All posts from Mark Graban’s LeanBlog.org, including podcasts, announcements, articles, and more.
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…
Healthcare – Creating Value for Patients Many healthcare providers are driven by a deep commitment to the mission of healthcare. Some refer to it as a calling. The New York Times suggests that the healthcare industry exploits the goodwill and commitment…
Speaking of mistakes, the cover image I selected for today’s post reminds of traveling this past Monday. At DFW airport, a company was giving away samples of their new variety of gum. That might have been the gum (chewed by…
Hat tip to Stan Feingold from StoreSMART (a Lean Blog sponsor) for sending me this article: Bob Lutz Talks Panel Gaps, Tesla, and Why Every Detail Matters — Getting it right starts at the top. Bob Lutz is a legend…
TL;DR: Early baseball teams experimented with position-specific uniforms, quickly learned it created confusion, and abandoned the idea. It’s a classic example of Plan-Do-Study-Adjust–small tests, fast learning, and no stubborn attachment to a bad idea. As someone who grew up as…
Last week was the 10th annual Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit. I’ve had the opportunity to take part in all ten of them, going back to my days as an employee of the Lean Enterprise Institute, who used to partner with…
