurement Guide
This brief introduces the four stages of the framework — what each one demands from your measurement strategy, the key diagnostic questions your system should answer, and what to watch for at each stage.
It is not a checklist. It is a map.
◆The four stages of cultural measurement
◆Key diagnostic questions for each stage
◆What excellent organizations measure that most don't
◆How to identify where your organization is right now
Spark
Recognize what already exists. Before you can measure progress, you must see what is already present — the conditions, beliefs, and behaviors operating beneath the surface.
Ignite
Create the conditions for brilliance to spread. Measure leader behavior — not just leader output. This is where measurement becomes a coaching tool rather than a compliance mechanism.
"The moment an organization starts measuring what shapes behavior instead of just what behavior produced — everything changes. Leaders start asking different questions. Teams start having different conversations."
Judy Cloo · Founder, IgniteXcellence · Author, Ignite the Brilliance of Many
Possibility
Expand what your organization believes is achievable. Track the signals of expanding belief — teams proposing solutions they weren't asked to find, goals beyond what leadership requires.
Thrive
Build a culture where excellence sustains itself. At this stage, measurement is woven into how people work — not bolted onto how they are evaluated. The system is transparent, trusted, and used.
Ignite the
Brilliance of Many
What if the most transformative thing a leader can do is also the simplest? See the person in front of them. Believe in their brilliance before they see it themselves.
Foreword by Ken Snyder, Executive Director, Shingo Institute
Publisher Firefly Publishing · 2026
ISBN 979-8-9956450-0-9.
About the Book
What if the most transformative thing a leader can do is also the simplest? See the person in front of them. Believe in their brilliance before they see it themselves. Ignite the Brilliance of Many traces that belief through the full arc of leadership — from the spark that starts everything to the thriving culture that outlasts any single leader's presence. Grounded in the Shingo principles of respect and humility, and illuminated by the science of fireflies, this is a book about what leadership looks like when possibility is not the exception — but the norm
The Science of Fireflies
Bioluminescence as a leadership metaphor — cold light, emergent synchrony, and the biology of dormant brilliance waiting for the right conditions to glow.
The Shingo Model
Grounded in the world's most rigorous framework for organizational excellence — principles of respect, humility, and the belief that every person carries capacity that hasn't yet been given room to emerge.
Spark · Ignite · Possibility · Thrive
Four stages of a living culture — woven through every chapter as both a framework and a way of seeing your organization's current reality.
For Every Kind of Leader
Whether you lead a team of two or a system of thousands, this book meets you where you are — and points toward what's possible.
"This book looks at leadership from a perspective that is different from every other book I've read. If you want to know how it all links to leadership — I suggest you read the book."
Ken Snyder Executive Director, Shingo Institute · Utah State University