Business buzzword | StarNewsOnline.com | Star-News | Wilmington, NC

Some lean-related concepts in this funny list of corporate buzzwords (from the website buzzwhack.com)

LEAN AND MEAN: To run a company at peak efficiency without excess employees, expenses, etc. The opposite of “fat and happy.” When taken too far, the result is “skinny and stupid.”

Amen. I have been working with a potential client who is very skittish about lean because they had some consultants about ten years ago who only went through a benchmarking-based headcutting/downsizing exercise, without reducing waste or using lean.

Hmmmm…. I wonder why employees still have wounds over that. It will take persistence to convince the employees that a lean consultant isn’t interested in just cutting jobs. Healthcare organizations are generally good about making “no layoff” pledges when lean is involved, with headcount being reduced by attrition only.

Another buzzword:

CORPORATE ANOREXIA: A company’s unhealthy obsession with cutting the fat. Instead of producing a “lean and mean” operation, the single-minded focus on cost-cutting frequently creates a death spiral resulting in bankruptcy.

And one more, healthcare related, haven’t heard this one, but can believe it’s actually used

NEGATIVE PATIENT OUTCOME: Medical-speak for “the patient died.” Often used by hospital bureaucrats and malpractice insurance companies concerned that the loss of life may have been caused by “medical errors.”

Yikes, not really funny. Gallows humor for healthcare folks, I guess.

About LeanBlog.org: Mark Graban is a consultant, author, and speaker in the “lean healthcare” methodology, focused on improving quality and patient safety, improving access, reducing costs, and fully engaging healthcare professionals. He is also the Chief Improvement Officer for KaiNexus.