Mark Graban’s newer Lean Blog Audio podcast series with “audiobook” style readings of selected blog posts. Learn how to subscribe.
Having a model like this helps prevent errors, such as jumping to implement Lean tools before the organization understands WHY change is necessary. You have to engage and enroll people in change, not just force things on them.
I am convinced that the ExperienceChange simulations, either Lakeview or GlobalTech, are a great way to learn and practice.
My two previous trips to Japan have been incredible experiences, both personally and professionally. I'm planning to go back in December with a tour group I'm helping organize with Kaizen Institute. When people go to Japan, I think they are expecting to see perfect Lean practices. But, no...
I was very saddened earlier to receive an email from an employee of a great leader, Dr. Michel Tétreault, informing me that he had passed away. Michel was, since 2005, the CEO of St. Boniface General Hospital in Winnipeg.
And the idea of knowing why... again that's an old desire. It's not just a recent discovery of Simon Sinek and the outstanding book Start with Why (my friends at Gemba Academy have a podcast interview with him coming soon). Why are we doing something? Why are we starting this company? That's an old tale... are you breaking rocks or building a cathedral?
As is often the case, I have too many open browser tabs full of articles that I was going to potentially blog about. This slows down my Mac (thanks, Chrome!) and it’s mental overhead… So, it’s time for me to…
Many of you might not care, but it’s football season. Major college football starts tomorrow night and the NFL kicks off their season next Thursday. On that note, if you’d like to “kick off” a Kaizen approach to continuous improvement…
I stumbled across an article from the Inc. magazine archives from 1987, so it’s today’s “Throwback Thursday.” In 1987, I was starting high school and that was probably right about the time when my dad, an engineer for General Motors,…
Launch anouncement: It’s been 20 years now since I graduated from college and started working with the Lean methodology. The first ten years of my career were focused on manufacturing. Then I had the happy detour into healthcare ten years…
TL;DR (2026 update): So-called “just-in-time” retail scheduling that relies on on-call shifts, last-minute cutbacks, or sending people home early is not Lean–it’s cost cutting disguised as efficiency. Real Lean, as practiced by Toyota, is built on Respect for People: stable…
It’s been a little while, but here’s a new video about Kaizen and continuous improvement from our friends at Franciscan St. Francis Health in Indianapolis. See all of the videos in the link here or via my YouTube playlist. In this…
In healthcare, it’s a well-known problem that people often don’t speak up to point out risks or to report near misses. It’s an organizational culture problem… people are afraid of being blamed, punished, or retaliated against for speaking up. A…
I’m proud of the work that the team at KaiNexus has done in the four years that I’ve been involved with the company in some way. We’re gaining momentum and adding new customers in different industries, bringing us to about…
