INVITATION ONLY · 30 SEATS · CENTRAL COAST, CA
California Improvement Summit 2026
How do we make continuous improvement Easier, Better, and Faster — with humanity — across California's organizations over the next decade?
Aug 30–Sep 1, 2026
Dates
Central Coast, CA
Location
Conversation-First · No Keynotes
Format
30 Practitioners Max
Size
Thirty experts. Three full days. One vital dialog.
No lectures. No decks. No bystanders. Just the state's leading improvement minds from industry, health, and civic sectors in one room.
Three honest questions the Summit is organized around:
- How does improvement work help California?
- Why is California’s situation particularly suited to improvement approaches?
- Is improvement, as we currently practice it, the right approach for California?
30
Specialists
Curated Invite
3
Days
Aug 30–Sep 1
18
Years
of CCL Heritage
Presented by Central Coast Lean & FPW Initiative · Cal Poly SLO.
The hardest place to sustain an improvement practice — and the most important.
184%
of national avg energy cost
200+
languages spoken; 1-in-3 workers foreign-born
$24B
spent on homelessness with worsening outcomes
30 yrs
of improvement expertise nearing retirement
This is not a complaint. It is a problem statement. And improvement practitioners know what to do with a problem statement.
California is not an improvement desert — Kaiser, Highland Hospital, dozens of counties, and manufacturers up and down the state have produced strong results. The problem is those wins stay siloed. No one has put these practitioners in a room with a shared question and a structured process for working on it.
That is what this Summit is.
Want the full picture?
Commitment & Care
Concerned enough about both improvement and California to spend the time. Commitment matters more than years of experience.
Community Leadership
They lead, chair, or anchor a community of meaningful size. What's said in this room can travel — because of who they already convene.
Is this you?
Invitation only. Roughly 30 leaders. The room is built one referral at a time. We look for people who combine four traits:
Improvement Credibility
Real practitioner depth — lean, Six Sigma, Kata, Shingo, Agile, Deming, or related disciplines. Executives who lead improvement programs are equally welcome.
A Connector Disposition
They cross sectors and improvement paradigms comfortably — manufacturing leaders who talk to healthcare, government leaders who learn from education.
Day 1 · Sunday Evening · August 30
Welcome BBQ at the home of Eric & Dawn Olsen — no agenda, significant others welcome (~2 hrs). Informal dinner follows.
Here’s what to expect.
Sessions are captured and AI-synthesized overnight. Everyone receives a final co-authored Summit Report within 5 days. Zoom participation available in all working sessions — in-person is the default, but virtual voices are welcome.
Day 2 · Monday Full Day · August 31 · Octagon Barn, SLO · 8:00 AM–5:00 PM
8:00 AM — Background & Context (Where we are. Why now. Who’s in the room.)
Morning — Current Situation (What’s working and what isn’t — across all sectors.)
Midday — Problem Statement & Goals (Agreeing on the gap. What does success look like?)
Afternoon — Analysis (Root causes, barriers, and leverage points.)
Evening — Reception at Center of Effort Winery, Edna Valley — hot appetizers, ~2 hrs, significant others welcome.
Day 3 · Tuesday Half Day · September 1 · Octagon Barn, SLO · 8:00 AM–Noon
8:00 AM — Countermeasures (What actions address root causes most directly?)
Mid-Morning — Plans & Commitments (Who does what? What are we each committing to?)
Late Morning — Follow-Up & Next Steps (How will we know? Staying connected after the summit.)
Noon–1:00 PM — Reflective Lunch (Informal, unhurried.)
2:00–5:00 PM Optional — Edna Valley Winery Tour (Casual tour of 2–3 local wineries — participants + significant others.)
AI-Synthesized Summit Report
Sessions captured and synthesized overnight. Final report delivered within 5 days.
Co-Authored by the Room
Every participant’s name on the final report. Not a summary — a shared document.
Before / After Thinking
Pre-work reflections compared to post-summit views. You’ll see how the room moved.
Your Commitment, on Record
Every participant leaves Tuesday with one concrete commitment captured in real time: ‘I will do X by Y date.’ Included in the Summit Report.
Statewide Network Seeds
Working hypotheses for regional communities of practice — Central Coast, Southern California, Bay Area/Sacramento — shaped by what the room decides.
Published Learning
Outcomes published via CCL blog, LinkedIn, and FPW channels. A replicable Summit Playbook developed for other states to adapt.
Pick one. Done by August.
Pre-work is part of the seat. Between May and August 2026, pick at least one of three ways to engage. All three can be augmented with Claude AI to make capturing your thinking faster and easier.
Join a Live Zoom
A facilitated one-hour conversation around one of the Summit's challenge areas. Informal, recorded for those who can't attend live — a good way to meet the room before August.
1
Podcast or Short Reading
Listen or read, then share a brief reflection on the shared Miro board. The rest of the room sees your thinking before we convene.
2
Bring Something of Your Own
A paper, a story from your community, a question you want the room to chew on. Post it to the Miro board with a few lines of context.
3
Candidate Pre-Work Themes
1) Abundance and the supply side of improvement (Klein & Thompson)
2) The future is soft — bureaucracy as the hardening of the future
3) AI, values, and the humanity element of Easier, Better, Faster
4) Cross-sector lessons — what healthcare can teach manufacturing, and vice versa
How to secure your seat.
Fill out the form, confirm your attendance commitment, and pay. Break-even pricing — every dollar goes to direct costs.
1 participant — $200
2 from same organization — $350
3 from same organization — $450
Significant Others (Evenings) — Direct cost only
Tuesday Winery Tour — Optional, self-organized
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Full working sessions Monday & Tuesday
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Sunday evening welcome BBQ
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Monday evening reception at Center of Effort Winery
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Breakfast and lunch provided Monday and Tuesday
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Access to shared Miro pre-work board
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AI-synthesized Summit Report within 5 days
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Co-authorship credit on the final report
Accept Your Invitation
Secure payment processed via Wix Payments. Your card will be charged the selected registration fee upon confirmation.
AFTER THE SUMMIT
Post-Summit Follow-Up
Within 5 Days
AI-synthesized Summit Report delivered to all participants — co-authored by everyone in the room. Includes before/after thinking delta comparing pre-work reflections to the final shared A3.
Individual Commitments Captured
Every participant leaves Tuesday with one concrete commitment on record: ‘I will do X by Y date.’ These are captured in real time and included in the Summit Report.
Statewide Network Seeding
Working hypotheses for regional communities of practice in the Central Coast, Southern California, and Bay Area / Sacramento — shaped by what the room decides is worth continuing.
Published Learning
Outcomes published via CCL blog, LinkedIn, and FPW channels. A replicable Summit Playbook will be developed for other states to adapt.
KEY DOCUMENTS
Worth 5 Minutes Each
Three documents give you the full picture. Links open in Google Docs.
Support the Summit.
Sponsors make this summit possible and get meaningful visibility with 30 senior practitioners across California's sectors. Pricing and details shared directly — submit the form and Eric will follow up within 48 hours.
- Named acknowledgment in all Summit communications and the published Summit Report
- Logo on the CCL Summit webpage and participant materials
- Invitation to send one organizational representative to the Summit
- Early access to the Summit Report and learning outputs
- Featured in CCL newsletter and LinkedIn communications
Sponsorships at $2,500 — contact Eric for details.
The room is filling up.
Once confirmed, each participant's photo and bio are published here — so everyone can see who's coming before they arrive.
This gathering is invitation only. The room is built one personal referral at a time.
ORGANIZERS & CONTACT
About the Organizers
Central Coast Lean (CCL)
Originated at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, CCL has built an 18-year track record advancing lean practice on the Central Coast and beyond through summits, workshops, lean coffees, and cross-sector partnerships.
Future of People at Work Initiative (FPW)
A national initiative connecting improvement practitioners and organizations committed to making work better for people. Co-organizing the Summit alongside CCL.
CONTACT
Eric O. Olsen, PhD · Director, Central Coast Lean · Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
California Improvement Summit 2026 · Invitation Only · Central Coast · August 30-September 1, 2026