In this exclusive video interview, EFESO’s Jorge Mastellari sits down with Nelson Repenning, faculty director of MIT’s Dynamic Work Design Center, to discuss his book, There’s Got to Be a Better Way, released recently. Grounded in lean principles and drawn from Repenning’s acclaimed MIT course on Dynamic Work Design, the book explores how organizations can redesign work to reduce waste, improve flow, and create systems that perform better under real-world complexity.
Together, Jorge and Nelson explore what dynamic work design really means in practice, and why so many organizations struggle with work systems that create overload, inefficiency, and frustration. They dig into how leaders can rethink the way work flows through their operations to unlock better performance and more sustainable results.
The conversation also highlights real-world application. One of EFESO’s clients, a major refinery, participated in Repenning’s course and gained valuable insights—particularly around the concepts of push and pull maintenance. Jorge and Nelson discuss how these approaches shape maintenance effectiveness, and how shifting from reactive “push” systems to more intentional “pull” strategies can transform reliability and productivity.
Watch the full interview to hear Nelson’s insights firsthand and learn how dynamic work design can help create a better way forward.