Cleaning Out the LeanBlog Backlog – March 27

Sometimes, I have a collection of news stories or links that I either don't have time to blog about, assume you don't have time to read about, or don't really merit a full blog post. So my “WIP” of “draft” posts or links I've set aside grows.

One administrative note – I'm having some technical glitches that are delaying my release of Part 2 of my Jeff Liker podcast discussion about “Toyota Culture” (episode #39). Hopefully, I'll get that out Friday or Monday.

• The Training Within Industry (TWI) Summit is May 6 and 7
• An article about finger pointing and blame in the business world (never a good thing)
• “China, Inc.” needs more than low labor costs to compete now
• Ken Rayment's “Better Process” Podcast has an interview with John Ratzenberger, of “Cheers” and “Made in America” fame
• A Toyota article from 10 years ago, interesting reading

• An article about Lean in the Scottish NHS, this quote sums it up quite nicely:

“our Lean in Lothian service development programme has been extremely successful precisely because it does not elevate one group of healthcare staff above another. By empowering frontline staff to spot opportunities for improvements, and then supporting them in making the changes needed, NHS Lothian is liberating the skills and creativity of all of the members of our team – and it is our patients who are seeing the difference in terms of faster treatment.”