This edition of Ryan McCormack's Operational Excellence Mixtape explores how technology, leadership, and culture intersect in continuous improvement. Topics range from AI-driven quality engineering and jidoka in an AI era to healthcare process improvement, humility in leadership, and the importance of reflection, resilience, and curiosity in building better organizations.
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News, articles, books, podcasts, and videos about how to make the workplace better.
Operational Excellence, Improvement, and Innovation
Automating quality engineering at Apple
Apple is working on a way to enhance the learning capabilities of its automated test agents – essentially automating the process of improvement for these agents that detect defects. Apple is using agentic RAG (retrieve, augment, generate) frameworks to help automatic agents continuously learn and improve on their quality engineering processes.
Jidoka in an AI world
Lean practitioners and students of Toyota are familiar with the principle of jidoka – automation with a human touch. But in today's AI-driven world, is jidoka still significant? Katie Anderson argues that generative AI represents the next evolution of jidoka. However, she expresses concerns about how this technology may affect the growth of future employees and leaders.
Tractors and Tactics: Christoph Roser takes you inside the Fendt factory
Industrial engineers, get ready to dive deep with Christoph Roser, the author and blogger behind AllAboutLean.com! In an exciting discussion, Christoph shares his experiences touring the Fendt tractor cabin factory in Bavaria. He'll cover fascinating topics like their mixed model assembly line, the use of Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs), line balancing, and how the factory stands out with its impressive percentage of value-added time compared to takt time.
Don't miss out on the insights – check out Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3!
Transforming healthcare with Dr. Douglas Slakey on process improvement and patient care
Healthcare professionals often find it frustrating when business consultants or process engineers attempt to oversimplify their work environments–I can relate, having been in that position myself on several occasions. While there are valuable lessons to be learned from other industries, it is crucial to recognize the unique complexities inherent in healthcare. Few appreciate this distinction better than Dr. Douglas Slakey, an internationally renowned transplant surgeon and author of The Process Manifesto.
Dr. Slakey recently participated in an enlightening discussion on process reliability and improvement in healthcare on the “Connecting the Dots – The Process Manifesto with Dr. Douglas Slakey” podcast. During this conversation, he emphasized several key points, including:
- The necessity of prioritizing patient care in all transformation initiatives.
- The limitations of linear change frameworks in effectively transforming healthcare processes.
- The profound impact that technology and AI will have on the future of healthcare delivery.
Ultimately, embracing a nuanced approach to process improvement in healthcare, guided by insights from experts like Dr. Slakey, is essential for achieving meaningful and sustainable change that prioritizes the needs of patients.
Creating a Culture of Improvement
Why is year-end reflection so difficult?
Humble leaders are more effective
Enough with ‘brilliant' jerks already. Leading with humility is proven to be more effective.
Coaching – Developing Self & Others
Interest is everything
Do you find yourself procrastinating? Perhaps you're delaying reading or writing that report your boss asked you. It's probably because you don't find it interesting. Oliver Burkeman encourages us all to pursue what we find interesting and see where it leads us.
Amazon CEO says these two traits are crucial for success
It's virtually impossible to do anything truly successfully without facing any setbacks or adversity. According to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, building anything meaningful requires resilience and persistence.
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If you’re working to build a culture where people feel safe to speak up, solve problems, and improve every day, I’d be glad to help. Let’s talk about how to strengthen Psychological Safety and Continuous Improvement in your organization.
