Meet Harsh Patel, Continuous Improvement Manager at PSEG.
He is speaking on the Problems, Challenges, and Team Journey of Continuous Improvement at PSEG.
Question: Name, title, Company
Harsh Patel, Continuous Improvement Manager, PSEG
Question: Family, hometown, where you live?
I am married to my beautiful wife Mona Patel. We currently live in Bridgewater, NJ.
Question: Utility/Process Excellence/Continuous Improvement Experience?
I have been with PSEG as Continuous Improvement Manager for over 2 years.
Question: What do you like to do when you’re not working? Hobbies?
I like to spend time with family traveling when not at work. I am also a novice golf player and love to play on weekends.
Question: Notable achievements?
One of my notable achievements is being part of a successful new continuous improvement team at PSEG.
Question: Where do you see Continuous Improvement in utilities in two years?
I believe CI is going to play an integral role in the Utility industry. Following the success of utilities like DTE and others over the last few years, the industry will be pushed towards operational excellence to stay competitive.
Question: What is your biggest challenge?
My biggest challenge at this point is showing the value of Lean & Six Sigma to leadership and have them adopt a new mindset to ensure we have a thriving Continuous Improvement culture.
Question: Who are a couple of your role models (and why?)
Elon Musk is one of my role models. He is not only great at conceptualizing breakthrough ideas but he also excels at implementing the right team and setting a winning culture to achieve success. Steve Jobs was another one of my role models. He truly understood the ‘Voice of the Customer” and always focused on creating products that solved customer problems. He ensured the product design spoke to the user’s feelings and emotions. I think it’s very important for all of us to keep that in mind as we improve processes or design products in my line of work.
Question: What is one of your biggest goals?
My biggest goal in my current role is to promote and achieve a culture of Continuous Improvement within PSEG.
Question: What’s the biggest misconception you run into in your role (or what people seem to think about Process Excellence)?
Biggest misconception I run into in my role is employees thinking CI is all about head count reduction. It’s always a pleasure walking employees through CI concepts to show them the ultimate vision that can be achieved via Lean Six Sigma.
