Blog Holiday through July 4
Hi Everyone — Next week is going to be a very intense work week and my parents are visiting over the 4th of July… so I’m trying to impose a “blog holiday” through July 4th. No pressure on Jamie or…
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All posts from Mark Graban’s LeanBlog.org, including podcasts, announcements, articles, and more.
Time Saving Software I Can Believe
For once, I’m not being cynical about software. Since a laptop crash, I’ve tried to prevent that from happening again. When you’re in consulting work, the files on your computer are worth much more than the hardware itself. I hope…
Are you a "Lean Purist"?
5 Ways ERP Can Help You Implement Lean by Epicor Software Corporation Ok, that’s a trick question. I hate labels like that. I don’t want to put them on me or anyone. I hope nobody thinks they are a “purist”…
What’s the Root Cause of This One?
I don’t think I’m smart enough to figure out the root cause of this healthcare dysfunction. I went to the dentist this morning and the office manager said “Aetna still hasn’t paid for your last visit”. This was five months…
Level Loading City Water Use
Little Elm bans outdoor watering I saw this on the local TV news this morning about a small North Texas town that has taken the extreme step of banning ALL outdoor watering because city supplies are low. How did this…
We Need Lean, Not Cost Cutting
Guardian Unlimited Politics | Special Reports | Overseas transcription errors ‘putting patients’ lives at risk’ It’s not news that many hospitals are strapped for cash. It’s frustrating to see hospitals take the traditional “mass production” mentality of focusing on cost…
Great Exposure for the "Good News" DVD
Commentary – The Washington Times, America’s Newspaper Syndicated columnist (and Fox News contributor) Cal Thomas has written an excellent column about the “Good News… How Hospitals Heal Themselves” DVD and PBS program that I have written about before. I had…
Root Causing the Offshoring of Jobs
I had an “ah-ha!” moment last night. I was reading a book during the NBA Finals (no point really watching closely until the last three minutes) and it struck me: Very often, I beat up on companies and CEO’s for…
Don’t Waste My Time (and Don’t Hang Up On Me)
One of the main principles of Womack and Jones’ Lean Solutions book is “don’t waste my time.” I had to teach a local company that principle yesterday. Or I tried. Long story short: home contractor company had set a 5…
A Washington DC Lean Tour, Part 5 – Camden Yards, Early Computers, and More
I got sidetracked from the DC lean tour. I’ll wrap it up with this installment. The tour starts here, with Part 1. See all of the posts here. Random lean images and thoughts from the trip: I was able to…
Amazing Single Piece Flow MD Office
MedQIC – Patient-Centered Care Supported by an EHR The link above (and this audio-video presentation with similar content) tell an amazing story of a private practice family physician who has a “single patient flow” process in his office. This doctor…
A Lean Budget?
From the June 26th edition of Business Week, The Welch Way by Jack and Suzy Welch was called Stop the B.S. Budget (need subscription to read). I probably will not get much argument from people on this: budgeting as it…
