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The 96% Perfect Podcast features real conversations with leaders building teams, solving hard problems, and driving change where it matters most.
Hosted by Lisa Thomas, the show goes beyond polished talking points into the real stories behind leadership, culture, retention, manufacturing, innovation, and growth.
No panels. No scripts. Just honest conversations with people doing the work every day.
Hosted by Lisa Thomas
Recording the conversations behind the systems.
The newest episode is loaded and ready — tap, play and keep reading.
The best leaders in America are rarely the loudest.
They’re the builders, operators, and problem-solvers quietly transforming industries, teams, and communities every day.
Hosted by Lisa Thomas, The 96% Perfect Podcast shares real conversations with the people behind the results — from manufacturing and supply chain to leadership, innovation, and workforce transformation.
The name comes from a simple belief: progress beats perfection. The leaders changing the world aren’t waiting for perfect conditions — they move forward, solve problems, and build great teams anyway.
No scripts. No PR spin. Just honest conversations with people doing meaningful work.
Every conversation in one place. Filter by range and press play on any card — audio streams right here, no need to leave the page.
“There’s nothing in business done better reactively than proactively.”
“It’s no longer sufficient to provide a number. You have to explain why it is good or bad and combine it with technical understanding, because in finance, we see all the challenges.”
“You have to perfect the engineering to minimize failure — you cannot allow for failure because there’s no chance to correct that error.”
“If you can’t trust the data going in, you can’t trust the decision coming out.”
“When you create a culture of safety, you are really saying to individuals: I care about you.”
“Did we have a green production day because we had a plan of attack, we executed and we saw the result — or were we just lucky that nothing broke down on us?”
“I will be most profitable and grow the most if I have the best people and if I can retain and attract the best talent.”
“Assuming that everyone is like me — that’s been my biggest mistake in life. Every time I assume people will do exactly what I would do, I ignore reality.”
“Every function is naturally optimizing its own goals — and the CFO’s role is to be at the center and look at the bigger picture.”
“The first thirty seconds define the entire journey.”
“Leadership begins where no one is looking — that is the real you, that is how you show up in the eyes of others around you.”
“Your people are the largest asset, the most expensive, and the most untapped.”
“I never want it to be my event. I want it to be our event. When we have failures, it’s all me. When we have successes, it’s all about the team.”
“Retention is an outcome, not an initiative.”
“We do not have the ability to have any defects. Not one.”
“Can the business operate when you walk away? That’s my definition of success.”
“I went and read all the books and did all the things to try to become a better leader instead of looking internally and addressing my trauma — my inner world, which was a projection of my leadership.”
“We’ve normalized a crisis. Thirty percent turnover isn’t the cost of doing business — it’s a choice.”
“You have to believe in yourself — I stuck with turbine power when everyone wanted electric, and now the market is catching up.”
“The future of manufacturing will not be built by technology alone. It will be built by leaders who know how to develop people.”
“Systems are perfectly designed to produce the results you get — so if you don’t like the results, you have to redesign the system.”
“You can’t wait for perfect terms when the business needs to move.”
“You can have a really good business and a mediocre management team, and that business will flounder over time. Conversely, if you have a mediocre business and a great management team, they’re going to figure out a way to make it more valuable.”
“If they know why I want something accomplished, they’ll do it without hesitation.”
“We have delivered 100% of the water 100% of the time.”
“The real differentiator is being helpful — not just connecting people, but caring about what they’re working on.”
“You won’t work a day in your life if you enjoy what you do.”
“We really live in a DC world — you just don’t know it.”
“If you engineer every decision around patient need, the business will follow.”
“We’re not measuring credits. We’re measuring how many women increased their income by fifty percent.”
“If you can’t tie something back to one of our priorities, don’t do it.”
“Those numbers don’t happen by accident. They happen by design.”
“AI is a tool that enhances people’s capabilities — but you need the human understanding to read through what AI produces and say: this is good, this doesn’t present well, this isn’t emotionally correct.”
“If it’s not something I’d be willing to give my kids, then what am I even doing here?”
“Where could AI be my radar and not the judge? Start there.”
“Nobody comes to work thinking, “I can’t wait to ruin it for everybody.””
“Five hundred thousand dollars recovered in six weeks. That’s not a pilot — that’s proof of concept.”
“If you’re in the room, it’s your room — own it.”
“If they have pride in where they work, that’s a manifestation of everything else happening behind the scenes.”
“Take care of your people, and they’ll take care of the rest.”
“The salesperson as a breed enjoys the flexibility, the freedom, the constant dynamics — no two days look the same.”
“Never run out of parts. The word “stockout” is a very sad word.”
“I would hope that they would pause, take a moment, enjoy the quality, and create a true moment of self-indulgence. That pause is what we’re making.”
“If you ever want to replace the status quo, you have to actually beat it — not just to be different, but be better across the board.”
“When you’re transparent and the employee is informed, they’ll make the right decision.”
“Mass-production additive manufacturing is here. If companies want to try it, they should just try it. Just jump in.”
“Allow the performance to be elastic — not the headcount.”
“I don’t think anything AI can do what our guys do in the shop.”
“You can train competencies — but if the character traits aren’t there, keep looking, because it’s just a matter of time before it becomes a very expensive mistake.”
“Skills get people in the door, but behavior is what keeps them there.”
Every episode lives at the intersection of leadership, hiring, and the messy reality of building teams that actually deliver.
We’re always looking for the next conversation — leaders, founders, and operators doing the hard work behind real results. Schedule a conversation with Lisa to pitch your story.
Retention Intelligence Platform™
Chattanooga, TN Houston, TX