All posts from Mark Graban’s LeanBlog.org, including podcasts, announcements, articles, and more.
This past Saturday was, of course, the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing. It still puzzles me why mankind hasn’t been back on the moon in my lifetime — see an article about that. The first trip to the…
Hi All – Summer in Manitoba requires part-time work, as the precious weeks of glorious weather need to be savoured and stored up for the grueling winters. As such, I give you a summary of the most frequently clicked links from…
Regular readers will realize I’ve been away from the blog a lot this month. I was fortunate to get away for two weeks of vacation in Spain and France with family and friends. Blog readership is always low in July,…
After the last episode that had the first guest host (Chris Burnham), I’m once again joined by Jamie Flinchbaugh for another “Lean Whiskey” podcast. In Episode 4 of Lean Whiskey, Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh (and a cameo from his…
Here is an article that caught my eye recently, from HBR: “How One Health System Overcame Resistance to a Surgical Checklist“ Seeing the word “resistance” always makes me wonder if the health system in the article was blaming surgeons (or…
TL;DR: A non-standard calendar layout caused me to book the wrong tour date. When the same mistake happens repeatedly to different people, it’s not a personal failure–it’s a system design problem. Standardizing calendars and using mistake-proofing (poka-yoke) reduces errors far…
Healthcare – Creating Value for Patients Imagine a healthcare system that responds to each patient’s circumstances and preferences in real-time. Real-time measurement of a patient’s experience could be the holy grail of patient-centred design, and a group of physicians tested out…
Chick-fil-A is widely known for fast service, high quality, and a strong culture–but behind that reputation is a deliberate approach to Lean and Kaizen that engages every employee in continuous improvement. In this podcast episode, I’m joined by David B.…
Each time I teach my “Measures of Success” workshop for Catalysis at one of their events, they give me feedback scores from the attendees. I try to practice what I preach — around reflection, the voice of the customer, continuous…
Jamie Flinchbaugh and I had a great time with the first two episodes of “Lean Whiskey.” Thanks to everyone who has subscribed, rated, and reviewed our podcast. Part of the original concept was to also sometimes have guest hosts (like…
TL;DR: Home runs in MLB haven’t just “gone up”–the data shows a real system shift, not random year-to-year variation. Process Behavior Charts help separate signal from noise, revealing when it’s worth investigating what truly changed instead of overreacting to single-season…
Registration is open for “Kaizen Live!” — the 2019 edition. Joe Swartz and I are excited to announce that we are hosting the fourth site visit to his organization, Franciscan St. Francis Health, in Indianapolis. It’s being held October 3…
