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All Blog Posts

All posts from Mark Graban’s LeanBlog.org, including podcasts, announcements, articles, and more.

#RootCauseRacism

Podcast #379 — Katie Anderson on “Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn”

Mark Graban Aug 3, 2020 0

Katie Anderson My guest for Episode #379, joining me for the fifth time, is Katie Anderson, author of the newly-released book Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn: Lessons from Toyota Leader Isao Yoshino on a Lifetime of Continuous…
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Mixtape

Operational Excellence Mixtape: July 31, 2020

Ryan McCormack Jul 31, 2020 0

Thanks as always to Ryan McCormick for this... Healthcare -- Creating Value for Patients Health systems with a culture of improvement find their capacity for solving problems useful during the pandemic. How do you talk to…
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Blog

Podcast Clip: How Can We Increase Diversity at Lean Events?

Mark Graban Jul 30, 2020 0

Yesterday's podcast is admittedly very long (almost two hours), but it's a very important topic and I appreciate the opportunity to have had this discussion with Christopher D. Chapman, and Dr. Valeria Sinclair-Chapman. One topic that…
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Interviews

Podcast #378 — Christopher D. Chapman and Valeria Sinclair-Chapman, PhD on Lean, Diversity,…

Mark Graban Jul 29, 2020 0

Chris and Val Chapman Joining me for Episode #378 are Christopher D. Chapman, Senior Lean Transformation Coach at Chapman Lean Enterprise and Dr. Valeria Sinclair-Chapman, a social scientist, Associate Professor, and Director…
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Blog

I Learned a New Word for Our Continuous Improvement Vocabulary — Maybe

Mark Graban Jul 27, 2020 2

Almost to a fault, the Lean methodology includes a lot of Japanese words, including kaizen, a word used to describe a particular approach to continuous improvement. When we learn words like this, they can draw us in to learn and…
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Blog

[Recording] Another Panel Discussion Webinar on Real Continuous Improvement in Virtual Workplaces

Mark Graban Jul 23, 2020 0

In June, I moderated a panel discussion webinar (as part of the KaiNexus series) on the theme of virtual improvement. You can view the recording here. It went really well, so we did another session today with three different panelists. …
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Blog

What Were the 10 Most Read LeanBlog.org Posts of the First Half of 2020?

Mark Graban Jul 21, 2020 0

Thanks everybody for reading my blog here in 2020. I released 21 "Lean Blog Interviews" podcasts, up from 14 the same period last year (and two data points are not a trend!). I was also happy to continue the "Lean Whiskey" podcast…
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Interviews

Podcast #377 — Ritu Ward on Developing People and Elevating Leaders

Mark Graban Jul 20, 2020 0

Ritu Ward My guest for Episode #377 is Ritu Ward, an experienced healthcare executive who has had success delivering quality, growth, and strategy while leading high performing teams. We have known each other for a while through Lean…
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Mixtape

Operational Excellence Mixtape: July 17, 2020

Ryan McCormack Jul 17, 2020 0

Thanks as always to Ryan McCormick for this... Healthcare - Creating Value for Patients Virginia Mason's 20 year pursuit of measurably better value for patients is paying off during pandemic-related travel restrictions…
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Blog

I Helped a Doctor’s Office Reduce Some Waste — Will it Stick?

Mark Graban Jul 16, 2020 1

As part of my relocation to California, I need to establish a relationship with an ophthalmologist here, as I have had early-onset glaucoma for about ten years (thanks to something called "pigment dispersion syndrome" -- fun!). When…
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Interviews

Podcast #376 — Lauren Hisey on Lean, Six Sigma, and A.I.

Mark Graban Jul 14, 2020 0

Lauren Hisey Joining me for Episode #376 of the podcast is Lauren Hisey, a continuous improvement coach and consultant at her firm, Lauren Hisey Consulting. Before becoming a consultant, Lauren worked for AT&T and Nielsen in…
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Lean Whiskey

Episode #17 of “Lean Whiskey” — Show Firsts: 3 People, 2 Pours, 3 Keynotes

Mark Graban Jul 10, 2020 0

Jim Huntzinger (left), Mark Graban (top right), and Jamie Flinchbaugh (bottom right) In Episode 17, after not doing an episode of Lean Whiskey in almost two months, Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh try all sorts of firsts. We had three…
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Interviews

Podcast #375 — Mohamed Saleh, PhD on Lean in Healthcare

Mark Graban Jul 9, 2020 0

Mohamed Saleh, Ph.D. My guest for Episode #375 of the podcast is Mohamed Saleh, Ph.D. Dr. Saleh has been a practitioner in Lean & Six Sigma transformations, in both manufacturing and service sectors. Mohamed was directly…
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Mixtape

Operational Excellence Mixtape: July 3, 2020

Ryan McCormack Jul 3, 2020 0

Thanks as always to Ryan McCormick for this... Healthcare - Creating Value for Patients Health Care Workers Protect Us. It's Time To Protect Them. Great article in HBR by Ken Segel and John Toussaint. Volume-based…
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Blog

Some Recent Episodes of the “Habitual Excellence” Podcast

Mark Graban Jun 30, 2020 0

Back in May, I shared the first episode of a podcast that I'm producing for the firm Value Capture... it's called "Habitual Excellence." I won't do a blog post here for each new episode, but I did want to share the recent episodes…
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Blog

Win 1 of 3 Copies of the Book “Steady Work” About Lean at Starbucks

Mark Graban Jun 29, 2020 0

Back in May, I released a podcast episode with Karen Gaudet, author of the excellent book Steady Work. You can now win one of three paperback copies of the book -- scroll down for more. Here is the podcast: …
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Blog

The Power of Explaining Why When Asking Passengers to Wear Masks

Mark Graban Jun 25, 2020 3

So after my bad experience with American Airlines during Covid-19, I decided to try flying Delta when I had to go back to Orlando for my movers to pack up the old place. I've heard a lot of good things about Delta in recent years from…
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Blog

Respect for People as a Competitive Advantage in Major League Baseball

Mark Graban Jun 24, 2020 1

"Respect for people" is, of course, a core tenet of Lean and the Toyota Production System. It's an important idea in the workplace and beyond. I was really happy to see this article in the WSJ: Baseball's Newest Market Inefficiency:…
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