Simple Mixups & How Blaming Workers Doesn’t Explain or Prevent Them
When we see a simple error, even in something as silly as sports memorabilia, we would ask "why?" or "how?" instead of "who?" Blaming individuals doesn't help...
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All posts from Mark Graban’s LeanBlog.org, including podcasts, announcements, articles, and more.
Video Podcast with Paul Akers, Discussing His Book “Lean Health”
My friend Paul Akers has a new book out called Lean Health. Just looking at the cover, you can see his weight loss and fitness improve over the past few years. It’s quite inspiring. Paul has made the book available in…
My Post for KaiNexus: Webinar Highlights from MaryGreeley Medical Center
Yesterday, I had a post published over on the KaiNexus blog: Webinar Highlights: See How These Two Elements Spread Improvement I shared some highlights from an outstanding webinar that was presented by two improvement leaders from Mary Greeley Medical Center,…
These are the 10 Most Read LeanBlog.org Posts of 2015… and my “Serial” Parody
Thanks everybody for reading my blog throughout 2015! It's been a great year and I appreciate you taking time out of your busy lives to read and participate in the discussion. I hope this site will continue to be a part of your life in 2016. Here are the ten most-read posts of the year...
Happy Holidays! On Blog Vacation
Thanks to everybody for reading Lean Blog this year! As Christmas approaches, I’m taking off this week and probably next to enjoy time with family and some downtime. I hope you’ve had a successful year and I wish you nothing but the best for 2016...
Throwback Thursday: Flexing, Gemba Claus, Problems, Shook, Jail, and Holiday Gifts
As we start easing into the holidays, I wanted to share a few throwback posts from this day or this week from previous years: From this date in 2009: The Emperor’s Sacred Cow’s New Clothes – “Flexing” Hospital Staff I’d…
John Toussaint on CEO-Led Lean Healthcare Transformation and Patient Safety
In this episode, Dr. John Toussaint explains why Lean healthcare transformation fails when it’s treated as a set of tools instead of a leadership responsibility. Drawing on his experience as former CEO of ThedaCare, he discusses CEO accountability, patient safety,…
“Practicing Lean” Chapter 6 Excerpt: Trust… A Five Letter Word
n the spirit of "Lean publishing," the book Practicing Lean has another new incrementally-added chapter. The latest excellent contribution comes from Jamie Parker, writing about lessons learned in large commercial printing operations... lessons that can be applied anywhere...
The Lean Force Awakens: What Star Wars Memes Teach Us About Gemba Walks
Editor’s Note (2026): Nearly a decade later, these Star Wars memes still resonate–because unlearning assumptions, going to the gemba, and respecting people remain timeless Lean lessons. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” opens on Thursday. I’m not the world’s most avid…
When Lean Fails Its People: Why Disengaged Employees Signal Deeper Problems
How is it that we have two realities out there in healthcare... in parallel, Lean is awesome and Lean is horrible. It depends on where you are, unfortunately. I had an amazing day yesterday with a major health system...
Lean Leadership and Progress at Mary Greeley Medical Center [Webinar Recording]
Free webinar tomorrow... One of our customers that has made great strides with daily continuous improvement throughout their hospital in the past year is Mary Greeley Medical Center (MGMC) in Ames, Iowa...
MDs Can Earn a CME Credit from AMA, Learning about Lean
Today, I'm sharing a link to some free "Lean 101" material that the AMA has created for physicians. I'm not sure when this initiative launched, but I just learned about it... the AMA is offering some online education about Lean in healthcare...
