All posts from Mark Graban’s LeanBlog.org, including podcasts, announcements, articles, and more.
Here’s the latest in my “What I’m Reading” series, where I clear out some of the inventory of articles I’ve read, but haven’t blogged about. NY crime lab improves efficiency with ‘Lean Six Sigma’ process It’s great to see Lean…
My first job out of college was at the GM Livonia Engine Plant, starting in 1995. It was not where I wanted to be. I had become a fan of W. Edwards Deming’s work, and GM was famous for being…
A new tower opened at Seattle Children’s Hospital two days ago, built with “Lean Design” principles and methods, as this story describes: Hospital design started with yarn, cardboard and duct tape. They call their approach IFD, or Integrated Facility Design.…
There’s a fun post on Lifehacker with photos of (and links to details on) ten clever household “hacks.” In the “kaizen” mindset, there’s a great value placed on using “creativity over capital” or “putting your mind before your wallet.” There’s…
Here’s a video interview with Dr. Peter Pronovost, author of the book Safe Patients, Smart Hospitals: How One Doctor’s Checklist Can Help Us Change Health Care from the Inside Out, via AARP. It’s a brief synopsis of the patient safety…
It’s been a crazy week, so I was in the mood for a good chuckle… and the fake news site “The Onion” delivered in this story: “Boss Has Deft Touch For Making Employees Feel Like Sh**.” (warning, bad words). The…
Like yesterday’s “live blog” post about the Autoliv talk, I also wrote this post as Art Byrne talked, but held it for publication today. He is author of the book The Lean Turnaround: How Business Leaders Use Lean Principles to…
I’ve been fortunate to have the chance to visit an Autoliv factory in Utah – a great Lean company that makes air bags and protective devices for cars and passengers. I was really impressed with Autoliv, as were the healthcare…
Joining me for episode #172 is Jerry Bussell, previously a guest on episode #137. Today, we’re talking about his recent book, Anatomy of a Lean Leader. I just saw Jerry talk about the book yesterday at the AME spring conference…
Hat tip to Kevin Meyer for sending me a link to this ridiculous post from the website of Minitab, the maker of statistical software that’s used by Six Sigma belts: “Lean, Six Sigma, or Lean Six Sigma?“ I’m sure my…
“Shadowing” is a very powerful method. In a healthcare setting, we can shadow patients or staff to better understand the “current state” of how healthcare is delivered. This allows us to identify waste and opportunities for improvement. We want to…
It’s been interesting to follow the rise and fall of former Apple retailing executive Ron Johnson during his less-than-two-year stint as CEO at long-struggling retailer JC Penney. Johnson was often cited as the genius behind the generally outstanding Apple stores,…
