Monthly Archives: May 2017

Here are three audience questions we didn't have time to address after a recent talk that I gave... questions about engaging people in improvement and about how to share and spread improvement ideas broadly.

What are the parallels between the mindsets and approach of a world-class university band director and our mindsets in Lean, Kaizen, and continuous improvement, in healthcare or beyond?

Joining me for Episode #281 of the podcast is Julie Firman, DNP, RN, FACHE, the Vice President/ System Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) at Southern Illinois Healthcare.

Today's reader question comes from somebody who has been put in the position of what I call "the lone wolf" in a health system. This happens a lot. A health system hires or designates one person to be "the Lean change agent." It doesn't matter how amazing and/or experienced this individual is... I'd very skeptical about the organization's Lean journey.

Mistake proofing is a core Lean / TPS concept that makes it harder for people to do the wrong thing. Ideally, we make it impossible for errors to occur. This might be easier in physical settings, but can also be done in the digital realm.

It's good that United's CEO has taken responsibility for system problems. It's great that they are changing some policies. But why does he say they don't have a culture problem if employees aren't empowered? That sounds like "culture" and a "problem" to me.

The mistakes at The Oscars were trivial and unimportant in the grand scheme of things. What are some lessons learned that apply to improving healthcare supply chains?

A returning guest today for episode #280 is John Dyer, president of his consulting firm, JD&A, Inc., and a contributor for IndustryWeek.com. Today, our focus is the famed "Red Bead Experiment." We'll talk about it, he'll share memories of Dr. Deming facilitating this, and we'll both share and discuss our reflections and our experiences with this, and the lessons learned.

I'm excited to announce that Practicing Lean is now available as an audio book... or least the first half is, but you can buy today.

We don't have money for improvement initiatives, but we do have money to burn on a daily basis due to poor quality and bad systems?