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Why Operational Excellence is Biopharma’s Next Competitive Advantage

In this special cofounder episode of Lean by Design, Oscar Gonzalez and Lawrence Wong pull back the curtain on the ideas behind Oscar’s upcoming book—and the operational realities that inspired it.

The core message? The biggest risks in biopharma often don’t come from the science. They come from fragile systems, tribal knowledge, and disconnected processes that silently slow teams down or bring them to a grinding halt.

With over 30 years of combined experience spanning R&D, clinical ops, and facilities management, Oscar and Lawrence unpack:

• Why innovation collapses without operational infrastructure
• How legacy behaviors and workflow inconsistency compound into massive risk
• What “owning a process” really means—and why most orgs get it wrong
• How early-stage companies fall into the trap of ad hoc systems and band-aid solutions
• Why consistency and connectivity—not heroics—are the foundation for scalable success

Plus, they preview the framework at the heart of Oscar’s forthcoming book: a practical guide for process owners, system stewards, and leaders ready to build resilient operations without boiling the ocean.

If you’ve ever tried to fix a broken workflow while juggling 10 others, or wondered why your cross-functional projects keep stalling—this episode is for you!

Join the book waitlist: https://sigmalabconsulting.fillout.com/t/cjWN43iBNWus

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In this episode, we introduce a new approach to operational excellence, one built for the realities of today’s biopharma landscape.

As the industry faces tighter budgets and widespread restructuring, the pressure to “do more with less” has never been higher. But when you can’t fix everything, where should you start?

We share how Sigma Lab Consulting helps clients focus on the workflows that matter most—those that, if broken, pose the greatest risk to execution, decision-making, or speed. Drawing on experience in R&D, clinical operations, and facilities management, they reveal how minor workflow gaps often compound into costly project delays.

They also explain why many organizations waste time chasing the loudest problems, rather than identifying the most impactful ones—and how their Workflow Criticality Assessment offers a focused, scalable way to prioritize improvements and build long-term resilience.

Whether you’re leading a transformation or trying to regain control of daily operations, this episode will give you a new way to think about where (and how) to begin.

Learn more about us by visiting: https://sigmalabconsulting.com/

Want our thoughts on a specific topic? Looking to sponsor this podcast to continue to generate content? Or maybe you have an idea and want to be on our show. Fill out our Interest Form and share your thoughts.

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In this episode, we sit down with Bogdan Knezevic, co-founder and CEO of Kaleidoscope, to talk about a growing challenge in life sciences R&D: making smart decisions when data is scattered across teams, tools, and partners.

Bogdan explains why disconnected systems lead to costly delays, duplicate experiments, and missed opportunities. He shares how the shift from academic to industry research, where projects are shared, not siloed, requires better workflows, clearer handoffs, and more thoughtful tools.

We discuss:

• Why real-time access to decision-ready data matters more than connecting every system
• How delays between experiments quietly waste months of progress
• The hidden cost of repeating work because past data is hard to find
• Why user-friendly tools are just as important as powerful ones
• How better data management can strengthen trust with partners and investors

If your organization is working to scale R&D, improve collaboration, or simply make better use of the data you already have, this conversation is for you. Even small changes today can lead to huge gains tomorrow.

Learn more about Kaleidoscope Bio at https://www.kaleidoscope.bio/

Connect with Bogdan at https://www.linkedin.com/in/bogdanknezevic/

Ready to assess your organization’s efficiency? Connect with us at leanbydesign@sigmalabconsulting.com to uncover high-impact improvement opportunities. 🚀

Learn more about us by visiting: https://sigmalabconsulting.com/

Want our thoughts on a specific topic? Looking to sponsor this podcast to continue to generate content? Or maybe you have an idea and want to be on our show. Fill out our Interest Form and share your thoughts.