All posts from Mark Graban’s LeanBlog.org, including podcasts, announcements, articles, and more.
tl;dr: Human error is inevitable–even for experienced professionals. Forgetting socks on a work trip is harmless, but similar mistakes in healthcare or organizations can cause real harm. The lesson isn’t to “be more careful,” but to design better systems that…
tl;dr: Year-to-year changes in Oscars TV ratings are usually just noise, not meaningful signals. Blaming or praising the host (or lack of one) based on small fluctuations is a mistake. Looking at longer-term trends with tools like Process Behavior Charts…
In this interview, UMass Memorial Health CEO Dr. Eric Dickson shares how Lean thinking, leadership behaviors, and frontline-driven Kaizen helped build a culture of “Everyday Innovators” across a complex healthcare system. My guest today for Episode #331 is Eric W.…
Healthcare – Creating Value for Patients Why do we have to wake up patients to take vital signs every 4 hours if they are stable? Why does a patient need daily labs if there results have been stable for days? Because…
I published this over on LinkedIn yesterday… you can also read it on Medium.com: How Authors Can Stress Less Over Their Metrics When I started writing my latest book Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More, I engaged the…
Last year, I wrote about my conveyor belt sushi misadventures in Japan: I’ve only been to a few of these “revolving sushi” restaurants (as they are sometimes called) in the United States. Upon the recommendation of my friend Katie Anderson,…
tl;dr Lean should reduce hospital overwork and unsafe understaffing — not justify them. True Lean, as practiced at Toyota, treats overburden (muri) as a serious problem, prioritizes patient safety and staff well-being, and invests in understanding real work before setting…
Joining me today for Episode #330 of the podcast is Christoph Roser, a professor of production management at the Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences in Germany. He has decades of experience with Lean manufacturing including time with Toyota in Japan,…
tl;dr: Kaizen works in veterinary medicine because it focuses on small, low-risk improvements led by the people doing the work. Instead of fearing “bad ideas,” leaders should create systems that encourage experimentation, learning, and continuous improvement without blame. I was…
A key Kaizen principle is continually improving through incremental improvements. When we use a Kaizen process to improve our work, we’re not likely to make things perfect — just better. One Kaizen often leads to another, as we get positive…
Mark’s note: Mike Sporer has commented a few times on blog posts and I invited him to write this guest post after we exchanged some emails about his recent experience as a hospital patient. I recently had a surgical procedure…
Thanks to Ron Pereira and the team at Gemba Academy for having me as a guest for the sixth time on their Gemba Academy Podcast (find past episodes via Google). Here is a direct MP3 link to the episode, click…
