Our guest today for Episode 347 is Brad Parsons, the CEO of NEA Baptist, in Jonesboro, Arkansas. NEA Baptist is a 228-bed hospital and 140-provider medical group serving northeast Arkansas — part of Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation. Brad is…
W. Edwards Deming’s ideas about systems thinking, measurement, psychology, and leadership remain highly relevant for healthcare improvement today, even decades after they were first articulated. Why Deming Still Matters in Healthcare Today Healthcare leaders continue to struggle with quality improvement…
TL;DR: Gordon Deal and Mark Graban discuss why leaders overreact to routine ups and downs in metrics-and how Process Behavior Charts help filter noise, identify real signals, and improve decisions without wasted effort or stress. Why Leaders Overreact to Metrics…
The last time I ran a short-term book sale — lowering the Kindle book price of Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More to $2.99 — I was curious what would happen. I saw a short-term spike in…
Each time I teach my “Measures of Success” workshop for Catalysis at one of their events, they give me feedback scores from the attendees. I try to practice what I preach — around reflection, the voice of the customer, continuous…
TL;DR: Home runs in MLB haven’t just “gone up”–the data shows a real system shift, not random year-to-year variation. Process Behavior Charts help separate signal from noise, revealing when it’s worth investigating what truly changed instead of overreacting to single-season…
Last week was the 10th annual Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit. I’ve had the opportunity to take part in all ten of them, going back to my days as an employee of the Lean Enterprise Institute, who used to partner with…
TL;DR: Red-amber-green (RAG) dashboards mislead leaders by turning random variation into “red” crises that trigger overreaction and explanation-seeking. The BMJ shows that most performance data reflects normal system behavior, not meaningful change. Process Behavior Charts (control charts) help leaders distinguish…
My workshop based on my book Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More are a lot of fun. They are a great way to learn and practice methods related to “Process Behavior Charts.” We play the “red bead…
I was invited to be a guest on a Detroit radio talk show that’s hosted by Dr. Paul Reeves, a show called “Dr. Paul’s Family Talk.” Dr. Paul is an educator (and a drummer, like me!) and he asked some…
tl;dr: Two data points aren’t a trend. NCAA Final Four TV ratings swing up and down every year, but Process Behavior Charts show this variation is predictable noise–not something to explain or overreact to. Metrics only become meaningful when viewed…
After the paperback launch of my book Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More, many of you have asked, “What are you writing next?” No really, some of you have asked this. I’ve given this a lot of…
